Wells Fargo, Bank of America in losers; IREN, Hut 8, Circle Internet among gainers: week's financials wrap

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Wall Street finished the week sharply higher as investors weighed a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report, upbeat semiconductor earnings, and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

However, the State Street Financial Sel Sec SPDR ETF (XLF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XLF]) ended the week 1.31% lower.

The week saw AI giant Anthropic introduce [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4585757-anthropic-unveils-10-agent-templates-for-financial-services] 10 ready-to-run agent templates designed to take on the most time-consuming tasks in financial services, including building pitchbooks, screening know-your-customer files, and closing books at month-end.

The launch is expected to streamline [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588053-anthropics-finance-ai-agents-promise-gains-but-adoption-hurdles-persist] core banking tasks. However, adoption across financial institutions is expected to remain gradual.

Meanwhile, crypto stocks edged up as bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) may be down for the year, but VanEck's head of digital assets research said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4587377-bitcoin-to-reach-1m-within-five-years---vanecks-crypto-research-head] he sees a massive rally on the horizon.

Besides, there were media reports about the White House aiming for July 4 for Congress to pass [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588014-white-house-aims-for-july-4-passage-of-clarity-act-crypto-adviser-says] the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Furthermore, earnings continued to shape the overall picture in the financials sector.

Among megacap stocks, Wells Fargo (WFC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/WFC]) stood out as the biggest weekly decliner, retreating 6.40% to close at $75.64.

Banking stocks declined as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4584479-bessent-warns-americans-should-be-concerned-about-ai-threats-to-bank-accounts] U.S. financial institutions and technology companies are strengthening defenses against emerging AI threats, including the possibility that AI tools could be used to penetrate bank accounts and other critical systems.

Bank of America (BAC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BAC]) (-3.63% W/W to $51.31) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/JPM]) (-3.32% W/W to $302.10) were other major losers in the category.

JPMorgan was losing even as Meta Platforms was said to be working with [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4585298-meta-taps-morgan-stanley-jpmorgan-for-13b-el-paso-ai-data-center-deal-report] the banking giant on ~$13B financing package for a data center in El Paso, Texas.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley (MS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MS]) topped the gainers, adding 1.54% to end at $193.09. Morgan Stanley had said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4586871-morgan-stanley-undercuts-rivals-on-pricing-in-crypto-trading-debut---report] it was adding crypto trading to its E*Trade platform, forging into the space by challenging rivals on price.

Goldman Sachs (GS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GS]) added 1.38% on a weekly basis to close at $936.48 as Anthropic was said to be finalizing a deal to create [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4584493-anthropic-joins-forces-with-blackstone-and-goldman-in-bold-15b-ai-push-report] a new joint venture with the company and a handful of other Wall Street firms that aim to sell AI tools to private-equity-backed firms.

Foreign financial stocks such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MUFG]) (+1.47% W/W to $17.95) and Royal Bank of Canada (RY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RY]) (+1.19% W/W to $181.68) were the other notable winners.

For largecap stocks, PayPal Holdings (PYPL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/PYPL]) led the losers, sliding 10.05% from the prior week to $45.37.

The payment company's Q1 earnings [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4585504-paypal-q1-earnings-revenue-beat-after-expectations-reset-lower-in-q4] and revenue exceeded the Wall Street consensus estimates as payment volumes didn't fall as much as feared and total active accounts stagnated sequentially. Guidance for the full year was maintained, but the earnings outlook for Q2 was soft.

CNA Financial (CNA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CNA]) followed, falling 9.37% to $43.54. The insurer reported a disappointing Q1 [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4899533-cna-financial-a-difficult-quarter-but-the-thesis-remains-intact], with combined ratios exceeding 100% across specialty and commercial lines.

