SK Hynix (000660.KS) shares jumped 9% on Wednesday, pushing the memory chip maker to a $1 trillion valuation in Asia just hours after peer Micron Technology (MU) crossed the same milestone on Tuesday.
Wall Street had anticipated SK Hynix would join the club as the last of the industry’s “big three” to reach the valuation after Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) first crossed the mark earlier this month .
May has become a month of trillion-dollar milestones for the memory chip giants, as soaring demand has tightened supply and created a key bottleneck in the AI trade.
SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung have become major beneficiaries of the AI boom as demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) chips has surged alongside AI training and inference workloads. Their production is allocated through 2026.
On Tuesday, Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives explained why he added SK Hynix to his IVES exchange-traded fund (ETF).
“When you look at what SK’s doing … they’re going to be part of this memory super cycle coming out,” Ives said. “They’re in the winner’s circle.”
SK Hynix shares have surged more than 248% year to date, while Samsung Electronics has gained about 165%, and Micron is up more than 210%.
Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre noted on Tuesday that Micron is now the 11th-largest US public company. The stock has also emerged as a key driver of this year’s semiconductor rally, helping propel the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) to record highs.
Ether’s (ETH) price sell-off is gathering steam amid broader market risk aversion. Yet its futures market is busier than ever, creating a notable divergence with bearish implications.
ETH dropped below $2,000 on Thursday morning for the first time since late March. It is down nearly 8% over the past seven days, with losses exceeding 5% in the last 24 hours alone, according to CoinDesk data.
“More and more people giving up on ETH as it doesn’t generate revenue and with higher bond yields the staking yield is unattractive. The only buyer has been Bitmine but they indicated that they will slow down their purchases,” Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said in an email.
What makes ether’s sell-off particularly interesting is that open interest in ether futures has risen for the third straight day, hitting a record high of 16.39 million tokens, according to data source Coinglass. That equates to a notional open interest of about $32.5 billion. In simple terms, more money is flowing into futures, a leveraged product that amplifies both gains and losses.
However, this record open interest, combined with a negative seven-day OI-adjusted cumulative volume delta (CVD) and the falling spot price, points to aggressive net selling. A negative CVD indicates that price action is being driven by traders taking bearish bets via market orders rather than passive limit orders.
The bearish bias is not limited to futures. Spot Ether ETFs listed in the U.S. have seen cumulative outflows of $401 million this month, more than reversing the $354 million inflow recorded in April, according to SoSoValue data.
Sentiment around Ether has also deteriorated. The Ethereum Foundation has faced high-profile departures, including prominent contributors Carl Beekhuizen and Julian Ma.
“High profile departures from the Ethereum Foundation are also a sign that the original vision is no longer capturing these followers,” Thielen said.
This trend extends to prominent thought leaders and long-time holders. David Hoffman, co-founder of Bankless, recently announced he sold his ETH holdings after concluding that the long-standing thesis of “ETH is money” has largely played out.
Some analysts believe the market is increasingly questioning how much of Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi, tokenization, and other sectors is flowing back to its native token ETH.
“Ethereum’s problem is not that the chain has stopped mattering. It is that the market is questioning how Ethereum’s infrastructure strength translates back to ETH,” Web3 research and consultancy firm House of Chimera said on X.
The firm added that Ethereum still leads other smart contract blockchains in raw ecosystem development activity, with millions of meaningful GitHub events, but noted that prices and sentiment can weaken faster than developer commitment.
Salesforce really wants to counter the narrative that an AI-related “saaspocalypse” has endangered its growth.
So, alongside its record first-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Wednesday, the cloud software giant commenced its largest-ever accelerated share repurchase at $25 billion. In doing so, the company juiced its earnings per share but cut its full-year cash flow growth outlook roughly in half to account for the debt issued to fund the block share repurchase.
The $25 billion accelerated share repurchase (ASR) is part of a $50 billion stock buyback authorization the Salesforce board approved in February 2026. In the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Salesforce returned $27.5 billion to shareholders, including $27.1 billion in the mega-share block purchase plus $365 million in dividends. The ASR included upfront delivery of 103 million shares and drove Salesforce’s diluted share count down 10% year over year.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said on Wednesday’s earnings video vodcast that the company has “returned record levels to our investors,” noting that it was especially important during “this unusual time.” Salesforce’s stock is down 16% year to date, and 36% below its 52-week high, as Wall Street frets that the advent of AI spells trouble for software-as-a-service vendors like Salesforce and ServiceNow.
According to Salesforce Finance Chief Robin Washington, the buying spree helped increase the first quarter earnings per share and GAAP earnings per share by 23 cents and 14 cents, respectively.
