Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 13, 2025
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
The S&P 500 ticked down Monday as the market failed to bounce back following Friday’s steep sell-off, with shares of major tech companies under pressure.
The broad market index dropped 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a small gain, rising 30 points, or 0.1%.
The Dow initially rose 221.26 points on Monday, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained as much as 0.5% and 0.6% each before reversing course.
Shares of Palantir tumbled more than 10% on Monday, pulling the Nasdaq lower. Microsoft shed 2% after an analyst report from TD Cowen said the company is cutting spending on data centers, raising fears of weakness in the artificial intelligence trade. Chipmaking giant Nvidia slipped 0.6%.
The moves follow the stock market’s fall last week. The Dow and Nasdaq dropped more than 2% each last week, while the S&P 500 dropped more than 1%. On Friday alone, the Dow dropped more than 700 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq shed 1.7% and 2.2%.
Those declines came after February data raised concern over the state of the U.S. economy. Purchasing managers’ index numbers showed the U.S. services sector contracted for the month, while the widely followed University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index came in weaker than expected.
The week ahead includes key readings on corporate earnings and the economy. Earnings reports from Home Depot and Lowe’s on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, will give investors a better sense of how U.S. consumers are faring. Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday evening could be even more impactful, as the artificial intelligence-linked chipmaker is still one of the biggest stocks by market cap.
Then Friday will deliver the January reading of the personal consumption expenditures index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.
“Friday’s PCE for January will be extra important for markets, because it will help to confirm if inflation did indeed spike at the start of 2025, since the other January inflation readings, such as CPI and PPI, came in very strong for January,” said Clark Bellin, president and chief investment officer at Bellwether Wealth.
However, “Regardless of what Friday’s PCE says, it’s likely that the Federal Reserve remains on hold when it comes to any interest rate decision for at least the next 6-months,” Bellin added.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the move in the Nasdaq Composite last week.
Palantir shares fall once again
Palantir shares slid on Monday, extending the losing streak that has raised alarm around the retail investor favorite.
The buzzy technology and defense stock dropped around 10% in the session, as of late morning trading. If that holds through session close, it would mark its fourth down trading day in a row.
Palantir, 5-day
Shares have now tumbled around 23% compared with five trading days ago. Still, the stock is up more than 21% in 2025 after a big run to kick off the new year.
— Alex Harring
Morgan Stanley downgrades Boyd Gaming after big second half in 2024
Casino stock Boyd Gaming is due for a break after a strong second half of 2024, according to Morgan Stanley.
Analyst Stephen Grambling downgraded the stock to overweight from equal-weight, saying in a note to clients that recent catalysts for the stock have already played out.
“From here, we see a more balanced risk-reward as valuation is still not demanding but peers have becoming more depressed, plus underlying fundamentals in the LV locals market appears more depressed vs. our initial assumptions,” the note said.
Casino stock Boyd Gaming had a strong second half of 2024.
Grambling also trimmed the price target on Boyd by $1 to $81 per share, which is about 5% above where the stock closed Friday.
The downgrade comes after a fourth quarter earnings season that was solid if uninspiring from casino companies.
“Overall 4Q releases across Gaming were better than feared and included more positive forward commentary. However, overall top-line trends appear to be sluggish and wage pressures are more pronounced across our broader Gaming, Lodging & Leisure coverage,” Grambling said.
— Jesse Pound
Starbucks to lay off 1,100 workers
Starbucks’ corporate headquarters seen in Seattle. The company announced its Q2 earnings on 27th Apr 2021.Â
Toby Scott | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Starbucks announced Monday it was cutting 1,100 corporate jobs as part of its effort to simplify operations. The coffee chain also will eliminate “several hundred” open and unfilled positions.
“Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration. All with the goal of being more focused and able to drive greater impact on our priorities,” CEO Brian Niccol said in a message to corporate employees.
Niccol said the layoffs would not impact in-store teams or the investments Starbucks is making in store hours. .
Shares were up fractionally in premarket trading.
— Michelle Fox
Stocks open higher Monday
U.S. stocks began Monday’s trading session in positive territory.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 160 points, or around 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3%.
— Hakyung Kim
The odds of a policy error are ‘creeping up,’ UBS says
The odds of a policy error under Trump 2.0 are “creeping up,” even with markets broadly pricing in a positive outcome, according to UBS.
“It’s fair to say that investors have put a lot more probability on a policy put (i.e., market-supportive policies) than a policy error (marketnegative policies). But the odds of the latter are creeping up, based on actions thus far and recent data,” read a Monday note from the chief investment office of UBS Global Wealth Management.
“While a policy error outcome is still unlikely, until that’s clear, the debate will likely generate market volatility, especially in the near term,” the note continued. “In fact, the markets pricing in a high probability of a policy error may be a necessary precursor for the policy put to be exercised.”
