Stocks finished the session on a high note as the Dow pushed through a key 40,000 milestone and all three major indexes notched weekly wins.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.3%, or more than 100 points, closing at a record high of 40,003.59. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked up 0.1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.1%.

Corporate earnings are winding down for the season but several key players are scheduled to report next week. Among the big names are Zoom (ZM), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), and Magnificent Seven darling Nvidia (NVDA), whose stock has surged this year as the company capitalizes on the swelling demand for AI technology.

Several of the tech giants have forecast growing capital expenditures tied to data and AI infrastructure. Nvidia's quarter will offer the latest snapshot of the tech sector's growing appetite for AI hardware.

A slowing earnings calendar puts the spotlight on other market-moving events. Next week will bring two days of Fed officials testifying on Capitol Hill.

Central bankers have reiterated that their goal is to bring inflation down to 2%, even as their tightening campaign has put pressure on some areas of the economy. But some lawmakers have criticized the Fed's policymaking, focusing on elevated home prices and the impacts higher rates are having on first-time homebuyers.

Investors will also glean new insight into the Fed's deliberations with the release of the May policy meeting minutes on Wednesday. Friday will bring fresh survey data on how consumers are feeling about the state of the economy as the battle to clamp down on inflation continues

Yahoo Finance's Brent Sanchez has a graphical breakdown of what to watch next week:

While the surging gains of meme stock kings GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC) have faded at the end of the week, other tickers have continued to climb as investor sentiment swings to excitement.

Smaller meme-related equities were still soaring on Friday, poised to end the week with higher gains, Yahoo Finance's Ines Ferré reports,

The EV-related startup Faraday Future (FFIE) gained 122% on Friday. The stock is on pace to gain more than 3,000% for the week. Over the past 24 hours, Faraday Future was the third-most-mentioned stock on Reddit's WallStreetBets forum behind the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Nvidia (NVDA), according to web data company Thinknum.

Other heavily shorted stocks that moved higher during the session include Crown ElectroKinetics (CRKN), up more than 70%. The Oregon-based fiber optics and smart glass small-cap company is on pace to end the week up a whopping 915%.

Greenwave Technology Solutions (GWAV) was up more than 500% for the week. The micro-cap, Virginia-based metal recycling company gained 90% on Thursday as the rest of the overall meme rally was unwinding.

And SunPower (SPWR) was on pace to close out the week up 29% after soaring on Monday and Tuesday. The solar-related stock gained 5% on Thursday, decoupling from GameStop's three-day downward spiral.

OpenAI’s Superalignment team, a unit tasked with wrestling with the long-term risks of sophisticated AI systems, has been effectively disbanded, according to multiple reports, following the departure of the team's founders earlier this week.

OpenAI is now spreading the team's efforts to other parts of the company, Bloomberg reports. The move comes after a string of high-profile exits and leaves lingering questions about the AI company's approach to safety and balancing its work to monetize AI initiatives.

OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, who had previously clashed with CEO Sam Altman, said he was leaving the company on Tuesday.

The recent shakeups come after last year's high profile ouster of Altman, who disagreed with members of the board over questions over how to safey advance AI. He was eventually reinstated.

The superalignment team, which was stood up last July, was focused on ensuring the safety of highly capable AI systems that some believe could eventually outsmart humans. At the time, OpenAI said it would dedicate 20% of its computer power towards the team's work.

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during afternoon trading on Friday.

GameStop (GME): Shares of the video game retailer sank more than 25% on Friday morning after the company filed to sell 45 million new shares of common stock and released preliminary financial results that revealed sales fell sharply from the year prior in its most recent quarter.

Take-Two Interactive (TTWO): The video game developer that owns publishers Rockstar Games and 2K rose by 1% during afternoon trading after revealing that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI will be released in the fall of 2025. The company also disclosed that it expects net bookings for the fiscal year to come in at $5.55 billion to $5.65 billion, down from the $8 billion it previously projected, although some analysts said the updated launch date for the flagship title gives investors fresh clarity.

Cracker Barrel (CBRL): Shares of the Southern-themed restaurant and gift shop fell by 12% after the company cut its dividend plans by nearly 80%. The announcement comes as the chain switches its focus to upgrading the brand and physical locations.

