Forex Signals May 18: NVIDIA, Walmart, Baidu, Home Depot, Ryanair Earnings Preview for the Week

Major companies including NVIDIA, Walmart, and The Home Depot headline a closely watched earnings week as investors look for fresh signals on AI spending, consumer demand, and global economic conditions.

Written by: Skerdian Meta • Monday, May 18, 2026 • 4 min read

• Last updated: Monday, May 18, 2026

Big Tech and Consumer Giants Lead the Earnings Lineup This Week

Quick overview

Major companies like NVIDIA, Walmart, and The Home Depot are set to report earnings this week, with a focus on AI spending and consumer demand.
NVIDIA's earnings report is highly anticipated, with expected EPS of 1.78 and revenue projections of USD 78.98 billion.
Walmart's results will provide insights into U.S. consumer health, while The Home Depot's earnings will shed light on housing activity and renovation demand.
Investors are also monitoring geopolitical tensions and their impact on companies exposed to China and global supply chains.

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Major companies including NVIDIA, Walmart, and The Home Depot headline a closely watched earnings week as investors look for fresh signals on AI spending, consumer demand, and global economic conditions.

• NVIDIA — Q1 2027 Earnings (AMC)

Expected EPS: 1.78
NVIDIA remains the most anticipated report of the week as investors closely monitor AI infrastructure spending and
data center demand.
Markets will focus on guidance tied to AI accelerators, China export restrictions, and hyperscaler investment trends.
Valuation expectations remain extremely high following the company’s massive rally over the past year.

Nvidia Earnings (Wed):

Reports earnings on Wednesday, 20th May at 21:30 BST/16:30 EDT, with investors closely watching the metrics given Nvidia’s leadership in AI. Nvidia continues to benefit from surging capital expenditure, with AMZN, GOOGL, META and MSFT already committing USD 695-725bln in 2026. Meanwhile, since the last earnings report at Nvidia’s GTC event, CEO Huang said last year saw around USD 500bln in high-confidence demand and purchase orders for Blackwell and Rubin, and now sees at least USD 1tln in demand through 2027, adding he is certain computing demand will be much higher than that. In the last earnings report, Nvidia guided Q1 revenue to between USD 76.44-79.56bln, above the expected USD 72.78bln.

For this quarter, adjusted EPS is seen at 1.78 and revenue at USD 78.98bln. For the next quarter, profit and revenue are projected at USD 1.96 and USD 96.78bln, respectively, while FY EPS is seen at USD 8.36 and revenue at USD 371.66bln. Nvidia shares have surged recently, rising 20% over the last month and 26.5% YTD to fresh record highs. Barron’s wrote that Nvidia’s rally is only getting started and that the stock remains cheap. Ahead of earnings, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its ‘Overweight’ rating, maintained Nvidia as a ‘Top Pick’, and raised its PT to USD 350 from USD 300. While it will not be reflected in these earnings metrics, CEO Huang may also be asked about his recent China visit, where US President Trump said the H200 did not come up in talks with China.

Earnings Calendar Highlights for the Week

This week’s earnings calendar covers several critical market themes, including AI infrastructure demand, consumer spending resilience, retail margins, and global travel trends. NVIDIA’s report is likely to dominate market attention, while Walmart and Home Depot may provide important insight into the strength of the U.S. consumer. At the same time, companies exposed to China and global supply chains could face additional scrutiny as investors remain cautious about geopolitical tensions, valuation risks, and slowing economic growth.

• Baidu — Q1 2026 Earnings (BMO)

Expected EPS: 11.43
Investors will focus heavily on AI monetization, cloud growth, and advertising trends in China.
Markets are also watching how ongoing U.S.-China technology tensions and domestic competition affect growth momentum.
Baidu’s AI initiatives remain a major long-term theme, particularly around autonomous driving and generative AI platforms.

• Ryanair — Q4 2026 Earnings (BMO)

Expected EPS: -1.00
Investors will monitor summer travel demand, ticket pricing trends, and fuel cost pressures.
The airline sector continues benefiting from strong travel activity, although geopolitical tensions and oil volatility
remain important risks.
Guidance for the upcoming travel season could drive significant volatility in European airline stocks.

