AMD Jumped 17%. Coinbase Lost $394 Million. And The Fed Has More Cracks Than It Has In 30 Years.

This Week's Numbers

• +17% in one day. AMD posted its best post-earnings performance in seven years after Q1 data center revenue hit a record $5.8 billion, up 57% year-over-year.

• $394 million loss. Coinbase (COIN) missed badly on Q1. Revenue fell 31% year-over-year. The company then announced it was cutting 700 jobs, roughly 14% of its workforce.

• 10.6%. Disney (DIS)'s streaming business hit a double-digit operating margin for the first time ever. Parks set Q2 records. The stock rose more than 8% on the week.

• US revenue +104%. Palantir (PLTR) crushed Q1 expectations again and raised full-year guidance. US commercial revenue more than doubled year-over-year.

• 4 dissenters. The Fed held rates at 3.50-3.75% last week. Four FOMC members voted against the decision, the most dissent since 1992. Chair Powell announced he will stay on the Board after his term ends May 15.

AMD just had its best post-earnings day in seven years. Coinbase lost $394 million and laid off 700 people. Disney quietly became a streaming company that actually makes money. And the Fed is showing more cracks than it has in three decades. This was not a quiet week.

The Brief

Monday started fine. Palantir dropped Q1 results after the bell and they were massive. US revenue up 104% year-over-year. Management raised guidance again. The stock initially sold off on profit-taking before recovering through the week. Then AMD reported Tuesday night and everything shifted. Data center revenue hit $5.8 billion, a record, up 57% from a year ago. Total revenue came in at $10.3 billion, smashing estimates. The stock jumped 17% on Wednesday. Best post-earnings reaction in seven years. Disney followed Wednesday with a clean beat. Its streaming business, the one everyone said would never be profitable, crossed 10.6% operating margin for the first time. Parks hit quarterly records again. Thursday brought the bad news. Coinbase missed on every metric. Revenue fell 31% year-over-year. The company posted a $394 million net loss and announced it was cutting 700 employees, 14% of its staff. And meanwhile, the Fed is quietly fracturing. The FOMC held rates steady last week but four members voted against it, the most internal dissent since 1992. Powell announced he will stay on the Board of Governors after his chair term expires May 15, citing legal proceedings at the Fed. The market is still digesting what that means.

AMD: The Data Center Story Nobody Was Expecting

Going into Tuesday's report, AMD was supposed to be the scrappy No. 2 to Nvidia (NVDA). Then the numbers came out.

Data center revenue hit $5.8 billion. That's a record. Up 57% from the same quarter a year ago. Total revenue came in at $10.3 billion, a 38% increase year-over-year. Non-GAAP EPS of $1.37 beat estimates by $0.08. Q2 guidance of $11.2 billion crushed the $10.52 billion consensus.

The stock jumped 17% on Wednesday. Its best single-day post-earnings reaction since 2019.

The thesis is simple. The hyperscalers, the Amazons, the Microsofts, the Googles (GOOGL), they are buying more AMD chips. Not instead of Nvidia. In addition to Nvidia. There is not enough supply of AI compute in the world right now. AMD is winning deals it couldn't get two years ago.

"The data center opportunity is bigger than anyone modeled. AMD is capturing share in a market that is still expanding."

The bear case is real. Nvidia still dominates the top of the AI training market. AMD's MI300X chips are winning on cost, not performance. If Nvidia closes the price gap, AMD's momentum stalls. And at 35x forward earnings, this stock is priced for continued perfection.

You don't have to trust the hype. Trust the data center revenue. It was $5.8 billion last quarter. Guidance points to more. The next number to watch is Q2.

Coinbase: Crypto Winter Came Back

Coinbase had a rough quarter and did not pretend otherwise. Revenue dropped from $2.03 billion a year ago to $1.41 billion in Q1 2026, a 31% decline. Net loss came in at $394 million. Trading volume fell 50%. The company reported an unrealized loss of $482 million on its own crypto holdings.

Then Thursday morning, it announced it was cutting 700 jobs, roughly 14% of its workforce.

The bull case is still alive. Coinbase hit an all-time high crypto trading market share of 8.6%. Stablecoin revenue held at $305 million. CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to the "Everything Exchange" strategy and a new push into AI-native commerce. The $4.29 billion Deribit acquisition closed, expanding derivatives significantly.

But the pattern is the same as 2022. When crypto prices drop, Coinbase bleeds. The business model is not diversified enough yet to survive a sustained downturn in trading volume. The layoffs are the proof.

The Fed Is Fracturing

Four FOMC members voted against holding rates last week. That's the most internal dissent the Fed has seen since 1992. One member wanted a cut. Three wanted to hold but remove the language hinting at future easing.

Jerome Powell, whose term as Fed Chair expires May 15, announced he will not step down from the Board of Governors. He cited ongoing legal proceedings involving the Fed and said he intends to stay to ensure "transparency and finality." The next FOMC meeting is June 16-17.

It's kinda like a company where the CEO's contract ran out, but he's still showing up to board meetings. The question is who actually runs policy now, and whether the dissent grows louder by June.

P.S. AMD reports Q2 earnings in late July. The number to beat is $11.2 billion. If data center keeps running at this pace, the stock has a long way to go before the valuation feels stretched.