Palantir Rally Loses Steam, Walmart Outlook Disappoints: What's Driving Markets Thursday?

Author: Erica Kollmann | February 20, 2025 01:44pm

Stocks tumbled Thursday, with all major indices in the red, one day after the S&P 500 notched another all-time high in Wednesday’s trading session. Investors are weighing uncertainty surrounding tariff policies and disappointing guidance from Walmart while digesting new initial jobless claims data.

Mega-retailer Walmart, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)’s shares dropped after the company issued fiscal 2026 guidance below analyst expectations, despite fourth-quarter results beating expectations.

Retail investor darling Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) added to Wednesday’s declines following a report that the Trump administration told the Pentagon to prepare for sweeping budget cuts and CEO Alex Karp filed a new trading plan to sell up to $1.2 billion shares.

Read Next: Trump Administration Orders Sweeping Pentagon Cuts: Palantir, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics Among Stocks On Watch

Initial jobless claims rose by 5,000 to 219,000, above expectations of 215,000, while continuing claims rose to 186,900 in the first week of February.

WTI crude oil futures rose above $72 per barrel on Thursday, extending its streak of gains to four days as supply concerns outweighed a rise in U.S. stockpiles, according to TradingEconomics.

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 1.09% to $97,695. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note pulled back slightly to 4.5%.

Thursday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1 day % chg.
Nasdaq 100	19,911.27	-0.72%
S&P 500	6,101.27	-0.7%
Dow Jones	44,036.44	-1.32%
Russell 2000	2,252.49	-1.31%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) fell 0.67% to $608.82.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) was down 1.26% at $441.02
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) slipped 0.7% to $535.72.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) was down 1.17% to $223.79.
• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) fell 1.39% to $223.10.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) rose 0.6% to $92.57.

Thursday's Stock Movers: 

Cruise stocks Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL), Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCHL) tumbled, leading consumer discretionary stocks lower. The SPDR Select Sector Fund – Consumer Discretionary (NYSE:XLY) fell 1.44%.

Stocks reacting to company earnings reports included: 

• Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) 
• Vale S.A. (NYSE:VALE) 
• B2Gold Corp. (AMEX:BTG)
• Exact Sciences Corp. (NASDAQ:EXAS)
• Alamos Gold Inc. (NYSE:AGI)
• Walmart, Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
• Taseko Mines, Ltd. (AMEX:TGB) 
• Shake Shack, Inc. (NYSE:SHAK)
• Materialise NV (NASDAQ:MTLS)
• Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS)
• Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA)
• Jumia Technologies AG (NYSE:JMIA)
• Birkenstock Holding Plc (NYSE:BIRK)
• Sabre Corp. (NASDAQ:SABR)
• Ardelyx, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARDX)

Companies reporting after Thursday's closing bell include: 

• Celsius Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CELH)
• Dropbox, Inc. (NASDAQ:DBX)
• Iamgold Corp. (NYSE:IAG)
• The RealReal, Inc. (NASDAQ:REAL)
• Nu Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NU)
• Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)
• Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN)
• Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ)
• Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)
• MercadoLibre, Inc. (NASDAQ:MELI)

Read Next:

• Robert F. Kennedy, Vaccine Skeptic, Confirmed As Trump’s Secretary Of Health: Health Care Stocks To Watch

Image: Shutterstock.

Posted In: $BTC AGI ARDX BABA BIRK BKNG BTG CCL CELH CVNA DBX DIA ED EXAS HAS IAG IWM JMIA MELI MTLS