META is the clearest near-term winner because the settlement removes a long-dated legal overhang without meaningfully changing unit economics. The market should treat this as a multiple-support event, not an earnings event: downside tail risk is cut, while ad demand and AI capex remain the real drivers. The only caveat is financing risk — if infrastructure spend accelerates faster than cash generation, the equity story can still be capped even with litigation cleaned up.

Higher yields matter more for the software complex than for the platforms. Into tonight’s prints, CRM and OKTA are vulnerable if guidance is merely good enough, because rising real rates raise the hurdle rate for “second-half acceleration” narratives. NVDA is the cleaner quality name, but the bar is elevated: the stock likely needs both guide-up and credible buyback signaling to avoid a post-earnings multiple reset.

MU’s management reshuffle is structurally positive but not a catalyst; the tradeable variable remains memory supply discipline, not org chart changes. Contrarian takeaway: consensus may be overestimating the immediate upside from META’s de-risking and underestimating how much the rate move can compress software multiples over the next 1-3 months. The sharper risk/reward is to own the strongest balance sheet/AI franchise and fade in-line software beats if yields stay sticky.