Public Markets 3d Briefing
×Market Performance
The S&P 500 finance.yahoo.com and Nasdaq both slid this week as Nvidia's earnings failed to lift broader sentiment, with the Nasdaq falling 1.2% despite better-than-expected results from the chip giant on Wednesday. Tech stocks ft.com slid as AI spending fears returned, while Treasuries bloomberg.com rose, sending longer-maturity yields toward their lowest levels of the year amid the fresh slump in US technology shares.
Corporate News
Salesforce finance.yahoo.com eased AI fears with a strong outlook and big buybacks, while Shake Shack wsj.com reported higher fourth-quarter profit, saying sales growth and operational improvements allowed it to maintain margins amid industry headwinds. Papa John's International wsj.com is closing hundreds of pizza shops as the chain works to turn around its business amid broader sector struggles. J.M. Smucker wsj.com added directors in a deal with activist firm Elliott after posting higher third-quarter sales but lowering its sales-growth forecast for the year due to a recent fire at its manufacturing facility.
Tech & AI Sector
Nvidia finance.yahoo.com received a US license for a small amount of H200 exports to China, while Broadcom finance.yahoo.com expects to sell 1 million 3D stacked chips by 2027. Nvidia CEO Huang investing.com said the "Saa Spocalypse" narrative is wrong, seeing a "deep misunderstanding" of the software industry's resilience. Morgan Stanley investing.com says hyperscaler AI spending is set to exceed the dot-com peak, creating winners beyond the "Mag 7" with one sector poised for big gains. Tech stocks investing.com are now almost as cheap as consumer staples, presenting potential value opportunities.
Private Markets & M&A
Francisco Partners bloomberg.com completed a $2.2 billion take-private of Jamf, while Brookfield Asset Management bloomberg.com bought cloud-computing firm Ori Industries in a bet that governments and tech companies will need chips to win an escalating artificial-intelligence race. Activist hedge fund Irenic Capital Management bloomberg.com made an unsolicited offer for Reservoir Media Inc., an independent music publisher whose song catalog features Joni Mitchell, John Denver and Sheryl Crow. Victory Capital wsj.com filed a competing bid to acquire Janus Henderson, claiming its offer is higher than the $7.4 billion offered in December by Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management and venture firm General Catalyst.
Energy & Commodities
BP Plc bloomberg.com is aggressively expanding shale drilling, bucking the conservative approach of many rivals as the UK oil giant seeks to reverse years of anemic output. Oil supertankers bloomberg.com became the hottest commodity with a 600% gain, creating high shipping costs that concern oil producers and refiners. Saudi Arabia and the UAE ft.com boosted crude shipments as contingency plans were drawn up for potential disruption to oil flows amid fears of a US strike on Iran.
Financial Services
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. bloomberg.com will pay a record $5 billion cash dividend to its auto-insurance customers after posting strong underwriting profits. Swiss private bank MBaer Merchant Bank AG bloomberg.com faces the risk of losing access to the US financial system. Barclays Plc bloomberg.com and Atlas SP Partners are among Wall Street firms that helped arrange more than £2 billion ($2.7 of loans to a UK mortgage-finance company that has unraveled amid allegations of fraud.
International Markets
Korean stock market investing.com emerged as the hottest in the world, with Bank of America listing four reasons to ride the Korean bull market in 2026. Argentina stocks bloomberg.com are missing out on a surge in Latin American equities this year as past market euphoria over President Javier Milei's election victories fizzles out on concern over weak corporate earnings growth. Colombia's dollar bonds bloomberg.com fell across the curve and the peso led emerging-market losses after a new poll showed leftist Senator Iván Cepeda with a wide lead in the race for the presidency.
Economic Policy & Regulation
Federal Reserve governor Stephen Miran wsj.com said he thinks the Fed needs to cut interest rates by about a percentage point this year, with four cuts being appropriate. The Supreme Court ruling on tariffs unleashed a wave of legal challenges as claims for refunds soared after judges ruled against the Trump administration. Swiss chemicals company Clariant bloomberg.com is expecting customers to demand payback for tariff costs after the US Supreme Court declared Donald Trump's global tariffs under economic emergency powers law to be illegal.
Small & Mid-Cap News
Planet Fitness investing.com forecasts 9% growth in 2026, beating Q4 estimates, though shares dipped on the news. Shake Shack profit rose as deals drew customers, while Novavax investing.com shares remained subdued despite an earnings and revenue beat. Oddity investing.com was hit with downgrades as sales are expected to decline due to an ad algorithm change.