The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the other major indexes closed mixed in the stock market today, as investors seemed to brush off a weaker-than-expected January retail sales report.
But there were several big movers Friday, including Samsara and Dell. DaVita suffered a double hit from its earnings report and a Warren Buffett move.
The Dow Jones industrials fell 0.4% and closed near the 21-day exponential moving average and nearly 2% above the 50-day moving average. It closed near session lows.
But the Nasdaq composite went the opposite way, closing near the day's highs and with a 0.4% increase. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3% and made a new closing high. The ProShares Ultra QQQ ETF joined the Leaderboard model portfolio Thursday when it broke out over a trendline.
The S&P 500 fell less than one point, trading still close to its record high of 6,128.18.
The small-cap Russell 2000 had the most interesting action, as it got rejected at the 50-day moving average and closed 0.1% lower.
Volume fell on both the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange from Thursday's totals. Winners topped losers by 7-to-6 on the NYSE and by about 8-to-7 on the Nasdaq, according to FactSet.
While the retail sales report was weaker than expected, it caused the 10-year Treasury yield to fall five basis points to 4.47%. That appeared to provide some relief to stocks.
Meanwhile, bitcoin climbed 1.8% to sit above the $97,800 level. Crude oil fell 0.8% to $70.74 a barrel on the NYMEX.
3:25 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Samsara Breaks Out
IBD 50 name Samsara notched a 3.3% gain and broke out of a cup base with a 57.51 buy point. Volume was merely average, however. Shares are in a buy zone up to 60.39. Its relative strength line reached a 52-week high as shown by the blue dot on its MarketSurge chart. Samsara was added to IBD SwingTrader Friday afternoon and is on the Leaderboard watchlist.
Dell forged ahead 3.1% after Bloomberg reported the company is closing in on deal valued at nearly $5 billion to sell servers to Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI. Dell retook its 50-day day line but has been a laggard, as reflected in its weak 27 Relative Strength Rating.
Lululemon Athletica tumbled 5.6% in heavy volume and is on pace for four straight days of losses. Shares undercut their 50-day line, triggering a sell signal. The athletic clothing company had hit the 420.21 buy point of a flat base in late January, but the breakout quickly faded.
1:57 p.m. ET
SoundHound Plunges
SoundHound AI plummeted more than 29% in heavy volume, after Nvidia sold its stake in the company. Shares are now about 34% below their 50-day line. SoundHound provides artificial intelligence voice-based technology for automakers and fast food drive-thrus.
In addition, Nvidia sold positions in Nano-X Imaging and Serve Robotics. Those stocks fell around 12% and 42%, respectively. Nano-X stock fell back below a downward-trending 200-day line, while Serve Robotics knifed through its 50-day line.
Nvidia also trimmed its position in Arm Holdings, sending the stock down 4.5% and back below a 164.16 buy point.
Nvidia stock gained 1.4% and has climbed seven of the past nine trading sessions and rose above its 50-day moving average. It has erased most of its losses from the DeepSeek sell-off on Jan. 27. But the stock is still on a downtrend, with more overhead supply to work through as it trades below the 150 level.
DaVita plunged more than 11% and is below a 169.51 cup-without-handle entry. The dialysis services provider undercut its 50-day line in heavy volume — a sell signal — but bounced off the 200-day line. DaVita's tumble also triggered the 7% loss rule from the 169.51 buy point.
The company late Thursday guided full-year 2025 earnings below estimates. In addition, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported Friday it sold 203,091 DaVita shares totaling $31.7 million, according to a regulatory filing.
Berkshire Hathaway rose 0.3% as it forms the right side of a cup base with a 491.67 buy point.
Meta Platforms added 1.3% and is on track for its 20th straight day of gains. This would be its longest winning streak on record, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
11:58 a.m. ET
GameStop Rallies; Goldman Leads Dow
GameStop was a winner on news the company could be ready to start adding bitcoin and other cryptocurrency to its balance sheet.
Earlier in the week, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen posted a photo of himself and MicroStrategy cofounder Michael Saylor on X. As of Feb. 10, MicroStrategy owned 478,740 bitcoin. GameStop gapped up to near its 50-day moving average as it tries to break out of a downtrend. The stock was off highs but still rallied more than 5%.
Goldman Sachs outperformed in the Dow Jones today with gain a of 1.5%. Goldman stopped just short of an all-time high.
Walmart, Carvana, Alibaba Headline Latest Earnings Calendar
AppLovin, another Leaderboard stock, was a top gainer in the MarketSurge Growth 250, up more than 5%. The fast-growing leader in the enterprise software group surged more than 20% Thursday after the company reported a 253% surge in quarterly profit.
DraftKings exploded out of a long consolidation after reporting earnings. Shares jumped more than 13% after Wall Street looked past an earnings miss and in-line revenue and focused instead on bullish full-year revenue guidance.
In the tech services group, small cap Innodata rose to the top of a cup base ahead of next week's earnings report. The stock hit an all-time high early in the session but turned slightly lower at midday.
10:29 a.m. ET
Stock Market Hardly Moves On Retail Report
The stock market didn't react much to news that January retail sales fell 0.9%. That was much worse than the Econoday consensus for a decline of 0.1%. Excluding autos, sales fell 0.4% vs. the consensus estimate for a gain of 0.3%. The Russell 2000 small-cap index, which has been lagging the major stock indexes, added 0.6%.
Find The Best Long-Term Investments With IBD Long-Term Leaders
Dow Jones stock Walmart edged lower in the stock market today ahead of next week's earnings report. The stock has been a big winner in the retail space thanks to outstanding execution in recent quarters. The company's e-commerce business continues to do well. It's also been attracting higher-income shoppers.
After a breakout over the 22,000 level Thursday, the Nasdaq 100 was nearly flat. But online travel firm Airbnb was a bright spot, up more than 13% after reporting earnings.
Earnings News In Stock Market
Several top-rated growth stocks sold off hard after reporting earnings. Twilio, a pillar of strength in the enterprise software group, crashed around 15% after an earnings miss and revenue that was in line with expectations. The company also issued lackluster Q1 guidance.
Website builder GoDaddy slumped more than 10%, also on an earnings miss. But revenue was better than expected, up 8% to $1.19 billion.
In the security software group, Palo Alto Networks looked great Thursday when it reclaimed a 197.74 handle buy point with gusto. But shares were down 5% early Friday, holding just above the 50-day line, after the company reported an 11% increase in quarterly profit. Revenue rose 14% to nearly $2.26 billion.
Despite Thursday's breakout, Palo Alto has been lagging other top performers in the security software group like Fortinet, CyberArk and CrowdStrike.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight. And Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X/Twitter @IBD_KKoenig.
