Nasdaq Slips, Dow Surges — What’s REALLY Driving Today’s Market Split? 🤯

US stocks opened mixed on Tuesday as a tech sell-off highlighted ongoing AI-driven volatility, with the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5% and the S&P 500 off 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%.

Investors remain cautious after weeks of pressure tied to AI disruption fears across multiple industries. As earnings season winds down, results from Constellation Energy, Medtronic, and Palo Alto Networks are in focus, with Walmart set to report later this week.

Shares of Paramount Skydance jumped after Warner Bros. Discovery requested a revised takeover bid, while markets also await key economic data, including the PCE inflation index, fourth-quarter GDP, and minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.

Top Movers: Under $10 

OLB Group Inc (OLB) is up 119.15% today to trade at the current level of $0.91. This comes after the company announced a new global partnership with PayPal to integrate PayPal and Venmo into its SecurePay payment gateway.

Polaryx Therapeutics Inc (PLYX) zoomed 87.91% in today’s trade to $4.53 after announcing that it has selected a contract research organization for its SOTERIA Phase 2 basket trial of lead candidate PLX-200 across four lysosomal storage disorders, reiterating plans to initiate the study in the first half of 2026.

In current trading, Compass Pathways Plc ADR (CMPS) stock is at $8.34 after announcing that its second Phase 3 trial of COMP360 psilocybin for treatment‑resistant depression met its primary endpoint with highly statistically significant efficacy, reinforcing plans to seek FDA approval with an NDA targeted for Q4 2026.

Globavend Holdings Ltd (GVH) rose 60.65% in the early hours of today's trading to move at $1.48 after announcing fiscal 2025 results with revenue up 42.5% year-over-year to $23.6 million and significantly higher daily package volumes.

In the current trading session, Gaxos.AI Inc (GXAI) jumped 31.90% to $1.38 over a previous close of $1.05 after announcing that it finalized a deal with Byteplus, the Enterprise Technology Division of ByteDance.

Ex-Dividend Stocks

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH) 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 $0.33 per share. It has fixed February 18 as the record date for the same and will pay the actual dividend on February 26. Last year, the company distributed a total of $1.24 to its shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, CTSH has a trailing yield of 1.89% on the current stock price of $65.53.

Another stock that is shelling out dividends tomorrow is Hasbro, Inc (HAS), having a market capitalization of $14.33B. It will pay a dividend of $0.7 per share, the payment date of which is March 04. Currently, the stock is trading at a trailing dividend yield of 2.74%.

Shares of Landstar System, Inc (LSTR) will be the talk of the stock market on Wednesday as the stock will turn ex-dividend. The company's next dividend payment will be $0.4 per share, and in the last 12 months, it paid a total of $1.54 per share. Last year's total dividend payments show that LSTR has a trailing yield of 1.08% on the current share price of $143.07.

Powell Industries, Inc (POWL) is also set to go ex-dividend tomorrow. The next dividend payment from POWL will amount to $0.27 per share. February 18 has been designated as the record date for this dividend, with the actual payout scheduled for March 18. In the previous year, POWL distributed a total of $1.07 to its valued shareholders. Considering the cumulative dividend payments from last year, the trailing yield for POWL stands at 0.19% based on the current stock price of $564.91.

Twin Disc Incorporated (TWIN) will be paying out a dividend of $0.04 per share to shareholders holding their shares as of the close of the business hours on the record date of February 18. Over the past 12 months, TWIN has paid out a total of $0.16 per share in dividends. Based on the total dividends paid out last year, TWIN boasts an impressive trailing yield of 0.88% on the current share price of $18.18.

Crypto Market Highlights

• StarkWare has integrated EY’s Nightfall privacy protocol into Starknet, enabling institutions to conduct confidential payments and DeFi transactions on public Ethereum-aligned infrastructure without sacrificing auditability.

• The Monad Foundation has recruited senior executives from Optimism, FalconX, and BVNK to accelerate institutional adoption following its November mainnet launch.

• Poland’s president has vetoed a second bill aimed at aligning national crypto regulations with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, increasing uncertainty for domestic platforms ahead of a key compliance deadline.

• Activity on Monero has remained stable despite delistings by major exchanges, according to new research from TRM Labs.

• Decentralized lending protocol ZeroLend is shutting down entirely, citing low user activity and limited liquidity across the blockchains it operates on.

Most Shorted Stocks

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Inc (PLAY) was one of the most shorted stocks as of the latest short interest figures, with 24.73% 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 8.2. This represents a change of -277973 shares, which corresponds to a -3.20% decrease in short interest. The total value of the shares held short is estimated to be around $127.25 million. The average daily volume stands at 1.24M shares, and the market capitalization of the company is $525.06M.

The Nano Nuclear Energy Inc with the symbol NNE currently has a short interest of 35.62%. The short interest has changed by -550750 shares. The days to cover ratio stands at 5.2. The estimated value of the shares held short is approximately $286.84 million. On an average day, 1.96M shares are traded, with the company's market capitalization totaling $1.20B.

For the stock Sunrun Inc (RUN), the current short interest is at 25.31%. This represents a significant short interest change of 773986 shares, corresponding to a short interest percentage increase of 1.38%. The days needed to cover the short positions amount to 6.0. The approximate worth of the shares held short is $1.06 billion.

With the symbol HYPD, the stock currently has a short interest of 27.40%. The short interest change is 185103 shares, compared with a short interest percentage change of 10.22%. It would take approximately 4.4 days to cover all the short positions. The shares' short value is estimated to be around $213.98 million. The company boasts an average daily volume of 353.30K shares, contributing to a market capitalization of $30.77M.

The stock UPST has a current short interest of 31.13%. The short interest percentage has experienced an increase of -14.71%, while there was a change of -4,354,007 shares in short interest. The ratio indicating the time required to cover short positions is 2.9. The calculated worth of the shorted shares amounts to around $977.17 million. Trading activity averages at 4.93M shares per day, while the company's market capitalization stands at $3.09B.

Upcoming IPOs

Armada Acquisition Corp. III (AACI) is all set for its debut on the NASDAQ exchange on February 18. The shares will be offered at a fixed price of $10.00 per share. With a total of 22,500,000 shares available, the company aims to raise approximately $225.00M through this IPO.

Paloma Acquisition Corp I (PALO) will be entering the market with its IPO on February 18 on the NASDAQ exchange. They are offering shares at a fixed price of $10.00. They plan to offer 15,000,000 shares, targeting a deal size of $150.00M.

Sky Acquisition Group (SKAI) is also scheduled to make its debut on the NASDAQ exchange on February 18. They are offering shares at a fixed price of $10.00. The IPO includes 15,000,000 shares, aiming for a deal size of $150.00M.

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

Best Regards,

Stocks Telegraph Team

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