LT Weekly: May 8, 2026
Markets RALLIED in this heavy earnings week. Nasdaq was up +4.5% while the S&P 500 rose +2.3%, which is the 6th-straight weekly gain and both indices ended at fresh record highs. Software was a leading sector (IGV +5.2%) and was also higher for a 4th-straight week. Optimism regarding a diplomatic solution with Iran was a key driver, in addition to earnings continuing to broadly come in stronger than expected. Per Factset, 89% of S&P 500 companies have reported and the blended earnings growth rate of +27.7% is the fastest pace since Q4:21 and well ahead of the 13.1% expected at the end of the quarter.
This is another heavy earnings-oriented edition, so we had to pick our spots!
- Earning Scorecard - Week 4
- It Was A Strong Opening Act At Disney, Though Little Changed In The Script
- No Chg To PSKY’s 2026 Outlook & The Co Is Progressing Structural Changes Ahead Of The WBD Deal Close
- WBD Makes Some Progress Ahead Of The PSKY Deal Close
- WMG’s Execution Is Matching The Long-Term Growth Algorithm
- Live Nation & TKO Keep Hitting Play As Live Entertainment Dismisses The Macro Backdrop
- DKNG Is Going All-In On Predictions In H2
- Shopify’s Higher Investment Adds More Fuel To The AI Worries Fire
- Pinterest and Snap Navigate a Shared Playbook, But With Diverging Outlooks
- Uber, DoorDash & Instacart’s Results All Point To Resilient Last Mile Demand, But Forward Signals Show Different Paths
Lastly, LionTree Advisors is proud to have served as financial advisor to Siris Capital Group on the $4.2bn sale of Equinti, a leading global transfer agent, to Bullish.
Enjoy the weekend, especially all my fellow mothers! I hope that you will all be pampered! 😊
Have a nice weekend.
Best,
Leslie
Earning Scorecard - Week 4
A whopping 74 stocks in our LionTree Universe reported in this Week 4 of earnings! Stock reactions were slightly biased to the positive side, with 37 (51%) stocks trading up and 35 (49%) stocks trading down. The best performer in reaction to earnings was Rackspace, which was up +55.1%, while the worst performer was Criteo, which fell -21.2%.
It was a pivotal week for Media Entertainment with Disney, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery all reporting (see Themes #2, #3, and #4, respectively) and the former led with a +7.5% positive reaction to results. Warner Music Group rallied +7.2% in reaction (see Theme #5), and Live Nation and TKO were also in focus, with Live Nation up +6.7% and TKO down -1.6% in reaction (see Theme #6).
Sports betting was represented by DraftKings, which was up a modest +1.6% in reaction to earnings (see Theme #7). In Commerce and Consumer Internet, Shopify fell -15.6% (see Theme #8), while Pinterest and Snap were up +6.9% and down -2.1%, respectively (see Theme #9) post their earnings reports. Rideshare / last-mile was also in focus, with Uber up +8.5%, DoorDash up +2.0%, and Instacart down -8.2% in reaction to earnings (see Theme #10).
Other notable prints that we wanted to highlight, but were not able to do our usual deep dives for include: