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NEWS
Double The Tariffs, Double The Fun

Source: Tenor

The S&P 500 officially joined the Nasdaq 100 in correction territory, at least on an intraday basis, with Trump’s threat to double certain tariffs weighing on most sectors. Traders and investors are still looking for clearer signs of a bottom before jumping in, with neither earnings nor economic data providing a catalyst. 👀 

Today’s issue covers confidence sinking across the board, more airline carnage, a Chinese electric vehicle reversal, and more from a busy day on Wall Street. 📰

Here’s the S&P 500 heatmap. 0 of 11 sectors closed green, with technology (-0.41%) leading and industrials (-1.54%) lagging.

Source: Finviz

And here are the closing prices: 

STOCKS
Bears Broaden Their Attack 🐻 

The sectors leading to the downside today were not tech but rather more cyclical areas tied to the U.S. consumer and overall economic activity. The uncertainty in the economy is causing consumers and businesses alike to slow down significantly as they await more clarity on the future of policy (and the economy). 🛑 

Notably, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Survey showed that the percentage of small businesses that believe now is a good time to expand saw its largest one-month decline since April 2020 (COVID). H/T Joe Weisenthal for the stat.

But an even easier gauge for how Wall Street views the U.S. consumer right now is how the retail sector ETF XRT ( ▼ 2.07% ) is trading. As we can see below, the ETF broke out to new 52-week highs in the weeks following Trump’s election but have reversed sharply as uncertainty took hold. Today, prices hit fresh lows, marking one of their fastest moves from 52-week highs to lows in recent history. 🤯 

Source: Tradingview

Whether it’s surveys, stock prices, company business updates, or any other metric you want to use, it’s clear that uncertainty is having a material impact on how consumers and businesses spend. The economy was already slowing as it is, and people will not accelerate when they can’t see what’s in front of them. ⚠️ 

That doesn’t mean stocks can’t have a short-term relief rally based on sentiment and other technical factors. Many traders believe we’ll near that point soon. But if the stock market is going to mount a sustainable comeback in 2025, this administration needs to figure out a policy stance and approach to growing the economy quickly. Or at least communicate effectively. Otherwise, we can expect more of the same from markets.

Our next story expands on what the consumer is feeling in the current environment, citing the airline industry as the latest victim of economic uncertainty and how it’s driving Wall Street and Main Street’s behavior. 👇️ 

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COMPANY NEWS
Airlines Regain Altitude & Chinese EVs Surge ✈️ 

Airlines have been slammed recently, with Delta sounding the alarm yesterday around softening domestic demand from both consumers and businesses. 🚨 

Today, American Airlines forecasted a wider first-quarter loss due to a sharp slowdown in revenue, with Southwest Airlines also cutting its revenue forecast due to less government travel and a greater impact from the California wildfires.

United Airlines now expects first-quarter earnings to come in at the lower end of its forecast due to a 50% drop in government-related travel bookings. Plus, the domestic leisure market (i.e., consumers) suffers from macro uncertainty. 😬 

Just a few short months ago airlines were talking up robust travel demand and potentially expanding capacity. Now, they’re tightening their belts and expecting a volatile spring and summer travel season.

Southwest Airlines business updates helped stem today’s decline, rising 8%. The budget airline made a material policy change, now charging passengers to check bags and introducing a new, basic fare on its low-priced tickets.

Despite the price bound, Stocktwits sentiment is still in ‘extremely bearish’ territory.

Source: Stocktwits

Nucor, Steel Dynamics, and other domestic steel producers soared after Donald Trump announced plans to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%. Freeport McMoran and Southern Copper also rose on news that the tariffs will be expanded to include metals-based products. ⛏️ 

It should be noted that he walked back those comments later in the day, but the stocks had already moved and gave back just part of their gains by the closing bell.

While not directly related to the tariff news, it’s worth sharing that the makers of Chinese electric vehicles and their components rose sharply today. Xpeng, Nio, Hesai Group, and others jumped from mid-single digits to over 50%.

