Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise as Meme Stock Craze Continues
GameStop and several other highly shorted stocks surged again Tuesday, while Home Depot slipped after earnings.


Stocks initially struggled for direction Tuesday as investors took in the latest inflation data, a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and another day of jaw-dropping gains in several meme stocks. However, a midday burst of buying power helped the main indexes close with comfortable gains.
Starting with the inflation data. Ahead of the opening bell, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures what businesses are paying suppliers for goods, rose 0.5% from March to April and was up 2.2% year-over-year. Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.4% month-to-month and was 3.1% higher on an annual basis.
The monthly figures for headline and core PPI were higher than economists expected, while the annual increases were the biggest since April 2023. This "adds to the evidence that inflation progress is stalling," says Elizabeth Renter, senior economist at NerdWallet.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The data will also keep the Personal Consumption and Expenditures Index (PCE), the Fed's preferred inflation metric, elevated, Renter adds, and could fuel consumer inflation more directly if retailers "pass along the price growth they experience to their customers."
But while several media outlets said the PPI was "hot," Fed Chair Powell this morning categorized it as "actually quite mixed" thanks to a downward revision to the monthly headline PPI figure for March (-0.1% vs +0.2% initial reading).
The head of the central bank also said that while he believes inflation will move lower, his confidence "is not as high as it was" following recent economic reports. "We're just going to have to see where the inflation data fall out," Powell added, reiterating his data-dependent stance toward interest rates.
Meme stock rally continues
Today's busy economic calendar had to contend with an onslaught of single-stock headlines, several of which were centered around meme stocks. Indeed, GameStop (GME) continued this week's epic run higher – more than doubling at one point in intraday trading before ending the day up 60.1%.
GME was joined in the plus column Tuesday by a number of other stocks with high short interest, including AMC Entertainment (AMC, +32.0%) and SunPower (SPWR, +59.6%).
Texas Instruments logs longest win streak in 10 years
Texas Instruments (TXN) was a notable gainer Tuesday, rising 1.8% for its ninth straight win. This is the semiconductor stock's longest daily win streak since early 2014, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
In a note released Monday, Citi Research analyst Christopher Danely expressed optimism that the chipmaker will begin to see more consistent revenue growth in the second half of the year.
And although Danely currently has a Neutral (Hold) rating on TXN, he believes "the margin bottom is approaching and once this is incorporated into consensus estimates – we could turn more optimistic."
Home Depot slumps on Q1 revenue miss
Elsewhere, Home Depot (HD, -0.1%) kicked off a busy stretch of retail earnings on a down note. While the home improvement retailer reported a bottom-line beat, revenue of $36.54 billion fell short.
"We believe consumers continue to be cautious with their home improvement spending due to the high level of interest rates and housing prices," says John Tomlinson, global director of research at M Science. "Consumers continued to opt for smaller home improvement projects over larger ones given that big-ticket spending fell for the sixth straight quarter."
As for the main indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% to 39,558, the S&P 500 added 0.5% to 5,246, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% to 16,511.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- What Is Stagflation and How Can Investors Prepare?
- Can Stocks Picked by Artificial Intelligence Beat the Market? 3 Stocks to Watch
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
These Stocks Dipped in 2025. Do They Have Value?
If you are looking to add new long-term positions to your portfolio, as you should, this is the time to examine stocks that the market shuns.
-
Striking Gold (or Gas): A Financial Pro Unpacks the Nuances of Energy Investing
Investing in the energy industry, particularly oil and gas, involves understanding the facts about how projects generate returns through cash flow and long-term asset building, while also being aware of the risks.
-
These Stocks Dipped in 2025. Do They Have Value?
If you are looking to add new long-term positions to your portfolio, as you should, this is the time to examine stocks that the market shuns.
-
Striking Gold (or Gas): A Financial Pro Unpacks the Nuances of Energy Investing
Investing in the energy industry, particularly oil and gas, involves understanding the facts about how projects generate returns through cash flow and long-term asset building, while also being aware of the risks.
-
Escaping the New Golden Handcuffs: A Financial Expert Has a Plan for Today's Executives
Feeling stuck in your job? It could be your complicated compensation package, but it also could be where you live, your family or even how you view yourself.
-
Stock Market Winners and Losers of the 'Big, Beautiful' Bill
Defense, manufacturing and tech should prosper, while health care and green energy stocks face hurdles.
-
I'm a Financial Planner: Here's How to Invest Like the Wealthy, Even if You Don't Have Millions
Private market investments, once exclusive to the ultra-wealthy and institutions, have become more accessible to individual investors, thanks to regulatory changes and new investment structures.
-
Four Ways a Massive Emergency Fund Can Hurt You More Than It Helps
Saving too much could mean you're missing opportunities to put your money to work. Redirect some of that money toward paying off debt, building retirement funds, fulfilling a dream or investing in higher-growth options.
-
With Buffett Retiring, Should You Invest in a Berkshire Copycat?
Warren Buffett will step down at the end of this year. Should you explore one of a handful of Berkshire Hathaway clones or copycat funds?
-
I'm a Financial Planner: How to Dodge a Retirement Danger You May Not Have Heard About
Timing is everything, and sequence of returns risk can mean the difference between a retirement nest egg that's overflowing … or empty.