Daily Market Brief: Stocks Struggle, Bitcoin Drops & Earnings Highlights

Market recap: The S&P 500 recorded its 4th day in a row of losses, falling 0.6% yesterday, while the Nasdaq plummeted 1.3%, and the Dow gained minimally. Microsoft (MSFT) was down 1.2%.

Palantir plummets: Palantir (PLTR) shares fell 9.8% yesterday, marking their worst day since May and extending a 5-day losing streak. The stock is down nearly 26% WoW.

Unilever ousts CEO: Unilever (UL) is replacing CEO Hein Schumacher with CFO Fernando Fernandez to accelerate its turnaround strategy. The move follows cost-cutting measures, including 7,500 job cuts and an ice cream business spinoff. Shares slumped 2.5% on the news.

Starbucks updates: Starbucks (SBUX) is laying off 1,100 corporate employees and cutting 30% of its menu to simplify operations amid declining sales. Separately, the company is in talks to sell a stake in its China business valued at over $1B to KKR, Fountainvest, and/or PAG.

ASML’s machines at Intel: Intel (INTC) announced that ASML’s (ASML) latest high-tech lithography machines are now in production at its facilities, showing double the reliability of previous models. The technology is key to Intel’s new manufacturing process.

Bitcoin hits 3-month low: Bitcoin fell 6% to $85,720 amid broader market weakness. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ether and Solana, declined around 8-10%.

Anthropic’s newest funding round, AI model: Anthropic is raising $3.5B in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, tripling its valuation to $61.5B. The company also launched Claude 3.7 Sonnet, its first “hybrid reasoning” AI model, as well as a new coding assistant.

Crypto exchange fined: Aux Cayes FinTech, operator of the OKX crypto exchange, pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws and will pay $505M in fines and forfeitures. Prosecutors say the exchange facilitated over $5B in suspicious transactions.

Just Eat skyrockets on buyout offer: Just Eat Takeaway (AMS:TKWY) vaulted 54% after Dutch tech investor Prosus (AMS:PRX) offered to acquire the company for $4.3B, valuing shares at a 63% premium. Just Eat also netted a 36% surge in annual core profit.

Joann closes all stores: Crafts and fabrics retailer Joann is closing all 800 stores after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the 2nd time in a year. The company’s assets were acquired by GA Group.

Asteroid mining company preps launch: AstroForge, a private space-mining company, is set to launch its Odin spacecraft aboard a SpaceX rocket to survey an asteroid for valuable metals. The company is backed by $55M in funding.

Earnings Highlights

Home Depot: Home Depot (HD) beat Q4 earnings estimates with EPS of $3.02 and revenue of $39.7B, ending an 8-quarter decline in comparable sales. The company projects 2.8% sales growth for 2025. Shares were up less than 1%.

Hims & Hers: Hims & Hers (HIMS) dropped 18% after hours despite beating Q4 earnings estimates, as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected gross margins. This follows a 26% decline on Friday due to potential discontinuation of compounded products.

Dr. Pepper: Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) reported a 5.2% revenue increase to $4.07B in Q4, exceeding expectations, driven by a 10.3% rise in U.S. beverage sales. However, the company posted a $144M loss due to a $718M impairment charge.

Planet Fitness: Planet Fitness (PLNT) reported Q4 revenue growth of 19% to $340.5M, exceeding expectations. Profit rose to $47.1M from $35.3M a year earlier. The company expects 2025 revenue to increase 10% to $1.3B and adjusted EPS to rise 11-12%.

Asia-linked Stock News

Tesla’s China breakthrough: Tesla (TSLA) has gained approval to roll out its Autopilot feature on city streets in China, a key step toward full self-driving capabilities. The move could help Tesla regain market share in China’s competitive EV sector.

Nvidia’s chip orders: Nvidia (NVDA) is seeing a surge in H20 AI chip orders from Chinese firms, including Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance, driven by demand for DeepSeek’s AI models. Its stock fell 3% due to concerns over quarterly results, which drop tomorrow.

Samsung’s wage agreement: Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) has reached a deal with its South Korean labor union for a 5.1% wage increase, along with stock and product perks. The agreement aims to ease tensions after past strikes.

Indonesian execs arrested: Indonesian authorities arrested 3 Pertamina (IDX:PGEO) executives over alleged corruption in oil imports, causing $12B in state losses. Prosecutors claim they bypassed local crude suppliers, inflated import costs, and marked up shipping fees.

Economic News

South Korean interest rates: The Bank of Korea slashed interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75%, its lowest since August 2022, amid slowing economic growth. The 2025 GDP forecast was revised down to 1.5% from 1.9%.

World News & Politics

U.S. sidelines Ukraine: The U.S. opposed a European-led U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and instead backed a separate measure calling for an end to the conflict without criticizing Moscow. The move signals a shift in U.S. foreign policy.

Dimon endorses DOGE: JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon criticized the U.S. government’s inefficiency and voiced support for efforts to streamline spending under Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative.

Theranos convictions upheld: A court upheld the fraud convictions of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and former president Ramesh Balwani. Holmes was sentenced to over 11 years, while Balwani received nearly 13 years for defrauding investors in the failed $9B startup.

Emergency landing in ATL: A Delta Air Lines (DAL) flight made an emergency landing in Atlanta due to possible smoke in the flight deck. Two passengers were treated for medical issues.

Economic Events

📌 9:00 AM: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price YoY
📌 10:00 AM: CB Consumer Confidence
📌 4:30 PM: API Crude Oil Stock Change
📌 Thursday: Durable Goods Orders MoM, GDP Growth Rate QoQ 2nd Est.
📌 Friday: Core PCE Price Index MoM, Personal Income & Spending MoM

All events in Eastern Time (ET).

Upcoming Earnings

📊 Today after close: Intuit (INTU), Workday (WDAY)
📊 Tomorrow after close: Nvidia (NVDA), Salesforce (CRM)
📊 Tomorrow before open: Lowe’s (LOW), Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)
📊 Thursday: Dell Technologies (DELL), Autodesk (ADSK)