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    Tuesday, February 24
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    Nasdaq, S&P 500 rise, Dow slips as Wall Street awaits Nvidia earnings, bitcoin resumes sell-off

    9 Mins Read


    Stocks moved mostly higher on Wednesday as Wall Street looked recover from a tech-led sell-off as investors awaited earnings from Nvidia (NVDA) that will set the tone for the next leg of the AI trade.

    The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed 0.5%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) put on nearly 0.2%, both paring larger earlier gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech names, fell 0.2%. The moves came on the heels of a run of sharp losses for stocks. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) resumed a sell-off, last seen back below the $90,000 level, near its lowest levels since April.

    Investors are bracing for Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings due after Wednesday’s close, which are expected to swing the stock up to 7% in either direction. More broadly, the chipmaking giant’s results could prove a make-or-break moment for this year’s strong S&P 500 rally, which has been spurred by optimism for AI-fueled growth.

    Concerns about Big Tech’s massive spending on the AI buildout have fed into multiday declines, as high-profile investors offload holdings. Unease is growing that the likes of Amazon (AMZN) are stepping up their borrowing to fund AI ambitions just as the Federal Reserve looks set to put the brakes on interest rate cuts.

    Given that, Fed minutes set for release later will be put under the microscope for insight into the economy and future policy. While that meeting delivered a rate cut despite division at the Fed, traders are now evenly split on whether the central bank will ease again in December.

    That view could shift on Thursday, when the market gets the September jobs report — the first major data release since the government shutdown delayed economic updates.

    LIVE 16 updates

    • Laura Bratton

      Jobs report: Delayed September data set for release Thursday

      Yahoo Finance’s Emma Ockerman reports:

      Read more here.

    • Laura Bratton

      Bitcoin falls below $90,000

      Bitcoin (BTC-USD) fell below $90,000 Wednesday as the cryptocurrency shed nearly 4% in midday trading.

      The move comes after investors pulled around $523 million from BlackRock’s flagship iShares Bitcoin Trust Tuesday, Reuters reported. Options trading implies Bitcoin could sink further to $80,000.

      The cryptocurrency initially dropped below $90,000 on Tuesday for the first time since April, but quickly recovered.

      Other cryptocurrencies and crypto stocks also suffered on Wednesday, deepening a recent selloff. Ethereum (ETH-USD) and XRP (XRP-USD) both sank roughly 6.6%, and Solana (SOL-USD) shed 5.5%.

      Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, fell nearly 9%, while Coinbase (COIN) dropped 4.5%. Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) was also down 9%.

    • Laura Bratton

      Nvidia stock could see 7% swing after earnings

      Options trading implies Nvidia (NVDA) shares could rise or fall 6.9% following the AI chipmaker’s earnings report on Wednesday after the bell, according to Bloomberg data.

      On average, shares have risen or fallen 3.9% after Nvidia’s past earnings reports, per Bloomberg.

      Nvidia shares were up nearly 3% in late morning trading on Wednesday but are down 4% over the past five trading sessions amid a recent tech stock selloff fueled in part by investor fears of an AI bubble.

      “NVDA near-term is facing the tough task of meeting high (earnings) expectations AND high skepticism around AI capex, likely only resolved when broader market volatility (shutdown, interest-rates) subsides,” wrote Bank of America (BAC) analyst Vivek Arya in a note to investors Nov. 14.

    • Nasdaq whips higher as Big Tech sees gains

      The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) shot up 1.4% in mid-morning trading as investors piled back into riskier bets ahead of AI chip giant Nvidia’s (NVDA) highly anticipated earnings report.

      The gain comes after two days of losses for the index, during which tech stocks sold off amid investor fears that the AI bubble could soon burst.

      Big Tech stocks were mixed, with several names in the group posting significant gains. Alphabet (GOOG) and Broadcom (AVGO) led gains for the group, with both stocks up more than 5%. Nvidia climbed over 3%, while Tesla (TSLA) added almost 2%.

      Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) — which were downgraded to Neutral from Buy by investment firm Rothschild & Co Redburn’s analyst Alex Haissl on Tuesday — saw their shares fall modestly.

    • Laura Bratton

      Meta’s AI data center partner Blue Owl Capital sees shares rises after canceling fund merger

      Blue Owl Capital (OWL) — the asset manager whose splashy $27 billion deal with Meta (META) will help the tech giant develop a massive AI data center in Louisiana — saw shares of its publicly traded fund, OBDC (OBDC), rise nearly 3% Wednesday.

      The move comes after Blue Owl reportedly canceled a merger between OBDC and its non-traded fund OBDC II. OBDC II investors would have lost money from the deal because they were restricted from redeeming shares until it closed, and OBDC has been trading at a discount — the publicly traded fund is down 20% for the year and 4% in the past month alone.

