Big Banks’ Bonanza

Big Banks’ Bonanza

Wall Street’s top banks posted nearly $37bn in Q1 trading revenue — the highest level in over a decade — as US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies sparked wild market swings. JPMorgan [JPM], Goldman Sachs [GS], Morgan Stanley [MS], Bank of America [BAC] and Citigroup [C] all saw equities trading revenue soar, theFinancial Times reported, with a combined $16bn gain, up 34% year-over-year. Fixed income trading also jumped 6% to $21bn.

Chip Stocks Under Pressure

Nvidia [NVDA] will require a special US license to ship its H20 GPUs to China, which will result a $5.5bn hit in its next earnings. The move adds to mounting pressure on the sector from tariffs, which could cost US chipmakers over $1bn annually. Applied Materials [AMAT], Lam Research [LRCX] and KLA [KLAC] each risk $350m in yearly losses, Reuters reported, while smaller players like Onto Innovation [ONTO] also face multimillion-dollar hits. 

ASML Earnings Miss 

In further concerning news for the chip sector, Dutch chip giant [ASML] reported Q1 net bookings of €3.94bn Wednesday, missing analyst expectations of €4.89bn; CEO Christophe Fouquet said tariffs were “creating a new uncertainty”, although demand outlook remained “strong”, driven by artificial intelligence. Read OPTO’s deep dive into ASML stock, alongside two other big players in the space.

Trump Moves to Cut Drug Prices

President Trump signed an executive order aimed at cutting prescription drug prices, targeting the so-called “pill penalty” in Medicare negotiations. The order directs Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to revise rules that subjected small-molecule drugs — like pills and tablets — to price caps four years earlier than biologics. Drugmakers had warned this discouraged investment in lower-cost medicines.

Netflix: $1trn by 2030?

The streaming giant [NFLX] aims to hit a $1trn market cap by end of the decade, up from $400bn today, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The company also intends to double revenue to $78bn, relying heavily on ad growth. Netflix made $39bn in 2024 revenue and reportedly plans for $9bn in ad sales by 2030. Ad-supported streaming, launched in 2022, is now central to its long-term strategy.

Figma to IPO Despite Slowdown

Figma has confidentially filed for a US IPO, aiming to go public regardless of a slowdown in the pipeline, Bloomberg detailed: both Klarna and eToro have pressed pause on their own IPOs. The app design software start-up was valued at $12.5bn in a 2024 share sale. Its IPO plans surface over a year after a failed merger with Adobe [ADBE] due to regulatory pushback. 

Tariffs: A Bitter Pill for Pharma Stocks?

President Trump’s tariff pause may have brought some relief to global markets, but pharmaceutical companies are still in danger, with Trump threatening tariffs on medicines “at a level that you haven’t really seen before”. OPTO examines the operations of two pharma giants and two generic drugmakers with a significant US presence, to see if some winners might emerge from the chaos.