Tesla’s more than 50% selloff and a bonus sales outlook for March from these companies helped drive the sector higher, but the tariffs also did because it means that they’ll have more domestic supply overseas, which will help their margins. 🔋 

Overall, it was a rough day for the U.S. consumer industry and a seemingly solid one for China’s. With Citi and several other banks upgrading Chinese stocks recently, it seems Wall Street expects the country’s comeback to continue despite the geopolitical and economic uncertainty. 🌏️ 

STOCKS
Other Noteworthy Pops & Drops 📋️ 

Magic Software Enterprises ($MGIC +4%): The IT consulting services and application development platforms company reported fourth-quarter results and guided 2025 revenue above the consensus estimate.

Robinhood ($HOOD +3%): Reported a February jump in its funded customers and assets under custody (AUC), rising 8% and 58% YoY, respectively.

Cboe Global Markets ($CBOE -4%): Filed amended documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), seeking approval to integrate staking into several spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Boeing ($BA +4%): February deliveries surged 63% YoY after January’s best single-month figure since 2023. Still, retail is frustrated about the lack of stock movement.

Teradyne ($TER -17%): The automated test equipment and robotics company’s second-quarter outlook fell short of Wall Street estimates. It warned revenue could be flat to down 10% QoQ and sees just 5% to 10% growth for fiscal year 2025.

Verizon and AT&T ($VZ -6% & $T -5%): Their first-quarter and full-year outlook at Deutsche Bank’s 33rd Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference didn’t impress.

Reddit ($RDDT +15%): Loop Capital analyst Alan Gould said the community-based social networking company’s stock has become “extremely attractive” following its 50% drop in a month.

IonQ, Inc. ($IONQ +3%): The high-performance quantum computer manufacturer received net proceeds of #360 million from its at-the-market (ATM) offering.

FuelCell Energy ($FCEL +6%): The company’s first-quarter revenue rose 14% YoY, but fell well short of analyst estimates. Its loss per share was narrower than anticipated.

Asana ($ASAN -24%): The enterprise work management platform providers’ revenue guidance missed estimates, with co-founder and CEO Dustin Moskovitz retiring.

ServiceNow ($NOW +3%) Will acquire Moveworks, a California-based agentic artificial intelligence (AI) assistant provider, for $2.85 billion in cash and stock.

Trimble ($TRMB +2%): Announced a collaboration with Xona Space Systems to integrate its correction services with Xona’s Pulsar satellite system.

StitchFix ($SFIX +21%): Reported a narrower-than-expected loss and a revenue beat, even as active clients fell 16% YoY and 2.6% QoQ. The online personal styling plans to leverage AI to manage its inventory better and improve operating leverage.

PRESENTED BY STOCKTWITS
Trends With Friends: No Turnaround Tuesday 😭 

Howard, Phil, and Michael are joined by special guest Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, to discuss the latest market chaos, crypto shake-ups, and the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and branding. Plus, looking into how the social VIX hitting new highs suggests more fear among retail today than during COVID. 😨 

WHAT’S ON DECK
Tomorrow’s Top Things 📋

Economic data: Consumer Price Index (8:30 am ET), Canada Rate Decision (9:45 am), Bank Of Canada Press Conference (10:30 am), EIA Energy Inventories (10:30 am). 📊

Pre-Market Earnings: eHang Holdings ($EH), iRobot ($IRBT), Hello Group ($MOMO), ZIM Integrated Shipping ($ZIM), Vera Bradley ($VRA), Solo Brands ($DTC). 🛏️

After-Hour Earnings: Adobe ($ADBE), SentinelOne ($S), UiPath ($PATH), ContextLogic ($LOGC), American Eagle Outfitters ($AEO), Crown Castle ($CCI). 🎧

P.S. You can listen to all of these earnings calls and more straight from the Stocktwits app or website. You’ll find them on the calendar page and individual symbol pages once they’re set to begin! We’ll see you there. 👍

Links That Don’t Suck 🌐

🎟️ Monopolies, scalpers, and the future of online ticket sales

🕵️ US hasn’t determined who was behind cyberattack that caused outage on Musk’s X

⚠️ NTSB “urgently” recommends permanent helicopter traffic restrictions near DCA

🚘️ Trump selects a new Tesla on White House driveway to show support for Elon Musk

❌ RFK Jr. wants to eliminate FDA’s controversial food additive program. Here’s why that matters

🚚 Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow explains his troubled $30M personal loan, announces new ‘super app’

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