Nasdaq Faces Largest Monthly Drop in Over a Year
The major averages were broadly lower near noon as investors grapple with pressure from renewed AI sentiment worries and tech-sector volatility. The Nasdaq looks particularly fragile, tracking toward what would be its steepest monthly fall in over a year if current levels hold.Beyond tech, risk sentiment is 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 bidand Netflixdeclined to raise its offer for the companyOpenAI announcedat a $730B pre-money valuation, including Amazonagreeing to invest $50B in 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:Appleis 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 saysOpenAI has hired MetaAI researcher Ruoming Pang, who joined Meta from Appleabout seven months ago for a pay package reportedly worth more than $200M over several years, The Information reportsAmazon'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:Near midday, the Dow was down 1.16%, or 577.27, to 48,921.93, the Nasdaq was down 0.82%, or 188.74, to 22,689.65, and the S&P 500 was down 0.56%, or 38.84, to 6,870.02.
