Good afternoon! PayPal $PYPL ( ▼ 20.31% ) got absolutely smoked after delivering a revenue and earnings miss, then topping it off with a soft 2026 profit outlook and a surprise CEO change. Branded checkout growth nearly stalled, and management signaled next year’s earnings could be flat at best. Investors saw slowing core performance plus leadership uncertainty and decided that was more than enough reason to bail.
It was not just one weak spot either. Spending trends are getting shakier, competition in digital payments is not easing up, and now the company is trying to reset strategy mid-flight. That combination turned what could have been a routine dip into a full-blown confidence hit.
MARKETS
Stocks started strong on Palantir hype, then tech face-planted. Software weakness spread fast, dragging the major indexes lower and leaving a surprising number of stocks quietly hitting fresh yearly lows.
Meanwhile, traders scooped up beaten-down metals, sending gold and silver higher after last week’s meltdown. Oil caught a geopolitical bid after a US carrier downed an Iranian drone, while bitcoin slid under $73,000 as risk appetite kept fading.
STOCKS
Winners & Losers
What’s up 📈
Teradyne soared 13.41% after posting its first billion-dollar quarter since 2021 with strong guidance $TER
AES jumped 9.23% on reports BlackRock’s GIP unit and EQT are considering a joint bid for the power producer $AES
Rocket Companies climbed 8.42% as management highlighted a surge in mortgage loan volumes $RKT
Western Digital rose 7.45% after announcing an additional $4B share buyback and plans to monetize more shares of its former flash business $WDC
Palantir gained 6.86% as analysts cheered its strong quarterly earnings and AI momentum $PLTR
Opendoor advanced 6.74% as developers floated a large-scale “Trump Homes” housing concept $OPEN
AngloGold Ashanti added 6.19% as gold prices rebounded $AU
JetBlue lifted 5.50% after a Citi upgrade and price target hike $JBLU
PepsiCo gained 4.93% on a Q4 earnings beat driven by stronger organic sales $PEP
Newmont rose 3.80% alongside the rebound in gold prices $NEM
Lennar climbed 3.43% and Taylor Morrison gained 3.13% on optimism around new housing development initiatives $LEN $TMHC
What’s down 📉
PayPal cratered 20.31% after weak results, soft 2026 guidance, and a surprise CEO transition $PYPL
LegalZoom plunged 19.74% as AI legal tools sparked fears of disruption in the legal services space $LZ
Thomson Reuters fell 15.66% and RELX dropped 14.10% on AI-driven concerns around legal and publishing software $TRI $RELX
Novo Nordisk sank 14.64% after warning of slowing sales growth due to pricing pressure and competition $NVO
Rambus slid 13.43% after a Q4 earnings miss and weak outlook $RMBS
DocuSign tumbled 11.42% as AI workflow tools pressured software names $DOCU
Unity Software lost 10.31% as gaming stocks resumed their selloff tied to AI disruption fears $U
Pandora dropped 9.62% after a downgrade citing margin risks from volatile silver prices $PANDY
Atlassian fell 7.67%, Adobe slipped 7.30%, Workday declined 7.04%, and ServiceNow lost 7.00% as software broadly sold off $TEAM $ADBE $WDAY $NOW
Salesforce slid 6.85% and Spotify fell 6.86% as tech momentum weakened $CRM $SPOT
Nintendo dropped 6.15%, Take-Two fell 4.23%, and Roblox slipped 3.07% as gaming names remained under pressure $NTDOY $TTWO $RBLX
NXP Semiconductors declined 4.51% despite solid results $NXPI
Pfizer fell 3.34% as fading Covid product demand weighed on outlook $PFE
MERGE
SpaceX and xAI Merge, Eye $1.25 Trillion IPO
Elon Musk just glued rockets to artificial intelligence. SpaceX and xAI are merging into a single company that could reportedly go public at a $1.25 trillion valuation. The vision is pure Musk: move AI infrastructure off Earth and power it with sunlight in orbit.
AI Needs More Than Earth Can Handle
Musk argues today’s AI boom is running into a physical wall. Data centers need enormous electricity and cooling, and he says scaling that on Earth will strain grids and communities. His proposed fix is space based compute, where satellites could draw near constant solar power and beam results back down.
In theory, orbiting data centers remove one of AI’s biggest bottlenecks: energy. In practice, building and maintaining server farms in space would be one of the most complex engineering efforts ever attempted. Still, chasing absurdly hard problems is kind of the brand.
A Trillion Dollar Tech Stack
The merger pulls rockets, satellites, and frontier AI models under one roof. Earlier speculation suggested Tesla $TSLA might be folded into the structure, but it is not part of this deal. If the combined company lists anywhere near that reported valuation, it would instantly rank among the most valuable public firms in the US, trailing only giants like Saudi Aramcoat IPO scale.
For markets, this is not just another tech listing. It would be one of the largest and strangest public debuts ever, bundling space launch, global connectivity, and artificial intelligence into a single story investors will have to price.
The Musk Flywheel Spins Faster
Musk’s companies are already tightly linked. Tesla recently invested billions into xAI, and SpaceX’s launch and satellite network could eventually support space based AI infrastructure. Each piece feeds the others, creating a loop of hardware, software, energy, and data that keeps expanding.
Whether orbital data centers become reality or stay sci fi, the financial narrative is already powerful. Investors are looking at a potential mega IPO that ties together some of the most capital intensive and strategically important technologies of the next decade.
NEWS
Market Movements
📊 Palantir Crushes Q4 Expectations and Rips Higher After Hours: Palantir posted adjusted EPS of $0.25 and revenue of $1.41B, both ahead of estimates, with Q4 sales growth hitting 70% year over year. The bigger shock was guidance, with Q1 2026 revenue and full-year 2026 targets coming in way above what Wall Street expected. $PLTR
🥼 Novo Warns 2026 Sales Could Drop as GLP-1 Competition Heats Up: Novo said 2026 sales may decline 5% to 13% despite early momentum for an oral Wegovy pill. The company cited intensifying competition and semaglutide patent-related pressures in some markets, which is a sharp tone change for a story built on nonstop growth. $NVO
💾 Western Digital Adds $4B Buyback as Sandisk Stake Sale Nears: Western Digital expanded its repurchase authorization while preparing to monetize its remaining Sandisk stake, likely via another debt-for-equity swap. Management has indicated proceeds would be used to reduce debt, and the timing lines up with the one-year anniversary of the Sandisk separation. $WDC $SNDK
🧠 OpenAI Shops for Nvidia Alternatives Over Inference Concerns: Reuters reported OpenAI has been unhappy with inference performance on Nvidia’s latest chips and has been exploring alternatives since last year. The company has already been diversifying with major deals involving AMD and Broadcom, which reads less like a breakup and more like OpenAI building leverage and optionality. $NVDA $AMD $AVGO
💻 Claude Cowork Plug-Ins Trigger Another Broad Software Flush: Beyond legal, Anthropic’s plug-ins span productivity, enterprise search, sales, finance, marketing, customer support, and more, plus a meta plug-in to build custom ones. That breadth is why the selloff spread across major workflow software names and the broader software ETF. $IGV $DOCU $TEAM $CRM $WDAY $ADBE $NOW
💳 PayPal Craters on Miss, Weak 2026 Profit Outlook, and CEO Swap: PayPal missed on both revenue and adjusted EPS, then guided 2026 profit growth to flat-to-down versus much higher expectations. The board also announced a leadership change, adding a second layer of uncertainty at the same time the branded checkout business slowed hard. $PYPL
₿ Bernstein Says Bitcoin Could Bottom Near $60K Before a Bigger Cycle: Bernstein’s analyst said Bitcoin may still be in a short-term bear phase and could bottom around the prior cycle highs near $60K. The bullish twist is the claim that a swift reversal in H1 2026 could set the base for a more institutional and possibly sovereign-driven cycle. $BTC
🌊 Standard Chartered Says Solana Could More Than Double: Standard Chartered forecast Solana could reach $250 by end of 2026, pointing to shifting DEX activity toward stablecoin pairs and the potential for AI-driven micropayments. The bank still expects Solana to underperform Ethereum near-term, then possibly catch up if the new use case scales. $SOL
📉 Bitcoin Hits Lowest Level Since the Post-Election Surge: Bitcoin slid to its weakest level since November 6, 2024, breaking below levels seen during prior tariff-driven market shocks. Analysts pointed to risk-off rotation into cash and gold, plus weaker ETF absorption amplifying downside volatility. $BTC
🧩 Dan Ives Thinks Tesla Could Merge With SpaceX-xAI: Wedbush’s Dan Ives said there’s a growing chance Tesla eventually merges in some form with SpaceX-xAI as Musk builds one end-to-end AI ecosystem across Earth and space. His argument is basically control more of the AI stack, combine the tech, and call it the holy grail. $TSLA
🎮 Nintendo Beats Switch 2 Sales as the Original Switch Hits an All-Time Record: Nintendo sold about 7M Switch 2 units in the December quarter, topping estimates and pushing total Switch 2 sales past 17M. The original Switch also became Nintendo’s bestselling console ever at 155.4M units, even as the company flagged pressure from tariffs and rising memory costs. $NTDOY
💊 Merck Beats Q4 but 2026 Guidance Disappoints: Merck topped expectations with adjusted EPS of $2.04 and revenue of $16.4B. But its 2026 outlook came in light, with both EPS and revenue guidance below consensus, shifting attention from a strong quarter to a softer year ahead. $MRK
🧪 Teradyne Explodes Higher on Huge Beat and Even Bigger Guidance: Teradyne smashed Q4 numbers with $1.083B revenue and $1.80 adjusted EPS, both well above estimates. Management credited AI-driven demand in compute, networking, and memory, then followed it up with Q1 guidance that shocked the Street. $TER $ATEYY
💉 Pfizer Beats Q4 and Shows Weight-Loss Progress but Stock Still Slips: Pfizer delivered a clean beat on EPS and revenue and reaffirmed full-year guidance. It also shared mid-stage data for a monthly GLP-1 weight-loss shot showing over 12.3% weight loss at 28 weeks, but investors still focused on the long road to proving the next growth engine. $PFE
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney Picks Parks Chief as Next CEO
Disney $DIS has chosen Josh D’Amaro to take the top job, naming the longtime parks boss as CEO effective March 18, 2026. The move wraps up another high-stakes succession saga at the House of Mouse, and shares edged higher in premarket trading on the news.
D’Amaro has led Disney’s experiences division since 2020, overseeing parks, resorts, cruises, and consumer products. That segment has quietly become the company’s financial backbone, delivering roughly 60% of operating profit last year while other divisions battled streaming losses and the long decline of traditional TV.
From Turnstiles to Top Job
This is not Disney’s first rodeo promoting a parks chief. Former CEO Bob Chapek also came from the experiences side, though his tenure was rocky and ultimately led to Bob Iger’s return. This time, the board appears to be betting that operational discipline and guest-focused execution can translate into steadier performance at the corporate level.
Unlike many past leaders, D’Amaro is not a Hollywood insider. That could be a weakness in a company built on storytelling and talent relationships, but it may also signal a shift in priorities toward profitability, global expansion, and capital efficiency.
The Parks Are Carrying the Castle
Disney’s parks and experiences unit has been one of the few consistent bright spots. Price increases, strong per-guest spending, and major franchise-driven expansions have helped offset softness elsewhere. Still, attendance growth has cooled, and relying too heavily on higher ticket prices could test consumer patience in a tighter economic environment.
Meanwhile, Disney’s entertainment and sports segments still face big transitions, from the streaming profitability puzzle to ongoing distribution battles in sports media. D’Amaro’s challenge will be turning parks strength into companywide momentum.
Happily Ever After Is Not Guaranteed
Iger praised D’Amaro’s deep understanding of the Disney brand and his ability to combine creativity with operational rigor. That balance will be critical as Disney juggles massive investment plans with pressure to improve margins and reignite stock performance.
D’Amaro is stepping into the Magic Kingdom’s highest office at a moment when the company’s assets are world-class, but its path forward is anything but a fairy tale.
CALENDAR
On The Horizon
Tomorrow
Economic calendar is doing its best despite a curveball. Friday’s official jobs report got pushed back, but tomorrow’s ADP read should still offer a fresh pulse check on private-sector hiring.
Earnings season keeps the tape busy with results on deck from Alphabet, Eli Lilly, AbbVie, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Uber, Qualcomm, UBS, Boston Scientific, Arm, CME Group, GSK, and Snap.
RESOURCES
The Federal Reserve Resource
Join our options subreddit ⚡️: https://www.reddit.com/r/optionstrading/
Join our discord community 💠: https://discord.gg/optionality
Wall Street Reads 💎 (Best Books):
Check out our latest issues 🎯: 0ptionality.com