Week Ending February 28th, 2024 
Market Moves 


Weekly Recap

• The market continued to fall. The bottom has seemingly fallen out in the stock market, with the S&P 500 posting its fourth straight day of losses on Tuesday a week after clinching new all-time highs. That’s not something that happens too often and has not occurred since early 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell over 1% on Tuesday and is now negative for 2025 so far. 
• The Mag 7 are now in correction.  The Magnificent 7 stocks have had the wind knocked out of them. According to Bloomberg, Nvidia, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Meta Platforms (Nasdaq; META) and Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) have officially entered into correction terf, which is when stocks fall 10% from their most recent highs. 
• Consumer confidence has slipped. U.S. consumer confidence has slipped to its lowest level since the pandemic era, as investors weigh the prospect of slowing economic growth, tariffs and inflation. February’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to 98.3, reflecting a decline of almost 7% – its steepest monthly drop since August 2021 and below forecasts calling for a reading of 102.3. Bank of America economists aren’t helping, predicting zero interest rate cuts in 2025.
• Home Depot scored a home run. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) reported better-than-expected Q4 earnings results that distracted the markets from a disappointing future outlook. Investors were ready to embrace this win Walmart (NYSE: WMT) triggered last week’s steep sell-off on fears of slower profit growth.   
• Weary hope for Nvidia today. There is a sense of cautious optimism ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings report, due out later today, but shifting market sentiment could prove to be a Herculean task. Nevertheless, Nvidia is setting the stage for optimism amid reports that orders for its H20 AI chips have been through the roof as China’s tech leaders including Alibaba, Tencent and Bytedance have been aggressively pursuing DeepSeek AI models. 
• Tesla lost its spot in the trillion-dollar club. Tesla's market cap slipped below that threshold amid a 45% drop in the EV maker’s European sales. 
• Berkshire Hathaway set new 52-week high. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK-B), whose market cap of $1.07 trillion, has now sailed past Tesla’s. The company reported blowout Q4 earnings results, leading Wall Street analysts to raise their price targets on the stock. 
• Inflation to be addressed. Richmond Fed President Barkin, who is hawkish on monetary policy, is expected to address inflation this week
• Personal income and spending data. A closely watched metric by the Fed for wholesale inflation – is due out on Friday, Feb. 28.
• Super Micro Computer Inc. shares had a big rally. The company met a deadline from the NASDAQ to submit delayed regulatory filings in order to avoid delisting.
• Tariff concerns lingered. President Donald Trump's tariff plans continued to take shape with the president directing the US to study imposing levies on copper.
• Hooters is going bankrupt. The casual dining chain is working with Ropes & Gray to ready a bankruptcy filing in the coming months. 

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AI-darling Nvidia dropped 2.1% ahead of its highly anticipated quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

"It must be noted that such lulls are not uncommon, especially ahead of a set of results, but bulls of US equities more generally will be looking to Nvidia for reassurance," AJ Bell's investment director Russ Mould said in a note.

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Most Active Stocks

• Dream Finders Homes (DFH)
• Tesla (TSLA)
• Nvidia (NVDA)
• Li Auto Inc. (LI)
• Goosehead Insurance (GSHD)
• Itron, Inc. (ITRI)
• Lucid Group (LCID)
• Intel (INTC)
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI)
• Cava Group, Inc. (CAVA)

Weekly Notables

 

Meta in Discussions for $200B AI Data Center

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is in discussions to construct a new data center campus for its artificial intelligence projects, with potential costs exceeding $200 billion, The Information reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Lucid Shares Move Higher on News that CEO Will Step Down

Shares of EV maker Lucid Motors soared about 8% in after hours trading on Tuesday, following the company's better-than-expected results — and a change at the top of its management. CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson, who has been with the company for over a decade, is stepping down in a planned transition, the company said. He will assume the role of strategic adviser to the chairman. Current COO Marc Winterhoff will be interim CEO while the company conducts a search for its next chief executive.

 Earnings Spotlight: Nvidia 




Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush has offered a glimpse into what he is expecting from high-flying Nvidia. Ives predicts yet another “robust performance” from the company in which it beats Wall Street estimates, results that “should calm the nerves of investors.” He points to CEO Jensen Huang as the Godfather of AI, saying he will reveal “massive demand drivers” for its chipsets and AI spending that are fueling what Ives calls the “4th Industrial Revolution.”