Hello, Quartz members, and welcome to Sunday Reads!
It’s time to catch up with some of the most important stories of the week, plus a sneak peek at one story coming next week.
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5 things we especially liked on Quartz
🏭 President Donald Trump has made no bones about his love of tariffs, repeatedly invoking them during the first month of his administration as a bargaining tactic to try and snag victories. He has made a lot of threats targeting a lot of products and a lot of countries. It can be hard to keep track of, so William Gavin broke down what Trump has put on the table.
🧑🔬 Microsoft is changing what you learned about the states of matter in elementary school with a creation that it said will advance “the path to useful quantum computing.” As part of what it calls the “year to become Quantum-Ready,” the company unveiled its first quantum computing chip, Majorana 1, built with “topological superconductors” or “topoconductors” — a “breakthrough” material that enabled the company to create a new state of matter called “topological superconductivity.” Britney Nguyen explains.
💻 The Trump administration’s push to have TSMC buy Intel’s chipmaking operations faces a major barrier: The Taiwanese firm isn’t actually interested, and even the threat of tariffs probably won’t be enough to force a deal. Josh Fellman breaks it down.
🛍️ While Walmart is lowering its earnings expectations for the year ahead, America’s largest retailer has plenty of baked-in advantages over competitors to monetize cash-strapped, inflation-weary consumers. New data shows that Walmart customers come to stores more often than Target shoppers — and they linger longer. Kevin Williams has more.
🎓 When choosing a college, some factors immediately come to the forefront: academics, the social scene, sports teams, and the cost of attendance. Many discovered that special quality the first time touring the school that would become their alma mater. Maybe it was the site of a lush, expansive green or a walk through an especially beautiful dorm. Madeline Fitzgerald has a list of the 10 most beautiful college campuses in America.
One sneak peek
Nvidia is reporting earnings this week for the first time since Chinese AI startup DeepSeek spooked investors, routed the stock, and wiped out hundreds of billions in market cap. But some analysts say DeepSeek is likely to have a positive impact on Nvidia. Britney Nguyen raises the curtain on the week’s biggest earnings drop. Visit qz.com on Monday morning for the future of everything.
What we’re watching this week
- Monday: Hims & Hers and Domino’s Pizza report earnings.
- Tuesday: Home Depot, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and AMC report earnings.
- Wednesday: Nvidia, Stellantis, and Lowe’s report earnings.
- Thursday: Warner Bros. Discovery reports earnings.
Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out.