Major Indexes End Sharply Lower After Inflation Reading Comes in Hotter Than Expected; Dow Sheds More Than 500 Points

February 27, 2026 04:08 PM EST

The Dow Jones Industrial Average entered the last trading day of February up 1.2% for the month and aiming for its 10th straight monthly gain. It barely was able to accomplish the feat. 

The Dow finished February up 0.2% but the Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished down a respective 3.4% and 0.9% for the month.

It was the Nasdaq’s worth monthly performance since March 2025 and its third negative month in the past four.

February 27, 2026 03:07 PM EST

President Donald Trump’s first year in office ushered in significant change, from tariffs to massive tax legislation.

But not everyone benefits equally from these policies, according to a new brief from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), a think tank.

In brief, the researchers analyzed the effects of policies backed by Trump and Republican Congressional members—such as tariffs, the expiration of Affordable Care Act subsidies, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—on Americans of all incomes.

The analysis found that the richest 1% of Americans, or those with incomes of more than $916,900, will receive the largest tax cuts in 2026, an average of $8,850. By contrast, those with an income of between $92,100 and $153,600 will pay an additional $980.

Tariffs are also impacting Americans’ wallets. Martha Gimbel, cofounder and executive director of the Yale Budget Lab, notes that tariffs tend to have a disproportionate impact on low and middle-income consumers because they tend to spend a greater share of their income on goods.

(While the Supreme Court struck down many of Trump’s tariffs last Friday, his administration has reimposed many of those tariffs under a different law.)

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

February 27, 2026 01:43 PM EST

It’s been an overall negative day thus far for the S&P 500, but more of its sectors are in the green than the red.

Just four of the 11 sectors tracked by the benchmark index are in the red, but the S&P 500 Financial and Technology Sectors are pulling it lower, notching declines of 2.4% and 2.1%, respectively.

Consumer Staples, Energy, and Health Care are the top-performing sectors, with respective gains of 1.4%, 1.4%, and 1.3%.

The S&P 500 is down 0.8% overall today.

February 27, 2026 12:35 PM EST

As artificial intelligence technology advances, more people are likely to lose their jobs, according to one high-profile tech CEO.

Jack Dorsey, chief of fintech shop Block (XYZ), delivered the foreboding message on Thursday after announcing the company will lay off more than 4,000 people, representing nearly half of its existing staff of 10,000. Block, which owns Square and Cash App, had a “strong year” in 2025, but the advances in artificial intelligence tools have “changed what it means to build and run a company,” Dorsey said in a shareholder letter published alongside its fourth-quarter earnings results.1

Shares of Block were up 15% recently, after surging as much as 21% earlier in the session in response to the news.

The company, formerly called Square, is the latest tech firm to slash its headcount. Others including eBay (EBAY), Salesforce (CRM), Workday (WDAY), Zillow (Z) and Amazon (AMZN) have all announced job cuts in the last couple of months, with some citing AI as the primary driver. Dorsey said other companies are likely to make similar workforce decisions.

February 27, 2026 11:17 AM EST

Berkshire Hathaway’s legion of loyal investors has something new to look forward to on Saturday. 

The company’s annual shareholder letter, which will accompany the fourth-quarter earnings and annual report, won’t be delivered by Warren Buffett for the first time in over 60 years, after the legendary investor stepped down from the CEO role at the end of December. That duty now falls to new chief Greg Abel.

Buffett’s letters, which could run over 10 pages long and were known for their folksy tone, may be a tough act to follow. However, the practice could also give Abel an opportunity to better connect with shareholders and offer more clarity on his vision for Berkshire.

CFRA analysts, who have a neutral rating on Berkshire shares, said earlier this month that there remains a great deal of uncertainty around Abel’s leadership and concern about a long-term loss of Berkshire’s “Buffett premium” with the transition.

Berkshire’s class B shares (BRK.B) are virtually flat for 2026 so far, and remain about 7% off last May’s highs, before Buffett announced he would be leaving the CEO post. The 95-year-old Buffett still remains on Berkshire’s board and serves as chair. 

“I think investors would really like to get a greater sense of who Greg Abel is and what he intends to bring to the process of managing Berkshire,” CFRA’s Cathy Seifert told Yahoo! Finance in a televised interview Thursday.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

February 27, 2026 10:37 AM EST

CoreWeave’s soft current-quarter revenue projection after the closing bell yesterday is sending its stock into a tailspin this morning.

Shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) dropped about 18% after the Nvidia-backed firm issued a fiscal 2026 first-quarter revenue outlook of $1.9 billion to $2.0 billion, well below the $2.29 billion consensus expectation of analysts polled by Visible Alpha.

For its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter, the Livingston, N.J.-based company—which provides customers with access to data centers equipped with Nvidia chips for training AI models—narrowly topped revenue estimates but posted a wider-than-expected loss.

