5 Things to Watch on
May 14, 2026

U.S. stocks are up more than +0.3% in premarket trading as investors price in developments from the highly anticipated U.S.-China summit. President Trump met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing today, launching a two-day summit centered on trade, tariffs, Taiwan, and Iran. Trump said the relationship would be "better than ever," while Xi warned that Taiwan, if mishandled, could push ties to a "dangerous" place.

Cisco (CSCO) is up +14% in premarket trading after Q3 results and Q4 guidance topped expectations by nearly $1B, signaling accelerating AI infrastructure demand. Alongside the beat, CSCO said it would eliminate roughly 4,000 jobs, about 5% of its global workforce, with notifications beginning today. The company expects up to $1B in pre-tax charges from the restructuring, with roughly $450M hitting in Q4 fiscal 2026. CEO Chuck Robbins framed the cuts as a disciplined pivot toward areas of highest demand and long-term value in the AI era.

U.S. retail sales rose +0.5% MoM to $757.1B in April, matching consensus and moderating from the +1.6% surge in March. YoY growth accelerated to +4.9% from +4.2%, while core retail sales (ex-autos) rose +0.7% MoM, also in line with expectations. Gasoline stations led with +20.9% YoY gains; electronics and sporting goods also performed well, while furniture and autos were among the weaker segments.

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. (MSGS) shares are up +6% over the past week and +76% over the past year as the New York Knicks' run to the Eastern Conference finals reignites spinoff speculation around the Knicks and Rangers franchises. Analysts raised their price target on MSGS to $404 from $388, citing the franchise's implied public market discount and added home playoff games as key drivers. Complicating any deal is a new tax law taking effect in fiscal 2028 that eliminates deductions for the Knicks' five highest-paid employees, adding an estimated $60M in annual costs that will require outside capital to fund.

Reddit (RDDT) posted the fastest ARPU growth among major U.S. social platforms in Q1, with revenue per user up +61% YoY to $9.20, ahead of Meta Platforms (META) at +30% to $112.60, Snap (SNAP) at +10%, and both Alphabet's (GOOGL) YouTube and Pinterest (PINS) at +9%. RDDT also led on revenue per hour of engagement, up +101% to $0.34. Analysts credited new ad formats and higher ad loads, and expect RDDT to continue outpacing peers on monetization, even as the stock sits -32% YTD.