Luke Kawa3/25/25

US stocks rise as investors ditch defensive parts of the market

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5%, while the Russell 2000 gave back 0.7% on Tuesday.

Communications services was the best-performing S&P 500 sector ETF, while utilities, real estate, and healthcare — all traditionally defensive sectors — fell more than 1%.

Alibaba dipped after its chairman warned of an AI data center bubble brewing.

Trump Media & Technology Group soared after striking a deal with Crypto.com to launch exchange-traded products.

Cloudflare was the recipient of a double upgrade by Bank of America, all the way from “underperform” to “buy,” as analysts now think the cybersecurity firm will be “one of the true ‘AI winners’ in software.”

Carvana also popped on the heels of an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.

Mobileye jumped after the autonomous driving company partnered with Volkswagen to offer driver assistance systems. Elsewhere in the space, Alphabet caught a bid after announcing plans to bring its autonomous ride-hailing service to the nation’s capital.

KB Home slumped after whiffing on its Q1 earnings and lowering its full-year outlook.

US copper futures also hit a record high amid tariff worries and supply constraints.

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Matt Phillips3h

Cisco beats expectations for Q2 sales and EPS; Q3 margin forecast is light

Cisco beat Wall Street expectations for sales and earnings in its fiscal second-quarter results, which it released after the close of trading Wednesday.

Shares slid 7% in the after-hours session. A lighter-than-expected forecast for fiscal third-quarter profit margins may have played a role.

For the fiscal second quarter of 2026, the computer networking equipment giant reported:

Non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.04 vs. the $1.02 expected by Wall Street analysts, according to FactSet.
Sales of $15.35 billion vs. the $15.11 billion consensus expectation.
AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers of $2.1 billion vs. $1.3 billion in the previous quarter.
Revenue guidance for fiscal Q3 of between $15.4 billion and $15.6 billion vs. $15.19 billion consensus estimate.
Adjusted gross margin guidance for fiscal Q3 of 65.5% to 66.5%, compared with analysts’ forecasts for 68.2%.
Fiscal year 2026 sales guidance of $61.2 billion to $61.7 billion vs. previous guidance of between $60.2 billion and $61.0 billion.

Along with other companies like Lumentum, Corning, and new S&P 500 member Ciena, which provide things like the wiring and networking equipment needed to connect server racks, Cisco shares have had a strong start to 2026 as the AI data center boom continues to roll.

Through the end of trading on Wednesday they were up 11% for the year, compared to a 1.4% gain for the S&P 500.

This is a developing story.

markets

J. Edward Moreno3h

McDonald’s Q4 earnings, sales beat Wall Street estimates

McDonald’s reported Q4 results on Wednesday that beat Wall Street’s expectations, which the company attributes to its “value leadership.”

For the last three months of 2025, the fast-food giant reported:

Adjusted earnings per share of $3.12, compared to the $3.05 analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.
Revenue of $7 billion, higher than the $6.8 billion analysts were penciling in.
Global comparable-store sales growth of 5.7%, compared to the 3.9% growth analysts were expecting. In the US, comparable sales grew 6.8% versus the 5.4% that was expected. The company said this was “driven by positive check and guest count growth primarily from successful marketing promotions.”

McDonald’s has emphasized discounts and promotions, such as its $5 meal deals. “McDonald’s value leadership is working,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement.

Shares were little changed in after-hours trading.

AppLovin delivers top- and bottom-line beats in Q4 with Q1 guidance ahead of estimates

The ad tech company just released Q4 results.

Tasha Matsumoto

Stocks finish flat after blockbuster jobs report

Employers added 130,000 jobs last month, crushing estimates for 65,000.

BISHOP'S STORTFORD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 25: Snowfall in the Essex countryside on January 25, 2021 in Bishop's Stortford, Essex, United Kingdom.

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