To fund the ASR, Salesforce issued $25 billion debt, which led to a five percentage-point headwind to operating cash flow and free cash flow growth for the full year. Benioff had signaled the company’s new appetite for debt in the previous earnings call in February when he told investors that the company was “very under leveraged,” and that “we want to use our capital correctly, and I think debt is a great way to do that.”
As a result of the debt issuance, Salesforce slashed its fiscal 2027 free cash flow growth guidance to 4% to 5% year-over-year, down from the 9% to 10% range it guided in February.
In addition to the guidance cut, Salesforce slightly raised its full-year revenue outlook to $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion from $45.9 billion to $46.2 billion. Washington said the company expects organic revenue acceleration during the second half of fiscal 2027, mostly fueled by sales and service growth, Slack, and its Agentforce.
For its other results, Salesforce posted quarterly revenue of $11.1 billion, up 13% year-over-year, and above the company’s guidance, which ranged from $11.03 billion to $11.08 billion. GAAP earnings per share rose to $2.42, and non-GAAP EPS rose to $3.88. Both were helped by the block ARS and boosted results by 50% or more. Current remaining performance obligations, a proxy for future revenues, hit $33.6 billion, up 14%, year over year.
Shares of Salesforce dipped less than 1% in after hours trading on Wednesday following the results.
Marvell Technology (MRVL) is heading into its May 27 earnings report with gaining fresh Wall Street attention.
Last week, Stifel raised its price target on Marvell to a Street-high $210 from $140, predicting a beat and raise for the upcoming quarter. Investors welcome the news and shares climbed about 3% hitting the fresh all-time high at $198 following the note on Friday. Traders are increasingly betting that the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom is still in its early stages, even after Marvell’s stock has already surged triple digits year-to-date in 2026.
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The company has quietly become one of the most important suppliers in the AI ecosystem. Marvell designs custom silicon, optical interconnects, and networking hardware that allow hyperscale data centers to move massive amounts of data without bottlenecks. Every major AI buildout needs faster connectivity, and that is exactly where Marvell fits in.
Stock Movement Shows Strong AI Optimism
Marvell stock’s performance tells the story clearly. Shares are up about 243% over the past year, dramatically outperforming the broader semiconductor sector and the S&P 500.
Technically, the momentum remains strong. Marvell’s 50-day simple moving average sits near $133, while the 200-day moving average rests around $101. That gap reflects the aggressive buying pressure that has followed the company throughout 2026.
Two major developments helped fuel that rally. Recently, Nvidia (NVDA) invested $2 billion into Marvell through convertible preferred stock and expanded its partnership with the company to integrate Marvell’s custom XPUs and optical connectivity products into the NVLink Fusion ecosystem. Marvell also acquired Celestial AI and XConn, strengthening its position in AI scale-up networking and optical infrastructure.
When Nvidia backs a company with a multibillion-dollar investment, Wall Street pays attention.
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Valuation Looks Expensive, but Growth Is Backing It Up
That performance comes with some premium. Marvell stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio above 43x and an enterprise-value-to-sales multiple near 20.2x.
For comparison, the sector median EV/sales ratio is around 3.6x. That is an enormous premium, and it highlights how much future AI growth investors are already pricing into the stock.
Still, Marvell’s growth metrics help explain the valuation. Revenue expanded 42% year-over-year, far above the semiconductor sector median of roughly 11%. The company also posted a net income margin near 33%, compared with a sector median closer to 6%.
Investors are clearly willing to pay a premium for a company tied directly to AI infrastructure spending. If Marvell continues growing revenue above 30% annually, today’s valuation may eventually look justified. But if AI spending slows, the stock could face meaningful pressure given how much optimism is already built into the shares.
Latest Quarterly Results Highlight Data Center Strength
Marvell’s latest quarterly results reinforced the bullish narrative. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $2.2 billion on March 5, up 22% from the prior year and slightly ahead of analyst expectations.
The data center business remained the primary growth engine, generating $1.65 billion in revenue during the quarter. That accounted for roughly 74% of total company sales.
Management also highlighted strong cash generation. Cash from operations totaled $374 million during the quarter, while cash and equivalents stood at $2.64 billion at quarter end.
Guidance Suggests More AI Expansion Ahead
Looking forward, management guided first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue to $2.4 billion, plus or minus 5%, alongside EPS between $0.74 and $0.84.
For the full fiscal year, Marvell expects revenue growth above 30%, putting annual sales close to $11 billion. The company also raised its fiscal 2028 revenue target to approximately $15 billion, signaling confidence that AI networking demand remains strong.
Wall Street analysts are modeling full-year revenue near those levels, with EPS expectations above $3 for fiscal 2027.
