Chicago Bulls Dennis Rodman (91) and Michael Jordan (23) in action, rebounding vs Charlotte Hornets

A rebound for the Bulls (David E. Klutho/Getty Images)

Stocks continue to recover from Greenland threats

Megacap tech helped drive gains.

The S&P 500 continued to climb, but the benchmark index is still lower than it was prior to President Trump’s European tariff threats. Big Tech helped propel stocks higher, with every Magnificent 7 constituent gaining. The Russell 2000 continued its outperformance streak, beating the S&P 500 for the 14th consecutive session.

November PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, remained in line with economists’ forecasts.

Stocks that moved higher:

Arista Networks ripped amid an upswing in call buying.
Moderna extended its rally on positive cancer vaccine results.
Alibaba jumped after a report that the company is planning an IPO for its AI chipmaking unit.
Meta rallied as Jefferies analyst Brent Thill doubled down on his “buy” rating for the company, calling the stock a relative bargain compared to its Mag 7 peers.
GameStop jumped after CEO Ryan Cohen purchased another 500,000 shares of company stock, per a filing yesterday.
Tesla rose as CEO Elon Musk said in an X post that its Robotaxis are now operating in Austin without a safety monitor. Musk also speculated that the company’s Optimus robots will be for sale to the public “by the end of next year.”
Paramount Skydance ticked higher as it extended the deadline for its Warner Bros. Discovery hostile takeover bid, giving shareholders more time to mull competing offers.
Oracle gained as Semafor reported that China and the US have signed off on the sale of TikTok’s US operations to a consortium in which the software giant is one of the three leading investors.

Stocks that moved lower:

POET Technologies tumbled after announcing the pricing of its $150 million direct share offering.
Despite beating expectations on sales and earnings per share and issuing better-than-expected 2026 guidance, GE Aerospace fell.
Abbott Laboratories slumped after reporting a sales miss and disappointing Q1 guidance in its earnings call this morning.

Intel slumps after Q1 guidance disappoints

The bad outlook offset strong Q4 results.

Matt Phillips1h

Luke Kawa2h

Plug Power jumps amid surge in call activity as CEO Andy Marsh hosts AMA

Plug Power surged on Thursday, jumping nearly 17% amid elevated call activity as outgoing CEO Andy Marsh hosted an “ask me anything” on the r/PlugPowerStock subreddit.

As many as 192,581 call options changed hands, more than 4x the 20-day average — call options with a strike price of $4 that expire in mid-June were the most active contract.

Marsh’s appearance was aimed at building support for the board’s recommendations that its investors vote in favor of three proposals at a special meeting of shareholders slated for next week. These proposals include: allowing votes to be decided by a majority of voters rather than a majority of shareholders, enabling an increase in the company’s share count, and a third measure to delay this special meeting in the event that there aren’t enough votes for either of those two proposals to pass.

During the session, Marsh made the following points:

Management really doesn’t want to have to do a reverse stock split, but would feel forced to do so if the second proposal fails to pass. Per a recent filing from Plug, “Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy.”
Plug plans to lean even more into opportunities to offer power to AI data center customers, with Marsh writing that incoming CEO Jose Luis Crespo will offer more details on this in a follow-up AMA scheduled for March.

Jon Keegan4h

Meta shares rally as Jefferies says it’s a bargain relative to Mag 7 peers

Shares of Meta rallied over 5% on Thursday, as Jefferies analyst Brent Thill doubled down on his “buy” rating for the company, calling the stock a relative bargain compared to its Magnificent 7 peers. The analyst set a price target of $910, well above the $645 where the stock is trading today.

News out of the World Economic Forum this week that Meta’s first models from its revamped AI teams are “very good” aligns with Thill’s argument that the company is well positioned to get back in the AI race with the “all-star model,” which is expected to be released in the first half of the year.

Recent cuts to Meta’s Reality Labs also signal that the company is focusing its spending where it matters. The Jefferies note added that the recent monetization of Threads via ads will help boost revenue.

Next week, Meta reports its fourth-quarter earnings, and Thill expects that even if the company raises its 2026 capital expenditure outlook, investors won’t be spooked, as the company has been clear that spending may continue to be high.

Matt Phillips5h

Arista Networks rips higher amid jump in call buying

Arista Networks, a maker of switches and other networking equipment used in AI data centers, was on track for its best day of the new year on Thursday as options traders went bullish on the stock.

As of around 11 a.m. ET, there was nearly twice as much call buying in Arista than its 10-day moving average for a full day of activity. Buying call options to make leveraged bets on price increases has been a favorite trading tactic of retail traders in recent years.

Otherwise, there weren’t clear headlines tied to today’s outsized move, but the stock has been getting attention lately: in a note published earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analysts spotlighted Arista as a top tactical trade for earnings season, saying the shares — which they rate a “buy” — could rise 20% over the next year.

“ANET is well positioned amidst ongoing data center spending growth, where its position as a best of breed provider of networking equipment should advantage the company, particularly as data center networks become increasingly complex,” Goldman analysts wrote in the January 8 report.

And recent reports also say Microsoft — which accounted for 20% of Arista’s revenue in 2024, according to Goldman Sachs — is planning a massive expansion of its Wisconsin data center project.

Arista stock did get a lift following the release of solid US economic numbers at 8:30 a.m. that seemed fairly specific to Arista itself. (There was no similar bounce from competitors like Cisco or Hewlett-Packard.)

Microsoft receives preliminary approval for $13.3B data center expansion in Mount Pleasant - Milwaukee Business Journal

And recent reports also say Microsoft — which accounted for 20% of Arista’s revenue in 2024, according to Goldman Sachs — is planning a massive expansion of its Wisconsin data center project.

Luke Kawa6h

Investors just made a mammoth $133 billion flip from cash to stocks, per Goldman Sachs

It’s a dash from cash, with investors taking billions in dry powder and pouring that money into the stock market.

“We saw strong net flows into global equity funds last week, led by stronger inflows into US and EM equity funds (+$71 billion vs $2 billion in the previous week) — more than 35x-ed the flows,” wrote Goldman Sachs’ Gail Hafif, Brian Garrett, and Lee Coppersmith. “While equity flows increase, money market fund assets fell by $62 billion. This is the 3rd largest level in our dataset (!).”

The trio is bullish on US stocks, seeing “the case for contained selloffs coupled with relief rallies as the most likely path forward in the near term.”