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News of the day for Jan. 26, 2026

The S&P 500 lost ground last week for the second consecutive week, the first time since June the benchmark index posted a two-week losing streak.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images

Stock futures are little changed ahead of a busy week of earnings reports and a Federal Reserve meeting; gold is continuing its record run, with futures surpassing $5,000 an ounce for the first time; thousands of flights were canceled after a harsh winter storm battered a wide swath of the country; President Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs on Canada; and shares of USA Rare Earths are soaring as the mining company announced new government funding. Here's what you need to know today.

Stock Futures Little Changed Ahead of Busy Week of Earnings

Stock futures are pointing to a flat open to kick off a busy week filled with earnings reports from major technology companies and a decision on interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were hovering near unchanged recently, while those linked to the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.2%. After hitting a series of record highs, the major indexes have lost ground the past two weeks amid geopolitical uncertainty tied to U.S. moves to acquire Greenland and new tariff threats from President Donald Trump. Gold futures hit another record high this morning, rising more than 2% to around $5,100 an ounce, as many investors turn to safe havens amid the uncertainty. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which affects borrowing costs on all sorts of consumer loans was at 4.21% recently, down from 4.24% at Friday's close. Bitcoin was trading just below $88,000, after falling as low as $86,100 on Sunday.

Gold Surges Above $5,000/oz for First Time

Gold futures surpassed $5,000 per ounce last night for the first time and extended those gains this morning as investors continue turning to the precious metal as a store of value amid geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Gold futures were recently up 2% at $5,080 an ounce, after moving as high as $5,108 earlier. Gold and other precious metals have surged recently as the Trump administration has stepped up its efforts to acquire Greenland and threats of new tariffs have emerged. This morning, threats of new tariffs on Canada, as well as concerns about the possibility of a government shutdown, added to the uncertainty for investors. Some analysts have cited $6,000 as a future possible target for gold, while others expect prices could grow more moderately or even decline in the back half of this year assuming current geopolitical tensions ease. Silver futures are also hitting record highs this morning, jumping more than 8% to around $110 per ounce.

Harsh Winter Storm Batters Air Travel

The winter storm that hit much of the U.S. this weekend had a severe impact on air travel, with over 20,000 flights canceled Saturday through Monday morning, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Flights departing from or set to arrive at airports in New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C. are particularly hard-hit this morning as the cities faced heavy snow on Sunday. Tens of thousands of flights were also delayed over the weekend, as much of the East Coast looks to have received 12 inches or more of snow, per the National Weather Service. Shares of Delta Air Lines (DAL), United Airlines (UAL), American Airlines (AAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) were all losing ground this morning.

Trump Threatens Canada With New Tariffs

New trade uncertainty came into view over the weekend, after President Trump on Saturday criticized a recent agreement between Canada and China, and threatened new 100% tariffs on imports from Canada. If Prime Minister Mark Carney "thinks he is going to make Canada a "Drop Off Port” for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken," Trump said on social media. Earlier this month, Canada and China announced an agreement that would see the countries lower a number of tariffs on each other's goods, with up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles also allowed to be imported into Canada. Carney told reporters on Sunday that the deal with China complies with existing U.S.-Canada trade agreements, and said he has "no intention" of pursuing a larger free trade deal with China.

USA Rare Earths Stock Soars on Government Funding

Shares of USA Rare Earth (USAR) are soaring this morning after the company announced an agreement to receive new funding from the federal government. The company expects to take on $277 million in proposed federal funding and a $1.3 billion loan as part of the CHIPS Act passed by President Biden, along with another $1.5 billion in a private funding round. The announcement comes after Reuters and The Financial Times each reported over the weekend that the U.S. was expected to invest $1.6 billion in the mining company, likely taking a 10% stake in the firm. A government stake has also boosted the stock of Intel (INTC) in recent months, after the Trump administration invested in the chipmaking giant last year. USA Rare Earth shares were up more than 20% in recent premarket trading.

Jerome Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, is expected to speak after Wednesday's interest-rate announcement.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

A highly anticipated Fed meeting and the start of Magnificent 7 earnings highlight this week’s calendar.

The Federal Reserve isn’t expected to move on interest rates at this week’s meeting. Still, market watchers will parse comments from Chair Jerome Powell amid pressure from the White House to lower rates.

Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Tesla, and Apple are scheduled to report earnings this week, giving investors a look at the artificial intelligence trade and the state of play at some of the world's biggest companies. Investors will also be following reports from Caterpillar, Boeing, General Motors, Visa, Mastercard, Exxon, and Chevron. 

Read to the bottom for our calendar of key events—and one more thing.

Fed to Issue First Interest Rate Decision of 2026

We won't know until it happens: Will the Federal Reserve start the year with another cut to interest rates? Investors will find out on Wednesday when the Federal Open Market Committee issues its latest decision on the influential federal-funds rate. 

The FOMC has lowered rates at three consecutive meetings, but some officials have indicated that they wanted to see more economic data on inflation and the labor market before following up with additional cuts. Market participants have priced in a likelihood that the Fed will keep interest rates steady at the meeting after inflation data last week showed that prices remained elevated in November.

Market watchers will get a handful of additional economic data this week, including a delayed report on December wholesale inflation and an update on the U.S. trade balance.

Mag 7 Stalwarts, Telecom and Industrial Firms Highlight Earnings Calendar

Wednesday is also when several Magnificent 7 companies are scheduled to report, with investors watching for updates from Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. On Thursday, Mag 7 member Apple is due to report. Other noteworthy tech, auto, manufacturing, and financial firms are also slated to report financial updates.

Microsoft will report amid a decline in its share price to start the year. For Tesla, deliveries have slowed, prompting investors to look at new growth opportunities for the tech giant. The report from Facebook-parent Meta will likely provide more insight into the firm’s AI plans as it shifts away from its “metaverse” projects. AI will also likely be an important topic for Apple as its report on Thursday follows the iPhone maker’s recently announced partnership with fellow Mag 7 member Alphabet. 

Other tech firms are also likely to capture attention this week, including chipmaker Texas Instruments, chip equipment maker ASML, and tech stalwart IBM. Telecom firms AT&T and Verizon are also in the spotlight this week, while earnings from Caterpillar, Boeing, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, and steel producer Nucor could indicate the strength of the U.S. manufacturing sector.

Quick Links: Recap Last Week’s Trading | Read Investopedia’s Latest News

This Week’s Calendar

Monday, Jan. 26

• Durable-goods orders (November)
• Key Earnings: Nucor (NUE), Ryanair (RYAAY), Brown & Brown (BRO), W.R. Berkley (WRB), Steel Dynamics (STLD)

Tuesday, Jan. 27

• Consumer confidence (January)
• Key Earnings: UnitedHealth Group (UNH), RTX (RTX), Boeing (BA), Texas Instruments (TXN), NextEra Energy (NEE), Union Pacific (UNP), HCA Healthcare (HCA), Northrop Grumman (NOC), United Parcel Service (UPS), General Motors (GM)
  

Wednesday, Jan. 28

• FOMC interest rate decision
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference
• Key Earnings: Microsoft (MSFT), Meta (META), Tesla (TSLA), ASML Holdings (ASML), International Business Machines (IBM), GE Vernova (GEV), AT&T (T), ServiceNow (NOW), Progressive (PGR), Starbucks (SBUX)

Thursday, Jan. 29

• U.S. trade deficit (November)
• More Data to Watch: Wholesale inventories (November), Factory orders (November), Initial jobless claims (Week ending Jan. 24)
• Key Earnings: Apple (AAPL), Visa (V), Mastercard (MA), Caterpillar (CAT), SAP (SAP), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), Honeywell (HON), Lockheed Martin (LMT), Blackstone (BX)
  

Friday, Jan. 30

• Producer price index (December)
• Key Earnings: Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX), American Express (AXP), Verizon (VZ), Colgate-Palmolive (CL)

One More Thing

The 2026 tax filing season is here and legislative changes could change how you file your tax returns. Investopedia’s Elizabeth Guevara has more on what you need to know before getting started on your taxes. 

Bill Gates, seen here at the World Economic Forum in Davos Jan. 21, warned about stretched AI stock valuations in an interview at Abu Dhabi Finance Week in December 2025.

Fabrice Coffrini / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Bill Gates has warned the AI industry will be "hypercompetitive," and that "a reasonable percentage" of today's pricey tech stocks will lose a lot of their value.
• Gates said AI is "deeply profound" technology, but warned investors that many companies with sky-high valuations won't survive the competition.

Bill Gates has warned AI investors that not everyone will be a winner in what he calls a "hypercompetitive" market.