      Blue Owl Capital has made headlines recently for its role in the AI buildout.

      Investors have grown concerned over the emergence of off-balance sheet financing for AI projects through arrangements such as Meta’s and Blue Owl’s joint venture. In other words, Meta gets to use debt tied to Blue Owl through their venture to fund its Louisiana data center without that debt sitting on its balance sheet and weighing on earnings.

    • Laura Bratton

      US stocks steady at the open

      Stocks were stable at the market open Wednesday ahead of a key earnings report from AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) but quickly picked up steam.

      The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) edged up more than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was roughly flat. But the two gauges accelerated about five minutes after the start of the trading session to add 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.

      The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech stocks, traded flat.

      The market action comes after another day of sharp losses for stocks on Tuesday.

    • Adobe to acquire Semrush for $1.9 billion to shore up AI search solutions

      Adobe (ADBE) announced it will acquire Semrush Holdings (SEMR), the maker of search engine optimization software, for $1.9 billion in cash.

      Semrush stock soared by about 75% in premarket trading on Wednesday, as the sale price of $12 per share is nearly double the $6.76 price at which shares closed on Tuesday. Adobe stock was little changed following news of the deal, rising just 0.18%.

      The acquisition will bolster Adobe’s efforts to cater to marketers looking to maintain discoverability as more consumers switch to AI for search. Even legacy retailers like Target (TGT) are looking to partner with AI startups like OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to land real estate on ChatGPT and other AI chatbots.

      “With the advent of LLMs and AI-driven search, brands need to understand where and how their customers are engaging in these new channels,” Semrush CEO Bill Wagner said. “This combination provides marketers more insights and capabilities to increase their discoverability across today’s evolving digital landscape.”

    • Jenny McCall

      Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.

    • Jenny McCall

      Lowe’s profit tops estimates on online growth, sales to pros

      Lowe’s (LOW) stock jumped more than 5% in premarket trading on Wednesday after beating Wall Street estimates on profit due to a pickup in online sales and growth in demand from professional contractors.

      Bloomberg News reports:

      Read more here.

    • Nvidia caps Mag 7 earnings with a dose of AI jitters

      Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban reports:

      Read more here in the takeaway from today’s Morning Brief.

    • Jenny McCall

      Target slashes earnings outlook, warns on holiday season

      Discount retailer Target’s (TGT) stock fell 2% before the bell on Wednesday after the company slashed its full-year profit guidance and provided a cautious outlook for the holiday season, as cash-strapped consumers struggle with the affordability crisis for food, healthcare, and housing.

      Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi reports on the latest from the US retail giant:

      Read more here.

    • Goldman’s Waldron says markets are primed for possible further declines

      Bloomberg reports:

      Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS). President John Waldron said markets are primed for possible further declines and investors will be keeping close tabs on the upcoming key earnings report from technology leader Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)

      “It strikes me the market could pull back further from here,” Waldron said in an interview on the sidelines of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore on Wednesday. “I do think the technicals are kind of more biased for more protection, and more downside.”

      The S&P 500 (^GSPC) is down more than 3% this month, on course for its worst month since March, while volatility has surged. A selloff in the world’s largest technology companies has reignited a debate on AI, and whether it is generating enough revenue or profit to justify the massive spending on infrastructure.

      “You’re seeing in the markets right now a pullback, which I think is healthy — markets have run quite a bit this year,” he said on Bloomberg Television. “Markets are heavily focused on this AI dynamic: are we going to get the returns on capital invested that the market expects, and is that priced in? That’s a big debate.”

      Read more here.

    • Premarket trending tickers: Lowe’s, DoorDash, and MP Materials

      Lowe’s (LOW) stock rose 4% before the bell after beating Wall Street estimates on quarterly sales. The retailer did, however, lower its full-year profit forecast amid growing economic uncertainty.

      DoorDash (DASH) stock rose 3% before the bell following the news that Kroger will expand its partnerships with the online food ordering company.

      MP Materials’ (MP) stock was up 4% in premarket trading on Thursday. The rare-earth company has seen some volatility over recent weeks due to export restrictions on rare earths from China. As part of the one-year trade truce, Beijing agreed to remove these restrictions; however, news has emerged that the details of that agreement have yet to be finalized between the US and China.

    • Great bitcoin crash of 2025 has the crypto lagging bonds, gold

      Bloomberg reports:

      Read more here.

    • Jenny McCall

      Constellation Energy rises after US loans $1B to restart nuclear reactor project

      Constellation Energy (CEG) stock rose 3% before the bell on Wednesday after the US Department of Energy said it will loan $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island that is under contract to supply power to data centers for tech giant Microsoft (MSFT).

      The AP reports:

      Read more here.

    • Gold holds as tech stock drop pushes haven demand

      Bloomberg reports:

      Read more here.



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