Big tech, big rulings, big rebounds
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Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. Good morning and thanks for joining us on this Friday, May 30th, the final day of the trading month and week. I'm Julie Morgan. Berlin targets big tech. The court intervenes on the most recent tariff ruling. And Red Robin gets cookin'.

The German government is drafting a legislative proposal to impose a 10% tax on internet giants such as Google and Meta. The culture minister told a local magazine that monopoly-like structures have developed that not only restrict competition but also over-concentrate media power, putting media diversity at risk.

They went on to say that on the other hand, the corporations do billions of dollars in business with very high margins and profit enormously from Germany's media and cultural output, as well as its infrastructure. But they pay hardly any taxes, invest too little, and give far too little back to society.

The culture minister said the draft bill could be based on the Austrian model. Austria in 2020 introduced a 5% tax on online advertising revenue for large digital platform operators. The minister also invited Google management and key industry representatives to meetings at the federal chancellery to discuss alternatives, including voluntary commitments.

And just like that, no, this is not about the new season of a show with that name on max. But I am referring to how in less than 24 hours, there was a ruling. We reported on it, our top story here on Wall Street Breakfast on Thursday. We followed up on Wall Street Lunch with Kim Kahn. And only hours later, a federal appeals court issued a stay on that ruling. By now, you know the ruling to which I'm referring.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Thursday issued an administrative stay, blocking a ruling from a lower court on Wednesday that struck down reciprocal tariffs imposed by President Trump in April. That court, the U.S. Court of International Trade, ruled that Trump had exceeded his presidential authority.

The appellate court asked companies opposed to the tariffs to file a brief with their arguments before June 5th, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Department of Justice has been given until June 9th to respond to that brief. Earlier on Thursday, the Justice Department asked the federal circuit to stay the lower court's judgment as it pursues an appeal.

Red Robin is up 30% in pre-market action. The restaurant chain's ambitious plan to turn the business around continues to impress investors as it swung to a profit in the first quarter, doubled adjusted EBITDA from last year, lowered labor costs, and cut its debt by nearly $18 million.

The results overshadowed lower guidance for fiscal year 25 and expectations for comparable restaurant revenue to decline by 3%, launching shares more than 55% higher in Thursday's after-hours trading. You can get a more detailed view of Red Robin's earnings numbers in this article. I'll leave a link in show notes.

Now for a look at what's trending on Seeking Alpha. Costco outpaces Walmart and Target again in the U.S. The SEC ends its legal battle with top crypto exchange Binance. And NVIDIA and Dell will provide a new supercomputer to the U.S. Department of Energy.

On our Catalyst Watch for the Day, the five-day ASCO conference will begin. The major oncology conference will include a flurry of abstracts and poster presentations that could impact share prices in the healthcare sector. And EA Sports F125 will be released by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series XS, and PC.

On Wall Street at this early hour ahead of the opening bell, Dow S&P and Nasdaq futures are flat. Crude oil is up 0.7% at $61 a barrel. Bitcoin is down 0.8% at $104,000. Gold is down 0.6% at $3,297. The FTSE 100 is up 0.8% and the DAX is up 1%.

The gap is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. Gap is down 17% as investors reacted to the company's fiscal year 2025 guidance, which notably excluded the potential impact of proposed tariffs.

- On today's economic calendar, at 8:30 a.m., personal income and outlays. At 9:45 a.m., Chicago PMI. At 10 a.m., consumer sentiment. At 4:45 p.m., the Fed's Mary Daly will participate in a panel before the Reagan National Economic Forum. And at 7:30 p.m., the Fed's Austin Goolsbee will participate in a moderated Q&A before the interview show with Mark Basar.

That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening. To take full advantage of Seeking Alpha with coverage on significant stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Check out seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.