US OPEN: Bulls return to Wall Street on Big Tech earnings

• Sector-wide gains return to Wall Street
• Cargo Therapeutics sell-off due to halted Phase II trial
• US GDP grew less than expected in Q4 2024

Wall Street opens on Thursday in the green, following the ‘good enough’ earnings report from technological bigcaps after yesterday’s session. Microsoft, IBM and Meta mostly beat or met the market’s expectations, soothing a little bit the worry about the future of US-driven tech revolution. Elon Musk’s Tesla, despite missing the analysts’ bets on key metrics like revenue and EPS, adds in value on the statements reassuring growth in 2025. Investors’ attention will be directed today to Apple’s earnings call, which will help to shape a broader picture for the US Big Tech outlook. Nasdaq is up 0.7%, S&P500 adds 0.4%, Russell 2000 rebounds 1.25% and DJIA gains 0.18%.

US’ real GDP underperformed in Q4 2024 compared to the previous quarter, growing at the annual rate of 2.3% (previously: 3.1%). The rise in consumer and government spending has been offset by the declining exports and investment. Yesterday’s Fed press conference underlined the ‘wait-and-see’ approach, as Jerome Powell stated numerously that there’s no hurry to bring the interest rates further down, thus halting the easing cycle.

Visible return of the sector-wide gains on Wall Street. Source: xStation

US100 (D1)

Nasdaq 100, represented by the US100 contract, rebounds steadily following the DeepSeek-driven sell-off on Monday. The price remains well in the middle of the current consolidation zone, which might become even harder to escape given the current disruption of the sentiment in the Big Tech sector. Nevertheless, solid Q4 results from the big caps yesterday keep the index in the green.

Source: xStation5

Corporate news:

• American Airlines (AAL.US) shares are down 0.75% due to the midair crash of the carrier’s passenger plane with the military helicopter earlier this day. The plane was carrying figure skaters with their families and coaches, while the helicopter was operated by three US army soldiers on a training mission. 13 casualties have already been confirmed.
• Arista Network (ANET.US) gains 5.7% today on positive AI-investment signals from Meta and Microsoft, along with strong results from Celestica, boosting demand expectations. Analysts believe this could ease concerns over AI-networking spending and potentially lift Arista’s 2025 sales target above $8 billion. The company is set to report its Q4 results on Feb. 18.
• Cargo Therapeutics shares plunge a whopping 76% after the company halted its Phase 2 Firi-cel trial, cutting its workforce, and evaluating strategic options. Multiple institutions downgraded their trade recommendations and cut price targets, with concerns over the company's pipeline and lack of near-term catalysts.
• Coursera (COUR.US) shares are down 11% after announcing CEO Jeff Maggioncalda’s retirement, with Greg Hart set to take over. Analysts were surprised by the timing but view the transition as well-planned, noting Hart’s strong credentials.
• Lam Research (LAMR.US) shares are up 5.2% after issuing a stronger-than-expected forecast, driven by NAND upgrades, DRAM utilization, and advanced packaging momentum. Analysts see the company well-positioned for growth, citing its leadership in deposition and etching, as well as confidence in long-term industry demand.
• Microsoft (MSFT.US) shares give up almost 5% on comments that cloud-computing business growth will remain sluggish in the Q1 2025 due to the lack of data centres needed to live up to the demand for their AI solutions.
• Tesla (TSLA.US) shares rose nearly 4% despite missing Q4 revenue and earnings expectations, as the company pledged a return to growth in 2025. Investors focused on CEO Elon Musk’s announcement of paid, unsupervised FSD launching in Austin by June, with full U.S. rollout expected by 2025. However, analysts noted concerns over declining auto revenues, falling production, and a lack of clarity on Tesla’s growth targets for 2025.
• United Parcel Services (UPS.US) stock falls 15% after the company projected 2025 revenue of $89 billion, well below analyst expectations of $94.9 billion. Weakened parcel demand, shifting customer preferences, and a major volume reduction agreement with its largest customer contributed to the disappointing outlook.