Trending Market News

Amazon announced plans to invest approximately $200 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, a significant increase from the estimated $144.67 billion. This investment reflects the company's aggressive push to expand AI infrastructure and cloud services capacity, while also enhancing its e-commerce capabilities. The spending aligns with broader Big Tech trends, as the top four hyperscalers are collectively expected to spend over $500 billion this year on AI-related infrastructure.

• Amazon's AWS cloud unit, while contributing only 15-20% of total sales, generates over 60% of the company's operating profit and faces strong enterprise demand constrained by capacity limits
• The company launched 'Rainier', an AI infrastructure project bringing nearly 500,000 in-house Trainium2 chips online, primarily for use by Anthropic's Claude chatbot
• Wall Street is demanding that AI spending increases demonstrate commensurate financial returns, with investors punishing Microsoft last week while rewarding Google and Meta for showing strong cloud revenue growth

Coca-Cola announced it will discontinue its frozen products, including the Minute Maid frozen line, in the U.S. and Canada by Q1 2026 in response to shifting consumer preferences. The company is refocusing its portfolio on zero-sugar beverages and premium products as it faces declining demand for traditional packaged foods and sugary drinks in key markets.

• Frozen products will be phased out in Q1 2026, with remaining inventory sold while supplies last
• The move comes as Coca-Cola deals with weak demand for packaged foods in the U.S. and shifts toward zero-sugar and premium lines like Fairlife milk
• Growing demand for low-calorie products has dragged sales of trademark Coke, while local product preferences have impacted demand in India and China

Saudi Arabia's national airline Saudia is in early-stage negotiations with Boeing and Airbus to purchase at least 150 narrowbody and widebody aircraft, according to Bloomberg News. The deal would represent a significant order for both manufacturers as Saudia expands its fleet. Reuters has not independently verified the reported negotiations.

• The potential order involves at least 150 jets including both narrowbody and widebody aircraft models
• Negotiations are still in early stages with both Boeing and Airbus competing for the deal
• This would be a record-sized aircraft purchase for the Saudi flagship carrier as part of the kingdom's aviation expansion plans

Bayer announced that its experimental blood thinner asundexian reduced stroke recurrence risk by 26% in a Phase III trial involving over 12,000 patients, marking a significant turnaround for the drug and CEO Bill Anderson's restructuring efforts. The study combined asundexian with standard antiplatelet therapy and showed reassuring bleeding risk data. Bayer plans to seek regulatory approval for the drug.

• The Oceanic-Stroke trial compared asundexian plus antiplatelet therapy against antiplatelet therapy alone in patients who previously suffered strokes or similar brain blood vessel blockages
• The drug previously failed a late-stage trial in a broader patient group at risk of stroke but who had not yet experienced one, making this result a significant comeback
• Rivals Novartis and Bristol Myers Squibb (partnered with Johnson & Johnson) have competing compounds in development but have not yet reported late-stage stroke prevention results

Shell is considering multi-billion dollar investments in offshore natural gas projects in Venezuela, with production potentially starting within the next few years. CEO Wael Sawan stated these opportunities could be activated within months, pending regulatory approvals. The move signals Shell's strategic interest in Venezuela's energy sector despite the country's political and economic challenges.

• Investment scale: Shell is evaluating opportunities worth 'a few billion dollars' in Venezuelan offshore natural gas fields
• Timeline: Production could begin in the next couple of years, with projects potentially activated within months once approvals are secured
• Current status: The company is awaiting necessary regulatory approvals before proceeding with the investments

CVS Health announced it will replace Amgen's Prolia and Eli Lilly's Forteo bone disease treatments with lower-cost biosimilar and generic alternatives on its preferred drug lists starting April 1. The move is expected to reduce prescription costs by over 50% and follows CVS's successful 2024 strategy of replacing AbbVie's Humira with biosimilars, which achieved a 96% member switch rate.

• CVS will add biosimilars of Amgen's Prolia (including Ospomyv and Stoboclo) and generics of Lilly's Forteo to major national commercial formularies, with Prolia generating $1.05 billion in global sales for Amgen in 2025
• The switch is projected to lower costs by more than 50% per prescription, building on CVS's biosimilar strategy that has generated $1.5 billion in gross savings to date
• CVS's Caremark, along with Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's Optum Rx, controls 80% of the U.S. prescription drug market as pharmacy benefit managers

Cheniere Energy, the largest U.S. LNG exporter, has applied to build a 24 million metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) expansion at its Corpus Christi, Texas facility. The Stage 4 expansion would add four new processing trains and bring the site's total capacity to 49 mtpa, pending federal approval expected by May next year. This move intensifies competition with Venture Global to become the first U.S. exporter to reach 100 mtpa capacity.