The Microsoft (MSFT) cofounder cautioned in December that "a reasonable percentage" of today's pricey AI stocks can't justify their valuations. "Not all of these valuations will end up going up. Some of them will go down," Gates told CNBC. (Gates last week on the same network called it “incredible” that ChatGPT-maker OpenAI’s soaring valuation had, because of its corporate structure, made its non-profit arm as large as his Gates Foundation.)

The so-called hyperscalers—Microsoft, Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), and Oracle (ORCL)—spent an estimated $400 billion on infrastructure in 2025 and are expected to spend a third more in 2026. Some investors worry the sheer size of those figures has encouraged speculation on Wall Street, causing some AI stocks to trade at eye-watering valuations.

Why This Is Important

The AI boom has been the driving force behind the stock market rally for much of the past three years. But the rally has faltered at times due to lofty valuations and concerns that tech giants were overspending on AI.

Software firm Palantir (PLTR) has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of almost 400, among the highest in the S&P 500. Shares of chip designers Broadcom (AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have soared over the past year on hopes they can take market share from AI chip leader Nvidia (NVDA). Broadcom's gains have nudged its P/E ratio to about 70, while AMD's is about 125, more than four times that of the S&P 500 as a whole.

Then there's the cohort of unprofitable startups commanding lofty valuations in private markets. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, isn't expected to turn a profit before the end of the decade. Yet in December the startup was reportedly seeking investments that would value it at about $750 billion, which would make it more valuable than all but 12 companies in the S&P 500, including Visa (V) and ExxonMobil (XOM).

The AI buildout has turbocharged the sales and profits of some companies, leaving their valuations relatively steady despite big stock gains. AI demand has accelerated growth in the cloud computing businesses of Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft, and Amazon.com (AMZN), all three of which have P/E ratios hovering around 32 to 34. Booming demand for Nvidia’s chips has made it a $4.5 trillion company, but shares trade at a relatively modest—by AI stock standards—45 times earnings. 

Bubble jitters hit tech stocks hard late last year. In November, the Magnificent Seven nearly entered a technical correction as investors debated if hyperscalers could ever recoup the huge sums they're investing in data center infrastructure. Circular deals reminiscent of the Dotcom Bubble also raised red flags on Wall Street.

After last year's pullback, bubble fears appear to have abated somewhat. Tech stocks were mostly higher Monday after CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nvidia said they were expanding a partnership that, due to its similarity to Dotcom-era vendor-financing deals, previously had investors on edge. Memory and data storage stocks have led the reinvigorated AI rally so far this year, with stocks like Sandisk (SNDK) and Micron (MU) up sharply in recent months amid a severe memory shortage.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect more recent market data and statements by Gates.

Technically, Jerome Powell could stay on as Federal Reserve chair after his leadership term ends.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Once considered far-fetched, some Federal Reserve watchers are taking seriously the possibility that Jerome Powell could remain as a central bank governor after his term as chair expires in May.
  
• President Donald Trump's efforts to strongarm the Fed into lowering interest rates could backfire, leading Powell to remain on the board at least until Trump's presidency ends.
  
• Technically, Powell could even stay on as chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, the influential group that sets the nation's monetary policy.
  

President Donald Trump's public campaign to influence the Federal Reserve could backfire, leaving a central banker that Trump has sharply criticized in charge of a key policy committee for another term.

Chair Jerome Powell could legally remain on the policy committee after his term as chair officially ends in May. However, Fed watchers considered it remote until recently. Tensions between the president and the Fed chair flared in recent weeks—sparking speculation that Powell could remain on the Federal Open Market Committee after his chairmanship ends, or even continue as chair.

With Trump actively and publicly seeking the next Fed chair, Powell's tenure on the Fed will likely be a hot-button topic at his post-FOMC press conference next week.

"We think it is now more likely that Powell will stay on as a governor to help protect the Fed after his term as chair ends," Krishna Guha, vice chair of Evercore ISI, wrote in a research note.

What This Means For The Economy

Powell staying on as a Fed governor would be a move that has rarely happened in the history of the Federal Reserve. It could signal the central bank's determination to remain independent of White House control. However, it would keep the political conflict over the Fed alive, stoking uncertainty.

Fed's Independence At Stake

Congress designed the Federal Reserve to operate outside direct control of the White House.