That outlook suggests hyperscaler AI spending is still accelerating rather than slowing down.
Analyst Opinions Remain Overwhelmingly Bullish
Wall Street sentiment on Marvell remains highly positive. According to Barchart data, the stock carries a “Strong Buy” consensus rating based on 36 analysts in coverage.
However, the average analyst price target sits around $150, implying downside risk of around 28% from current levels.
Separately, Stifel analyst Tore Svanberg recently raised his target to $210 from $140 and said he expects Marvell to deliver an earnings beat on May 27. He also increased his fiscal 2027 data center revenue growth forecast to more than 40%, while projecting interconnect revenue growth above 50%.
Likewise, Citi analyst Atif Malik lifted his target to $215, citing strong Trainium-related demand. Bank of America increased its target to $200 after raising its AI networking market opportunity forecast. RBC Capital Markets also moved to $200, highlighting optical connectivity momentum, while Wells Fargo raised its target to $195 on expectations for further AWS Trainium expansion.
Most bullish calls share the same core thesis. Marvell’s custom silicon pipeline is scaling faster than expected, and the Nvidia partnership gives the company added credibility with institutional investors.
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On the date of publication, Nauman Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com
Ethereum [ETH] has been trading around the $2,000 range lately – A level that it has stayed above since May 2025. However, the price charts reveal an interesting phenomenon when the volatility of the altcoin is overlaid.
In fact, the drop in ETH volatility to a multi-year low signals a potential end to a long-term accumulation trend.
A new low on the VI
According to Amberdata, the Ethereum volatility index dropped below 50 for the first time since early 2024. At press time, it had a reading of 48, slightly above the January 2024 reading of 45.
After such a low reading in 2024, the price of Ethereum rallied from $2,230 to $4,170 in just two and a half months. This move was equivalent to a 170% rally, aligning with volatility that expanded to the 73-mark.
The reaction confirmed that low volatility precedes high volatility, which in turn drives prices. Periods of low volatility usually mean accumulation may be ongoing.
Source: Amberdata
Like Ethereum, Bitcoin has been seeing low volatility too. Interestingly, its value has been even lower than ETH’s volatility value. According to Glassnode analyst Chris Beamish, BTC DVOL was back near 35, in line with last year’s lows.
This synchronized reading hinted at a looming price breakout for the two largest-capped cryptos.
Is ETH price accumulation over now?
Other indicators confirmed the low volatility too. For instance, the lower Bollinger Band (BB) on the weekly chart was matching the lowest volatility levels between 2024 and 2025.
Additionally, the Historical Volatility indicator, smoothed by a 10-week average, matched the 2024 lows. Its reading was 33.19 at press time.
Historically, this alludes to a potential rebound to the upside. However, for a market structure shift, ETH’s price must close above the middle BB at around $2,200.
Using previous occurrences where volatility rebounded, Ethereum might rally back above $4,000. This prediction can be supported by the fact that prices have been ranging above $2,000 for the better part of this year.
Source: ETH/USD on TradingView
However, some big players believe Ethereum has succeeded as a network but failed as money. For instance, the co-founder of Bankless, David Hoffman, sold all his ETH holdings. This, despite building his career, community, and business on Ethereum.
The altcoin is also facing short-term competition from AI narrative tokens. ETH is still down 30% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis while ETH/BTC is at a new low. Some of its revenue is also shifting to chains like Solana [SOL] and Hyperliquid [HYPE].
Therefore, this time could be different, and the low volatility might not result in similar successes as before. Hence, traders need to observe how the price reacts around key levels like $2,200.
Final Summary
Ethereum’s volatility index dropped below 50 – A level last seen in early 2024.
Ethereum has been ranging around $2,000, aligning with low volatility readings which usually signal accumulation.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission wants to tear up the remnants of an old dispute with crypto exchange Gemini, with the agency insisting that its own staff’s assertions about Gemini making misleading statements weren’t handled properly.
The CFTC filed a request alongside Gemini in federal court to negate a settlement secured at the start of last year, with the current agency essentially disputing the conclusions of the previous agency. After a review of the case, the CFTC “concluded the complaint should not have been filed — and would not have been under current enforcement standards,” it said in a Wednesday statement.
In January of 2025, Gemini agreed to resolve an enforcement action with a $5 million fine and other requirements, settling a matter that began in 2017. In meetings with the CFTC back then, its staff had determined that Gemini allegedly made false statements about the relative difficulty of manipulating bitcoin futures contracts and the regulator pursued an enforcement action in 2022.
