S&P 500 – 6,890.07 (+0.77%)

Dow Jones – 49,174.50 (+0.76%)

NASDAQ – 22,863.68 (+1.04%)

• Market Summary: Major equity indexes moved higher as sentiment around technology and AI began to stabilize. 
• Technology: Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) climbed after the company announced a multiyear AI chip partnership with Meta Platforms, highlighting investor enthusiasm around AI infrastructure investments. Apple announced plans to produce some Mac Mini computers in the U.S. as part of a $600 billion domestic investment initiative.
• Retail: Home Depot traded higher after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings, although management cautioned that broader macroeconomic pressures, including a sluggish housing market, continue to weigh on the business.
• Energy: Oil prices hovered near seven-month highs, on track for their strongest start to a year since 2022, amid escalating U.S.–Iran tensions.
• Bonds: Government bonds attracted safe-haven buying during February’s market volatility, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.03%.
• AI Startups: AI accounting startup Basis raised $100 million in a Series B round, valuing the company at $1.15 billion, while European AI chip startup Axelera secured an additional $250 million, reflecting growing investor interest in agentic AI technologies.
• Trade: Polls indicate Americans are largely opposed to former President Trump’s tariffs, with a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey showing 64% disapprove of his handling of tariffs, while 34% approve. Last week’s Supreme Court ruling striking down global tariffs adds further uncertainty to U.S. trade policy.
• Healthcare: Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) shares declined despite slightly beating earnings expectations, as forward guidance appeared to disappoint investors.
• AI: Anthropic unveiled new enterprise capabilities for its Claude AI platform, integrating with Slack, Intuit, DocuSign, LegalZoom, FactSet, and Gmail, while facing a Pentagon ultimatum to lift safeguards on its system by Friday or risk losing a contract.
• Media: Warner Bros. Discovery Gains: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) edged higher following reports of an improved takeover offer from Paramount Skydance (PSKY).
• Consumer Goods: Whirlpool Corporation (WHR) fell after announcing a strategic recapitalization plan that includes issuing $800 million in new shares to reduce debt.
• Technology: IBM (IBM) shares plunged on concerns about rising AI competition after Anthropic announced new capabilities that could impact data processing, payments, and retail operations.
• Financials: Credit card issuers pulled back amid worries that a weaker stock market could reduce spending among higher-income consumers, with American Express (AXP) sliding more than 7% and major banks also trading lower.
• Technology: Microsoft (MSFT) is collaborating with SpaceX’s Starlink to expand global satellite internet connectivity.
• Airlines: Spirit Airlines’ parent company announced plans to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy by late spring or early summer.
• Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin (BTC) dropped further on Tuesday after losing more than 4% Monday amid broader risk-off sentiment, bringing its February losses to roughly 24%, the worst monthly performance since June 2022.
• Entertainment: Actor Robert Carradine, known for roles in Lizzie McGuire and Revenge of the Nerds, died at the age of 71.
• IPO News: MiniMed, the diabetes unit being spun off from Medtronic, is planning a U.S. IPO that could raise up to $784 million and value the company at nearly $7.9 billion. 
• Legal: Tesla faces a proposed class-action lawsuit over alleged hiring bias toward H-1B visa holders.

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“AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.”

— Elon Musk

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Notable Stocks

• Meta Platforms (META)
• AMD Devices (AMD)
• Microsoft (MSFT)
• Apple (AAPL)
• Home Depot (HD)

Weekly Notables

Home Depot Beats Earnings Expectations as Housing Slump Weighs on Sales

Home Depot topped Wall Street’s earnings and revenue estimates for the first time in a year, even as quarterly sales declined amid a sluggish housing market. The home improvement retailer reported a roughly 4% drop in fiscal fourth-quarter sales, reflecting slow housing turnover, elevated interest rates and cautious consumer spending. Despite the sales dip, the company exceeded analyst expectations on both earnings and revenue. For the quarter ended Feb. 1, Home Depot posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.72, above the $2.54 analysts expected. Revenue came in at $38.20 billion, slightly ahead of projections, though down from $39.70 billion a year earlier.

Tesla Ordered to Face Hiring Bias Lawsuit by Federal Judge

A federal judge has ruled that Tesla must confront a lawsuit alleging it discriminated against American citizens in favor of foreign visa holders, though the court signaled doubts about the strength of the claims. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco declined to dismiss the proposed class action filed in September by software engineer Scott Taub. The judge said Taub presented “just enough facts” about Tesla’s hiring practices for the case to proceed.

Earnings Spotlight: Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD)

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is expected to show significant EPS growth, with estimates shifting to positive territory for 2026, driven by streaming profitability and studio performance despite ongoing, steep declines in linear TV. Q4 2025 results, releasing Feb 26, 2026, are projected to show earnings of around $0.08–$0.14 per share. 

What's Ahead

The next major catalyst for AI sentiment comes Wednesday, when NVIDIA reports earnings after the close. Nvidia remains under pressure every quarter not to just exceed quarterly consensus, but to guide for growth exceeding analysts' average estimates.

February 25: Expected earnings from Nvidia (NVDA), TJX Companies (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Salesforce (CRM), Synopsys (SNPS), and Snowflake (SNOW).
February 26: Expected earnings from Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Vistra (VST), Intuit (INTU), Dell (DELL), Autodesk (ADSK), and CoreWeave (CRWV).
February 27: January Producer Price Index (PPI) and core PPI.
March 2: January construction spending, February ISM Manufacturing PMI, and expected earnings from MongoDB (MDB).
March 3: Expected earnings from Autozone (AZO), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), CrowdStrike (CRWD), and Ross Stores (ROST).