Meanwhile, IREN (IREN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IREN]) was the top gainer in the category, advancing 34.03% week-over-week to $61.20. The company said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4589259-iren-focuses-on-its-expansion-plans-as-q3-revenue-misses-on-weaker-bitcoin-price] its plans to expand to 480 MW in 2026 are on track, continuing its pivot to become a vertically integrated AI cloud provider, delivering large-scale data centers and GPU clusters for AI training and inference.

Meanwhile, fiscal Q3 revenue missed the average analyst estimate as the average price of bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) declined.

Hut 8 Corp. (HUT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HUT]) (+27.90% W/W to $98.46) and Circle Internet Group (CRCL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CRCL]) (+14.01% W/W to $113.67) followed.

Hut 8 stock soared [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4586782-hut-8-stock-surges-on-98b-contract-at-beacon-point-ai-data-campus] after the energy infrastructure, compute, and digital infrastructure company announced a lease with a base-term contract value of $9.8B. The week also saw the company report [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4586746-hut-8-mining-reports-q1-results] its Q1 financial results.

Meanwhile, Circle Internet was gaining as bitcoin (BTC-USD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BTC-USD]) surged [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4584498-bitcoin-tops-80000-to-hit-three-month-high-ether-advances] past $80K this week—its highest level in over three months—amid renewed investor risk appetite.

Inter & Co (INTR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/INTR]) (-13.83% W/W to $6.48), Nelnet (NNI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NNI]) (-13.61% W/W to $122.38), and Upstart (UPST [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/UPST]) (-11.55% W/W to $28.96) led the midcap losers. The three [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4589312-nelnet-non-gaap-eps-of-194] companies [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588469-inter-co-reports-q1-results] reported [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4586157-upstart-stock-slumps-as-q1-loss-widens-earnings-fall-short-of-expectations] their quarterly reports this week. Upstart's Q1 earnings fell short of expectations, with net loss per diluted share widening to $0.07 from $0.03 in the prior-year quarter.

Riot Platforms (RIOT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/RIOT]) was a notable gainer in the category, advancing 30.16% from the previous week to $24.08. This week, Riot and Terrestrial Energy announced [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4586949-riot-platforms-terrestrial-energy-partner-for-nuclear-powered-ai-data-centers] an MoU to co-develop nuclear-powered data centers for AI and high-performance computing needs.

Among smallcap losers, Better Home & Finance (BETR [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/BETR]) (-32.24% W/W to $30.07), Heritage Insurance (HRTG [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/HRTG]) (-22.00% W/W to $22.41), and Onity Group (ONIT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ONIT]) (-18.50% W/W to $38.91) led the pack, having reported quarterly [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588327-better-home-finance-holding-gives-q1-numbers] financial [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4589068-heritage-insurance-gaap-eps-of-1_19-misses-by-0_32-revenue-of-212_66m-misses-by-2_73m] results [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4585475-onity-reports-mixed-q1-results-updates-fy26-outlook].

Ethos Technologies (LIFE [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LIFE]) (+59.52% W/W to $29.75) led the gainers despite reporting mixed quarterly earnings [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588464-ethos-technologies-inc-gaap-eps-of-3_57-misses-by-0_92-revenue-of-193_1m-beats-by-48_12m].

MORE ON RELATED TICKERS

* IREN jumps 7%, inks five-year $3.4B AI cloud deal with Nvidia [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4589513-iren-jumps-7-inks-five-year-34b-ai-cloud-deal-with-nvidia]
* IREN focuses on its expansion plans as Q3 revenue misses on weaker bitcoin price [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4589259-iren-focuses-on-its-expansion-plans-as-q3-revenue-misses-on-weaker-bitcoin-price]
* White House aims for July 4 passage of Clarity Act, crypto adviser says [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588014-white-house-aims-for-july-4-passage-of-clarity-act-crypto-adviser-says]
* Anthropic’s finance AI agents promise gains, but adoption hurdles persist [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4588053-anthropics-finance-ai-agents-promise-gains-but-adoption-hurdles-persist]