Investopedia Markets News (all except PF)

Berkshire Dumped Most of Its Amazon Stake and Continued Offloading Apple Shares

• Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its stake in Apple and sold more than three quarters of its Amazon holdings last quarter, longtime CEO Warren Buffett's last at the helm of the company.
• Berkshire has been paring its Apple holdings since late 2023; the stake, once worth more than $175 billion, was valued at about $60 billion as of Tuesday's close.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)(BRK.B), the conglomerate formerly led by famed investor Warren Buffett, reduced its holdings in tech giants Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) in the final quarter of 2025, according to a regulatory filing released Tuesday. 

Berkshire sold about 10.3 million shares of Apple, about 4% of the firm’s stake in the iPhone maker. Berkshire has been steadily trimming its stake in Apple—its largest position—since late 2023, though the pace of its sales has slowed. Berkshire’s stake, once worth about $175 billion, totaled about $60 billion as of Tuesday’s close.

Big tech stocks led markets higher for years after ChatGPT sparked the AI craze on Wall Street in late 2022. But those stocks have been treading water for about half a year, weighed on by worries about overspending on AI and stretched valuations.

Berkshire made a bigger cut to its Amazon holdings, selling 7.7 million shares, or more than 75% of its stake in the e-commerce giant. The holdings, worth about $2.1 billion at the end of the third quarter, were valued at about $457 million as of Tuesday. 

Tuesday's filing is the last Berkshire portfolio update overlapping with Warren Buffett's tenure as chief executive. Buffett, who took over Berkshire in 1965 and built it into an insurance and investment behemoth worth more than $1 trillion, officially handed the reins over to current CEO Greg Abel when he retired at the end of last year.

Apple stock rose nearly 7% in the fourth quarter. Apple, unlike Big Tech peers such as Meta (META) and Alphabet (GOOG), is not spending hand over fist on AI infrastructure, and that became a tailwind for the stock when the AI rally wavered last quarter. Amazon shares rose 5% in the same period.

• A message Tuesday from CFTC Chair Mike Selig prompted both fans and critics of prediction to sound off on the agency's defending the burgeoning business.
• The debate around which regulators have jurisdiction over prediction markets pivots around events contracts related to sports events.

A federal regulator just jumped into the turf war over prediction markets.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Mike Selig in a series of social media posts said that the regulatory agency would defend its jurisdiction around prediction markets, and that it filed a legal brief supporting one such company—Crypto.com—in federal court. The agency, he said in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal, would not let"overzealous state governments" undermine its authority over "exciting products."

Selig was referencing what are called events contracts, trading instruments with mostly binary outcomes tied to everything from sporting events like the Super Bowl to more controversial geopolitical happenings that have raised concerns about misappropriated information. Selig's message to state regulators—"We'll see you in court," he said in a video message on social media— prompted reactions from both critics and fans.

Prediction markets are gearing up to make themselves more known to the masses through marketing efforts, including free groceries, to ratchet up their recent business ventures.

Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick said prediction markets "offer tremendous benefits" to both businesses and regular people. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, whose state bans all forms of gambling—quipped: "I don't remember the CFTC having authority over the 'derivative market' of LeBron James rebounds." He also said that prediction markets were "destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men."

Crypto.com partners with Trump Media & Technology (DJT) on prediction markets and crypto ventures. Donald Trump Jr. is an advisor to Kalshi and, through his VC firm, is invested in Polymarket.

Prediction markets are a fast-growing service—and business—that has quickly captured national attention. Central to the legal debate surrounding them, and to the question of whose regulatory authority they are subject to, is sports: State gambling regulators argue that they are little more than illegal forms of sports betting, which they should oversee, while prediction markets and their supporters say they are derivatives that fall under the CFTC's jurisdiction.

Polymarket and Kalshi are the two biggest players in prediction markets, though a host of other companies, including CME Group (CME), Robinhood (HOOD), Coinbase Global (COIN) and DraftKings (DKNG) have waded into the space lately. Robinhood chief Vlad Tenev last week said that its venture was "the fastest growing" in the firm's history, according to transcripts provided by AlphaSense.

But big business opportunities come with big risks some are less willing to take. Terrence Duffy, chief of derivatives giant CME Group, said during its earnings call at the top of the month that "the last thing I'm going to have CME Group do is get tied up in a bunch of legal battles in court over sports."