Lawmakers wanted the Fed to be independent so it could make monetary policy decisions without considering politics. In countries with less independent central banks, heads of state often push interest rates lower, boosting the economy in the short run but stoking inflation in the long run.

Since his inauguration, Trump has publicly pressured the central bank's policy committee to sharply cut rates. Trump contends that a lower fed funds rate would help household budgets by lowering mortgage and other loan borrowing costs, and would help the federal budget by reducing interest payments on the national debt.

The Fed cut interest rates three times at its last three meetings to boost the economy and help out the faltering job market. However, Fed officials are widely expected to hold rates steady for the time being, out of concern that inflation is still higher than the Fed's goal of a 2% annual rate and did not make much progress in 2025.

Tensions between the president and the central bank intensified after the administration pursued legal actions against Fed leaders, moves the White House says are rooted in legal and ethical concerns rather than political retaliation.

Fed Chair Powell, Part 2

Powell's term as chair ends in May, while his term as governor doesn't end until 2028. Historically, chairs have stepped down from the remainder of their term as governor when their leadership term expires, but are not required to do so.

If Powell chose to remain on the Fed as a governor, it wouldn't be the first time a Fed chair has done so: Marriner S. Eccles (the namesake of the Fed's headquarters building) remained a governor in 1951 after he was replaced as chair by President Harry Truman.

In his current role, Powell is both the chair of the Fed's governing board and the chair of the FOMC, which sets interest rates. The two jobs are technically two different positions: chairmanship of the Fed board is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, while the FOMC itself votes for its own chair. Historically, the FOMC has always voted to make the board chair the FOMC chair also.

The FOMC could vote to keep him as its chair even if he is no longer the chair of the Fed's board of governors. That's more likely if the Senate does not confirm Trump's nominee to chair the Fed, Deutsche Bank economists wrote in a commentary. At least one key Republican lawmaker has threatened to block Trump's nominee if the president does not drop his legal pressure on Powell.

Trump, who appointed Powell to the top Fed job in 2018, has frequently criticized and insulted Powell, expressing a desire to remove the central banker from his position. This week, Trump addressed the possibility of Powell staying on the job, saying he wasn't worried about it.

"If that happens, his life won't be very happy," he told CNBC.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is being investigated by the Department of Justice.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at its next meeting on Wednesday.
  
• The central bank is expected to sit back for months and not move rates while it assesses the effect of its last three rate cuts.
  
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell will field (or duck) questions about how he will respond to President Donald Trump's demands to lower interest rates.
  

The Federal Reserve is all but certain to keep its key interest rate steady at its next meeting on Wednesday, leaving a few open questions, including how far Chair Jerome Powell will go to defend the central bank's independence from the White House.

Financial markets widely expect the Federal Open Market Committee to put a lid on its recent string of rate cuts and hold the fed funds rate steady at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. Traders on Friday were pricing in a 97% chance Fed will leave rates unchanged, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.

After cutting the rate by a quarter point for a third time in a row in December, Most officials have shown little appetite for further reducing the key rate, which influences borrowing costs on all kinds of loans.

Fed officials are expected to keep rates flat for at least a few months to see how the economy responds to the rate cuts so far, as the Fed pursues its dual mandate from Congress to keep inflation at 2% and employment high.

What This Means For The Economy

With a rate cut all but assured, financial markets will likely react to signals about how likely the central bank is to cut rates at some point later in the year.

Inflation has stayed higher than the Fed's target since 2021, while the job market has been hit by a hiring slowdown. Fed officials are in something of a dilemma, though recent signs suggest both problems are improving. To make matters more complicated, recent data about inflation and the job market have been skewed by the government shutdown in October and November.

Among the FOMC's 12 members, only Governor Stephen Miran has advocated for the kind of steep rate cuts the president has demanded.

"We expect the FOMC to keep rates unchanged at the January meeting, with one dissent from Governor Miran in favor of a cut," economists at Nomura led by Aichi Amemiya, wrote in a commentary. "Powell is likely to reiterate that there is a higher bar to easing following last year’s insurance cuts." 

If there is any drama at the meeting, it could occur at the post-announcement press conference. Powell will likely field questions about Trump's increased public pressure and how he will respond.

Trump has repeatedly said the Fed should sharply lower interest rates, and the administration has recently taken legal actions against Powell and Fed Governor Lisa Cook. While the White House they legal actions are not politically motivated, Powell denounced the White House's actions as "intimidation" aimed at pressuring the Fed to sharply lower rates as Trump has demanded.

