Public Markets 8-Hour Briefing
×Market Performance
The S&P 500 sank as Nvidia's results disappointed investors, while Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels since November amid the tech stock slump. The index's decline came as retail traders rushed to buy the dip in beaten-down software stocks, contrasting with Wall Street's AI disruption fears. Dorsey's Block slashed its workforce by 40% to embrace an AI-native future, while Dell shares surged on record fourth-quarter results driven by AI server demand.
Earnings & Corporate News
Core Weave shares fell 4% after missing profit estimates, while Intuit topped estimates but saw shares decline on a soft outlook. Autodesk rose 7% after beating Q4 expectations, and Zscaler posted results that exceeded estimates despite a subsequent share decline. Coupang reported $8.8 billion in Q4 revenue but missed analyst expectations, while C3.ai slashed 26% of its staff as the CEO admitted failure to deliver and excessive spending.
Tech & AI Developments
Nvidia CEO Huang pushed back against the "Saa Spocalypse" narrative, calling it a "deep misunderstanding" while noting hyperscaler AI spending is set to exceed dot-com peak levels. The AI spending boom is creating winners beyond the "Mag," with one sector poised for significant gains. Meanwhile, Salesforce eased AI fears with a strong outlook and major buybacks, and tech stocks are now trading at valuations almost as cheap as consumer staples.
Gaming & Entertainment
Caesars Entertainment shares surged 18% on reports of takeover interest, following Flutter Entertainment posting results that missed Wall Street expectations as customer and betting growth slowed. Warner Bros stated that Paramount's bid is "superior" to Netflix's offer, giving the streaming company four business days to sweeten its proposal. Barnes & Noble owner Elliott is seeking London IPO pitches for the book retailers.
Private Markets & Investment
Victory Capital sparked a bidding war with its offer for Janus Henderson, aiming to trump an agreed deal led by Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management. Hedge fund Millennium poached Goldman's equities co-chief Erdit Hoxha, who will join Izzy Englander's firm managing $86 billion in assets. Calpers remains unfazed by software stress in private credit, with CEO Marcie Frost stating the pension isn't concerned about AI's potential threat to software investments.
Macro & Policy
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Bowman said regulators are close to releasing a revised version of the Basel III endgame bank capital proposal. Fed Governor Miran indicated that four rate cuts are appropriate this year, totaling about a percentage point reduction. State Farm will pay a record $5 billion dividend to auto clients after posting strong underwriting profits, while Lumen CFO discussed a new fiber network partnership with Anthropic.
International Markets
China's yuan hit a 35-month high as the dollar continues falling amid tariff uncertainty. Korea's KOSPI is experiencing an unprecedented surge, with almost no precedent for the current market conditions. Spain's Grifols posted a jump in 2025 profit, while Saint-Gobain reported stable 2025 sales as operating income rose.