Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: IBM, Walmart, Rocket Lab, Nvidia & more

Premarket trading was driven by a broad mix of company-specific catalysts: quantum computing stocks jumped 8% to 17% on reports of a potential $2 billion government grant program with equity stakes, while Walmart fell 2% on weaker full-year and current-quarter guidance. Intuit dropped 14% after announcing a 17% workforce reduction and missing revenue estimates, while Nvidia was little changed despite reporting Q1 revenue of $81.62 billion, up 85% year over year and above consensus. E.l.f. Beauty rose 7% on a top- and bottom-line beat, and Star Bulk Carriers gained 3% after EPS and revenue beat expectations.

Analysis

This tape is less about “good earnings, bad earnings” and more about policy plus dispersion. The quantum complex is getting a credibility repricing: if federal money is tied to strategic participation, the market is effectively assigning a quasi-sovereign backstop to a handful of capital-hungry names, which can compress financing risk and lift multiples well beyond the grant dollars themselves. The second-order winner is the adjacent supply chain—IBM and GFS benefit more from being enabling picks-and-shovels than from any near-term quantum revenue, while the real loser may be private competitors who now face higher cost of capital and a tougher talent market.

Walmart’s guide-down matters because it is a direct read-through on the consumer’s willingness to absorb price, not just unit demand. If a top-tier operator is already signaling margin sensitivity, that argues for a broader disinflationary impulse in discretionary baskets over the next 1-2 quarters, especially where tariff pass-through is visible and brand elasticity is limited. E.l.f.’s reaction suggests the market is rewarding any company willing to give back pricing power to defend volume, which is an ominous setup for higher-end beauty and other premiumized categories.

Intuit’s move looks like the clearest near-term overreaction: cost cuts can help the story, but the revenue miss hints at slowing small-business activity or weaker tax-season monetization, both of which can bleed into the next two quarters. The more important risk is that this is not an isolated software issue but an early-cycle warning on SMB demand and hiring, which would also pressure payment, payroll, and horizontal SaaS names. Meanwhile, Nvidia’s muted response to a huge print suggests the bar is now shifting from beat-and-raise to “prove incremental supply is enough,” so upside from here is likely more about multiple sustainability than headline growth.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long QBTS/RGTIW basket vs. short INTU for a 2-6 week relative-value trade: buy the policy-supported speculative winners while shorting the name with deteriorating fundamentals and operating leverage to slower SMB demand; target 15-20% relative outperformance, stop if quantum names give back more than half the premarket move.
• Buy IBM or GFS as lower-beta quantum enablers, financed by short QUBT: if the government support thesis holds, the best risk/reward is in infrastructure and ecosystem suppliers rather than the highest-duration pure plays; use a 1-3 month horizon and trim into continued retail momentum.
• Short WMT into any post-gap stabilization or use put spreads for a 1-2 month view: consumer elasticity and margin pressure likely worsen as price cuts ripple through the category; risk/reward improves if the stock fails to reclaim its premarket breakdown level.
• Fade INTU via put spreads or a short into strength for the next earnings window: the market may underappreciate how much of the growth algorithm depended on a healthy SMB backdrop; look for a 10-15% downside scenario if revenue deceleration persists.
• Treat NVDA as a hold, not an add, unless there is evidence of new incremental supply from customers or sovereign demand: the print confirms demand is intact, but the muted stock reaction argues the easy multiple expansion phase is likely over for 3-6 months.