Economists and other experts say the central bank's ability to control inflation hinges on the public perception that it sets interest rates based on economic factors, not politics, and that would be undermined if the president could strong-arm the Fed's leadership.

Powell has usually brushed aside questions with any whiff of politics, but broke with precedent earlier this month when he released a video message condemning the Trump administration's Department of Justice investigation into the Fed. However, economists don't expect him to expand on his comments after the Fed meeting.

"The Fed will pause rate cuts at this meeting and establish a higher bar for future rate cuts as the jobless rate may be stabilizing and underlying inflation momentum is not far from target again," Andrew Grantham, an economist at CIBC, wrote in a commentary. "Powell will be peppered with questions about Fed independence, but he will likely duck most of them."

Stocks are expected to get a boost this year from rising earnings and lower interest rates.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The stock market has been volatile so far this year, but one Morgan Stanley advisor is urging investors to stick it out.
• Stocks should get a lift from the combination of accelerating earnings growth and lower interest rates this year, according to Jim Lacamp.

Investors may be tempted, after three years of double digit gains, to ditch the stock market amid this year’s bout of volatility. Jim Lacamp, senior vice president with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, is encouraging them to white knuckle it. 

The stock market in early 2026 can feel “really hard to stick with, because of the rapid-fire news and the rapid-fire changes in policy,” said Lacamp during a CNBC appearance on Friday. “But I would caution people about getting out of this market.” 

President Donald Trump’s efforts to take control of the Federal Reserve and Greenland have rattled stocks this year. The S&P 500 recovered most of its losses from earlier in the week, but still notched its third negative week in the last month. 

Why This Is Important

President Trump's tariff threats have repeatedly put investors on edge over the past year. Nonetheless, stocks have climbed to record highs amid the AI infrastructure boom and surprisingly resilient consumer spending.

Lacamp urges investors to look through the noise and focus on the bigger picture. It would be “really rare,” he said, for stocks to fall into a bear market while interest rates are declining and earnings are rising, as is expected this year. 

Lacamp says the stock market’s improving breadth is another bullish sign for investors. For years, the Magnificent Seven accounted for the vast majority of the S&P 500’s return. They were “the only clean shirt in a really dirty laundry basket,” said Lacamp. “Now we’re seeing expansion everywhere. The biotechs are moving. The banks are moving. Natural resources are moving. Small caps are moving.”

This week's Greenland saga presents another argument for sticking out the volatility: Trump tends to back off his threats once markets are in a tizzy. There's even a term for it—the Taco trade—and it's been a reliable strategy over the past year.

Granted, there are plenty of risks in this market. Or, as Lacamp puts it: "There are a lot of fat tails on this rodeo bull."

Last year’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and the Trump administration’s deregulation campaign are both expected to accelerate earnings growth this year. But they could be a double-edged sword for Trump, who Lacamp warns is walking “a really narrow path” on the economy.

The president wants to run the economy hot heading into the midterm elections in November, but that could keep inflation elevated and prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting rates as much as investors expect. Higher interest rates would be a double-whammy for the stock market, weighing on corporate earnings and depressing stock valuations.

A disappointing outlook brought Intel's recent rally to an abrupt halt

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Intel shares tumbled Friday after the chipmaker's outlook disappointed, erasing much of the stock's gains over the past few weeks.
• Wall Street analysts suggested some of the investor enthusiasm behind the stock's recent rally may have been premature.

Intel's recent rally might just be over.

Shares of Intel (INTC) plunged 17% to close at $45 Friday, giving up most of their gains in the last few weeks, after the chipmaker gave a disappointing outlook for the current quarter.

While Intel posted fourth-quarter results that topped analysts' estimates, executives warned Thursday that supply could hit a low this quarter, as the company grapples with industry-wide shortages of key components.

For several Wall Street analysts, that seemed to confirm suspicions that the stock, which surged in the weeks leading up to Thursday's report, may have climbed too high, too fast.

Why This Is Significant

Intel was one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 for 2026 up until the chipmaker reported earnings this week, with shares adding nearly half their value in January through Thursday's close. Friday's tumble, however, underscores a blow to investor confidence in the stock.

Analysts at Bank of America, Jefferies, and Wedbush suggested following the results that investors' expectations may have climbed out of touch with Intel's fundamentals leading into the report.

