{"id":61696,"date":"2026-05-07T16:38:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-retreats-amid-middle-east-tensions-airbnb-and-gilead-post-earnings-beats\/61696\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T16:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T20:38:19","slug":"market-retreats-amid-middle-east-tensions-airbnb-and-gilead-post-earnings-beats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/market-retreats-amid-middle-east-tensions-airbnb-and-gilead-post-earnings-beats\/61696\/","title":{"rendered":"Market Retreats Amid Middle East Tensions; Airbnb and Gilead Post Earnings Beats"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Major U.S. indices closed lower<\/strong> as geopolitical instability in the Middle East weighed on sentiment, with the <strong>Dow falling 0.61%<\/strong> and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> dropping 0.37%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Airbnb (<a href=\"\/stock\/ABNB\">ABNB<\/a>)<\/strong> and <strong>Gilead Sciences (<a href=\"\/stock\/GILD\">GILD<\/a>)<\/strong> both exceeded Q1 expectations, though Gilead warned of a <strong>2026 loss<\/strong> due to massive R&amp;D charges.<\/li>\n<li><strong>CoreWeave (<a href=\"\/stock\/CRWV\">CRWV<\/a>)<\/strong> reported record bookings and a revenue beat of <strong>$2.08 billion<\/strong>, but its <strong>$740 million net loss<\/strong> was wider than analysts anticipated.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geopolitical tensions spiked<\/strong> following reports that the <strong>U.S. Army intercepted an Iranian oil tanker<\/strong>, leading to retaliatory missile fire and drone activity in the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fed\u2019s John Williams<\/strong> reaffirmed a &quot;full commitment&quot; to the <strong>2% inflation target<\/strong>, noting that while the economy is resilient, it faces <strong>high levels of uncertainty<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Markets Slide as Geopolitical Risks Escalate<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. equity markets finished the session in the red on Thursday as investors reacted to a sharp escalation of tensions in the Middle East. The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average<\/strong> dropped <strong>305.68 points (0.61%)<\/strong> to close at <strong>49,604.91<\/strong>, while the <strong>S&amp;P 500<\/strong> fell <strong>27.25 points (0.37%)<\/strong> to <strong>7,337.87<\/strong>. The <strong>Nasdaq Composite<\/strong> saw a more modest decline of <strong>0.16%<\/strong>, ending the day at <strong>25,796.93<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Market anxiety centered on the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, where Iranian state media reported that the <strong>U.S. Army<\/strong> intercepted an Iranian oil tanker. This event was followed by reports of <strong>missile fire<\/strong> targeting &quot;enemy units&quot; and the activation of Iranian air defenses to destroy &quot;hostile drones&quot; near <strong>Bandar Abbas and Qeshm<\/strong>. <em>The potential for a broader conflict in the critical energy corridor remains a primary concern for global markets.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Airbnb and Gilead Beat Estimates; CoreWeave Loss Widens<\/h2>\n<p>Airbnb (<a href=\"\/stock\/ABNB\">ABNB<\/a>) reported strong Q1 results, posting <strong>revenue of $2.68 billion<\/strong>, which beat the <strong>$2.62 billion<\/strong> estimate. The travel giant saw <strong>156.2 million nights and stays booked<\/strong>, driving a <strong>Gross Booking Value of $29.2 billion<\/strong>. <em>The results suggest continued resilience in consumer travel spending despite broader economic pressures.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Gilead Sciences (<a href=\"\/stock\/GILD\">GILD<\/a>) also topped expectations with <strong>adjusted EPS of $2.03<\/strong> on <strong>$6.96 billion in revenue<\/strong>. While its flagship HIV drug <strong>Biktarvy<\/strong> generated <strong>$3.36 billion<\/strong>, the company signaled a future headwind, projecting a <strong>2026 loss<\/strong> due to <strong>$11.5 billion<\/strong> in IPR&amp;D charges and deal-related costs.<\/p>\n<p>Specialized cloud provider CoreWeave (<a href=\"\/stock\/CRWV\">CRWV<\/a>) reported its <strong>strongest bookings quarter in history<\/strong>, with Q1 revenue of <strong>$2.08 billion<\/strong> beating the <strong>$1.97 billion<\/strong> forecast. However, the company\u2019s <strong>net loss of $740 million ($1.40 per share)<\/strong> was deeper than the <strong>$628.2 million<\/strong> loss expected by the street. <strong>Adjusted EBITDA<\/strong> for the quarter came in at <strong>$1.16 billion<\/strong>, slightly ahead of estimates.<\/p>\n<h2>Fed\u2019s Williams Reaffirms Inflation Commitment<\/h2>\n<p>New York Fed President <strong>John Williams<\/strong> spoke on Thursday, emphasizing the central bank&#39;s unwavering goal of restoring inflation to <strong>2%<\/strong>. Williams noted that the U.S. economy has remained remarkably resilient with a stable labor market, though he acknowledged that <strong>lower-income groups<\/strong> are facing increasing financial stress.<\/p>\n<p>Williams characterized current interest rates as remaining within <strong>historical norms<\/strong> and highlighted that the economy performed better in the previous year than many forecasts had predicted. <em>However, he cautioned that the outlook remains clouded by &quot;high levels of uncertainty,&quot; suggesting the Fed will remain data-dependent in its upcoming policy decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>Industry and Crypto Developments<\/h2>\n<p>In the automotive sector, major manufacturers are reportedly pushing for an extension of the <strong>USMCA<\/strong> agreement, according to a letter sent to regulators. The industry is seeking stability across the <strong>U.S., Mexico, and Canada<\/strong> trade bloc to manage supply chain and manufacturing transitions.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, in the digital asset space, <strong>Coinbase<\/strong> informed users that transfers for <strong>ALEO<\/strong> may be delayed for some customers. No specific timeline for a resolution was provided, as the exchange continues to monitor the network&#39;s performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Major U.S. indices closed lower as geopolitical instability in the Middle East weighed on sentiment, with the Dow [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[379,3710,3848,4154,4824,5711],"class_list":["post-61696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-gild","tag-federal-reserve","tag-abnb","tag-crwv","tag-geopolitics","tag-market-close"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}