Selig's statement, and the reactions to it, signal that those battles are just heating up.

• After almost a year of forgiveness being paused under the Income-Contingent Repayment and Pay As You Earn plans, more than 11,500 borrowers will soon have their student debt discharged.
• The Department of Education will also soon forgive the loans of 10,873 borrowers under the Income-Based Repayment plan.

After almost a year of delays, thousands of borrowers will soon receive student loan forgiveness under several income-driven repayment plans.

In January, 10,729 borrowers in the Income Contingent Repayment plan and 820 in the Pay As You Earn plan were identified as being eligible for loan forgiveness, the Department of Education said in a recent court filing.

These borrowers received an email from the Education Department last week informing them they are eligible for a loan discharge, which will be processed over the next several months, Forbes reported. Student loan borrowers will typically have their remaining debt balance forgiven after 20 or 25 years of payments under eligible income-driven repayment plans.

In addition, 10,873 borrowers in the Income-Based Repayment plan were identified as eligible for loan forgiveness in January.

Paying off student debt for two or more decades can be tricky for many borrowers, who often cut back on spending to make payments. Borrowers who receive forgiveness can divert more money toward growing their savings or caring for their families.

The announcement of forgiveness for more than 11,500 borrowers under the ICR and PAYE is especially pivotal, as very few income-driven plan borrowers received forgiveness under the Trump administration last year. Early in 2025, the Department of Education paused granting forgiveness under the ICR and PAYE plans in response to a lawsuit challenging the legality of several income-driven repayment plans.

Forgiveness under all income-driven repayment plans was supposed to resume in October, and Investopedia estimates the Trump administration discharged the loans of about 3,570 borrowers through the IBR plan in 2025. However, system changes required to forgive the loans of borrowers under the ICR and PAYE plans were not made until January, the Department of Education said.

For borrowers who were supposed to receive forgiveness in 2025 or earlier but had it delayed by the pauses, they will not be taxed on their loan discharge. Other borrowers who first qualified for a loan discharge in 2026 will be taxed if they accept the forgiveness.

• Walmart is scheduled on Thursday to release its fourth-quarter results, which will be the first reported since it moved to the Nasdaq and hired a new CEO.
• The retailer has grown revenue by building out same-day delivery service and automating warehouses.

Walmart is slated to report its fourth-quarter numbers Thursday, releasing its first results since joining the Nasdaq and hiring a new CEO.

Walmart (WMT) executives have spent months telling investors the Arkansas-based company has evolved into a tech-powered retailer with automated warehouses and AI-led marketing. The stock left the New York Stock Exchange and landed on the Nasdaq 100—an index used to track the ups and downs of tech stocks—in January. Weeks later, John Furner assumed the CEO role.

Furner has signaled that automation and e-commerce will remain priorities as same-day delivery orders rise and attract high-income customers. Shoppers of all economic backgrounds have been seeking savings, and companies like Walmart, Target (TGT) and Kroger (KR) have vied for their business by touting price cuts.

As one of the largest mass retailers, Walmart's performance can serve as a barometer of consumer health. Walmart executives often share insight on shifts in customer health and behavior.

Walmart has held its own—and is leaning further in, exploring the creation of "dark format" urban stores to aid delivery in high-population areas. It has reported U.S. comparable sales growth of roughly 4% or higher every quarter of the past two years, according to Visible Alpha. Its membership program has held onto subscribers, who skew younger, Deutsche Bank said.

Analysts expect Walmart to report $190.6 million in quarterly revenue, up about 5.5% from a year earlier, according to consensus estimates from Visible Alpha. They anticipate adjusted earnings per share of about $0.73, compared to $0.62 last year, per Visible Alpha.

Wall Street analysts broadly think Walmart's stock price will hold steady for a while. They see share prices surpassing $131, according to Visible Alpha's consensus analyst price target, compared to the $129 shares were recently trading for. Walmart shares have gained some 24% over the past year.

Furner hasn't detailed shifts in strategy, but analysts are eager to hear more about his vision.

Walmart "appears to be closing its chapter of building out the foundation for its digital capabilities, including AI, and is shifting gears into acceleration mode," Deutsche Bank said in a note last week. "We expect to hear about his priorities, including areas of investments and outlook on AI/agentic commerce ... discretionary demand, grocery pricing/competition, and rollbacks."

