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Matt Phillips

Robinhood surges on tokenized stocks announcement

Robinhood Markets jumped to a new record of more than $91 shortly before midday, after the company announced plans to extend its crypto offerings, including launching tokenized versions of US stocks and ETFs for its customers in the EU.

(Robinhood Markets Inc. is the parent company of Sherwood Media, an independently operated media company.)

The crypto push is part of an effort to “lay the groundwork for crypto to become the backbone of the global financial system,” Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said in a statement.

Analysts had cited announcements on tokenization and digitization of real-world financial assets as a potential fresh catalyst for Robinhood shares. The stock has more than doubled so far this year, and is up roughly 300% over the last 12 months.

Robinhood (HOOD) News: Launches Tokenized Stocks on Arbitrum, Develops Own Blockchain

Robinhood (HOOD) News: Launches Tokenized Stocks on Arbitrum, Develops Own Blockchain

The crypto push is part of an effort to “lay the groundwork for crypto to become the backbone of the global financial system,” Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said in a statement.

Analysts had cited announcements on tokenization and digitization of real-world financial assets as a potential fresh catalyst for Robinhood shares. The stock has more than doubled so far this year, and is up roughly 300% over the last 12 months.

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Max Knoblauch

Oil prices dip, sending airline stocks climbing amid US-Iran talks

An agreement between the US and Iran on a “set of guiding principles” following talks between officials from the two countries on Tuesday is sending oil prices lower. That, in turn, is boosting airline stocks.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1.1% Tuesday afternoon. Shares of airlines, including United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Air, JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines were up.

Southwest Airlines, which also received an upgrade to “buy” and a price target hike from $73 from $51 from UBS on Tuesday morning, was up more than 7%.

Iran said it temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz for live fire drills on Tuesday as the talks began. About 20% of the world’s oil passes through the key choke point waterway. Later in the day, however, Iran's foreign minister expressed optimism that a deal could be reached with the US, saying "a new window has opened."

markets
Luke Kawa

Walmart’s earnings have high bar to clear as search for safety pushes valuations into stratosphere

If recent history is any guide, Walmart’s Q4 earnings release Thursday before the bell will be appointment viewing.

This time last year, it wasn’t the DeepSeek freak-out or tariff chatter that caused the S&P 500 to definitively begin its downturn from all-time highs. It was Walmart’s underwhelming full-year guidance that catalyzed a momentum stock meltdown.

Since then, the retail behemoth has become a more important — and richly valued — part of the S&P 500, joining the trillion-dollar market cap club in the process. Investors have clamored for safety within the US stock market in 2026, and that’s meant bidding up the income streams associated with moving loads of volume at everyday low prices.

Jeff Jacobson, head of derivatives strategy at 22V Research, offers some perspective on just how well things have been going for the Bentonville-based giant:

  • Walmart versus the SPDR S&P 500 ETF is at its highest level since the aftermath of the global financial crisis;

  • The implied volatility of calls that offer exposure to additional upside in Walmart is very elevated relative to history (that is, they’re expensive);

  • This is the only time in the past five years where Walmart has traded above Wall Street’s 12-month price target.

That makes the bar to clear, regardless of how the actual numbers and guidance end up, fairly high.

In Jacobson’s view, it would be prudent for Walmart holders to try to take advantage of this elevated implied volatility by selling upside, or attempting to lock in gains after this hot run.

His recommendations:

  • Covered calls: sell April $145 calls at $3 or better.

  • Collar the position: sell WMT May $155 calls, buy May $125 put, sell May $110 put.

markets
Luke Kawa

AMC gains amid report on efforts to refinance $2.5 billion in debt

AMC is enjoying a solid start to the week as management looks to make progress on managing its onerous (and expensive) debt load.

Bloomberg reports that the theater chain is marketing a $750 million term loan and seeking $1.73 billion in secured debt, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

The obligations that the chain is reportedly looking to refinance are its $2 billion term loan due in 2029 (priced at one-month SOFR plus 700 basis points) and $400 million in senior notes due next year that carry a coupon of 12.75%.

markets
Max Knoblauch

Florida-based construction company announces $1.5 billion merger with drone maker Xtend in pact backed by Eric Trump

Florida-based construction company JFB Construction Holdings climbed 14% in premarket trading on Tuesday following an announcement that it will merge with Israeli drone maker Xtend in a $1.5 billion deal.

The shares were halted for news pending Tuesday morning, per a Bloomberg trading notice, before resuming trading.

JFB said the deal is backed by investments from Eric Trump. Unusual Machines, a drone tech company linked to Donald Trump Jr., is also listed as a strategic investor.

Xtend has marketed some of its drone products as “low cost‑per‑kill” and in November announced it won a multimillion-dollar Pentagon contract.

markets
Luke Kawa

ServiceNow CEO steps up with $3 million stock purchase announcement as executives cancel stock-selling plans

ServiceNow’s executives have banded together to try to restore confidence in the struggling software company’s stock.

A filing released this morning showed CEO Bill McDermott entered into an agreement to purchase $3 million in company stock on February 27.

In addition, the CEO, CFO Gina Mastantuono, and three other executives ended their 10b5-1 trading plans (in which company stock is typically divested by an insider’s broker according to a preset schedule).

Shares were up about 3% in early trading before paring much of those gains.

ServiceNow was one of many software stocks to struggle this earnings season despite reporting better-than-expected results and rosy near-term guidance, as investors worry about the potential for industry-wide disruption by AI tools.

McDermott had attributed the slide in the stock to acquisitions announced in December. During the conference call following the company’s Q1 earnings report in late January, he told investors, “The worry is gone, you can give us back the market cap.”

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