markets

Crypto-adjacent stocks rebound as return of geopolitical risk prompts reversals in 2026 market trends

Crypto-adjacent stocks are ripping on Wednesday morning as bitcoin soared above $70,000, exceeding a key resistance area flagged by multiple analysts in recent weeks.

Big gainers include:

Digital asset treasury companies Strategy and Strive Inc. , as well as HODLers/miners MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms;
Exchanges Coinbase, Robinhood Markets, and Gemini Space Station;
And blockchain-centric fintech Figure Technology Solutions.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company subject to certain legal and regulatory restrictions.)

Bitcoin has performed terribly in 2026, and is down nearly 50% from its peak in October.

And it’s not the only beaten-down pocket of the market to have its fortunes change as geopolitical risk flares up.

Shortly before the US strikes against Iran, Renaissance Macro Head of Technical Research Jeff deGraaf flagged that the gap between winners and losers within the tech sector had reached levels not seen since the dot-com bubble; the nascent reversal in hardware versus software since tensions in the Middle East have ratcheted higher also seems to be manifesting as a rebound in crypto, as well.

More Markets

See all Markets

markets

Max Knoblauch2h

Ross Stores climbs after posting stronger-than-expected Q4 sales

Shares of off-price retailer Ross are up more than 6% on Wednesday morning, following the release of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report after-hours on Tuesday.

Ross posted adjusted earnings of $2 per share in its Q4, ended January 31, beating Wall Street’s expectations of $1.90 per share. Total sales climbed 12% year over year to $6.6 billion, ahead of the $6.4 billion consensus.

CEO Jim Conroy credited some of the company’s success on growth in 18- to 34-year-old customers.

Looking ahead to the current quarter, Ross expects earnings of between $1.60 and $1.67 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $1.68.

markets

Matt Phillips2h

Palantir’s ties to Anthropic reportedly under strain amid Pentagon spat

Palantir Technologies may have to cut ties with AI lab Anthropic after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared his department would restrict military contractors from using Anthropic’s technology, according to a story by The Information published Tuesday afternoon. Anthropic’s models are deeply embedded in the Palantir software packages the US government uses to analyze classified data.

Information reporters Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi, Rocket Drew, and Julia Hornstein wrote:

“Palantir CEO Alex Karp appeared to criticize Anthropic on Tuesday without directly naming it. Speaking at a defense tech summit hosted by Andreessen Horowitz in Washington, Karp upbraided Silicon Valley for going against the U.S. military, and warned that AI companies risked angering both liberals and conservatives.

‘If Silicon Valley believes we are going to take everyone’s white-collar jobs… and you’re going to screw the military, if you don’t think that’s going to lead to the nationalization of our technology, you’re retarded,’ Karp said. ‘That’s where this path is going.’”

Anthropic-Palantir Partnership at Risk After Pentagon Decision

Information reporters Aaron Holmes, Sri Muppidi, Rocket Drew, and Julia Hornstein wrote:

“Palantir CEO Alex Karp appeared to criticize Anthropic on Tuesday without directly naming it. Speaking at a defense tech summit hosted by Andreessen Horowitz in Washington, Karp upbraided Silicon Valley for going against the U.S. military, and warned that AI companies risked angering both liberals and conservatives.

‘If Silicon Valley believes we are going to take everyone’s white-collar jobs… and you’re going to screw the military, if you don’t think that’s going to lead to the nationalization of our technology, you’re retarded,’ Karp said. ‘That’s where this path is going.’”

Strait of Hormuz

Matt Phillips2h

markets

CoreWeave jumps on agreement to support Perplexity’s AI inference needs

CoreWeave popped in premarket trading after announcing that it entered into a “multi-year strategic partnership” with Perplexity, which will see the AI answer engine company use the neocloud’s compute to support its inference workloads.

If sustained, the big bounce today would help repair some of the massive losses CoreWeave suffered last week after the company’s bottom-line results came in below expectations, while business investment and its capex budget for the full year were much higher than anticipated. The intense funding demands associated with aggressive expansions of capacity have sparked a renewed focus on credit risk in AI upstarts, as well as other emergent technologies.

Billionaire Tesla bull tweets that he purchased 1 million shares of Nvidia

Shares of the chip designer are up modestly in premarket trading.

Leo KoGuan

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.

©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC