Your Evening Briefing

February 20, 2026

Stocks rise as the Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 rose as the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs. In response, Trump said he was imposing a 10% global tariff effective immediately under section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. These particular duties can remain in place for 150 days, after which time congressional approval would be required. The Russell 2000 whipsawed throughout the tariff talk, closing lower.

Communications was the best-performing sector, lifted by shares of Alphabet. Tariff-sensitive stocks Wayfair, Under Armour, e.l.f. Beauty, Stanley Black & Decker, Williams-Sonoma, Crocs, and Amazon helped propel the consumer discretionary sector to the second-best performer. Energy fared the worst.

Core inflation surprised to the upside in December, while the initial read of economic growth in the final three months of 2025 was weak.

Stocks that moved higher:

Opendoor Technologies jumped as its CEO touted a record October performance. JPMorgan boosted earnings estimates following yesterday’s better-than-expected Q4 results.
Celsius fizzed after outlining its product shift and multi-brand growth strategy at CAGNY.
Live Nation rose after beating Q4 revenue estimates after the bell yesterday.
AppLovin ticked up on an unconfirmed social media report that it’s working with OpenAI on ChatGPT ads.
Though the 25% tariffs on automobiles and auto parts remain in place despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, tariffs for certain machinery, lower-cost raw materials, and components were struck down, which was good news for Stellantis and Ford.

Moving lower:

Diagnostics company Grail tanked after its blood test for detecting cancer failed in a key study.
Akamai sank on a weak full-year outlook despite beating Q4 sales estimates.
Roblox dropped after LA county filed a lawsuit on allegations that the platform makes children "easy prey for pedophiles.”
Newmont slipped on a lower production outlook despite beating Q4 estimates.
Aave, the largest on-chain lending protocol, dipped as BGD Labs, one of its longest-tenure service providers, announced that it will cease contributions.

Etsy sells fashion app Depop to eBay, as the pair’s postpandemic paths split further

The $1.2 billion clothes reseller is the last shoe to drop in Etsy’s failed “House of Brands” experiment. Read more.

America’s favorite condiment isn’t ketchup — it’s peanut butter

A new survey finds US adults love peanut butter so much that nearly 4% of the population carries it around with them.

Read more.

Nvidia is close to investing $30 billion in OpenAI as part of its long-discussed funding round, per the Financial Times. The FT says that this investment will effectively be replacing a bigger planned pact between the two companies.

As Microsoft, SoftBank, or Oracle could tell you, being viewed as overly exposed to OpenAI has not been a boon for stocks in recent months. Read more.

Report: Amazon’s AI bots have been behind multiple AWS outages
AWS accounted for 57% of Amazon’s operating profit in 2025.
Lucid cuts 12% of its US workforce in a profitability push
Lucid’s interim CEO said the move was necessary to “improve operational effectiveness” and optimize resources.
Prediction markets give slight edge to Netflix in Warner Bros. battle after eventful week
The ongoing bidding war between Paramount and Netflix for the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery had some significant news this week that could change the outcome.
Judge rejects Tesla’s attempt to overturn $243 million verdict over fatal 2019 autopilot crash
Tesla previously rejected a $60 million settlement proposal regarding the lawsuit.

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