• Wedbush analysts said they see big gains for a trio of cybersecurity plays that have taken a hit this year amid a broader slump in software stocks.
• The analysts identified Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and ZScaler as best-positioned to benefit from growing risks tied to AI.

It's been a rough start to the year for the software sector, but one group of experts said they see big gains ahead for some beaten-down cybersecurity stocks.

As the use of AI spreads, companies could face growing risks that drive up demand for cybersecurity services, according to analysts at Wedbush, who named three stocks they see as likely "winners" in a note Tuesday.

Wedbush is suggesting investors are underestimating the cybersecurity industry's opportunities for growth as AI risks spread, leaving shares of big players significant room to rise.

One of them is CrowdStrike (CRWD), which Wedbush said remains a "gold standard of cybersecurity" despite the stock's recent selloff. The shares are down about 13% year-to-date, with Wedbush's $600 price target suggesting nearly 50% upside from Tuesday afternoon's level around $408.

Wedbush also identified ZScaler (ZS) as a "premier name to own in the cyber space," with a strong product pipeline and AI strategy. The analysts said they see the stock roughly doubling to $350 in the next 12 months.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which is set to report earnings after the closing bell today, rounded out Wedbush's trio. The analysts said the company, which has sought to expand its offerings with several acquisitions recently, has seen its value proposition improve as companies look to consolidate vendors. Wedbush's price target at $225 is about 37% above the stock's recent level.

Investors could also get more insights when ZScaler reports next week on Feb. 26, with CrowdStrike scheduled to release its latest quarterly results on March 3.

The three software stocks lost ground on Tuesday amid broader market losses. Read Investopedia's full daily markets roundup here.

• The latest twist in the high-stakes battle to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery sets a timer for Paramount to outbid Netflix, which has a deal worth $72 billion in cash.
• Paramount's restarted deal talks with Warner may set the stage for a further bidding war.

A major media deal in the making has delivered another twist.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) on Tuesday restarted talks with Paramount Skydance (PSKY), giving the rival suitor seven days to produce a "best and final offer" good enough to make it walk away from its deal with Netflix (NFLX). Though Warner's board continues to recommend the latter merger, the move to renenage with Paramount shows that the high-stakes battle between media giants isn't over.

The latest wrinkle in the months-long jousting for the prize—premium media brands like HBO and DC Studios—follows on the heels of Paramount informally dangling its own offer, multiple bids aimed at assuaging Warner Bros.' concerns, and a hostile takeover attempt. Shares of Paramount are up more than 5% Tuesday morning, while Warner Bros. shares have risen 2% as broad market indexes inch lower. Netflix's stock is down more than 1%.

Consumers watching to see if the Warner and Netflix make it down the aisle may wonder what's next for streaming costs after someone else acquires Warner Bros. Discovery—though even without a merger, the trend has been upward.

Paramount, led by Larry Ellison's son David, has formally offered $30 per share for Warner, but deal talks only reopened after a senior representative from Paramount recently informed a Warner Bros. board member that it agree to pay an additional dollar per share if the company's board would authorize a formal discussion; the person also said that that figure was not Paramount's "best and final" proposal, according to Warner Bros. filings.

Now the ball is in Paramount's court. "We are writing to inform you that Netflix has agreed to provide WBD a waiver of certain terms of the Netflix merger agreement to permit us, through February 23, to engage with PSKY to clarify your proposal, which we understand will include a WBD per share price higher than $31," Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav said in a letter to Paramount included in Tuesday's filings.

Netflix in December offered $27.75 per share in cash for Warner Bros.' TV and film assets excluding its traditional media TV networks, the latter of which Warner Bros. has plans to spin off into a separate entity. Paramount's last formal offer was $30 per share for the whole company, including CNN, and it agreed last week to pay Warner Bros. Discovery the $2.8 billion break-up fee the company would owe Netflix if their agreement was terminated, plus back debt costs, according to filings.

Paramount further agreed to also pay Netflix shareholders 25 cents a share, or roughly $650 million in cash, for every quarter that the deal didn't close starting next year, filings show. (One of its main arguments for why Paramount thinks its offer is superior is that it is more likely to get regulatory approval.)

