US stocks were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed AI chipmaker Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings report and took stock of the economy amid President Trump’s latest tariff pledges.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) hugged the flatline, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.7% after both indexes eked out closing gains on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose more than 300 points, or 0.8%.
Investors are digging into Nvidia’s quarterly earnings beat, which signaled plenty of scope for growth as it eased worries about DeepSeek and faltering AI demand. The results initially met a muted response as its profit outlook raised doubts on Wall Street, and Nvidia’s stock erased early trading gains to slip more than 2%.
The US economy grew at an unrevised 2.3% annualized pace last quarter, on par with consensus estimates. Meanwhile weekly initial jobless claims jumped to 242,000, higher than the 221,000 expected by economists in a sign of a softening labor market.
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Friday’s release of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index will be the next data point investors will focus on for economic clues as the path to interest rate cuts is seen as increasingly uncertain.
Meanwhile, eyes were on the latest escalation of President Trump’s tariff threats after he said in a social media post that levies against Mexico and Canada would go into effect as scheduled on March 4. This follows the president’s pledge on Wednesday to impose 25% tariffs on the European Union.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices — seen by some as a gauge of faith in Trump — continued to pull back from a post-election peak, falling 2%. But the cryptocurrency pared earlier overnight losses that saw it drop below $85,000 to hit its lowest point since November.
LIVE14 updates
3 mins ago
Dollar soars as Trump affirms March tariffs
The US dollar jumped while Canada’s loonie and Mexico’s peso fell on Thursday after President Trump confirmed that he would stick to the March 4 date for imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
Bloomberg reports:
The euro and yuan also sold off on Thursday morning after Trump vowed fresh tariffs on the EU and an additional 10% tariff on China. The Nasdaq (^IXIC) slipped, the Dow (^DJI) rose, and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) hovered near the flat line as traders digested the latest tariff headlines.
Warner Bros. Discovery stock pops on strong streaming results
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) stock popped around 8% shortly after the opening bell on Thursday after the media giant reported subscriber guidance that came in ahead of estimates and a greater profit within its streaming unit.
The company ended 2024 with 116.9 million global streaming subscribers, an increase of 6.4 million global subscribers compared to the third quarter. This was above Wall Street’s expectations of 4.9 million net additions.
In the release, WBD said it expects “strong DTC subscriber growth to continue throughout 2025” and that “we now have a clear path to reach at least 150 million global subscribers by the end of 2026, with corresponding strong DTC revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth.”
Additionally, the streaming division posted profits of $409 million in the quarter compared to the loss of $55 million it reported in the year-ago period. Increased bundling with competitors, in addition to the subscriber gains in the quarter, helped aid profits.
37 mins ago
Oil pops as Trump cancels Chevron license in Venezuela
Oil prices bounced above their yearly low on Thursday after President Trump canceled Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela. Traders also assessed the potential impact of a new tariff on China and the impact of Canada and Mexico duties after the president said they would go into effect on March 4.
West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) rose more than 1.5% to hover around $70 per barrel. Brent futures (BZ=F) also popped to trade above $73 per barrel.
Oil moved higher on the heels of Trump’s social media post announcing the US would an oil concession with Venezuela dating back to November 2022. Though Chevron (CVX) was not mentioned by name, the agreement coincides with the date the US granted the company permission to produce and export Venezuelan oil, despite sanctions against President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Meanwhile on Thursday morning Trump said tariffs against Mexico and Canada would go into effect as scheduled on March 4. While a full-blown tariff war could impact demand, the president’s plan presumably would include levies of 10% against Canadian petroleum imports.
Still, analysts believe Canada’s producers will eat most of the added tariff costs at first, since their infrastructure is not set up to export to many other markets besides the US.
Today at 2:32 PM UTC
Dow, Nasdaq rises as Nvidia gains after earnings beat, Trump tariffs loom
Stocks were mixed on Thursday as chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) led the tech sector higher following fourth quarter results. Meanwhile, investors digested the latest US economic data, including GDP, against the backdrop of President Trump’s evolving tariff plan.
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The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) moved up roughly 0.7%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose above the flat line.
