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CEO of Nvidia, Jensen Huang
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Getty Images)
Bad Apple spoils the bunch

Nvidia surpasses Apple in market cap again as AI fortunes diverge

One stock is growing quickly and surrounded by positive news coverage. The other, by comparison, is a snail being tracked by a rain cloud.

Luke Kawa

Call it a tale of two $3 trillion companies. Nvidia surpassed Apple in market capitalization for the sixth time, and the gap in value between the two megacaps is growing on Wednesday, with Nvidia up 4.2% and Apple treading water as of 10:15 a.m ET.

Both are very expensive tech stocks, judging by popular, surface-level measures of valuation like the forward-price-to-earnings ratio. But based on recent news and sentiment surrounding these behemoths, that’s where the similarities end.

Usually, investors are willing to pay a lofty price for stocks because those companies’ top and bottom lines are growing fast.

That’s still true of Nvidia. Even with revenue and profit growth decelerating, those metrics are still poised to be up in excess of 70% year on year when it reports quarterly results on February 26. But the bar for Apple is nearly on the floor. Consensus estimates are for sales and income to be up merely in mid-single digits year on year when the company releases updated financials next week.

Nvidia bulls are also getting a consistent drumbeat of reassurance that the AI boom is still on, from Microsoft and Amazon’s data-center spending plans to the fresh assortment of AI infrastructure initiatives outlined by President Trump along with executives from Oracle, OpenAI, and Softbank on Tuesday.

Apple, on the other hand, is underwhelming on AI to the point where it may be adversely affecting its core hardware — or at the very least, failing to be a compelling selling point. According to many reports, Apple Intelligence hasn’t driven a strong upgrade cycle. Far from it. Seemingly every day brings a new headline about softness in iPhone sales, with China in particular cited as a sore spot.

As such, the stock has been getting trounced during a period of historically unprecedented market breadth that has seen two-thirds of S&P 500 constituents rise for six straight sessions. 

Two of Apple’s worst five days relative to the equal-weight S&P 500 over the past four years have happened in the last three trading days.

Shares are teetering near their 200-day moving average — a level they haven’t closed below since early May — with the shares down more than 10% year to date in their worst month since December 2022, as things stand.

Apple down double digits in a month where the S&P 500 rises more than 3%? That’s something that hasn’t happened in more than a decade.

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GameStop pops as Q1 revenue, profit rise and retailer authorizes $2 billion of stock buybacks

GameStop shares popped after hours, as the company authorized a $2 billion stock buyback and posted a blockbuster fiscal first-quarter profit aided by unrealized gains on its options exposure to eBay stock

Here are the numbers from the retail-trader favorite: 

  • Adjusted EPS of $0.30, up from $0.17 a year earlier and above the $0.16 estimate of… precisely one analyst.

  • Revenue of $835.3 million, up 14% from a year earlier.

  • A $2 billion stock-buyback authorization, which is equivalent to about one-fifth of the company’s market cap.

  • A whopping $268 million unrealized gain because of its options exposure to eBay stock that it bought as it attempted to buy the online retailer. That led to a record quarterly net income of $389.6 million.

  • The highest first-quarter operating income ever, at $143.3 million – a number not aided by the gain in eBay stock, but rather by higher revenue and improved margins. 

Shares rose 7.1% after hours.

The buyback authorization is a particularly interesting development for GameStop, which less than two years ago issued billions of dollars worth of shares as it took advantage of surging stock prices. 

Of course, it’s worth noting that the buyback authorization can be used piecemeal fashion for the next three years, so any potential buybacks don’t have to happen anytime soon — or at all.

markets

GitLab shares soar on earnings and revenue beat

Shares of GitLab soared over 8% in after-hours trading after the company’s quarterly results beat analyst expectations for earnings and revenue.

For FY2027 Q1, the code development and security platform posted:

  • Revenues of $264.2 million (estimate: $254 million).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.23 (estimate: $0.21).

In a press release, GitLab CEO Bill Staples wrote, “The agentic era is creating structural tailwinds for GitLab, and Q1 showed it clearly with accelerating platform activity and promising traction from GitLab Duo Agent Platform.”

As AI eats the software development world, platforms for human coders like GitLab are facing some existential threats. Last month, GitLab shares dropped after it announced a restructuring plan, slashing its country footprint by 30%, and today it confirmed that 350 team members would be cut. The company said it expects the restructing to be complete by the end of FY 2027.

Shares of GitLab were down about 15% year to date heading into the report.

markets

Nuclear stocks gain as federal officials approve plan to restart Three Mile Island

US officials have given Constellation Energy the green light to turn the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant back on.

On Monday night, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission filed a waiver allowing the company to transfer grid rights from a gas-fired power plant outside Philadelphia to Three Mile Island. The company says that due to the waiver, it aims to restart the nuclear power facility by 2027 in order to supply Microsoft data centers with energy.

Additionally, other nuclear stocks like Oklo, GE Vernova, Energy Fuels, and Cameco Corp. traded higher Tuesday afternoon.

This comes after last weeks Energy Department announcement that it would provide weapons-grade plutonium to five energy startups, including Oklo, to be processed into fuel to generate electricity.

Companies have said these weapons stockpiles are a way to get nuclear reactors fueled quickly as the industry scales.

markets

Victoria’s Secret jumps after posting surging sales and raising full-year outlook

Victoria’s Secret shares are up more than 40% in early trading after the apparel retailer delivered a strong Q1 earnings beat and substantially lifted its full-year guidance. It was a welcome win for the company as it officially changed its stock ticker symbol to VSXY from VSCO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Key numbers:

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.60 (compared to analyst estimates of $0.30).

  • Net sales of $1.56 billion, a 15% year-over-year increase (estimate: $1.52 billion).

  • Adjusted operating income of $80 million (estimate: $42 million).

Comparable sales rose 13% during the quarter, beating the estimated 12%. The company said double-digit growth was recorded across its Victoria’s Secret, PINK, and Beauty brands, as well as across stores and direct and international channels.

Buoyed by the strong momentum, management raised the retailer’s full-year guidance. Victoria’s Secret now projects full-year net sales to reach between $7.03 billion and $7.13 billion, up from a previous cap of $6.95 billion. Adjusted operating income is now anticipated to land between $550 million and $580 million, a jump from the previously projected range of $430 million to $460 million.

“Our customer responded strongly to our product innovation, emotionally resonant storytelling, and distinct brand projection, driving double-digit growth in new customer acquisition, increased regular-price selling, and broad-based strength across categories, channels, and geographies,” CEO Hillary Super said in a statement. “These results reflect the progress we are making against our Path to Potential strategy as we continue to strengthen customer connection, build brand heat, and drive sustainable long-term growth.”

The company’s “Path to Potential” transformation strategy was launched to right-track the business after a multiyear stretch of declining sales and cultural scrutiny. The changed ticker also signals a fresh corporate chapter under Super, who is steering the retailer through a major brand turnaround.

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