Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq sink as Nvidia leaves investors wanting more

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US stocks split at the opening bell on Thursday as Nvidia’s (NVDA) stellar earnings failed to wow investors and left Wall Street juggling growing worries over AI’s potential for payoff and disruption.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) moved up roughly 0.4%, following solid wins for stocks more broadly on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-exposed Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively.

Nvidia shares fell over 2% near the open, as the chip giant received a lukewarm response from investors despite big beats on quarterly revenue and profit, and guidance that also came in above expectations. But a lack of detail on drivers for the outlook — which doesn’t include potential revenue out of China — left some on Wall Street asking questions about competitive threats and the staying power of AI buildout demand.

Fears of a AI bubble and the “AI scare trade” have buffeted stocks in recent weeks, with the technology’s challenge to sectors such as legacy software coming to the fore. Salesforce (CRM) shares fell about 4% to continue an AI-driven sell-off after its revenue forecast fell short of estimates but picked up more than 2% at the open after CEO Marc Benioff tried to defuse sell-off worries.

Elsewhere in earnings, Big Three automaker Stellantis (STLA) posted a massive $26.billion full-year loss after an EV-related charge. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Dell (DELL), and CoreWeave (CRWV) highlight Thursday’s docket.

On the macro front, initial jobless claims ticked up marginally over the previous week while continuing claims saw a small drop, signaling a somewhat stagnated economy as investors wait for the January wholesale inflation reading on Friday to help evaluate the odds of an interest-rate cut.

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The US stocks opened Thursday’s trading session on mixed footing as Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings report underwhelmed the market after the bell on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4%, the only major index to move up. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-exposed Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell by roughly 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Elsewhere in earnings, Stellantis (STLA) recorded a $26.billion full-year loss Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) reported drops in revenue and earnings per share. Dell Technologies (DELL) and CoreWeave (CRWV) are still to come on Thursday’s docket.

On the macro front, initial jobless claims ticked up marginally from the previous week, while continuing claims fell slightly, signaling a somewhat stagnant economy as investors wait for the January wholesale inflation reading on Friday to help evaluate the odds of an interest rate cut.
212,000 people filed initial jobless claims in the week ended Feb. 21, according to data released Thursday by the Department of Labor. The figure marks a slight increase from the previous week, in a sign of potential stagnation in the labor market even after an explosive January jobs report.

The initial jobless claims number is above the previous week’s 208,000 initial claims but comes in below expectations. Economists had predicted 216,000 initial claims, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Continuing claims were 1.83 million for the week ended Feb. 14, notching a similar drop from the previous week’s 1.87 million claims. Economists had estimated continuing claims of 1.86 million.

“It’s a labor market more defined by its inactivity than its vigor,” ADP chief economist Nela Richardson told Bloomberg in televised comments Thursday morning. “It’s very unusual to see the kind of caution we’ve seen from employers.”
Cloud computing provider Nutanix (NTNX) reported strong earnings and announced a multiyear deal with AMD (AMD) on Wednesday, sending the stock more than 15% higher in premarket trading on Thursday.

For the fiscal second quarter, Nutanix reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.56 for the quarter on revenue of $722.8 million. Wall Street analysts were looking for earnings per share of $0.44 on $709.7 million in revenue, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

For the full year, Nutanix said it expects revenue of $2.80 billion to $2.84 billion and a non-GAAP operating margin of 21% to 22%.

Nutanix’s new multiyear partnership with AI chipmaker AMD also boosted shares on Thursday as the two companies seek to develop a platform for enterprise agentic AI. AMD said it will invest $250 million in Nutanix shares and joint R&D and go-to-market efforts, and the equity investment is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.

AMD stock slid 1.5% following the announcement and earnings from its rival Nvidia (NVDA).

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From Bloomberg:

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Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

Big Three automaker Stellantis (STLA) reported a massive full-year loss after taking a $26 billion EV-related charge, but saw improving second-half results, suggesting the company’s turnaround under CEO Antonio Filosa may be working.

Stellantis — which counts brands like Ram, Jeep, Fiat, and Alfa Romeo in its product portfolio — reported second half net revenue of 79.25 billion euros ($93.47 billion), That was in range of the 78 billion to 80 billion euros ($91.87 to $94.23 billion) forecast, and 10% higher than the 71.86 billion euros ($84.64 billion) reported a year ago.

