Markets
Nia Warfield, Luke Kawa

US stocks climb on trade optimism

Trade optimism fueled another day of gains for US stocks as President Donald Trump trumpeted a trade deal with the UK and raised the prospect of lower tariffs on China.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Nasdaq 100 rose 1%, and the Russell 2000 led the way with a 1.9% advance.

It was a clear risk-on day: industrials, materials, and energy were the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETFs, while defensive sectors real estate, utilities, consumer staples, and healthcare all fell.

The day’s gains were led by Axon Enterprise, Palantir, and Delta Air Lines. Match Group led the declines, falling 9% after the Tinder parent reported a drop in paid users and announced plans to cut 13% of its workforce.

Boeing climbed 3% following comments made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick that the UK would soon announce a $10 billion order.

Coinbase rose 5% after the crypto trading platform signed a $2.9 billion deal to acquire Deribit, the largest bitcoin options platform, just hours before dropping earnings.

Speaking of earnings...

Quantum computing company D-Wave soared more than 50% after announcing record revenues, with CEO Dr. Alan Baratz optimistic on the outlook for future system sales.

Krispy Kreme shares plunged over 24% after the popular donut chain posted mixed Q1 results, scrapped its quarterly dividend, and hit pause on its McDonald’s partnership.

Nintendo shares sank after the Switch maker wrapped up a rough year on Thursday, reporting a 43% plunge in net profit and a 30% drop in revenue.

Peloton shares felt the burn, dipping nearly 7% after the fitness tech company reported its third straight year-over-year decline in sales in its Q3 results.

Crocs shares jumped nearly double digits after the quirky shoe brand posted a strong first-quarter beat but withdrew its full-year guidance as global trade pressures loom.

Tapestry shares popped almost 4% after the fashion conglomerate posted knockout Q3 results, seeing strong demand for its legacy leather handbag line, Coach.

Warner Bros. Discovery shares jumped nearly 5% after a report from CNBC said the company may split its traditional cable business from its popular streaming platforms.

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markets
J. Edward Moreno

Gilead rises after earnings beat driven by HIV drug sales

Gilead rose more than 5% on Wednesday after it reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street estimates, driven by sales of its HIV drugs.

For the last three months of 2025, Gilead reported:

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $1.86, compared to the $1.81 the Street was expecting.

  • $7.9 billion in revenue, more than the $7.6 billion the Street was penciling in. Late last year the company began selling Yeztugo, a twice-yearly HIV prevention shot. CEO Daniel O’Day told analysts it “has already exceeded our coverage goals and is rapidly gaining market share.”

For the full year in 2026, the company expects:

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $8.45 to $8.85, compared to the $8.79 analysts forecast.

  • Revenue of $29.6 billion to $30 billion, compared to the $29.92 billion the Street was expecting. The company anticipates Yeztugo will contribute $800 million in revenue in 2026.

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markets
Luke Kawa

Micron jumps as CFO says company has started HBM4 shipments ahead of schedule

Micron is surging on Wednesday after a key executive said the company is getting its next-generation memory chips into customers’ hands ahead of schedule.

“We have been in high-volume production on HBM4. We’ve commenced customer shipments of HBM4 and we see shipment volumes ramping successfully this calendar Q1,” Chief Financial Officer Mark Murphy said at a conference hosted by Wolfe Research. “This is a quarter earlier than we mentioned during our December earnings call.”

HBM4 refers to the newest edition of high-bandwidth memory chips.

Micron has arguably been the laggard in bringing these chips to market compared to peers SK Hynix and Samsung, which may have caused the company to miss out on some high-profile customers (namely, Nvidia). But demand for these components is so intense, and running ahead of production, that finding willing buyers shouldn’t be much of a challenge even at ever-escalating prices.

Murphy added that he sees supply-demand tightness for high-bandwidth memory chips persisting beyond calendar year 2026.

Luke Kawa
3h
Software slump resumes after high-profile companies issue underwhelming outlooks

The nascent recovery in software stocks has become unglued thanks to negative news both foreign and domestic.

BAM Circus Festival Takes Place In Milan
markets
Max Knoblauch

Electric aircraft maker Beta surges as Amazon discloses 5.3% stake, Jefferies upgrades stock to “buy”

Beta Technologies, the electric aircraft maker that went public in November, is soaring in early Wednesday trading. The stock climbed before markets opened following an upgrade from Jefferies from “hold” to “buy” with a $30 price target, reflecting a nearly 80% climb from its price as of Tuesday’s close.

Jefferies believes Beta shares are attractive after recent risk-off trading — the stock is down 40% since the beginning of the year.

Also appearing to boost optimism in Beta is an SEC filing on Tuesday that indicated Amazon owns a 5.3% stake in the company. The stake isn’t new: Amazon was listed as a 5% or greater shareholder in Beta’s November IPO.

markets
Matt Phillips

Analysts give mixed reviews on Robinhood’s Q4 results

Robinhood Markets remained down in premarket trading after delivering Q4 results Tuesday that fell short of some of Wall Street’s expectations, partly due to a slide in crypto trading.

Here’s what analysts had to say about the print:

Barclays: “Q4 came in softer than expected as lower take rates in options and crypto impacted transaction revenues, and lower [securities] lending in particular impacted [net interest income].”

Mizuho: “Prediction Markets were strong, but overall mixed quarter.”

Piper Sandler: “Bottom line, despite these ST headwinds which we laid out in our note last week, our LT thesis remains intact. If you can stomach the volatility, HOOD is the best way to play secular growth in retail trading and the closest FinTech platform we’ve ever seen to achieving ‘super app’ status.”

Zack’s Investment Research: “Crypto trading revenue fell 38% year over year in Q4, and January data showed another 57% decline in app-based crypto volumes. Unfortunately, that’s not a seasonal blip, that’s a structural slowdown in one of Robinhood’s historically highest-margin engagement drivers.”

Citizens JMP: “Slight revenue shortfall for Robinhood Markets but better expense performance, broadening business contribution, and a full roadmap should support strong growth again in 2026; reiterate our Market Outperform rating.”

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