Warner Bros.' board said that Netflix offer remains "in the best interest of WBD shareholders," according to the company. It on Tuesday filed and started mailing out proxy statements for a special meeting on March 20, when shareholders would affirm or deny the board-recommended match.

Episode 282 of the Investopedia Express podcast with Caleb Silver (Feb. 17, 2026)

Subscribe Now: Apple Podcasts / Spotify / PlayerFM

With the stock market coming off its worst week all year and the biggest stocks rolling over, investors continue to believe better times are ahead. Guy Adami, co-founder of Risk Reversal and co-star of CNBC’s Fast Money, drops in to give us a reality check on the market's health and how to pick the right stocks during this violent rotation.

Plus, the lack of affordability has pushed more young investors into the market than ever before. Hopefully, they’ll stick around for the long term.

• Norwegian Cruise Line shares jumped Tuesday after activist investor Elliott Investment Management revealed a stake in the cruise operator.
• Elliott said in a letter that the company has lagged behind cruise rivals and criticized the appointment of its new CEO.

Norwegian Cruise Line's stock is surging Tuesday, as an activist investor looks to shake up the cruise operator's business.

Shares of Norwegian (NCLH) were up over 11% in recent trading after Elliott Investment Management revealed a more than 10% stake in the company.

The activist investor said it sent a letter and presentation to Norwegian's board laying out plans to push for a shakeup of its board, along with changes to improve guest experience and profitability, among other things.

Activist investors often push for changes to increase revenue or profitability, which can help boost a struggling stock. Elliott in recent years has taken stakes in Southwest Airlines, PepsiCo, and several oil and gas companies.

"Over the past decade, the Company has fallen from a best-in-class cruise operator at the time of its initial public offering to a clear industry laggard, suffering from inconsistent strategy, weak execution, inaccurate guidance and poor cost discipline," Elliott wrote in its letter.

Even with Tuesday's gains, shares of Norwegian have lost nearly 10% of their value in the last 12 months as the cruise line struggled with growing competition and cost pressures. Its rivals Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean (RCL), meanwhile, have seen their stocks surge roughly 25% over the same period.

A Norwegian Cruise Line spokesperson told Investopedia that the company is committed to delivering value for investors under the leadership of new CEO John Chidsey, and plans to offer more details when the company reports earnings on March 2.

Norwegian announced the appointment of Chidsey last week, replacing Harry Sommer. In its letter, Elliott criticized the choice of Chidsey, the former CEO of Subway and Burger King and a longtime Norwegian board member, as lacking experience in the cruise industry.

Elliott said it is prepared to take its case directly to shareholders at the company’s upcoming annual meeting. It suggested the proposed changes could help Norwegian stock recover to its pre-pandemic level around $56, more than double Friday's close.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent stock prices.

• The 30-member index would have to post an annual return in the mid-20% for the next three years to get there.
• The Dow at 60,000 to 70,000 is a more "reasonable" target, Jeremiah Buckley, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, said.

Stock market predictions are getting huge.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently closed above 50000 for the first time, prompting one very enthusiastic fan—namely, President Donald Trump—to project that the index would double by January 2029. "I am predicting 100,000 on the DOW by the end of my Term," Trump said in a social media post that attributed the index's most recent milestone to his policies.

Is that big, round number possible? It would defy historic averages, according to market experts, who even through rose-colored glasses—and assuming index constituents show outsize earnings growth—see a move to 100000 in under three years as a reach.

The Dow, made up of 30 "blue-chip" stocks, is a bellwether of how the U.S. economy is doing, which may explain why President Trump recently focused on it. The S&P 500, which covers a broader swath of publicly-traded companies, is usually referenced to measure the stock market's health.

"I'm optimistic about equity markets over the next couple years," Jeremiah Buckley, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, told Investopedia. "Doing some quick math, I think 60000 to 70000 is a reasonable three-year target for the Dow—but 100000, to me, seems hard to get to in that short period of time."

The Dow took roughly eight years to get from 25000 to 50000. Based on historic return averages going back to 1928, the index would need about 10 years to get 100000, according to data compiled by State Street Investment Management, the firm behind the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA). More recent long-term averages suggest it would take between five and 10 years.

