5 Things to Watch on
May 13, 2026

Stocks are mixed today as investors digest a hotter-than-expected wholesale inflation reading. April producer prices (PPI) climbed sharply, with headline wholesale inflation hitting +6.0% YoY against estimates of +4.8%, reinforcing expectations the Fed will hold rates steady at its next meeting.

Alphabet (GOOGL) is in discussions with SpaceX about using the rocket company's launches to put AI data centers into orbit as part of GOOGL's Project Suncatcher initiative, which envisions a solar-powered satellite network equipped with GOOGL's Tensor Processing Units to bring machine learning to space. GOOGL is working with Planet Labs (PL) to launch two prototypes by early 2027, with GOOGL shares slipping yesterday amid widespread skepticism from engineers over the program's technical feasibility. SpaceX is separately targeting an IPO as early as Q2 2026 at a roughly $1.75T valuation.

Meta Platforms (META) employees staged protests across multiple U.S. offices against newly installed mouse-tracking software, distributing flyers and petitions calling the technology intrusive workplace surveillance. The protests come ahead of META's planned 10% workforce reduction, with employees invoking the National Labor Relations Act and raising concerns that activity data is being collected to train AI systems that could eventually automate their jobs. META has defended the practice, saying its agents need real examples of human computer use to function effectively.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the "Golden Dome" missile defense system could cost roughly $1.2T over two decades, far exceeding the $185B figure cited by Pentagon leadership. The gap is largely driven by a proposed space-based interceptor layer involving roughly 7,800 satellites, which alone could account for 70% of acquisition costs. The Space Force has already awarded up to $3.2B in early development contracts, with Lockheed Martin (LMT), Northrop Grumman (NOC), RTX (RTX), and Boeing (BA) expected to compete for production work estimated at $2.6B annually once the program matures.

Nebius (NBIS) is up more than +12% in premarket trading after Q1 revenue surged +684% YoY to $399M, beating the $389M estimate, while EPS of $2.11 came in well ahead of the -$0.70 consensus. CEO Arkady Volozh said the company continues to see "unprecedented demand" for compute as industries move from AI experimentation into real-world deployment. NBIS also announced it has secured up to 1.2 GW of power and land for a new owned AI factory in Pennsylvania.