Stellantis posted a second-half adjusted operating income loss of 1.38 billion euros ($1.63 billion), also in range of the 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion euros ($1.41 billion to 1.77 billion) forecast. That was a reversal of the 185 million euro ($218 million) gain reported in the second half of 2024, which itself was a massive drop compared to the 10.2 billion euro ($12 billion) profit reported in 2023.

… For the full year, Stellantis reported a net loss of 22.3 billion euros ($26.3 billion), due to 25.4 billion euros ($29.96 billion) of “unusual charges,” the company said.

Stellantis stock was little changed in premarket trade in New York.

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Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley reports:

During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Trump touted an energy industry strengthened by the success of his “Drill, baby, drill” policy, a dual mandate of more hydrocarbon drilling and lower gas prices.

A year into Trump’s second term, oil and gas production is at or near all-time highs, and gasoline prices average below $3 per gallon nationally.

But for the US oil and gas industry, the president’s ambitions have come at a cost.

“Capital efficiencies and returns drive our investment decisions,” said an oil and gas operator responding to the Dallas Federal Reserve’s fourth quarter energy survey.

“If economic conditions worsen, drilling and completion activities will cease in 2026.”

… Even as Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), the country’s largest integrated oil and gas operators, increased their production and beat analyst estimates on top-line revenue, both companies recorded year-on-year declines in annual profit as the oil glut depressed prices, shrinking their margins.

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From Bloomberg:

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), the dominant maker of artificial intelligence processors, failed to impress investors with its latest sales forecast, signaling that concerns about an overheated AI economy will continue to dog the company.

Though the chipmaker delivered a 73% surge in fourth-quarter revenue and a first-quarter outlook that easily beat the average Wall Street estimate, Nvidia shares fell as much as 1.5% during a conference call with analysts. The stock was up less than 1% in premarket trading on Thursday.

It was a stark reminder of the skepticism now surrounding Nvidia. After explosive sales growth turned the chipmaker into the world’s most valuable company, investors are seeking stronger assurances that booming AI sales are here to stay.

“By most measures, Nvidia delivered a solid set of results,” analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note after the results. “Even so, the stock response suggests investors were left wanting more.”

CEO Jensen Huang pushed back on the concerns during Wednesday’s call, arguing that customers are already making money from their newly acquired computing power. That’s why clients will keep investing at elevated levels, he said.

“You need compute capacity, and that translates directly to growth, and that translates directly to revenues,” Huang said. “I’m confident their cash flows are growing.”

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From Reuters:

Nvidia (NVDA) may have made its immense fortune on the back of specialized graphics processing units (GPUs) used to power artificial intelligence servers, but CEO Jensen Huang is increasingly professing his love for the more generalist CPU.

The CPU, or central processing unit, was for ‌decades traditionally viewed as the main brain of a computer — a product most associated with Intel (INTC) or sometimes Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Huang is fond of saying ‌that where once 90% of computing used to happen on CPUs and 10% on chips like his, the ratio had flipped in recent years.

But the CPU is now making a comeback – increasingly seen as an equivalent if not better option as AI companies shift from training their models to deploying them – a shift that Nvidia plans to be a big part of.

“We love CPUs as well as GPUs,” Huang said on a call with analysts on Wednesday for the company’s fourth-quarter results.

He assured them that Nvidia was not only ready for the CPU’s return to the spotlight, but also that Nvidia’s own CPU offerings for data centers, first released in 2023, would outcompete rivals.

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Marriott Vacations’ (VAC) stock rose 8% before the bell on Thursday after reporting fourth quarter earnings, with revenue exceeding analyst expectations.

Trade Desk (TTD) stock sank 16% during premarket hours today. The technology platform reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.59 per share, beating estimates and also reported a rise in revenue. But it forecast first quarter revenue of $678 million, which fell below analyst expectations.

Zoom (ZM) stock fell 3% before the bell on Thursday after forecasting quarterly profit below Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.
Shares of Salesforce (CRM) fell almost 4% in premarket trading after the software company’s fiscal 2027 revenue forecast came in below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday.

The San Francisco-based company flagged sluggish spending on enterprise business software ‌as it invests heavily in its AI platform to drive up demand.

Reuters reports:
Bloomberg reports:

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Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley reports:

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