Dow Jones futures rose Wednesday morning, along with S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures. Nvidia earnings are on tap.
The stock market had a mixed session Tuesday, with continued selling in highly valued growth stocks. Tesla and Hims & Hers among the hardest hit.
Defensive stocks, including discount retailers and insurers were looking strong, while Treasury yields tumbled, amid a broad flight to safety. Bitcoin plunged in the risk-off environment.
Axon Enterprise, Cava Group, Instacart parent Maplebear, Workday and Coupang reported Tuesday night.
Nvidia partner Super Micro Computer surged more than 20% overnight after the AI server maker filed delayed financial reports. In the SEC filings, Super Micro said it disagreed with the concerns by Ernst & Young, which quit as the company's auditor last year.
Attention will quickly turn to Nvidia earnings. Wednesday night. Nvidia stock fell Tuesday, testing key support. Shares rose early Wednesday.
The video embedded in the article reviews Brown & Brown, Mastercard and Hims & Hers stock.
Dow Jones Futures Today
Dow Jones futures were up 0.3% above fair value. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.5%. Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.85%.
The 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.31%.
Remember that overnight action in Dow futures and elsewhere doesn't necessarily translate into actual trading in the next regular stock market session.
Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks and the market on IBD Live
Key Earnings
Axon earnings crushed views, while revenue also topped. Axon stock soared more than 15% in premarket, but that would only recoup a fraction of the Taser and body camera maker's mammoth losses following a seemingly classic breakout on Feb. 18.
CART stock plunged below a buy point in extended trade as Instacart earnings and revenue fell short. Shares fell 1.2% to 48.78 on Tuesday, within a buy zone. CART stock hit a record 53.44 on Feb. 19.
CPNG stock jumped overnight, eyeing a buy point, as Coupang earnings topped. The South Korean e-commerce giant declined 1.9% to 24.17 on Tuesday, just below the 21-day line. Coupang stock has a 25.67 cup-with-handle buy point.
Cava earnings fell short while sales just beat. The Mediterranean-themed fast-casual chain initially tumbled Tuesday night, but soon reversed slightly higher. Cava stock fell 4.7% to 99.30 on Tuesday, further below all its moving averages.
WDAY stock leapt overnight, signaling a move over its 50-day line and possible early entries.
Stock Market
The stock market finished mixed Tuesday, but the general trend has been weak over the past week, with highly value growth still skidding. Weak consumer confidence figures amid to concerns that the economy is slowing with inflation still high as Trump tariffs loom.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% in Tuesday's stock market trading, hitting resistance at the 50-day line. The S&P 500 index gave up 0.5%, falling a little further below its 50-day after undercutting its Feb. 3 low intraday. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.35%, off its worst levels but undercutting some recent lows and setting its worst close in three months. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.4%, setting a five-month low.
The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF rose 0.1%, finding support on the 50-day line while hitting resistance at the 21-day.
The First Trust Nasdaq 100 Equal Weighted Index ETF fell 0.8%, though it did bounce off the 50-day line.
Hims & Hers stock dived 22% to 39.86 on Tuesday, even with a bounce from near the 50-day line and a 35.02 buy point. HIMS stock fell despite strong results and guidance Monday night. But margins were a little light. Meanwhile, there's concern about whether Hims & Hers will be able to continue selling compounded weight-loss drugs longer term. HIMS stock is now down 45% from last week's record high.
AppLovin, Palantir Technologies and other highly valued stocks continued to struggle.
Meanwhile, many other techs are seeing less stunning losses add up. Meta Platforms sank 1.6% in its sixth straight decline after a 20-session run. Meta stock briefly undercut the 50-day line, nearly round-tripping a solid post-breakout gain, before paring losses.
On the upside, Brown & Brown stock broke out with several insurers making strong moves on earnings. Walmart popped 4.3%, back above its 50-day line and a buy point.
U.S. crude oil prices fell 2.5% to $68.93 a barrel, the lowest close since Dec. 10.
The 10-year Treasury yield tumbled nine basis points to 4.3%.
The Bitcoin price plunged 6.4% to $87979.27 at 4 p.m. ET, hitting a three-month low.
ETFs
Among growth ETFs, the Innovator IBD 50 ETF gave up 2.75%, closing just above its 200-day line. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF shed 1.6%. The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF sank 2.1%. Nvidia stock is the dominant holding in SMH.
ARK Innovation ETF dived 5.2% and ARK Genomics ETF plunged 5.1%. Tesla stock is the No. 1 component across Ark Invest's ETFs.
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF declined 1%. The Energy Select SPDR ETF retreated 1.4% and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund advanced 0.9%. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund gained 0.5%. The Financial Select SPDR ETF closed just below break-even.
On the defensive side, the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR ETF rose 1.4%, hitting a five-month high.
Time The Market With IBD's ETF Market Strategy
Nvidia Stock
Shares rose more than 2% early Wednesday.
Nvidia stock fell 2.8% on Tuesday 126.63, holding its 200-day after decisively undercutting the 50-day line on Monday.
NVDA stock crashed Jan. 26 on the DeepSeek sell-off in AI hardware stocks, with a slow recovery. Shares have an ugly double-bottom base with a 148.97 buy point. Investors could use 143.44 as a handle or trendline buy point.
Nvidia earnings are due Wednesday night with investors focused on Blackwell AI chip production and demand. Will demand for Nvidia's AI chips remain hot in the wake of China's DeepSeek as well as competition with custom AI chips from Broadcom and others.
Nvidia earnings and guidance will be key for Broadcom, Taiwan Semiconductor and many other AI chip and hardware plays.
Tesla Stock
Tesla stock dived 8.4% to 302.82, its biggest one-day loss in seven months. TSLA stock's market cap knifed below $1 trillion, closing at $974 billion, according to MarketSurge. Shares tested the 300 level intraday. Below that, the next potential support level is the 200-day line. That also which roughly coincides with the low of the Nov. 6 postelection gap-up day.
It's not clear what Tuesday's catalyst was. Clearly, highly valued growth stocks are under enormous pressure. More broadly, Tesla's postelection run was fueled on hopes that CEO Elon Musk's close ties to President Trump would help the EV maker. But so far the biggest change is further damage to the Tesla brand in the U.S. and Europe.
Tesla will start new Model Y deliveries in China on Wednesday. The new Model Y is the key growth catalyst for the EV business this year.
What To Do Now
The stock market is struggling, especially the Nasdaq and growth plays.
Investors should have minimal-to-modest exposure. Being all in cash is perfectly valid. Many growth leaders may take months to recover, with some likely due for a long hibernation.
Defensive stocks are faring well, with some flashing buy signals. Investors could dabble in these areas. But if the market rebounds, money could flow out of safe havens.
Nvidia earnings could have a big stock market impact. But it doesn't have to be positive, and even a positive reaction doesn't have to last.
If you can take part in the bulk of market rallies, and avoid the bulk of market downturns, you'll probably prosper — even if your stock selection is only OK. Right now is a time to preserve your physical and mental capital.
But do work on watchlists and stay engaged, so you'll be ready for the next uptrend.
Read The Big Picture every day to stay in sync with the market direction and leading stocks and sectors.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971 and X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson for stock market updates and more.