• The expansion would require 3.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day and add four LNG processing trains of 6 mtpa each to the existing Corpus Christi facility
• Cheniere currently has 52 mtpa of capacity with 8 mtpa under construction, while competitor Venture Global has 40 mtpa capacity with 28 mtpa under construction
• The U.S. exported 111 million metric tonnes of LNG in 2025 and has another 100 mtpa under construction for 2027-2030, raising concerns about potential oversupply by 2030

Rio Tinto has ended merger discussions with Glencore, walking away from a deal that would have created the world's largest mining company. Rio cited an inability to reach an agreement that would deliver value to its shareholders. This marks the second failed attempt between the companies, following a rejected 2014 merger approach.

• The collapsed talks mirror other failed mining mega-deals, including BHP's $49 billion approach for Anglo American that fell apart over structural concerns
• Rio Tinto previously rejected a merger approach from Glencore in 2014, saying it was not in shareholders' best interests
• The mining sector continues to pursue consolidation amid rising demand for metals, despite repeated deal failures

Spotify announced a partnership with Bookshop.org to sell physical books through its streaming platform, expanding beyond its audiobook business that has grown to 500,000 titles across 22 markets. The feature will launch in the U.S. and UK this spring, with Bookshop.org handling fulfillment. This move comes as physical book sales decline industry-wide due to increasing digital consumption.

• Spotify's audiobook service has seen 36% growth in new listeners and 37% increase in listening hours since launching two years ago
• The company will introduce 'Page Match' technology allowing users to scan printed or e-book pages to sync with corresponding audiobook positions, rolling out fully by February 23
• The expansion comes amid broader industry struggles, with News Corp reporting slowing book orders and distributor Baker & Taylor shutting down in January

Bitcoin briefly fell below $70,000 on Thursday morning for the first time since November 2024, part of a broader sell-off in risk assets. The cryptocurrency is now trading approximately 40% below its all-time high of over $126,000 reached in October, with analysts warning that breaking the $70,000 level could trigger further declines.

• Over $2 billion in long and short cryptocurrency positions have been liquidated this week as of Thursday, contributing to downward price pressure
• Institutional demand has reversed materially, with U.S. bitcoin ETFs now net sellers in 2026 after purchasing 46,000 bitcoin at this time last year
• Bitcoin broke below its 365-day moving average for the first time since March 2022, declining 23% in the 83 days since the breakdown, with analysts suggesting potential downside toward the $70,000-$60,000 range

Air India is investigating whether its crew followed proper compliance procedures after a Boeing 787 took off from London with a reported fuel-switch defect and was later grounded in India. Britain's aviation authority has given Air India a one-week deadline to provide details of all maintenance actions before takeoff or face regulatory action against the airline and its fleet of 33 Boeing 787s.

• Pilots in London observed the fuel control switch did not stay latched in the 'run' position on two attempts but was stable on a third; they flew to India where a 'glitch' was reported on landing
• Air India's investigation will question why the crew did not report the incident to British authorities in London before departure, yet reported it after landing in India
• Britain's watchdog has requested a 'comprehensive root-cause analysis' and 'preventive action plan' to prevent recurrence across Air India's entire Boeing 787 fleet

Chinese EV maker Nio expects to achieve its first-ever adjusted operating profit in Q4 2025, projecting 700 million to 1.2 billion yuan ($100.84-$172.88 million) compared to a 5.54 billion yuan loss in the prior year. The milestone reflects improved vehicle sales and cost management, with annual deliveries rising 47% to 326,028 vehicles.

• Nio delivered 326,028 vehicles in 2025, a 47% year-over-year increase, driven by premium EVs and the mid-year launch of its lower-cost Firefly subcompact model
• Q4 2025 adjusted operating profit is projected at 700 million to 1.2 billion yuan, marking a turnaround from a 5.54 billion yuan adjusted operating loss in Q4 2024
• The profitability milestone stems from higher vehicle sales volume and improved cost controls across operations

Shell reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.26 billion, missing analyst expectations of $3.53 billion and marking its weakest quarterly profit since early 2021. The results were impacted by lower crude oil prices, unfavorable tax adjustments, and weakness in its chemicals business. Despite the miss, Shell increased its dividend by 4% to $0.372 per share.

