The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes eked out small gains Tuesday after spending much of the session in the red. The U.S. made headway on Ukraine peace negotiations while Warren Buffett boosted the fortunes of several stocks. And two Magnificent Seven players — Nvidia and Meta Platforms — diverged on the stock market today.
Stock indexes ultimately ended up on the plus side to start the shortened trading week. The Dow industrials dropped nearly 200 points at one point, but recovered to post a marginal gain. Dow component and Bill Ackman stock Nike impressed by jumping more than 6%.
Nike popped on news it is partnering with Kim Kardashian's company, Skims, to introduce a new female-focused brand. UnitedHealth was the worst laggard as it fell more than 4%.
The Nasdaq composite opened higher, then fell, and ultimately rallied for a fractional gain. The tech-heavy index is trading nearly 2% above its 50-day moving average after retaking the benchmark last week.
Intel was the top performer on the Nasdaq, rocketing more than 16% higher. Its move comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that rivals Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor are considering deals for the troubled chip giant that would break it in two.
Stock Market Today: Energy, Small Caps Shine
The benchmark S&P 500 also wavered throughout the session but ended the day up 0.2%. Super Micro Computer stood out here, soaring by nearly 10%. It has rallied since a second-quarter business update in which the firm predicted $40 billion in revenue for fiscal 2026, far above analyst views.
Walgreens Boots Alliance also made a splash as it vaulted 14%. Reports said talks are still alive for the pharmacy chain to sell itself to privately held Sycamore Partners.
Most of the S&P 500 sectors ended the day in positive territory. Energy and materials were strongest, while consumer discretionary and communication services lagged.
Volume was higher on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq vs. Friday, according to preliminary data.
Small caps outperformed on the stock market today, with the Russell 2000 index gaining 0.3%. But growth stocks reversed lower, with the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund sliding 0.5%.
Magnificent Seven: Nvidia Gains But Meta's Streak Ends
The so-called Magnificent Seven group of Big Tech names had a tough start to the week on the stock market today.
Artificial intelligence stock Nvidia fared best but ended well off session highs as it rose 0.4%. Nvidia shares pulled further clear of the 50-day moving average after retaking the benchmark last Thursday.
Microsoft posted a small gain while Apple was off marginally. Tesla, Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon.com also were down fractionally.
But Meta lagged most as it skidded nearly 3%. The Leaderboard stock pulled back to its 10-day moving average. If it can find buying support here it would be a positive.
This also caused the stock to snap a 20-day winning streak. Nevertheless, the social media play remains up nearly 4% in February and has a year-to-date gain of around 22%. It is also among the top 7% of issues in terms of price performance over the past 12 months.
3:13 p.m. ET
This Leader Pops As Gold Shines
One area that was performing well on the stock market today was gold. The spot price was up nearly 2%. It sits near record-high levels.
This was good news for IBD Leaderboard stock Agnico Eagle Mines, which gained ground on the stock market today.
Agnico stock is now rallying away from its 21-day exponential moving average and getting closer to its 10-day line. The stock is currently extended past an consolidation entry of 89, according to MarketSurge analysis.
Overall strong performance has netted it an IBD Composite Rating of 97 out of 99. Earnings are a key strength, with its EPS Rating sitting at 98.
The stock gave up slight ground last week even though the firm reported that per-share earnings soared 117% higher in the most recent quarter to $1.26. This was above analyst views.
Other gold stocks were also strong, with Barrick Gold, Newmont and Alamos Gold all climbing around 2%. Alamos is currently extended past a 21.45 buy point.
1:50 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Arista Networks Up Ahead Of Earnings
One stock making a bullish move in afternoon trade was Arista Networks. It jumped more than 3% in above-average volume as traders bet the stock will rally following its earnings report after the close.
This is a risky speculative move, however, as the stock sits below its 50-day moving average, MarketSurge analysis shows. And despite its strong gain today, it remains down more than 17% from its recent high of 133.57. It reached this level on Jan. 24.
Nevertheless, Arista stock has some factors in its favor. It holds a near-ideal IBD Composite Rating of 98 and earnings have risen by an average of 34% over the past four quarters.
Big Money also has loaded up on the computer networking play of late. It has an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B-, which reflects more buying than selling among funds.
