Stocks rose on Friday on volatile artificial intelligence trading, leading the market to the upside this week. The S&P 500 rose 0.1% for the week, and the Nasdaq rose 0.5%. Although three of the past four weeks have been positive, the index was still slightly down for a seasonally strong December. What’s been keeping investors guessing lately have been concerns over AI funding issues in Oracle’s data center projects and broader concerns about the level of AI-related spending. .SPX .IXIC 5D Mountain S&P 500 and Nasdaq 5-Session Performance After a big selloff earlier in the week, the market rebounded on Thursday, rising as Micron Technology’s stock rose 7% to a record high following the memory solutions provider’s explosive earnings the night before. Face was saved for Oracle on Friday, with shares rising more than 6.5% after TikTok agreed to sell its U.S. operations to a new joint venture that includes the software and cloud infrastructure giant and private equity group Silver Lake. Oracle stock has fallen slightly this week. Here are five key moments that moved the market last week. 1. AI chip maker Nvidia was one of the hot stocks on Friday, with shares of the leading AI chip names ending the week up 3.4%. The US government has begun a formal review that could lead to the first shipments of Nvidia’s second most powerful H200 chip to China. In terms of valuation, Nvidia currently trades at 23.5 times estimated 2027 earnings. This is a bargain for a stock with a five-year average multiple of over 70x. That strength sent the stock price of the club, which owns Broadcom, up on Friday. But custom chip designers couldn’t overcome big losses on Monday and Wednesday, ending the week at 5.4%. 2. Nike Earnings Nike reported better-than-expected fiscal 2026 second-quarter earnings and earnings, gaining momentum for its turnaround in North America. However, the stock fell 10.5% on Friday, halting a four-session losing streak, due to weaker China sales and a disappointing third-quarter earnings outlook. Nike stock has fallen 13% this week. Jim Cramer called Nike’s post-earnings drop in stock a buying opportunity and expressed confidence in CEO Elliott Hill’s ability to right the ship. After going to press Thursday evening, we reiterated our rating of 1, the equivalent of a buy, but lowered our price target from $80 to $75. 3. Capital One Correction On Friday, we strengthened our position in Capital One, posting a solid 36% gain on the stock we purchased in March. The credit card issuer’s stock, which closed at a record high on Thursday, has risen 20% since the close of trading on Nov. 20, outpacing the S&P 500’s rise of about 3.5% over the same period. The sale does not change our investment policy. We remain bullish on Capital One through 2026 as we expect to benefit from the Discover acquisition and increased share repurchases. The day before trading, they raised their price target for Capital One from $250 to $270. However, we downgraded the rating to 2, the equivalent of Hold. 4. Buying Texas Roadhouse We added a position in Texas Roadhouse on Wednesday. Despite reports that consumers are weakening, the company has been a bright spot in the restaurant space. The company has demonstrated consistent performance at comparable sales due to competitive pricing, while balancing headwinds from rising beer prices. 5. Costco Downsizing On Tuesday, we cut our position in Costco in half as the stock struggles in a tough retail environment. We decided to take action after the membership retailer conducted another mixed quarter on December 11th. The renewal rate for Q1 FY2026 decreased sequentially from the previous quarter. We are concerned that a slowdown in renewal rates could put pressure on revenue growth. The company’s monthly sales are also sluggish, and purchases of items other than food have declined. We realized a 200% return on the stocks we purchased in early 2020. (The Jim Cramer Charitable Trust has long standings with NVDA, AVGO, NKE, COF, COST, and TXRH. See here for a complete list of stocks.) As a subscriber to Jim Cramer’s CNBC Investment Club, you’ll receive trade alerts before Jim makes a trade. After Jim sends a trade alert, he waits 45 minutes before buying or selling stocks in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim talks about a stock on CNBC TV, he will issue a trade alert and then wait 72 hours before executing the trade. The above investment club information is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, along with our disclaimer. No fiduciary duties or obligations exist or arise from your receipt of information provided in connection with the Investment Club. No specific results or benefits are guaranteed.