• The Home Depot — Q1 2026 Earnings (BMO)

Expected EPS: 3.59
Traders are watching for updates on housing activity, consumer spending, and demand for renovation projects.
Higher interest rates and slower housing turnover have pressured parts of the home improvement sector in recent quarters.
Investors will also focus on professional contractor demand and inventory trends.

• e.l.f. Beauty — Q4 2026 Earnings (AMC)

Expected EPS: 0.29
Investors are looking for continued market share gains and updates on consumer demand within the beauty sector.
Margin performance and inventory management will remain key themes amid a more selective retail environment.
International expansion and digital sales growth may also attract attention.

• Walmart — Q1 2027 Earnings (BMO)

Expected EPS: 0.66
Walmart’s results are expected to provide one of the clearest reads on U.S. consumer health and inflation pressures.
Investors will watch grocery trends, discretionary spending, and e-commerce performance.
Guidance on pricing, margins, and consumer behavior could influence sentiment across the entire retail sector.

Last week, markets were quite volatile again, with gold soaring to $4,890 but retreating lower this week. EUR/USD climbed above 1.17 while main indices closed the week higher at new records. The moves weren’t too big though, and we opened 34 trading signals in total, finishing the week with 23 winning signals and 9 losing ones.

Gold Returns to $4,500

Although demand for safe haven assets is still high, gold fell precipitously from record highs following the Fed’s most recent rate cut comments, as profit-taking was prompted by Powell’s cautious tone. In December, gold jumped above $4,380 following the Federal Reserve’s announcement of a 25 basis point rate decrease. But the impetus soon waned, and prices dropped back to $4,004. The 20o daily SMA (red) held as support this week and buyers returned and pushed XAU above the $4,800 and above the 100 SMA (green). Chart XAUUSD, D1, 2026.05.17 21:46 UTC, MetaQuotes Ltd., MetaTrader 5, Demo

XAU/USD – Daily Chart

USD/JPY Rebounds

Foreign exchange markets saw sharp swings. Early in the week, U.S. yield differentials and Japanese capital outflows pushed the dollar above ¥150, but disappointing U.S. jobs data triggered profit-taking, causing the USD/JPY to slide by four yen from its peak. However, the new BOJ governor the JPY has weakened and USD/JPY soared to 154 and we decided to close our buy signal for more than 80 pips as the pair found support at the 20 daily SMA (gray) and has rebounded more than 200 pips off that MA but reversed after the 25 bps rate cut from the FED. The price approached $160 but reversed after the BOJ meeting and fell 8 cents but found support at $152 at the 100 daily SMA (red) and rebounded above 156 but have reversed down again this week after the Japanese elections. Chart USDJPY, D1, 2026.05.17 21:46 UTC, MetaQuotes Ltd., MetaTrader 5, Demo

USD/JPY – Daily Chart

Cryptocurrency Update

Bitcoin Returns Above $80K

Cryptocurrencies remained highly active over the summer. Bitcoin (BTC) climbed to fresh highs of $123,000 and $124,000 in July and August, supported by institutional inflows and technical strength. However, remarks from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ruling out U.S. increases to BTC reserves triggered a steep pullback, sending the coin down to $80K before finding support at the 100 weekly SMA (green). A rebound followed, sending BTC near $100 is the first major text for Bitcoin buyers. However BTC returned lower and fell below $80K, breaking below the but the 100 weekly SMA (green) but the decline stopped at the $60K support where the 200 weekly SMA (purple) stands and rebounded above $76K but returned to $70K again.

BTC/USD – Daily Chart

Ethereum Returns to $2,000

Ethereum (ETH) has been similarly strong, surging toward $4,800, its highest since 2021 and near its all-time peak of $4,860. Despite a dip last week, ETH found support at the 20-day SMA, with retail enthusiasm and renewed institutional participation driving fresh upside momentum. Last week we saw a dive below $2,000 but buyers returned n d pushed the price above $2K again.

ETH/USD – Weekly Chart

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Skerdian Meta

Lead Analyst

Skerdian Meta Lead Analyst. Skerdian is a professional Forex trader and a market analyst. He has been actively engaged in market analysis for the past 11 years. Before becoming our head analyst, Skerdian served as a trader and market analyst in Saxo Bank's local branch, Aksioner. Skerdian specialized in experimenting with developing models and hands-on trading. Skerdian has a masters degree in finance and investment.