If the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York grants the request to cancel the settlement and toss the case, the remainder of Gemini’s requirements under the agreement will be nullified — including its injunction preventing the company from making false or misleading statements to the commission in the future.
The CFTC has dramatically reversed its previous relationship with the crypto industry since the arrival of the administration of President Donald Trump just days after the Gemini settlement, and the subsequent appointment of CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, who has embraced digital assets as one of his top policy goals.
Trump has also sought to champion the industry, including specifically welcoming Gemini’s founders, the Winklevoss brothers, to White House events.
The president’s previous nominee to run the CFTC, former Commissioner Brian Quintenz, said last year in posts on X (formerly Twitter) that the Winklevoss brothers had asked him to review the settlement and suggested they were unhappy that he refused to commit to anything further than a review of the case. Trump withdrew his nomination just under three weeks later.
The president’s pro-crypto agenda was on display Wednesday in a posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, where he said, “The new Frontier of Finance is being Built in America, and ‘TRUMP’ will NEVER let Crypto down!”
Ethereum [ETH] attracted renewed speculative attention after a trader expanded his 25x leveraged ETH long position to 6,325 ETH, valued near $13 million.
Despite facing unrealized losses of more than $33 million, the trader deposited an additional $287,913 USDC into HyperLiquid. This aggressive positioning highlighted growing conviction among derivatives traders, even as ETH continued to struggle below key resistance levels.
However, the move also highlighted rising liquidation risk because extremely leveraged positions remained vulnerable during sharp volatility swings. Market participants increasingly monitored whether whale traders still expected a broader recovery structure from current levels.
Therefore, the expanding position suggested confidence remained active despite Ethereum’s prolonged consolidation phase and weakening higher timeframe structure.
Bulls still dominate Binance positioning
Binance top trader data continued reflecting strong bullish sentiment across perpetual markets despite Ethereum’s recent weakness.
At press time, long accounts represented 78.38% of total trader positioning, while short accounts remained near 21.62%, pushing the Long/Short Ratio toward 3.63. The imbalance showed leveraged traders still heavily favored upside continuation instead of preparing for a broader correction.
However, crowded long positioning historically increased downside liquidation risks whenever volatility intensified around major resistance levels.
In addition, persistent bullish positioning suggested institutional and high-frequency participants still anticipated recovery attempts toward higher resistance zones despite deteriorating short-term price structure.
Source: CoinGlass
Ethereum struggles below major resistance
Ethereum continued consolidating between the key $2,036 support and the $2,419 resistance zone throughout recent sessions. Price repeatedly defended the lower demand region while failing to establish stronger continuation above nearby recovery levels.
The daily chart reflected weakening structure after ETH rejected higher prices earlier this month near the upper resistance boundary. However, sellers still lacked enough strength to force a decisive breakdown below support.
This range-bound structure increasingly reflected uncertainty across both spot and derivatives markets.
Traders closely monitored whether ETH could reclaim the $2,419 resistance because such recovery would likely improve broader market sentiment. Otherwise, continued rejection below resistance could increase downside pressure toward the lower consolidation boundary again.
Directional Movement Index readings continued reflecting bearish control despite Ethereum’s ongoing consolidation near support. At the time of writing, ADX climbed near 30 while the -DI indicator held around 25.58, remaining significantly above the +DI reading near 9.98.
The structure suggested bearish trend strength still dominated current price action even though ETH stabilized above critical support.
Source: TradingView
Ethereum Funding Rates stay strongly positive
At press time, Funding Rates remained firmly positive near 0.0162 as derivatives traders continued favoring long positioning across perpetual markets. The metric climbed more than 55%, reflecting growing willingness among traders to pay premiums for maintaining bullish exposure.
Such conditions usually appeared when speculative confidence strengthened despite uncertain price structure.
However, persistently elevated Funding Rates also increased the probability of volatility-driven liquidations whenever price momentum weakened sharply.
Market participants increasingly evaluated whether bullish derivatives positioning aligned with Ethereum’s relatively weak technical structure near resistance.
Source: CryptoQuant
To conclude, Ethereum continued attracting aggressive leveraged confidence despite unstable market structure and persistent bearish trend signals.
Binance traders still heavily favored long exposure, while Funding Rates reinforced speculative optimism across derivatives markets. However, ETH remained trapped below the critical $2,419 resistance while DMI readings still favored sellers.
If buyers reclaimed higher resistance levels, Ethereum would likely strengthen recovery conditions further. Otherwise, excessive leverage could increase the probability of another liquidation-driven correction toward lower support zones.
Final Summary
Ethereum traders continued increasing long exposure despite weakening higher timeframe trend structure.
ETH defended key support, though bearish DMI pressure still dominated broader market direction.