Shares of Nvidia popped in early trading after the company’s data center revenue clocked in at $35.6 billion versus expectations of $34 billion in the quarter.
Economic data released before the bell showed the US economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.3%, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s second estimate of fourth quarter GDP.
Investors are assessing the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff plan. On Thursday morning, the president said tariffs against Mexico and Canada will indeed move forward as scheduled on March 4. Trump also threatened new tariffs on the European Union on Wednesday.
Today at 1:53 PM UTC
Jobless claims jump to three-month high
Separately, data from the US Labor Department released Thursday showed 242,000 unemployment claims were filed in the week ending Feb. 22, ahead of Wall Street’s expectations for 221,000 and an increase of 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level. This marked the highest level of filed claims since December.
There was also a notable increase in D.C. jobless claims, with 2,047 claims filed last week versus 1,626 in the prior-week period. Overall, though, federal jobless claims did not show any obvious impact from DOGE-related layoffs, though economists warned the timing is still early.
Continuing weekly unemployment insurance claims also continued to hover at high levels, highlighting the ongoing challenge for workers to find a new job. Continuing claims during the week ending Feb. 15 ticked down slightly to 1.86 million, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised level and below Wall Street expectations.
Today at 1:34 PM UTC
GDP: US economy grew at 2.3% annualized pace in Q4
The US economy grew at an unrevised 2.3% annualized pace last quarter, on par with consensus estimates.
The second estimate, based on more complete source data than the advanced estimate, suggests that economic growth in the fourth quarter was slower than the 3.1% annualized growth seen in the third quarter.
The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected increases in consumer spending and government spending that were partly offset by a decrease in investment, according to the BEA.
A third and final estimate for Q4 GDP growth will be released at the end of March.
Nvidia issued solid revenue guidance as CEO Jensen Huang stated that “AI is advancing at light speed as agentic AI and physical AI set the stage for the next wave of AI to revolutionize the largest industries.”
However, as Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi writes, investors also keyed in on Nvidia below-consensus outlook for profit margins.
The margin outlook of 71% is “a little concerning,” Benchmark Company managing director and senior research analyst Cody Acree said on Market Domination. “I think that’s indicative of more pricing pressure, more competition from AMD, and more price sensitivity at their customers as they’re investing their own dollars to create their own ASICs [application specific integrated circuits].”
Moderna stock falls as Trump team weighs pulling bird flu vaccine contract
Shares in healthcare giant Moderna (MRNA) pulled back in premarket trading early Thursday on the heels of a report that HHS is reviewing its contract to produce bird flu shots.
The potential withdrawal would come after HHS head Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke out against COVID shots and as President Trump’s administration hunts for cost cuts.
Oil climbs after Trump cancels Chevron’s Venezuela license
Oil prices rose slightly from two-month lows, the move sparked by President Donald Trump’s announcement that oil giant Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela would be reversed. The reversal could restrict crude supply.
Brent crude (BZ=F) oil futures crept up 0.3%, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude oil futures inched up 0.2%.
Asian equities fell on Thursday as investors digested the latest tariff announcements from President Donald Trump, while earnings from Nvidia (NVDA) failed to meet the market’s high expectations.
Snowflake shares jumped 9% as the AI software analyst beat revenue expectations for the fiscal year. Fourth quarter product revenue increased 28% to $943.3 million due to increased customer growth. Snowflake reported 580 customers spending over $1 million against 542 last quarter.
Shares of Salesforce dropped 5% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following a weaker-than-expected earnings per share forecast for 2025. This comes after the stock had gained 16% in the six months leading up to the earnings report. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said, “We’ll have a great year” in response to missing guidance.
eBay plummeted over 8% after the e-commerce giant provided a weaker-than-expected outlook for the coming quarter. It forecasted first quarter revenue to fall between $2.52 billion and $2.56 billion, missing analysts’ estimate of $2.59 billion.
Today at 1:39 AM UTC
Gold holds near record high as tariff insecurity pushes safe assets
Gold (GC=F) stayed close to its record high after finishing mostly flat in the previous session. Investors continue to exercise caution spurred by President Donald Trump’s recent comments about his intentions to implement new tariffs.
