Stock Market Week: Nvidia Earnings, Apple And Strategy Events

2026-02-21 14:46:31

The stock market’s generally positive week of trade left the S&P 500 flush with its 10-week moving average and the Dow Jones Industrial Average holding support at its 21-day line. The Nasdaq notched the biggest gain among the three, up 1.5% in its first weekly advance in six weeks. It remains almost 2% below its 10-week line.

Heading into the final week of February, markets will wrestle with the impact of Friday’s Supreme Court tariffs ruling and the White House’s imposition of new duties. The risk of conflict in Iran holds oil prices near six-month highs, keeping defense and energy stocks on edge.

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Nvidia (NVDA) earnings provide the stock market a focal point for the coming week, along with Apple’s (AAPL) annual investors day and Strategy’s (MSTR) bitcoin conference. But earnings season is winding down, with 427 of S&P 500 companies already reported. Those reports show earnings up an average 12.8% on an 8.8% rise in revenue.

Weathering A Volatile Stock Market

The stock market remains divided, with short runs and falls, but investors should keep looking for setups and buying opportunities. Fabrinet (FN), American Healthcare (AHR), Ralph Lauren (RL), Construction Partners (ROAD) and Planet Labs (PL) are all watchlist worthy growth names. Fabrinet and Construction Partners are AI plays, but the other three hail from health care, apparel and space. Ralph Lauren and Fabrinet are new breakouts after posting strong weeks. American Healthcare is in a buy zone and sitting on a four-week advance. Planet Labs also actionable, rebounding from support at its 10-week moving average. All have reported except Planet Labs, which is due March 19.

Nvidia Stock, After Big Meta Chip News, Sets Up Ahead Of Quarterly Earnings Report

Stock Market Econ: Health Care Prices In Focus

The coming week has a few reports worth watching. The January producer price index on Friday, will be carefully parsed after the Fed’s primary inflation gauge, the core PCE price index, came above expectations for December. About 30% of inputs for the core PCE price index come from the PPI, including health care services prices. While health care inflation has been tame, January is a wild card, partly because of the huge jump in premiums for ACA health coverage. On Tuesday, ADP updates its weekly estimate of private job growth and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index will show whether January’s dive in views of the labor market was sustained or just a blip.

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Nvidia Seeks Earnings Boost

Nvidia stock has been trending sideways for the last four months, weighed down by a host of concerns related to the artificial intelligence megatrend. Analysts say Nvidia could get a lift from its fiscal fourth-quarter results and outlook, due late Wednesday. Wall Street models Q4 earnings of $1.52 a share, up 71%, on sales of $65.71 billion, up 67%. Nvidia’s fiscal Q4 report could help mitigate concerns about AI data center funding issues, capacity constraints at chip foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), and access to the China market. Nvidia has held close to its 10-week moving average as it has formed a nearly four-month long cup base.

Key Conferences: Apple, Strategy And MIT Energy

Apple holds its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, with CEO Tim Cook expected to discuss Apple Intelligence and the integration of Google’s Gemini into Siri. Other noteworthy conferences during the coming week include the Strategy World 2026, in Las Vegas Monday through Thursday. Keynote speaker is Strategy founder Michael Saylor, focusing on bitcoin and AI. The MIT Energy Conference runs Monday and Tuesday in Cambridge, Mass. A critical bridge between academic research, venture capital, and industrial application, this year’s conference will focus on questions of resilience including grid strain, geopolitical shifts and power demands of the AI/data center boom.

Listening For Views On Tariffs, Housing Markets

The big home improvement retailers report Tuesday (Home Depot) and Wednesday (Lowe’s). Analysts expect low-single-digit revenue growth from both, with Lowe’s slowing to a 1% earnings gain and Home Depot braking to a 19% earnings decline. Commentary on tariffs will be of central interest, particularly after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling. Home Depot is up 10% this year and struggling to clear an unpromising base. Lowe’s is back in a buy zone after acing a record high this month. Bernstein raised Lowe’s price target 10% to 313, and kept its overweight rating.

Key Oil Patch Players Report

Several smaller names in the oil and gas production realm are due to report. Oil producer Diamondback Energy (FANG) and its offshoot Viper Energy (VNOM) report on Tuesday. Top natural gas producers Range Resources (RRC) and EOG (EOG) report Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Earnings are seen slipping for Diamondback and Venom, despite steep revenue targets. Expectations are modest for EOG and Range.

Microsoft Fiber Optics Vendor Up 47% YTD

Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) reports Q4 earnings on Thursday. Analysts expect a loss of 11 cents per share on an adjusted basis, vs. a 2-cent loss a year earlier, and project an 82% revenue gain. The company makes optical networking products — mainly transceivers and laser components — and is a leader in cable television. The company has struggled to ramp manufacturing of new devices. Applied Optoelectronics’ biggest data center customer has been Microsoft (MSFT) but it’s shipping new 800 gigabit transceivers to Amazon.com (AMZN), analysts say. The volatile stock is up 47% year to date, including a 9% rally on Friday, and is trading at its highest levels since 2017.

Stock Market Earnings Briefs

Heico (HEI) releases Q1 results late Wednesday. FactSet expects the aerospace parts and services provider to report about a 6% increase in earnings, slowing after two quarters of accelerating growth. Analysts see sales rising 13%. HEI stock is near a 361.69 flat base entry.

APA (APA) reports fourth-quarter results Wednesday, with analysts expecting a 19% decline in profit and sales. APA stock is up around 20% in 2026, trading at its highest level in about 2 years.

TJX (TJX), parent company of Marshall’s and TJ Maxx, reports earnings on Wednesday. Analysts expected a 6% increase in revenue compared to the prior year, and a 13% increase in earnings to $1.39 a share. TJX stock is nearing a breakout at a buy point of 159.48.

How To Invest In Stocks For Beginners

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) reports before the stock market opens on Thursday. Wall Street expects a 15% increase in revenue. Earnings per share are projected to rise 18%. Net interest margins are expected to rise for the fifth consecutive quarter. Shares are consolidating, and poised for a rebound from support at the 21-day exponential moving average.

Energy Fuels (UUUU) releases Q4 results early Friday, with analysts expecting a loss of 14-cents per share and sales falling 40%. Energy Fuels posted a profit in Q1 2024 and analysts now predict losses will continue until Q1 2027, FactSet says. Shares are up around 45% in 2026 with the uranium miner seen as a beneficiary of White House critical minerals support and the long-term power needs of AI data centers.

MasTec (MTZ) announces fourth-quarter earnings late Thursday. Analysts forecast Q4 EPS jumping 35% with revenue increasing 9.4%, according to FactSet. MTZ shares are up nearly 26% this year, trading at record highs amid broad strength in the infrastructure and heavy construction industry.

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