Tech Sector Braces for NVIDIA Results 25/02/2026

HOT stories for today

Market wrap:

• Major U.S. equity benchmarks advanced Tuesday as concerns about artificial intelligence-driven disruption across multiple industries eased. The S&P 500 closed up about 0.8%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed roughly 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 370 points, also about 0.8%. The broader market was supported by a nearly 9% surge in Advanced Micro Devices after Meta Platforms announced a multiyear partnership with the chipmaker. Software and cybersecurity shares also staged a relief rally following Anthropic’s rollout of new connectors and plug-ins for its knowledge-work platform, Claude Cowork, enabling companies to link the AI tool with existing applications such as Google Drive. The product had unsettled the software sector in recent weeks amid concerns it could disrupt incumbent vendors.
• Tuesday’s gains come ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly earnings, along with results from software firms Salesforce and Snowflake, due after Wednesday’s close. Nvidia reports as investors reassess elevated technology valuations and grow more cautious about hyperscalers’ heavy AI spending. Thomas said Nvidia’s results could still prove pivotal for the direction of U.S. equities, though their market impact has moderated somewhat amid the recent software selloff and heightened focus on fast-evolving AI tools such as Claude. Separately, investors this week are monitoring rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

AI ‘Sci-Fi’ Spooks Software Stocks

• A hypothetical AI doomsday scenario helped spark a sharp selloff in software shares, exposing how fragile sentiment has become in a crowded, high-valuation trade. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF fell nearly 5% on Monday, far outpacing the S&P 500’s roughly 1% drop, as investors dumped AI-exposed names. The move followed a widely circulated Substack post, “The Global Intelligence Crisis,” by Citrini Research, which sketched a 2028 world in which AI replaces much of knowledge work. It name-checked enterprise software firms such as Monday.com, Asana, and ServiceNow, while also flagging disruption risks for companies like DoorDash, Visa, and Mastercard.
• Many of those stocks dropped on Monday before recovering some ground on Tuesday. Portfolio managers said the rout was less about one post than the setup: software and AI winners had become crowded positions with valuations pricing in years of growth, leaving little margin for doubt. “It does not take much to trigger volatility,” said Brad Gastwirth of Circular Technologies, noting investors are quick to sell anything that threatens earnings durability or the pace of AI monetization. Behavioral forces amplified the move. Dan Geller, a behavioral economist at Analyticom, called it “simply hysteria,” as investors rushed to cut risk and, in some cases, front-run others’ exits. Even if the scenario is unlikely given constraints like power, compute, and slow enterprise adoption, the episode showed how fast a viral narrative can hit richly valued sectors.

Stocks on the move:

• Lucid Group (LCID): Shares of the EV maker fell more than 4% after Lucid reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $3.62 per share, even as revenue topped estimates. The company has also recently cut its U.S. workforce by 12%.
• Workday (WDAY): Shares slid nearly 10% after the company forecast first-quarter subscription revenue of $2.34 billion, slightly below analysts’ $2.35 billion estimate, according to LSEG. Workday also issued weaker-than-expected non-GAAP operating-margin guidance for the quarter.
• CoStar Group (CSGP): Shares dropped about 8% after first-quarter guidance missed expectations. CoStar projected adjusted earnings of 16 to 19 cents per share, versus a 25-cent consensus estimate from FactSet.
• Cava Group (CAVA): Shares jumped about 8% after the Mediterranean chain beat fourth-quarter estimates and issued a stronger-than-expected fiscal 2026 outlook. Cava earned 4 cents per share on $275 million in revenue, topping LSEG’s 3 cents on $268 million, and said full-year revenue surpassed $1 billion for the first time. The company expects same-store sales at locations open at least a year to rise 3% to 5% in 2026.

Watchlist: COIN, MSTR, SLV, NVDA, WDAY, FSLR, CAVA, TJX, LOW

Key Economic Events Today:

EST time

09:30 am: USD FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
10:30 am: USD Crude Oil Inventories
11:00 am: USD FOMC Member Schmid Speaks



Earnings

BMO (Before Market Open): TJX Companies (TJX), Lowe’s Companies (LOW), Bank of Montreal (BMO)

AMC (After Market Close): NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA), Salesforce (CRM), Synopsys (SNPS), Snowflake (SNOW)


The TEFS Analyst team wishes you a successful day!