— Sarah Min
Stocks making the biggest moves before the bell: Domino’s Pizza, Alibaba and more
These are the stocks moving the most in premarket trading:
- Domino’s Pizza — Shares fell more than 3% after the pizza chain reported fourth-quarter numbers that missed expectations.
- Alibaba — The Chinese e-commerce giant slipped 3%, reversing some of its 15% rally last week on the back of its latest strong earnings report.
- Rivian — The electric vehicle stock shed 3% following a downgrade to underperform from neutral at Bank of America.
Read the full list of stocks moving here.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Robinhood rises after it says SEC dismissed its crypto unit investigation
FILE PHOTO: Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company’s IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021.Â
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Shares of Robinhood rose 3% in premarket trading after the company said the Securities and Exchange Commission is dropping its investigation into its crypto unit.
Robinhood said it received a letter from the SEC’s Enforcement Division, detailing in a blog post that the agency has closed its investigation into the crypto arm with no intention of moving forward with an enforcement action.
The news comes three days after Coinbase similarly announced that the SEC has agreed to end its enforcement case against it. The SEC’s dismissal of both cases is an early sign of the regulatory sea change for the crypto industry promised by President Donald Trump during his election campaign.
For more, read our full story here.
— Tanaya Macheel
Wells Fargo initiates coverage of F1 owner Liberty Media, has ‘muted view’ on valuation
Wells Fargo initiated coverage of Liberty Media at an underweight rating on Monday, saying the Formula One owner is facing risks ahead with future streaming rights.
“We think FWONK’s elevated trading multiple reflects supreme confidence that TV rights will be pushed far higher due to competition amongst media/streaming companies. We think renewals may disappoint, and team payments could be higher,” analyst Steven Cahall said. “This gives us below-consensus EBITDA, and a more muted view on valuation.”
The lines are “increasingly blurry” when it comes to sports rights, as they’re generally increasing in value as traditional media operators seek to protect viewership from digital media companies like Netflix and Amazon, Cahall noted.
Liberty Media shares are up 4.5% this year and more than 40% over the past year.
— Pia Singh
Apple to spend more than $500 billion in U.S. over four years
Tim Cook attends the 2024 WSJ Magazines Innovator Awards at Museum of Modern Art on October 29, 2024 in New York City.Â
Taylor Hill | Getty Images
Apple announced on Monday plans to invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. in an effort to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities. That includes hiring about 20,000 workers in the U.S. and building a factory for AI servers in Texas — which is expected to go online in 2026.
To be sure, Apple shares traded 0.8% lower in the premarket following the announcement.
— Fred Imbert
Domino’s Pizza falls after earnings miss
Domino’s in Denmark
Francis Dean
Domino’s Pizza shares fell more than 3% after the pizza chain reported fourth-quarter numbers that missed expectations.
The company earned $4.89 per share on revenue of $1.44 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected a profit of $4.90 per share on revenue of $1.48 billion. U.S. same-store, a key metric for the company, increased by 0.4%. That was also below a consensus forecast calling for a 1.1% advance.
DPZ falls
— Fred Imbert
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fall as U.S. data stokes fears of sticky inflation and slower growth
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell Monday after Wall Street logged its worst session of the year last Friday as U.S. economic data pointed to a slowing economy and sticky inflation.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended the day 0.58% lower at 23,341.61, after notching a near three-year high in its previous session.
Mainland China’s CSI300 index fell 0.22% to close at 3,969.72.
Indian stocks continued to be in negative territory, with the Nifty 50 down 1.08%, while the BSE Sensex index fell 1.03% as at 1.30 p.m. local time.
In South Korea, the Kospi ended the day 0.35% lower at 2,645.27, while the small-cap Kosdaq was closed down 0.17% at 773.33.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.14% higher at 8,308.20, breaking its five-session losing streak.
Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.
— Amala Balakrishner
Berkshire Hathaway reports jump in operating earnings, cash pile
Warren Buffett speaks during the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.Â
CNBC
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported a surge in fourth-quarter operating earnings on Saturday, powered by a strong insurance performance, and a growing cash pile.
Berkshire reported $14.527 billion in operating profit for the fourth quarter, up 71% from the prior year.
Meanwhile, cash holdings ended the year at $334.2 billion, up from $325.2 billion at the end of the third quarter.
“Despite what some commentators currently view as an extraordinary cash position at Berkshire, the great majority of your money remains in equities,” Buffett wrote in the 2024 annual letter released Saturday. “That preference won’t change.”
— Jesse Pound
Major averages are coming off a losing week
The stock market is coming off a losing week after the major averages fell on Thursday and Friday.
- The Dow fell 2.51% for its second negative week in three and worst weekly performance since October.
- The S&P 500 fell 1.66% for its third negative week in four and worst weekly performance since January.
- The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.51% for its worst weekly performance since November.
— Jesse Pound, Christopher Hayes
Futures open little changed
Stock futures were up marginally at the 6 p.m. open in New York. Futures for the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500 and Dow were all up less than 0.2%.
— Jesse Pound