"Ultimately, we quite like the story but the stock has gone up so much and the bull case to support further upside from here is 3-4 years away, in our view," wrote UBS analysts, who reiterated a neutral rating for the stock.

Most Wall Street analysts have hesitated to recommend buying Intel shares in recent months while waiting for more evidence of the chipmaker's turnaround. While ratings are still in flux, six of the eight analysts tracked by Visible Alpha have issued "hold" recommendations, compared to just one "buy" and one "sell" rating. Their mean price target at $49 would suggest roughly 9% upside from Friday's close.

Even with Friday's losses, Intel shares have gained about a fifth of their value since the start of the year, and more than doubled in value in the last 12 months.

Shares of Capital One are among the worst performers on the S&P 500 on Friday.

Erik McGregor / LightRocket via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Shares of credit card lender Capital One have been sinking since President Trump vowed to cap interest rates on credit cards. They fell even further on Friday.
• But many analysts are bullish. CNBC's Jim Cramer said of Capital One: "This is the one to own."

Capital One might be "what's in your wallet." Should it be in your portfolio?

Credit-card stocks have taken a hit since President Donald Trump earlier this month vowed to cap their interest rates and, more recently, called on Congress to make his proposal law; Shares of companies like American Express (AXP) to Visa (V) fell on the news, though they've stabilized somewhat. Capital One (COF), meanwhile, is among today's top decliners in the S&P 500 after it announced its latest earnings and a multibillion-dollar acquisition.

Wall Street analysts and talking heads, however, really like the stock.

WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU

Analysts broadly are bullish about Capital One despite some disappointment in parts of its Q4 numbers. It, however, and others could suffer if the president's proposed interest rate cap becomes a reality.

Wall Street price targets suggest upside ranging from almost 20% to more than 80% in the next 12 months. Of the 15 analysts tracked by Visible Alpha, 11 have a buy rating, effectively a bullish stance; the service's mean target on the stock is around $281, which implies upside of almost 20%.

"This is the one to own," CNBC's Jim Cramer said on Friday, saying shares of Capital One—which grew substantially with the 2025 acquisition of Discover—could reach $400 within a year—implying a return of more than 80% from recent prices. CEO Richard Fairbank has created a "powerhouse brand," Cramer said.

Some of the latest pressure on the shares might be associated with the company's Thursday miss relative to quarterly earnings per share estimates. While its Q4 revenue of $15.6 billion marginally beat analyst expectations, its diluted EPS of $3.86 missed estimates for $4.17, according to Visible Alpha.

Capital One yesterday also said it would acquire Brex, a privately held fintech company specializing in corporate credit for over $5 billion in cash and stock. That would give the credit card lender a stronger presence in the business payments space, analysts said. The transaction is set to close in the middle of this year.

There's somewhat more uncertainty in Trump's card proposal. Bank CEOs have broadly panned the idea of a cap on credit card interest rates, and Capital One's is no different. Fairbank during a conference call yesterday warned that such a cap would have "a number of unintended consequences," per a transcript provided by Alpha Sense.

In order to stay competitive, credit card companies would be forced to slash credit lines to customers, and place restrictions on accounts, according to Fairbank. "A material contraction in available credit would likely cause multiple shocks throughout the economy, as the lack of credit would result in greatly reduced consumer spending and would likely bring on a recession," he said.

AI-driven growth is lifting hardware stocks while fear of AI disruption hammers software.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• The AI rally is alive and well in the shares of memory device makers like Sandisk and chipmaking equipment providers like Lam Research.
• Meanwhile, software stocks are being left in the dust as investors worry AI could be more threat than opportunity for the industry.

Artificial intelligence is once again fueling a scorching tech stock rally, but the rising tide is notably not lifting all boats. 

Shares of companies making memory and data storage devices soared in the first weeks of 2026, fueled by a shortage of the hardware essential to training and running AI models. Sandisk (SNDK) stock has doubled in value in less than a month, while Western Digital (WDC) and Micron (MU) have each gained more than 30%. 

They’ve been joined by semi caps, the firms whose products enable the design and fabrication of the chips powering the AI revolution. Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) stock was up more than 25% as of Thursday's close, followed closely behind by Applied Materials (AMAT) and KLA Corp. (KLAC), each up nearly 20%. 

