Nick Richards #13 and Isaac Okoro #35 of the Chicago Bulls celebrate after play against the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter at the United Center on February 07, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.

(Jayden Mack/Getty Images)

Stocks rise as AI anxiety abates and investors shake off Fed minutes

Despite minutes from last month’s Fed meeting dimming hopes for rate cuts, stocks posted solid gains.

2/18/26 4:01PM

The S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 climbed higher, even though minutes from last month’s Fed meeting revealed that the central bank is split on where interest rates could go.

Energy was the best-performing sector as traders evaluated US-Iran negotiations, while utilities and real estate were the worst performers.

Stocks that moved higher:

Nvidia climbed on yesterday’s announcement that Meta will deploy “millions” of its GPUs and CPUs.
Rackspace skyrocketed after unveiling a partnership with Palantir to help customers use its foundry and artificial intelligence platform.
Mister Car Wash surged on news that it’s being taken private by private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners at $7 per share.
Cadence Design Systems jumped after posting better-than-expected Q4 earnings after the bell on Tuesday, as well as announcing a big pipeline of future business and a solid profit outlook for 2026.
Garmin soared after beating Q4 revenue by 7%.
Wingstop surged after reporting a Q4 comparable-store sales beat and better-than-expected earnings this morning.
Upwork rallied after announcing a $300 million buyback plan.
Riot Platforms rose on an activist push to accelerate its shift from bitcoin mining toward AI-focused data centers.
Moderna gained after saying the FDA will review its flu vaccine application after initially refusing.
Uber rose as the company plans to spend $100 million in the US on autonomous vehicle charging stations.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment edged higher as its board approved exploring a possible Knicks/Rangers split.
Palantir ticked higher as Mizuho upgraded the stock to “outperform” from “neutral,” saying the “risk/reward is now attractive.”
Snap got a boost after announcing that its direct revenue hit $1 billion in annualized run rate and subscribers topped 25 million.
The New York Times ticked higher after Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a new stake in the company.

Stocks that moved lower:

Nvidia’s competitors Advanced Micro Devices and Arista Networks dropped on the news of partnership plans between Nvidia and Meta.
WeRide and Applied Digital fell after Nvidia’s 13F filing showed the chip designer sold its stake in these companies last quarter.
Palo Alto Networks dropped after its earnings forecast disappointed investors.
Fiverr tumbled after its Q1 and full-year sales guidance came in short of estimates.
Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony slightly declined on news that Google is adding an AI music generation feature to its Gemini app.

Paige Oamek41m

Hardware stocks jump thanks to server demand and record Lenovo revenue

Server stocks are rallying as Dell, Super Micro Computer, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ride the momentum of Hong Kong-based Lenovo. The PC-maker's stock rose 19% on Friday, hitting an all-time high, on record Q4 earnings.

Powering the positive earnings report was the company's AI-related revenue, which grew 84% in the fourth quarter and now makes up for over a third of total revenue. Investors seem to think the increased demand for servers could have trickle-down effects to other companies.

"The company's results and commentary reinforced the outlook for strong AI-infrastructure demand while indicating resilient broader traditional server and storage spending," wrote Bloomberg Intelligence senior technology analyst Woo Jin Ho. "Lenovo's $21 billion AI-server pipeline and remarks that demand is outpacing supply support Dell's AI-demand momentum and point to robust orders."

AI's insatiable computing demand is reshaping the hardware industry and driving up server demand.

Dell will report first quarter earnings Thursday, May 28.

Take-Two’s “GTA 6” forecast feels absurdly conservative

Take-Two issued a 2027 net bookings forecast about $1 billion below Wall Street’s estimates. The stock is falling on Friday.

Max Knoblauch4h

The D-Wave 2X quantum system, is operated at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility's Quantum Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., as seen on Tuesday December 8, 2015.

Quantum computing CEOs hope “validating” government backing proves their technology is no longer speculative

The government funding is a push to boost the foundational elements of quantum computing to get the industry ready for prime time. The CEOs of Infleqtion and D-Wave give us their thoughts.

Luke Kawa5h

Helena Cheng6h

Ross Stores surges as Q1 results beat expectations, full-year guidance raised

Ross shares are rising after the company delivered strong Q1 results, with sales topping Wall Street’s projections.

The stock soared 6.3% just after the open.

Key numbers:

Earnings per share of $2.02 vs. $1.47 year over year (estimate: $1.72).
Sales of $6.01 billion, up 21% year over year (estimate: $5.61 billion).
Comparable sales growth of 17% (estimate: 8.58%).

CEO Jim Conroy attributed the results to better traffic in stores. “Customer traffic was the primary driver of the strong sales trend as compelling merchandise assortments, higher customer acquisition and engagement from our ongoing marketing initiatives, and an improved in‑store experience are resonating with shoppers.”

The company also noted that transaction volume grew across all key demographics, including “income levels, ethnicities, and age groups, including younger customers.” Sales were also likely buoyed by standard seasonal tailwinds, including consumer spending from tax refunds.

Backed by the strong quarter, the company lifted its full-year targets. Ross now projects same-store sales growth of 6% to 7%, up from the prior forecast of 3% to 4%, topping Wall Street’s estimate of 4.64%. It boosted its annual EPS guidance to a range of $7.50 to $7.74, versus the prior outlook of $7.02 to $7.36.

Ross Stores has been one of the retail sector’s standout performers this year, rising around 20% year to date as of Thursday’s close.

Max Knoblauch6h

Imax surges on report it’s approached entertainment companies for a sale

Imax is on pace for its best trading day since 2021 following a Wall Street Journal report that it’s exploring a sale. Shares are up more than 15% in premarket trading on Friday.

The premium screen company has reportedly approached entertainment companies for a deal, though talks are early and may not come to fruition. Imax has been boosted in recent years by its higher ticket prices — a K-shaped trend in movie theaters — and last year accounted for more than 5% of domestic box office sales.

Theatrical release windows have become a large debate in Hollywood this year, amid the bidding war between Paramount and Netflix for Warner Bros. Discovery. It’s unclear if an entertainment buyer would favor its own films for Imax over a rival’s.

In the first quarter, Imax booked $81.4 million in sales, beating Wall Street expectations but down about 6.5% from last year, when China’s “Ne Zha 2” smashed records.