📊 Earnings vs. Inflation: The Market’s Next Big Test

US stocks opened higher on Thursday as investors weighed the latest round of corporate earnings and looked ahead to Friday’s closely watched Consumer Price Index report for clues on the path of interest rates.

The Dow rose about 0.5%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained roughly 0.3%, recovering from a choppy prior session. Markets are parsing earnings for signs of sectors vulnerable to AI disruption, with Cisco shares falling more than 7% on a weak profit outlook despite solid sales, while McDonald’s edged higher after a beat.

Meanwhile, a smaller-than-expected drop in jobless claims and January’s strong jobs report have tempered hopes for near-term Fed rate cuts, putting added focus on upcoming inflation data. Earnings from Coinbase, Applied Materials, and Rivian are due after the close.

Top Movers: Under $10 

Signing Day Sports Inc (SGN) is up 33.60% today to trade at the current level of $0.28. This comes after the company announced that veteran tech executive Eyal Rozen has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of merger partner BlockchAIn ahead of the planned March 2026 business combination.

Jyong Biotech Ltd (MENS) zoomed 8.22% in today’s trade to $1.58. The company issues a strategic corporate update detailing the completed Phase II trial of MCS-8 with statistically significant prostate cancer risk reduction and new non-binding commercialization partnerships in South Korea and Vietnam.

In current trading, Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (KPTI) stock is at $8.92 the release of fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results.

VivoPower International PLC (VVPR) rose 10.61% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.46 after announcing that it has completed a $30 million strategic private investment in public equity (PIPE).

In the current trading session, Porch Group Inc (PRCH) jumped 17.72% to $8.94 over a previous close of $7.59 after reporting fourth quarter 2025 results.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

AMGEN Inc (AMGN) is about to trade ex-dividend tomorrow, meaning that investors who buy the stock after tomorrow will not be eligible for the next dividend payment. The company's next dividend payment will be $2.52 per share. It has fixed February 13 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on March 06. Last year, the company distributed a total of $9.52 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, AMGN has a trailing yield of 2.59% on the current stock price of $367.17.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is First Hawaiian INC (FHB), having a market capitalization of $3.29B. It will pay a dividend of $0.26 per share, the payment date of which is February 27. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 3.91%.

Shares of Gen Digital Inc (GEN) will be the talk of the stock market on Friday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.12 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $0.50 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that GEN has a trailing yield of 2.06% on the current share price of $24.25.

Starbucks Corp (SBUX) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from SBUX will amount to $0.62 per share. February 13 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for February 27. In the previous year, SBUX distributed a total of $2.45 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for SBUX stands at 2.43% based on the current stock price of $100.89.

Teradyne, Inc (TER) will be paying out a dividend of $0.13 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of business hours on the record date of February 13. Over the past 12 months, TER has paid out a total of $0.48 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, TER boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.15% on the current share price of $326.01.

Crypto Market Highlights

• Bitcoin miner outflows jumped to 28,605 BTC (about $1.8 billion), marking one of the largest single-day transfers since November 2024 amid sharp price volatility, with another 20,169 BTC (around $1.4 billion) also leaving miner-linked wallets.

• The U.S. National Credit Union Administration proposed its first rules under the GENIUS Act, outlining how subsidiaries of federally insured credit unions can apply to become federally supervised payment stablecoin issuers.

• Securitize is launching a stablecoin backed by tokenized private credit assets in partnership with Hamilton Lane, OKX Ventures, and STBL, aiming to expand institutional real-world asset yield onto blockchain rails.

• The UK government appointed HSBC’s Orion platform to facilitate the Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) pilot issuance, advancing efforts to modernize sovereign debt markets using blockchain technology.

• Binance completed a $1 billion conversion of its emergency fund into Bitcoin, committing to hold BTC as its core reserve asset.

Most Shorted Stocks

AMC Entertainment (AMC) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 24.45% short interest. The days to cover ratio, a measure of how long it would take for all the short positions to be covered based on average trading volume, is 2.8. This represents a change of 12,975,502 shares, which corresponds to a 11.60% increase in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $172.96 million. The average daily volume stands at 31.49M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $642.36M.

The 3D Systems with the symbol DDD currently has a short interest of 29.02%. The short interest has changed by 1,468,021 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 8.6. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $79.41 million. On an average day, 3.72M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $269.71M.

For the stock Ondas Inc (ONDS), the current short interest is at 27.47%. This represents a significant short interest change of 33611095 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of 41.70%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 1.1. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $1.02 billion.

With the symbol VIVS, the stock currently has a short interest of 30.47%. The short interest change is 766515 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of 9,129.53%. It would take approximately 0.1 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $218.15 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 1.61M shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $4.99M.

The stock LFVN has a current short interest of 36.70%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of 32.18%, while there was a change of 892123 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 13.1. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $3.84 million. Trading activity averages at 220.80K shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $63.29M.

Biotech Stocks to Watch

According to our ST Score evaluation, Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc (GLUE) emerges as a high-quality stock in the Biotech industry, attaining an impressive score of 62. The stock's profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score are strong. However, its stock sentiment and forecast are weak. Additionally, it is neutral in terms of growth and financial strength.

Our ST Score also classifies Oramed Pharmaceuticals, Inc (ORMP) as a high-quality Biotech stock today, presenting a Score of 61. The stock has strong fundamentals in terms of performance and financial strength. However, it has weak stock sentiment and a forecast. The profitability, growth, and Piotroski Score are neutral.

Another stock in the category, Anavex Life Sciences Corporation (AVXL) has the ST Score of 61, which means that the stock carries the potential for higher returns. The stock is strong in profitability and financial strength, but weak in the Piotroski Score. Performance, growth, stock sentiment, and forecast suggest a neutral outlook.

Incyte Corp (INCY) stock has the ST Score of 61, which implies that the Biotech company has a high probability of beating the market. The stock's strengths lie in its profitability, performance, and Piotroski Score, but its weaknesses lie in its growth. However, it shows a neutral outlook in financial strength, stock sentiment, and forecast.

GH Research PLC (GHRS) currently has the ST Score of 62, which signifies a huge upward potential. The Biotech stock's strong points are its profitability, performance, and financial strength, while its weak points are its growth and Piotroski Score. The stock's sentiment and forecast indicate a neutral outlook.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good luck out there!

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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