Nasdaq Falls 5% in February, Market Sentiment Cautious
The major averages finished the day sharply lower as investors grapple with pressure from renewed AI sentiment worries and tech-sector volatility. The Nasdaq looks particularly fragile with a 5% decline in February that marks its steepest monthly fall in over a year.Beyond tech, risk sentiment was cautious across the broader market following the January producer price index release, which points to hotter-than-expected inflation in inputs.Looking to commodities, gold and oil were both sharply higher, ending the week with notable gains overall.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Warner Bros. Discoverydetermined that Paramount'srevised takeover bid constitutesand Netflixdeclined to raise its offer for the companyOpenAI announced $110B in new investment funds at a $730B pre-money valuation, including Amazonin the ChatGPT makerDell Technologiesreported, raised its dividend, and added $10B to its share repurchase programBlockreported mixed quarterly results but said it wouldBrink'sNCR Atleosin a cash and stock transaction valued at $6.6B2. WALL STREET CALLS:Blockto Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan StanleyDuolingowasto Neutral or equivalent ratings by at least six firms after earningsCelsiusto Buy from Underperform at BofASunrunto Hold at Jefferies and to Sell at GLJ ResearchUBSPalantirto Buy with shares down 35% from peak3. AROUND THE WEB:Paramount is expected to easily gain EU approval for its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, Reuters saysAppleis in discussions with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank as it looks to introduce its Apple Pay service in India mid-2026, Bloomberg saysCaesars Entertainmentis considering takeover offers, including a bid from Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta, FT saysAmazon'schief AI scientist Peter DeSantis believes the company can use in-house chips to develop AI models more cheaply, WSJ saysMeta Platformshas inked an agreement to rent Google'sAI semiconductors, known as tensor processing units, to work on new AI models, The Information reports4. MOVERS:Applied Optoelectronicsincreases afterand providing guidance for Q1Arlo Technologiesgains afterand providing guidance for Q1 and FY26Figsand Rocket Pharmaceuticalshigher in New York afterSunrunfalls after, with EPS and revenue beating consensusPar Technologyand Progynylower after5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:NIQ Global, with CEO Jim Peck commenting, "Q4 exceeded expectations and capped a defining year for NIQ"inTEST, with EPS missing consensusCarter'sand provided guidance for FY26 and Q1Docebo, with CEO Alessio Artuffo commenting, "Q4 was one of Docebo's strongest quarters on record"Globalstarand provided guidance for FY26INDEXES:The Dow fell 521.28, or 1.05%, to 48,977.92, the Nasdaq lost 210.17, or 0.92%, to 22,668.21, and the S&P 500 declined 29.98, or 0.43%, to 6,878.88.