• Full-year 2025 adjusted earnings came in at $18.5 billion, below expectations, as European energy majors face pressure from lower oil prices
• Net debt increased to $45.7 billion with gearing at 20.7%, up from $41.2 billion and 18.8% in the previous quarter
• CEO Wael Sawan emphasized strong operational performance in integrated gas, upstream, and marketing businesses, while acknowledging tax adjustments and chemicals weakness hurt results

Toyota Motor is expected to report a 10% decline in operating profit to 1.09 trillion yen for the October-December quarter, marking its third consecutive quarterly profit decline. Despite record global sales of 10.5 million vehicles driven by strong hybrid demand, the automaker faces headwinds from rising labor and raw material costs, plus 15% U.S. tariffs on Japanese vehicle imports.

• Toyota's global sales reached a record 10.5 million vehicles in 2025, up nearly 4%, with hybrids accounting for 42% of sales while EVs represented less than 2%
• U.S. market performance was particularly strong with 8% sales growth as consumers shifted toward high-margin hybrid vehicles
• The yen's weakness against Toyota's forecast rate (146 per dollar vs. current 156.88) may provide upside to financial results and help offset cost pressures

Workers at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee plant have reached a tentative agreement with the company, according to an announcement by the United Auto Workers union on Wednesday. The deal represents a significant development for labor relations at the German automaker's U.S. manufacturing facility.

• The United Auto Workers union announced the tentative deal late Wednesday, though specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed
• The agreement affects workers at Volkswagen's Tennessee manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, one of the company's key U.S. production facilities
• The deal still requires ratification by union members before it becomes final

Sony reported a 22% increase in third-quarter operating profit to 515 billion yen ($3.28 billion), exceeding analyst expectations of 469 billion yen. The Japanese electronics and entertainment company raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 8% to 1.54 trillion yen, driven by strong performance in its music business.

• Third-quarter profit of 515 billion yen beat the average analyst estimate of 469 billion yen by approximately 10%
• Full-year operating profit forecast increased 8% to 1.54 trillion yen, primarily due to music business performance
• Sony faces industry headwinds including surging memory chip prices amid AI investment boom and uncertainty from AI-powered game development tools

Meta Platforms' Instagram experienced a service outage on February 4, affecting over 10,000 users in the United States according to Downdetector. The incident reports peaked at 10,108 as of 8:30 p.m. ET but dropped sharply within an hour. Meta did not respond to requests for comment on the disruption.

• Downdetector recorded 10,108 incident reports at the peak of the outage around 8:30 p.m. ET
• The number of reported incidents decreased significantly just one hour after the peak
• Meta Platforms did not provide any official statement or explanation regarding the service disruption

Ciena, a networking hardware maker, will rejoin the S&P 500 after being removed 17 years ago during the 2009 financial crisis. The company is replacing Dayforce, which is being acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $12.3 billion. Ciena's return is driven by surging demand for data center infrastructure supporting generative AI workloads.

• Ciena's market cap has nearly tripled in the past year, with the stock reaching its highest price since 2001 as AI infrastructure demand accelerates.
• The company projects 24% revenue growth in fiscal 2026, which would be its fastest expansion since 2011, with nearly 18% of fiscal 2025 revenue coming from a single unnamed cloud provider.
• Supply constraints for optical components and AI infrastructure parts are driving up prices, though Ciena says it has secured supply from key vendors to meet demand.

Bob's Discount Furniture raised $330.7 million in its U.S. IPO, selling approximately 19.5 million shares at $17 per share. The Bain Capital-backed furniture retailer will list on the NYSE under ticker symbol 'BOBS', testing investor appetite for consumer-focused companies amid a backlog of PE-owned firms seeking to go public.

• Bob's has grown from a single Connecticut store in 1991 to over 200 showrooms nationwide, becoming one of the largest U.S. furniture chains
• The company has been under private equity ownership for two decades, with Bain Capital acquiring it in 2014 from KarpReilly and Apax Partners
• J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley serve as joint-lead book-running managers for the offering, which comes after years of limited IPO activity