Your Evening Briefing

February 02, 2026

Stocks close near record highs as strong manufacturing data boosts economic outlook

Stocks climbed as the January ISM Manufacturing Index blew past analysts’ expectations, indicating manufacturing growth. All major US indexes rose, while gold and silver resumed their sell-off after Friday’s meltdown. Bitcoin recovered a bit after this past weekend’s bloodbath, where the price dipped below $75,000. Due to the partial government shutdown, tomorrow’s expected jobs openings data for December and Friday’s expected January jobs report will be delayed.

Stocks that moved higher:

Gaming stock Roblox rebounded from Friday’s sell-off as analysts said that investors’ fears about the impact of Google’s Project Genie on the broader gaming market may have been an overreaction.
Southwest Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Delta Air Lines took off as oil prices retreated as US-Iran tensions eased.
Critical minerals stocks NioCorp and United States Antimony Corp. surged on a report that President Trump will launch a $12 billion critical minerals stockpile.
GameStop rallied after CEO Ryan Cohen said the retailer is aiming to acquire a company bigger than itself.

Stocks that moved lower:

Tesla stock fell as a new Chinese safety rule effectively bans the car door handles for which Tesla is famous. Lucid and Rivian, who also adopted the flush door handles, fell as well.
Disney fell despite posting better-than-expected Q1 sales and earnings.
Strategy tumbled as the value of its bitcoin was briefly less than its cost basis.
BitMine Immersion Technologies also fell as the company acquired more ethereum despite being underwater amid token’s price decline.

How Novo Nordisk’s new Wegovy pill is transforming the weight-loss drug market

Telehealth executives and early prescription data show the Wegovy pill is pulling in new patients — and accelerating a shift toward cash-pay obesity care. Read more.

Games weren’t the biggest thing on app stores for the first time ever last year

Users spent more in-app on non-game applications than games in 2025.

Read more.

POST-MARKET MOVE

(Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images)

Palantir beats Q4 earnings and sales expectations, stock surges

Defense, intelligence, and AI software giant reported Q4 numbers that blew past expectations after the close of trading on Monday. Read more.

SpaceX to merge with xAI, seek an IPO valuation of $1.25 trillion, Bloomberg reports
Elon Musk’s giant space company plans to merge with his AI company, xAI.
SpaceX’s planned IPO is on track to be gargantuan enough
But a potential merger would create a Musk-centric megaplanet.
OpenAI reportedly seeking alternatives to Nvidia chips, unhappy with inference performance
Per Reuters, the specific shortcoming OpenAI sees in Nvidia’s offering involves inference, or the “thinking” being done by AI models.
Analyst: Investors should brace for Europe’s breakup with US Big Tech
In a note to investors, Matthew Tuttle warned that the shift away from US tech in Europe is well underway and investors aren’t paying attention.
Steven Spielberg has officially become an EGOT
After scooping his first Grammy last night, the “Jaws” director joined an exclusive group of artists who have won across all four major US entertainment awards.
Tesla’s Europe sales get big headlines — but they’re a small part of the business
January 2026 data is out in some European countries and it’s not looking great for Tesla.

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