Why This Is Important

The AI rally has been the driving force behind the stock market for more than three years. But the AI trade has repeatedly shape-shifted, with investors bidding up certain sub-sectors and industries as new bottlenecks in the AI infrastructure buildout emerge.

Then there’s Intel (INTC), one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year. Wall Street is betting that investments by the federal government and AI king-maker Nvidia (NVDA) will help the storied chipmaker turn things around after years of trouble. 

The stock plummeted on Friday after the company issued a disappointing outlook for the current quarter, reminding investors that the turnaround they seek will be “a multiyear journey,” in the words of CEO Lip-Bu Tan.

On the flip side are software stocks, beaten down by concerns that artificial intelligence is more threat than opportunity at the moment. 

Software giants like Intuit (INTU), ServiceNow (NOW), Adobe (ADBE) and Salesforce (CRM) are among the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 this year. Investors are worried AI-native start-ups are poised to take share from enterprise software incumbents whose deployment of AI agents has moved slower than expected. AI is also seen as a threat to the seat-based pricing model that helps make software-as-a-service companies stable and profitable. 

Investors are also down on software stocks because most of the industry isn't profiting from AI nearly as much as "pick-and-shovel-makers" like Nvidia—at least not yet. Software executives can attribute small profit margin gains to AI-driven efficiency, but investors are more excited to hear Micron say its high-bandwidth memory chips are sold out through this year because of AI demand. 

Digital marketing software company Applovin (APP) is one of the few exceptions. The stock soared more than 700% in 2024 and doubled in value last year, because of strong revenue and earnings growth that executives attribute to its AI-powered platforms. (Several short-sellers attribute the meteoric growth to shady practices.) 

Applovin stock's previous gains are a big reason it's the S&P 500’s worst performer this year. Investors have taken some very profitable chips off the table amid a slump driven by software pessimism and, earlier this week, more allegations Applovin's platforms facilitate illegal activity. The stock was down 22% heading into Friday’s session. 

McCormick and B&G Foods are raising spice prices, the companies said.

Timothy Fadek / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Key Takeaways

• Spice and seasoning companies, including McCormick and B&G Foods, are raising prices, the companies said on recent conference calls.
• Company leaders say they're charging more because of tariffs and higher ingredient costs.

Spicing up your leftovers may not save quite as much dough as it used to.

Herb and seasoning giant McCormick & Co. (MKC) is raising prices on the consumer goods segment of its business, executives said on a conference call Thursday. The move comes just months after McCormick increased prices to help cover some of the cost of tariffs, CEO Brendan Foley said.

“We have some pricing that we put in place, targeted and surgical, in 2025,” Foley said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. “But we also have additional pricing to come on, beginning in February.”

The Maryland-based company expects price increases to drive a greater share of growth in 2026 than it did in 2025, CFO Marcos Gabriel said on Thursday's call. McCormick hasn't fully passed along the cost of tariffs, he said. McCormick declined to comment when asked which products will cost more, and by how much.

Why This News Matters to Investors

Consumers have been focused on saving by searching for deals, stocking up on well-priced items and cooking from scratch. Those on a budget may not have many alternatives to paying more for spices and seasonings.

Other flavor specialists are also pushing up prices, with executives citing tariffs and the rising cost of ingredients like garlic and black pepper on recent conference calls. Still, the roughly $2.9 billion U.S. seasoning and spice market is expected to grow, according to Mordor Intelligence. It could hit $4 billion by 2030 as a multi-cultural population develops more eclectic tastes, the market research group said.

Consumers started seeing higher prices in October for spice and flavoring products from B&G Foods (BGS), the parent company of Dash, Ortega, Accent and Spice Islands, CEO Kenneth Keller said on a conference call in November. B&G Foods didn't respond to Investopedia's question about the size of price increases in time for publication.

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), which partners with food and beverage manufacturers, also bumped up prices, the company said on a call in November. The company declined to comment.

Americans are increasingly value-focused, but higher spice prices haven't—and aren't expected to—dramatically impact flavoring sales for an extended period of time, Foley said. Consumers still see cooking at home as a money-saving strategy, he said.

“Consumers, especially low-to-middle income households, continue to make more frequent trips to the store while purchasing fewer units per trip,” Foley said. They're taking steps to stretch their budget, and Foley said, related "behaviors reinforce the importance of flavor in everyday cooking, with herbs and spices continuing to lead center-store unit consumption."