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Your Friday Market Brief
Opening Insight
So this was a "beat everything and still get sold" kind of week. NVIDIA came in with numbers that cleared the bar on every line. Revenue beat. EPS beat. Guidance beat. And the stock dropped more than five percent the next day. That reaction tells you more about where the market's head is right now than any earnings slide could. Investors are not positioned for good results. They are positioned for doubts about whether the AI infrastructure trade can sustain itself, and those doubts are not going away with one more strong quarter. Then today, PPI came in hot, core inflation jumped way harder than expected, and that was the second punch. A week that had real momentum through Wednesday closed out on two straight days of selling. That is the short version. Here are the numbers.
Market Recap
Equities ended the week under pressure, with tech-driven selling dominating the action. NVIDIA's post-earnings decline set the tone mid-week, and a hotter-than-expected PPI print today compounded the damage. AI capex sustainability concerns weighed heavily on the Nasdaq while rotation into energy and industrials cushioned the broader index. The Dow outperformed on lower tech exposure. VIX climbed back above 20, reflecting rising uncertainty around inflation, rates, and the durability of the AI trade.
The S&P 500 closed the week near 6,850, surrendering midweek gains as NVIDIA's post-earnings drop and today's inflation data hit back-to-back. The index held its range but momentum stalled at resistance.
The Nasdaq bore the brunt of the week's tech selloff, closing near 22,600. AI-adjacent names led the decline as NVIDIA dragged chipmakers lower and concerns around software and AI infrastructure spend deepened.
Stocks That Won The Week
DELL
$DELL
+21.75%
Reported a record AI server backlog of $43 billion and guided for AI-optimized server revenue to double in FY2027. The market responded with conviction.
PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE
$PSKY
+26.40%
Warner Bros. board accepted Paramount's raised $31 per share bid over Netflix's competing offer. Deal confirmation sent shares sharply higher.
NETFLIX
$NFLX
+23.60%
Walked away from the Warner Bros. acquisition after Paramount's rival bid won. The market read the exit as capital discipline and rewarded shares aggressively.
Stocks That Lost The Week
UNIVERSAL HEALTH SERVICES
UHS
-11.08%
Q4 EPS of $5.88 narrowly missed estimates and revenue came in light. Lower-than-expected patient admissions spooked investors despite full-year guidance that actually cleared consensus.
FIRST SOLAR
FSLR
-18.33%
Guided 2026 revenue far below Wall Street consensus. EPS missed, multiple analysts downgraded or cut targets, and tariff and permitting uncertainty added to the pressure. The solar policy backdrop is getting harder to underwrite.
NEXTPOWER
NXT
15%
Caught in the solar sector selloff triggered by FSLR's guidance miss. Policy uncertainty and permitting delays are a shared headwind across utility-scale solar and NXT did not escape the contagion.
Sector Snapshot
Sector | Weekly Change | YTD Change |
|---|---|---|
Technology - $XLK | -0.59% | -4.72% |
Energy - $XLE | +0.14% | +25.04% |
Financials - $XLF | -1.23% | -6.26% |
Industrials - $XLI | +0.24% | +13.83% |
Healthcare - $XLV | +0.96% | +3.44% |
Tech and financials led the week's losses. Financials softened as rate cut timelines repriced following hot PPI data. Tech stayed under pressure from AI capex skepticism after NVIDIA's earnings reception. Healthcare outperformed as defensive rotation picked up. Energy and industrials held up, continuing to attract capital from the physical infrastructure trade away from software-heavy AI plays.
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Crypto Recap
Crypto traded sideways this week as risk-off pressure in equities weighed on sentiment. Bitcoin stayed rangebound but remains deep in the red year-to-date. Altcoins showed modest divergence, with Solana leading and XRP underperforming. The space remains in consolidation, stuck in the narrow range that has defined 2026 so far.
Performance Overview
Asset | Weekly Change | YTD Change |
|---|---|---|
Bitcoin ($BTC) | -0.32% | -25.00% |
Ethereum ($ETH) | +1.45% | -34.90% |
Solana ($SOL) | +2.10% | -34.31% |
XRP ($XRP) | -1.78% | -26.33% |
Mover Of The Week
SOLANA
Solana posted the largest absolute move of the week, gaining as capital rotated into higher-beta altcoins while Bitcoin stayed flat. SOL held a key technical support level and on-chain activity provided enough justification for short-term positioning. The move looks tactical rather than structural. The asset remains sharply negative year-to-date.
Commodities Recap
Commodities had a strong week, led by precious metals. Silver posted the sharpest move. Copper extended its 2026 run on tight supply and structural demand from electrification and data center infrastructure. Gold advanced on rate sensitivity as inflation data complicated the Fed's path. Oil edged higher late in the week as U.S.-Iran geopolitical tension returned to the headlines.
Asset | Weekly Change | YTD Change | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
Gold - $XAUUSD | +1.36% | +21.67% | Safe haven bid, rate cut repricing |
Oil - $CL1! | +0.37% | +17.23% | Iran risk premium returns |
Copper - $HG1! | +3.94% | +6.14% | Data center demand lifts futures |
Silver - $XAGUSD | +6.51% | +28.61% | Precious metals momentum accelerates |
Macro Drivers
Gold and silver extended their advances as hotter-than-expected PPI data complicated the Fed's rate path, sending investors toward safe haven assets with rate sensitivity. Copper continued its structural run, driven by data center construction and electrification demand. Oil received a late-week lift as U.S.-Iran tension escalated, with the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem advising staff to consider departing, adding a geopolitical risk premium to crude. Supply risk is back in the energy narrative heading into next week.
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Final Take
Alright, so there is the data, and here is what it tells you. This was a week where good earnings were not enough to hold the market up, and bad inflation data showed up at exactly the wrong time. NVIDIA's beat-and-drop is the clearest signal of where investor psychology sits right now. Expectations have run so far ahead that clearing the bar just gets you back to zero. The AI capex sustainability debate is not resolved.
The rotation underneath the headline indices is the more interesting story. Energy up 25% year-to-date. Industrials nearly 14%. Money is actively moving toward physical infrastructure, real assets, and commodities. That is starting to look like a regime shift, not just a rotation trade.
Two things to watch heading into next week. First, Iran. Geopolitical risk came back fast today and energy is already pricing some of it in. Second, the rate cut timeline. Today's PPI was the second inflation print in a row that pushed expectations further out. Financials took the hit and the repricing probably is not done. The question is not whether the Fed cuts, it is when, and right now that answer keeps moving later. Watch whether the rotation holds or whether risk-off starts taking down the 2026 winners alongside the laggards.
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