Reddit (RDDT): The forum-based social network gained more than 14% during morning trading following news of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular ChatGPT. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit and will give Reddit the ability to use OpenAI's technology to build tools and features. In turn, ChatGPT will integrate Reddit's content into its system.

The major indexes are close to where they started in afternoon trading Friday as Wall Street's bid to push the Dow past 40,000 pauses, at least momentarily.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held just below the key milestone after touching the level for the first time during Thursday's trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped just under the flatline, but all the gauges were on track for weekly wins.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has tested positive for COVID-19, a central bank spokesperson disclosed on Friday.

The spokesperson said Powell received the diagnosis Friday, saying he tested positive “late yesterday “and is experiencing symptoms.”

The Fed noted that Powell would no longer be attending Georgetown University’s Law School graduation, where he was scheduled to deliver remarks in person this Sunday. Instead he will do so via a pre-recorded video.

"Following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, he is staying away from others and working at home," the Fed said in a statement. Powell has tested positive for the virus before, in 2023.

The 2024 mini meme stock rally is losing steam.

GameStop stock (GME) sank as much as 30% on Friday after the company filed to sell 45 million new shares of common stock and released preliminary financial results that showed sales fell sharply from the same period last year, Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer reports.

The video game retailer said it expects sales to be in the range of $872 million-$892 million in its fiscal first quarter, down from $1.24 billion in the same period a year prior. Wall Street had expected revenue of just over $1 billion for the quarter, according to data from Bloomberg.

With Friday's decline, the stock is now below where it opened Monday morning after the reemergence of Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," on X, formerly Twitter, over the weekend. Gill's bull case for GameStop ignited the meme stock rally back in 2021, and the stock more than doubled by Tuesday morning.

"I'm not seeing anything in the preannouncement that tells me that the business is turning around," Wedbush managing director Michael Pachter told Yahoo Finance. "But at least they'll raise enough cash to last them another three or four years if they, in fact, continue to fail and try to find a new strategy."

By signing a major partnership with OpenAI, the AI company behind ChatGPT, Reddit (RDDT) scored a major victory in its plans to sell its unique archive of posts to companies eager for troves of content to train their large language models.

On Friday, shares of the forum-based social media company rose more than 14% as investors cheered on the deal. The partnership will bring Reddit content into ChatGPT and OpenAI's new products, drawing from Reddit's data to give the chatbot real-time content on recent topics.

In turn, Reddit will receive AI-powered features for redditors and moderators, the company said in an announcement Thursday. OpenAI will also become an advertising partner on Reddit, boosting the company's main source of revenue.

“Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic, relevant, and always up-to-date human conversations about anything and everything. Including it in ChatGPT upholds our belief in a connected internet, helps people find more of what they’re looking for, and helps new audiences find community on Reddit," said Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and CEO.

Reddit's deal comes as other major media companies are striking deals with AI developers, trading their digitized bodies of language for guaranteed revenue.

Here are some of the stocks leading Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during morning trading on Friday.

GameStop (GME): Shares of the video game retailer sank more than 25% on Friday morning after the company filed to sell 45 million new shares of common stock and released preliminary financial results that revealed sales fell sharply from the year prior in its most recent quarter.

Reddit (RDDT): The forum-based social network gained more than 14% during morning trading following news of a partnership with OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular ChatGPT. As part of the deal, OpenAI will become an advertising partner for Reddit and will give Reddit the ability to use OpenAI's technology to build tools and features. In turn, ChatGPT will integrate Reddit's content into its system.

Robinhood (HOOD): The financial services company popular with retail stock traders rose 6% Friday morning following a double upgrade from Bank of America, from Underperform to Buy. Analysts pointed to rebounding retail engagement and a broader trend toward mobile trading that the young company stands to benefit from.

Cracker Barrel (CBRL): Shares of the restaurant chain fell by nearly 15% after the company cut its dividend plans by nearly 80%. The announcement comes as the Southern-themed eatery and gift store switches its focus to upgrading its brand and physical locations.

The major indexes didn't move much at the open Friday as Wall Street was poised for the Dow to make another attempt at surpassing a key milestone of 40,000.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) held steady on the heels of touching the level for the first time during Thursday's trading. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also gained 0.1%, with all the gauges on track for positive ends to the week.