Stock Market Mixed With Walmart, Iran, Trump Tariff Ruling In Focus: Weekly Review

The stock market was mixed this past week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising but still below their 50-day moving averages. Fears that President Donald Trump could launch a new attack on Iran weighed on stocks but sent oil prices jumping. Meanwhile Blue Owl Capital (OWL) raised concerns about private capital. The Supreme Court struck down many of President Trump’s tariffs, as largely expected, but the market reaction was mixed Friday.

Q4 GDP growth was surprisingly weak, with the government shutdown taking a big toll, but other economic data was strong, including a hot reading for core PCE inflation. Treasury yields rose slightly after hitting multimonth lows. Walmart (WMT) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW) beat views but guided lower. Meta Platforms (META) announced a big Nvidia (NVDA) chip deal, but NVDA stock’s gains were muted heading into the AI giant’s earnings report on Feb. 25.

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						From AI Titans To Retail Giants: Decoding Nvidia, TJX And Medline Earnings

Stocks Mixed, Still Divided

The Nasdaq led gains, but is still clearly below its 50-day line. The S&P 500 rose modestly, hitting resistance at its 50-day. The small-cap Russell 2000 advanced slightly, not far from record highs. The Dow Jones fell slightly, with Walmart (WMT) a drag, nearing its 50-day line. U.S.-Iran saber rattling and private capital concerns were headwinds. Friday’s Supreme Court ruling striking down many Trump tariffs appeared to boost stocks, though the move was expected. More broadly, the divided market’s pattern of rising for a few sessions and then retreating continued. Crude oil futures jumped.

Hot Inflation Cools Fed Hopes

A hotter-than-expected reading for the Fed’s primary inflation rate in December dampened odds of a rate cut in the first half of the year. Markets now see just 52% odds of a rate cut by the June 17 Fed meeting, down from 69% a week ago. Inflation worries more than offset a surprising slump in Q4 GDP growth to 1.4% from 4.4% in Q3. That’s because growth seemed more solid below the surface. The government shutdown was partly to blame, with a drop in direct government purchases subtracting nine-tenths of a percentage point from GDP growth.

Personal consumption expenditures rose a solid 2.4%, while nonresidential investment rose 3.7% amid the AI data center buildout. The core PCE inflation rate returned to 3% for the first time since February, after having fallen as low as 2.6%. Early forecasts for January inflation data are pointing to another hot reading for the Fed’s key inflation gauge. That’s despite the CPI falling to 2.5% in January, reflecting big differences in the way they’re calculated. Other economic data, including the Philly Fed manufacturing index and weekly jobless claims, showed strength.

Walmart Beats, But Guides Low

Walmart (WMT) slightly topped views for Q4, the first report under new CEO John Furner. Earnings increased 12% while revenue climbed nearly 6% to $190.7 billion. E-commerce sales jumped 24%, slowing slightly after two quarters of accelerating growth, while Walmart U.S. same-store sales beat estimates. The Dow giant also announced a $30 billion stock repurchase plan. But Walmart guided lower on fiscal Q1 and 2027 earnings. Shares fell solidly for the week from record highs.

Heavy Construction Firms Deliver

Quanta Services (PWR) topped views as Q4 EPS grew 7.5% to $3.16 and revenue rose 20% to $7.84 billion. Its backlog hit a record $44 billion as electricity demand from AI data centers swelled. Quanta guided higher for 2026. Fluor (FLR) missed Q4 views with sales down 2% to $4.175 billion while adjusted EPS tumbled 31%. But it reaped $1.35 billion from selling NuScale Power (SMR) shares. Fluor forecast adjusted EBITDA of $525 million to $585 million this year. FLR rose solidly. Cardinal Infrastructure Group (CDNL) skyrocketed on a 45% rise in preliminary 2025 revenue and a 33% increase in backlog. The December IPO guided solidly higher on 2026 revenue. Cardinal Infrastructure also announced it bought a Georgia-based provider of construction-site services, its first expansion outside the Carolinas.

Analog Devices Hits Record High

Analog Devices (ADI) jumped after the chipmaker delivered a beat-and-raise fiscal first-quarter report. Earnings leapt 51%, with gains picking up for a second quarter. Sales climbed 30% to $3.16 billion, the fourth consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth. ADI guided to more accelerating growth for both in the current Q2. Elsewhere in the semiconductor sector, quarterly reports from chip-gear makers diverged. MKS (MKSI) posted slightly better-than-expected Q4 results and guidance. Camtek (CAMT) and Onto Innovation (ONTO) delivered mixed reports.

