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Money Market Review (02/16/2026-02/20/2026)
Plenty of mixed results throughout the entire week.
Monday of this week was President's Day where markets were closed. This shorter week presented some real challenges given the market performance. Perhaps it's the entire month itself where there are plenty of factors at play, in terms of holidays and annual events. Another factor being that February is often the shortest month of the year, so there's this "cramped" feeling in wanting, or not, in trading. Regardless, let's recap what happened this week.
Happy President's Day!
Market on Close[1] |
|
|---|---|
| S&P 500 | +0.10% |
| NASDAQ-100 | -0.13% |
| Dow Jones | +0.07% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.00% |
Stock(s) That Stood Out on Tuesday |
|
| Itron, Inc. | +7.91% |
| Wingstop, Inc. | +13.59% |
| Knife River Corporation | +16.34% |
| ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, Ltd. | +25.45% |
| Masimo Corporation | +34.22% |
| Aura Materials, Inc. | -7.19% |
| JFrog Ltd. | -7.96% |
| Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. | -9.74% |
| Genuine Parts Company | -14.56% |
| Franklin Electric Co., Inc. | -14.65% |
'Lo and behold: this day is where Warner Bros. Discovery announced they're thinking of considering Paramount-Skydance's offer. You read that right: they'll be going back and listening in what their offer will be. What a turnaround! US and Iran have been in talks about all things nuclear, causing prices for oil to drop. President Trump is backing Kalshi and Polymarket prediction platforms, even though states have opted to ban them. Apple is looking to venture into smart glasses, along with enhances to their current tech such as camera AirPods. Palo ALto has beaten their estimates—$2.59B versus their estimate of $2.58B, and $1.03 versus $0.93.
Market on Close[1] |
|
|---|---|
| S&P 500 | +0.56% |
| NASDAQ-100 | +0.80% |
| Dow Jones | +0.26% |
| Russell 2000 | +0.45% |
Stock(s) That Stood Out on Wednesday |
|
| Amrize, Ltd. | +10.99% |
| Caesars Entertainment Inc. | +13.03% |
| Madison Square Garden Sports Corp | +16.33% |
| Evolution Metals & Technology Corp. | +27.83% |
| ImmunityBio, Inc. | +42.06% |
| Bel Fuse, Inc. | -6.00% |
| Palo Alto Networks, Inc. | -6.82% |
| VNET Group, Inc. | -9.38% |
| The Vita Coco Company, Inc. | -11.43% |
| Axcelis Technologies, Inc. | -16.74% |
This day was where Mark Zuckerberg testifies in this social media suit—that social media doesn't cause any kind of addiction. Another big news is eBay announcing their acquiring of Depop from Etsy, which we're guessing is a move to boost more shoppers on their platform. Fei-Fei Li's startup AI company has raised $1 billion in funding. Both Carvana and eBay beat their estimates: Carvana's fourth quarter revenue resulted in $5.60B versus $5.22B, and $4.22 versus $1.16B estimates; eBay's fourth quarter revenue earnings are $2.97B versus $2.88B, and $1.41 versus $1.36 estimated.
Market on Close[1] |
|
|---|---|
| S&P 500 | -0.28% |
| NASDAQ-100 | -0.41% |
| Dow Jones | -0.54% |
| Russell 2000 | +0.24% |
Stock(s) That Stood Out on Thursday |
|
| Etsy, Inc. | +9.28% |
| SSR Mining, Inc. | +9.48% |
| Neptune Insurance Holdings Inc. | +12.74% |
| Herbalife Ltd. | +18.32% |
| Remitly Global Inc. | +25.94% |
| Dutch Bros Inc. | -6.91% |
| Brookdale Senior Living Inc. | -9.72% |
| Wayfair Inc. | -13.02% |
| Avis Budget Group Inc. | -21.54% |
| Klarna Group plc | -26.91% |
Both Akamai and Live Nation beat their earnings estimates. Akamai's fourth quarter revenue earnings come in at $1.09B versus $1.08B, and $1.84 versus $1.76 estimated. Live Nation's fourth quarter revenue earnings come in at $6.31B versus their $6.07B estimated. Johnson & Johnson is looking to explore $20 billion-plus sale of orthopedics, as we shall see going forward. Speaking of billions, despite not having a great month, Amazon beats Walmart in taking the "retail crown" even though reports say that Walmart generated more revenue in comparison. Sounds like Walmart won't take this lightly, and will continue making moves to compete against Amazon—perhaps even taking them down? While we're on the topic of Amazon, according to Washington Supreme Court, their products containing sodium nitrate can be sued due links to suicide. I personally never heard of a food preservative having an "arrow" with suicide, but somehow this has become permissible, now under Supreme Court. Since their stocks have been slipping this month, is February "Sabotage Amazon Month" or something? Anyway, on the international side, China's internet stocks have been struggling, but their hardware stocks are doing great. This makes sense given that China is, too, on this AI arms race where data centers demand and require plenty of SSD drives and RAM chips.
Market on Close[1] |
|
|---|---|
| S&P 500 | +0.69% |
| NASDAQ-100 | +0.87% |
| Dow Jones | +0.47% |
| Russell 2000 | -0.05% |
Stock(s) That Stood Out on Friday |
|
| XP, Inc. | +6.84% |
| Etsy, Inc. | +8.39% |
| Fortuna Mining Corp. | +12.57% |
| Legence Corp. | +16.84% |
| RingCentral, Inc. | +34.40% |
| GitLab, Inc. | -8.18% |
| GeneDx Holdings Corp. | -9.51% |
| Qualys, Inc. | -10.21% |
| DNOW, Inc. | -19.13% |
| JFrog Ltd. | -24.94% |
Supreme Court has ruled out President Trump's tariffs today, yet looking to impose 10% globally. Because of that, Gold rises above the $5,000 mark as a result of the tariff situation along with Iran talks. Will tariff refunds still be a thing? According to Yahoo! Finance, tax refunds are up 14% this year compared to last. Speaking of being up, be glad your sugar levels aren't, now that the "sweets" industry is trying to make its rounds under new guidelines. For tech news review, Microsoft appoints AI executive, Asha Sharma, to run Xbox and their video gaming division. There are plenty of video game reporters on YouTube at the ready, and seeing their reactions in Microsoft's progress and advancement in the video gaming world remains to be seen.
You may have guessed, the number one standout for this week was re-consideration on Warner Bros. Discovery's part: hoping to partner with Paramount-Skydance. Despite their higher cash offer, their partnership will result in a $6 billion job loss, sounding like nearly nobody in any department is safe. Another standout was this week ending in the takedown of President Trump's tariffs. How will this, now, impact goods going forward, even though Gold spiked up above $5,000 to close this week? Mark Zuckerberg testified this week about the mental effects of social media, Amazon's struggles still nets them being most valuable retail company against Walmart, and housing mortgages will cool a little bit, but not enough to make rounds. Next week is already the last for February, how will these markets fare out?
Anything that stood out to you this short week? What do you think about Warner Bros. re-opening talks with Paramount? Will Bitcoin and other digital coins still have a chance? Let's talk all about in the comments section below!
SOURCES:
3. Source by Wall Street Journal
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