Still, Citi analysts wrote that CoreWeave’s “2026-27 top-line revisions are likely moving higher and with a rapidly growing revenue backlog of $60B+ and 8 GW of active power by 2030, the growth story remains very much intact.”

Even with today’s plunge, shares of CoreWeave remain up about 12% for 2026.

February 27, 2026 09:46 AM EST

Dell Technologies (DELL) is taking advantage of its “AI opportunity.”

Shares soared 18% soon after the opening bell Friday, a day after the computer and server maker easily topped analysts’ estimates for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter. 

The Round Rock, Texas-based firm reported adjusted earnings of $3.89 per share on revenue that soared 39% year-over-year to $33.38 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $3.53 and $31.72 billion, respectively. 

Dell’s fiscal 2027 projections for revenue, AI-optimized servers revenue, and adjusted EPS were well ahead of consensus expectations. 

“The AI opportunity is transforming our company,” COO and vice chairman Jeff Clarke said. “We closed more than $64 billion in AI-optimized server orders, shipped more than $25 billion throughout the year, and are entering FY27 with record backlog of $43 billion—powerful proof that our engineering leadership and differentiated AI solutions are winning.”

Along with its results, Dell announced a $10 billion increase to its buyback plan and a 20% dividend increase.

With today’s gains, Dell shares moved into positive territory for 2026.

February 27, 2026 08:42 AM EST

The number of homeowners beginning to fall behind on their payments rose by nearly a third over the last year, in a sign that the high cost of living is causing financial distress for more households.

That’s according to a report from credit scoring company VantageScore Thursday, which said the number of people one to two months behind on their payments rose by 30.9% over the year in January.

Though this still accounted for only 1.14% of borrowers, it was the most since the pandemic hit and a signal that more households are being stretched thin. Although inflation has fallen from its recent high in 2022, price increases for many necessities have remained high, from coffee to vet visits.

“The broad-based rise in early-stage credit delinquencies across VantageScore credit tiers underscores persistent macroeconomic pressures, particularly for more vulnerable borrowers,” Susan Fahy, chief digital, data and technology officer at VantageScore said in a press release. “Sustained cost pressures and interest rates may leave some consumers increasingly exposed to future economic shocks.”

Read the full article here.

–Diccon Hyatt

February 27, 2026 07:52 AM EST

President Trump just unveiled a policy that would provide retirement accounts next year to workers who don’t have access to 401(k)s.

“Your 401(k)s are way up. Yet half of all working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer,” said President Trump at the State of the Union address yesterday. 

“To remedy this gross disparity, I’m announcing that next year my administration will give these oft-forgotten American workers … access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker,” he said. “We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year.”

According to the White House, these new accounts will be similar to the Thrift Savings Plan, a retirement plan available to federal employees.

Read the full article here.

–Trina Paul

February 27, 2026 07:35 AM EST

Investors are underestimating Nvidia, according to its CEO.

Shares of the chipmaker fell more than 5% Thursday, even though the AI chipmaker delivered a blockbuster earnings report and strong outlook the night before.

The drop made Nvidia (NVDA) the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Thursday, and one of the biggest decliners in the Nasdaq and S&P 500. It also dragged the stock, which has had a tough start to the year amid uncertainty about the trajectory of the AI boom, back into negative territory for 2026.

CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC in a televised interview following the company’s earnings call that he believes investors may be missing how large the computing industry could become, and how much Nvidia is set to grow with it.

Read the full article here.

–Kara Greenberg

February 27, 2026 07:06 AM EST

Netflix decided not match Paramount Skydance’s offer for Hollywood giant Warner Bros. Discovery. Investors of both bidders are cheering the news. 

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) soared 8% in premarket trading Friday, a day after the streaming giant announced it wouldn’t match Paramount’s revised bid to acquire all of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) for $31 a share. Shares of David Ellison-led Paramount (PSKY) popped 9%, while those of WBD declined 2%.

“We believe we would have been strong stewards of Warner Bros.’ iconic brands, and that our deal would have strengthened the entertainment industry and preserved and created more production jobs in the U.S.,” Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters wrote yesterday. “But this transaction was always a ‘nice to have’ at the right price, not a ‘must have’ at any price.”

Earlier Thursday, WBD wrote that its board concluded Paramount’s increased offer to acquire the entire company was a “Company Superior Proposal” to its deal with Netflix, announced in December, for the streamer to acquire Warner Bros., consisting of its film and television studios, its HBO Max streaming service, and HBO.

WBD said yesterday that Netflix would have four business days to propose revisions to their merger agreement “so that the PSKY proposal would cease to constitute a “‘Company Superior Proposal,'” but Netflix elected to bow out of the race.

February 27, 2026 06:20 AM EST

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average pointed down 0.6%.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.4%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were 0.3% lower.