Zoom Communications calls itself an 'AI first' cloud-native scalable communications system for enterprises designed to facilitate video, voice, chat, and content collaboration across devices and locations. The company's core platforms are Zoom Workplace and Zoom Business Services. Zoom Workplace encompasses flagship products Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone, and Zoom Team Chat as well as Zoom Docs and Zoom Whiteboard. Zoom Business Services is focused on enterprise sales, marketing and customer-experience management functions and included Zoom Contact Center, Zoom Revenue Accelerator, and Zoom Events products. Zoom was founded in 2011 and completed its initial public offering on April 18, 2019, at $36 per share. Zoom derives about 28% of its revenue from outside the Americas.

This week features an earnings report form discount giant Costco and some new inflation data. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2%, the S&P 500 gained 1%, and the Nasdaq was flat. Year to date, the DJIA is up 5%, the S&P is higher by 9%, and the Nasdaq has popped 13%. Drilling down on the earnings calendar, AutoZone reports on Tuesday; Marvell Technology, Salesforce, Snowflake, HP, and Dick's Sporting Goods on Wednesday; and Costco Wholesale, Dell, MongoDB, Best Buy, and Dollar Tree on Thursday. Some 94% of S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and overall earnings are up 29% over last quarter. Information Technology, up 55%, and Communication Services, up 51%, are leading the pack. At the bottom are Healthcare, down 3%, and Energy, down 1%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. On the economic calendar, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is due out on Tuesday; Durable Goods and New Home Sales will be reported on Thursday; and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index (an inflation indicator) will hit the tape on Friday. Gas prices remain elevated though prices dropped a penny last week and are now at an average of $4.49 per gallon for regular gas. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow forecasts 4.3% growth in GDP for 2Q. That's a big jump from 2% in 1Q. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast calls for CPI of 4.2% in May. That a step-up from the 3.8% print for April and 3.3% in March. Mortgage rates jumped 15 basis points last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.51%, according to FreddieMac. The next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is on June 17, and will be the first under the chairmanship of Kevin Warsh. Odds are at 3% for a rate hike at that meeting, a reversal from previous odds that called for a rate cut. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 8% year to date, while the leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 20%. U.S. growth stocks are up 5% year to date as per the ETF IWF, while value stocks (IWD) are up 12%. Crude oil prices continue to be volatile. On Friday, oil was at $97 per barrel, up 67% for the year to date. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are down 2%, gold is up 3%, and Bitcoin is down 13%. The U.S. dollar is up 1%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index was about 17 on Friday, below its historical average of 20. Turning to sector performance, the list from first as of May 15, is Energy (+32%), Information Technology (+17%), Communication Services (+11%), Consumer Staples (+11%), Industrials (+10%), Materials (+10%), Real Estate (+8%), Utilities (+3%), Consumer Discretionary (flat), Financials (-7%), and Healthcare (-7%).

Zoom Communications calls itself an 'AI first' cloud-native scalable communications system for enterprises designed to facilitate video, voice, chat, and content sharing across devices and locations through its Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone applications. Zoom was founded in 2011 and completed its initial public offering on April 18, 2019, at $36 per share. Zoom derives about 20% of its revenue from outside the U.S.

The conflict in Iran rages on. After the initial attacks last week, stock prices fell while crude oil prices and volatility escalated. Among the many issues impacted by this event, the effect on the global economy is but one - but will be a focus of analysts and economists. Meanwhile, this week brings new data on inflation, the trade deficit, and GDP, as well as a few earnings headliners. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3%, the S&P 500 was down 2%, and the Nasdaq shed 1.2%. Year to date, the Dow is off 1.2%, the S&P 500 is lower by 1.5%, and the Nasdaq is down 3.7%. On the earnings calendar, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Vail Resorts report on Monday; Oracle and NIO on Tuesday; Campbell's on Wednesday; and Adobe, Dollar General, Lennar, and Dick's Sporting Goods on Thursday. About 98% of S&P 500 companies have reported, and overall earnings are up 14% from last quarter. Information Technology, up 34%, and Industrials, up 17%, are leading the pack. At the bottom are Utilities, down 1%, and Consumer Discretionary, flat, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. On the economic calendar, Existing Home Sales will be reported on Tuesday; CPI on Wednesday; the U.S. Trade Deficit, Housing Starts, and Building Permits on Thursday; and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Index along with the first revision of GDP data for 4Q on Friday. Turning to other data, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow is forecasting for 1Q and calls for growth of 3.0%, unchanged from last week. The Cleveland Fed Inflation Nowcast is at 2.6% for March. Mortgage rates ticked up two basis points last week, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage now at 6.00%, according to FreddieMac. Gas prices were higher by eight cents last week and are at an average of $3.02 per gallon for regular gas. The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is on March 18, and odds are at 6% for a 25-basis-point cut at that meeting, according to the CME FedWatch rate tool. After that, meetings will be held on April 29 and June 17. Odds for a rate cut at the June meeting are over 50%. That's also the first meeting with a new Fed chairman. Taking a deeper dive into performance so far in 2026, a leading industrialized global stock market index, the ETF EFA, is up 1.9% year to date. That's compared to a gain of 9% just last week. The leading emerging market ETF (EEM) is up 4.5% year to date, which compares to a gain of 14% last week. U.S. growth stocks are down 6.3% year to date, looking at ETF IWF, while value stocks (IWD) are higher by 2.7%. In other asset classes for the year to date, AGG bonds are flat, gold is up 18%, crude oil is up 54%, and Bitcoin is down 23%. The U.S. dollar is up 0.6%, tracking DXY. The VIX Volatility Index was at 29.5 on Friday, above its historical average of 20. Turning to sector performance, the list from first to worst so far in 2026 is Energy (+24%), Materials (+18%), Industrials (+14%), Consumer Staples (+14%), Utilities (+11%), Real Estate (+3%), Healthcare (+3%), Communication Services (0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-4%), Information Technology (-6%), and Financials (-6%). By comparison, the S&P 500 is down 1.5% year to date.