If the Dow could buck historical trends, what would the 30 members of the index have to do? Their earnings growth would have to be around 25% a year, according to Janus's Buckley. The Dow's estimated 2026 earnings per share is $2,357, representing a compound annual growth rate of 10% from 2023, according to State Street.

Another thing to remember: The Dow is a price-weighted index of 30 high- and more modest-growth companies. Its top-priced constituent is Goldman Sachs (GS), followed by Caterpillar (CAT) and Microsoft (MSFT). And while there are a few tech majors like Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) in the mix—the kind of companies that might, broadly speaking, be expected to power an index higher— they have smaller weightings.

Even with record earnings per share growth, one would have to assume "quite a bit of multiple expansion" for the Dow to get to 100000, Buckley said. Currently, the price-to-earnings ratio is sitting at around 30, representing a historical high going back to the late 1990s.

News of the day for Feb. 17, 2026

Stock futures are pointing lower to open the holiday-shortened trading week after tech-related worries sent U.S. equities sharply lower last week; shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are gaining as activist investor Elliott Investment Management has reportedly built a stake in the cruise operator; Warner Bros. Discover, which has a deal to be acquired by Netflix, will reopen talks with Paramount Skydance; shares of Masimo are surging following news that the medical device maker is being acquired by Danaher in a $10 billion deal; and cybersecurity software maker Palo Alto Networks is scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock futures are losing ground Tuesday as the tech sell-off that pulled major indexes lower last week looks to be extending into this week. Following Monday's break for Presidents' Day, futures tied to the tech-centric Nasdaq were down 1% recently, while those connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 dropped 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively. Gold futures were down 1.7% at $4,960 an ounce, while WTI futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose 1.4% to $63.75 per barrel. The 10-year Treasury yield, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, was at 4.03%, down from 4.06% at Friday's close and trading at its lowest levels of 2026. Bitcoin was at $68,100, down from a high over the weekend around $71,000.

Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) are surging following a report that a prominent activist investor has taken a stake in the cruise operator. The Wall Street Journal reported that Elliott Investment Management has built a more than 10% stake in the company, and will soon start to push for new ideas it believes will help turn around Norwegian's business and finances. Late last week, Norwegian announced the appointment of John Chidsey, a member of its board of directors and the former CEO of restaurant chains Subway and Burger King, to be its next CEO as Harry Sommer stepped down from the top spot. Chidsey will make his earnings call debut, where Norwegian could face questions about the Elliott stake, when the company posts fourth-quarter results on March 2. Norwegian shares were up 8% in recent premarket trading.

Warner Bros. Discover (WBD) said on Tuesday that it will reopen talks with Paramount Skydance (PSKY) for the next week "to seek clarity" for its shareholders and allow Paramount to make its best and final offer. Warner Bros. also on Tuesday set a date of March 20 for the meeting where shareholders will vote on its agreed-upon $72 billion deal to be acquired by Netflix (NFLX). Netflix said in a statement that it has agreed to allow Warner Bros. to seek Paramount's best offer, but said it "does not change the fact that we have the only signed, board-recommended agreement" to acquire the company. Last week, Paramount sweetened its offer with a commitment to pay the $2.8 billion fee Warner Bros. would have to pay to break its deal with Netflix, and a 25 cents per share "ticking fee" that would be paid for every quarter that passes without the deal being completed. Paramount Skydance stock was up about 4% recently, while shares of Netflix and Warner Bros. also gained ground.

Shares of Masimo (MASI) soared this morning on news the medical devices maker is being acquired by Danaher (DHR) for about $10 billion.The Financial Times had previously reported that a deal was likely. Danaher will acquire Masimo for $180 per share. Shares of the medical devices company were up 34% at around $175 in recent premarket trading, at their highest level since last March. Danaher shares were down roughly 6%.

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is scheduled to report fiscal second quarter results after the market closes today, with the cybersecurity software stock expected to make a big move following the report. Revenue and profits are each expected to rise year-over-year, with analysts recently saying that they will be looking for detail on how the company is progressing in integrating two recently-completed acquisitions, Chronosphere and CyberArk. Palo Alto Networks shares were little changed this morning. It's another busy week of earnings reports, with Booking Holdings (BKNG), Carvana (CVNA), and DoorDash (DASH) set to release results on Wednesday, while Deere & Co (DE) reports Thursday, as does Walmart (WMT) in new CEO John Furner's first earnings call.