Stock Movers: Palantir Surges, Walmart Hits $1 Trillion, Homebuilders Climb

Market Close Overview

• 📈 The S&P 500 saw 271 names trading to the upside, with 231 losing ground.
• 📉 Information Technology was the biggest underperformer, down over 2%, despite a strong showing from Palantir.
• ⚡ Energy was the top-performing sector, rising more than 3% due to a pop in crude oil prices.

Key Company Movers

• 💡 Palantir shares surged by approximately 6.8% after forecasting fiscal 2026 revenue that significantly exceeded Wall Street expectations.
• 💰 Walmart closed with a market capitalization surpassing $1 trillion for the first time, driven by a rally and its ongoing digital transformation incorporating AI.
• 🏠 Homebuilders rose, with the S&P 500 home building index up about 2.5%, spurred by news of a program to develop "Trump Homes" aimed at addressing the US affordability crisis.
• 📉 Novo Nordisk ADRs fell over 14% after the company projected sales to drop this year due to increased competition for Ozempic and Wegovy and US government efforts to cut drug prices.
• 🚀 Silicon Labs soared nearly 39% in aftermarket trading on news of advanced talks with Texas Instruments.

Earnings Reports and Analysis

• 📊 Amgen reported a significant beat on fourth-quarter adjusted EPS, coming in at $5.29 versus an estimate of $4.71, boosted by strong performance from its top drugs.
• ⚠️ Skyworks reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.54, with revenue down 3% year-over-year to $1 billion. For the second quarter, it sees adjusted EPS of $1.14 and revenue between $875 million and $925 million.
• 🎮 Take-Two Interactive reported EBITDA of $332 million and sees current quarter adjusted EPS between $0.46 and $0.56, with net bookings expected between $1.5 billion and $1.6 billion. Shares were up nearly 5% in after-hours trading, with the CEO projecting confidence and anticipating the launch of Grand Theft Auto.
• 🎮 Electronic Arts reported third-quarter net bookings above estimates at $3.05 billion, though total net revenue of $1.9 billion fell short of expectations. Shares were up about 0.4% in after-hours trading.
• 🏦 Chubb reported fourth-quarter total investments up 1.6% quarter-over-quarter to $168.72 billion, with a property and casualty combined ratio of 81.2%. Book value per share was slightly below estimates at $188.59, but net premiums exceeded street estimates at $13.13 billion. Shares were up slightly in aftermarket trading.

Notable Declines

• 💳 PayPal shares dropped more than 20% following the announcement that HP Inc. CEO Enrique Lores will take over as CEO on March 1st, replacing Alex Chris whose turnaround plan missed targets.