2026-05-21：The Generative AI Paradox: Intuit Slashes 17% of Staff to Fund Anthropic Deal While Nvidia's $82B Quarter Hits the Exuberance Ceiling

Nvidia just delivered an $81.6 billion quarter, added an $80 billion buyback, and still could not thrill the market. Intuit raised guidance, then cut 17 percent of its workforce to fund major AI partnerships, raising a quietly uncomfortable question: are legacy software moats already leaking? Meanwhile, Washington’s $2 billion quantum push may be turning D-Wave and Rigetti into sovereign-backed market experiments, with opportunity and policy risk sitting side by side. And in a stranger twist, oil prices, freight disruption, and Chinese tariffs are now showing up in e.l.f. Beauty’s margins. This episode follows the paradox beneath the AI trade: when great numbers are no longer enough, what does the market actually want next? Full report: https://deepmarket.report/en/report/us_stocks/2026-05-21