Palo Alto Falls on Guidance

The cybersecurity giant’s fiscal Q2 EPS rose 27% while revenue climbed 15% to $2.6 billion, including acquisitions, both beating. Remaining performance obligations, the total value of contracted revenue that a company has not yet recognized as revenue, rose 23% to $16 billion, topping estimates of $15.78 billion. Subscription-based annual recurring revenue slightly beat. But free cash flow slightly missed. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) guided lower on current-quarter revenue, though it guided up on RPO. It announced the purchase of Israel-based Koi Security, which provides visibility and risk detection for artificial intelligence agents. Shares tumbled to a 10-month low.

Gold, Silver Miners In Play

A slew of gold and silver miners reported earnings with gold and silver prices hitting record highs recently. Pan American Silver (PAAS), SSR Mining (SSRM) and Newmont (NEM) all handily beat analyst expectations. SSRM and PAAS rose sharply for the week, but Newmont, the world’s largest gold miner, fell as it forecast continued gold production cuts. Other mining companies such as Coeur Mining (CDE) and Kinross Gold (KGC) missed analyst expectations, despite huge gains in revenue and earnings. Coeur stock jumped while Kinross fell.

Restaurants Serve Mixed Results

Texas Roadhouse (TXRH) badly missed Q4 EPS views with a 28% decline while a 3% revenue rise to $1.48 billion also fell short. TXRH stock fell modestly, back below a key level. Wingstop (WING) just missed sales views with a 9% gain to $175.7 million, but a 5% EPS gain solidly beat. WING stock surged for the week, but after diving in the prior week.** Cheesecake Factory** (CAKE) reported a 4% EPS decline and a 4% revenue gain to $961.6 million, but both slightly beat. CAKE stock pared solid weekly gains following results.

Stock Market News In Brief

Nvidia (NVDA) announced a multiyear strategic partnership with Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META). The chip giant will supply Meta with millions of Blackwell and Rubin graphics processing units, along with Nvidia central processing units and networking gear, for its AI data centers. Nvidia shares rose modestly while AMD (AMD) and Arista Networks (ANET) fell.

Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) beat Q4 estimates with 6% EPS and sales gains, while also guiding up for 2026. Shares rose following results but dipped for the week.

Toll Brothers (TOL) reported a 25% EPS gain with revenue up 16% to $2.15 billion, both beating fiscal Q1 views. The luxury-home builder’s backlog was $6.02 billion, down from $6.94 billion a year earlier. Shares fell modestly from 52-week highs.

Carvana (CVNA) missed some fourth-quarter estimates on higher costs late Wednesday. Q4 earnings grew 463% to $4.22 per share with revenue totaling $5.65 billion, up 59% vs. a year ago, topping estimates. However, adjusted EBITDA and EBITDA margin both missed amid higher reconditioning costs of its vehicles. The online auto retailer expects higher costs as well in Q1. CVNA stock fell solidly.

Moderna (MRNA) jumped after the FDA reversed course and said it would review the biotech’s mRNA-based flu vaccine.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) reopened talks with Paramount Skydance (PSKY) after Netflix (NFLX) on Tuesday granted a waiver to do so. That will let Paramount make its “best and final offer” ahead of the March 20 shareholder vote on the Netflix takeover. One Paramount representative reportedly told Warner Bros.’ team that it is willing to pay $31 per share, up from $30. Warner’s board still favors Netflix’s offer of $27.75 per share for just the movie studio and HBO streaming app. Paramount stock jumped while Warner Bros. and Netflix rose modestly.

Comfort Systems (FIX) reported a 129% EPS jump, blowing out Q4 views, while revenue rose 42% to $2.65 billion, also beating. It was the fifth straight quarter of accelerating EPS growth and the third consecutive quarter of revenue gains ramping up. The cooling play’s backlog doubled in 2025 amid AI data center demand. Shares jumped to a new high.

Deere (DE) reported Q1 EPS fell 24%, but easily beat views. Net sales grew 17.5% to $8 billion. Tariff costs partly explain why earnings lagged sales. Deere raised its full-year outlook, sending DE stock surging to a record high. Big ag equipment sales are expected to fall, but construction segment sales are rising amid the data center buildout, and small ag equipment is also expected to be a growth engine.

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