Earnings are seen rising 9% to 57 cents per share in the fourth quarter, while revenue is expected to climb 24% to $1.9 billion, according to FactSet.
12:28 p.m. ET
Sector Leader Clears Entry
With the stock market action looking more positive of late, it is a good time to consider buying strong stocks clearing proper buy points. Axon Enterprise is a definite contender after it cleared a buy point after rallying on the stock market today.
Axon is now actionable after clearing a cup-with-handle entry of 698.67. The 5% buy zone here runs as high as 770.28. Its relative strength line has hit fresh heights, according to MarketSurge.
The move came in above-average volume, a positive. Overall performance is impressive, with earnings rising by an average 27% over the past three quarters. Earnings accelerated in the most recent quarter.
Profit growth is expected to continue, with analysts seeing earnings per share rising 22% in 2025. This is just shy of the 25% growth sought by those following The IBD Methodology.
Institutions have added to their holdings of the stock lately, which is reflected in an Accumulation/Distribution Rating of B.
Axon is a member of the prestigious IBD Leaderboard list of top stocks. It is also an IBD Sector Leader. It is worth noting that earnings are due March 4 after the close.
S&P 500 Hits High As Growth Leads; This Leader Breaks Out
Stock Market Today: Fluor Tumbles After Earnings
Engineering stock Fluor came under heavy selling pressure Tuesday following an underwhelming quarterly report.
The stock was near session lows, and lost more ground on its important 200-day moving average.
Unless the stock can rally hard from here, it looks likely its falling 50-day moving average will undercut its rising 200-day line. This is a bearish technical maneuver know as the "death cross."
It was battered after fourth-quarter earnings fell 29% to 48 cents a share, while analysts had been expecting earnings to rise to 78 cents. Revenue of $4.26 billion was also slightly light.
Further, the company predicted 2025 adjusted earnings in the range of $2.25 to $2.75 a share. This was below Wall Street views for $2.91.
Fluor provides engineering, design, construction, maintenance, and project management services worldwide.
10:56 a.m. ET
U.S.-Russia Talks On Ukraine Spark These Moves
The Russia-Ukraine war has been a major global overhang, but steps were made to resolve the conflict after Russian and American delegates met for talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the countries are "not going to pre-negotiate an end to this conflict" but said progress had been made.
"Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one," he said. "President Donald Trump is committed to bringing an end to this conflict, as he said when he campaigned for president."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Rubio and Lavrov agreed to appoint "high-level teams to begin working on a path to ending the conflict in Ukraine as soon as possible in a way that is enduring, sustainable, and acceptable to all sides."
Rubio said the final terms of any agreement will have to be acceptable to all parties for the conflict to end.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said the parties reached agreements in several key areas. Among them are plans to bulk up diplomatic personnel between the U.S. and Russia, a process to reach a Ukrainian settlement and creating conditions to restart cooperation in full.
Speaking at a news conference in Turkey, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it is "important not to make any mistakes" in order to achieve peace.
Warren Buffett Loads Up On These Stocks, Beer Play Fizzes
There are few investors more highly lauded than Berkshire Hathaway Chief Executive Warren Buffett. And a number of stocks were higher on the stock market today after it emerged that his Berkshire Hathaway had purchased shares following the release of the firm's latest 13F filing.
Constellation Brands is a new buy, with the firm snapping up more than 5.6 million shares. The stock surged on the stock market today, but remains below its 21-day line and its major moving averages, MarketSurge analysis shows.
Buffett may think the stock is undervalued at these levels. However it has a poor IBD Composite Rating of 28 out of 99, which means investors may be better steering clear.
Constellation produces, markets, and imports beer, wine, and spirits. Its brands include Modelo, Corona and Casa Noble Tequila.
Buffett also added to existing holdings in Domino's Pizza, Pool, SiriusXM, Occidental Petroleum and VeriSign.
These stocks were mainly making fractional gains, though Occidental did managed to squeeze out a lift of more than 1%.
Berkshire also made moves to trim some positions, notably reducing banking exposure. Buffett's company continued to sell Bank of America, slashed holdings of Citigroup and further reduced its holdings of Brazilian digital bank Nu. The firm also fully exited its position in Ulta Beauty.
Please follow Michael Larkin on X at @IBD_MLarkin for more analysis of growth stocks.
