US stocks turned firmly into the red on Thursday as US-Iran fears spurred a continued rally in oil, with Walmart (WMT) earnings and Federal Reserve rate-cut odds in focus.

The SP 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shed roughly 0.3% each, following a solid advance across the major benchmarks the previous session. The tech-exposed Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC), meanwhile, shed 0.4%.

The pullback came as oil extended its biggest daily jump since October amid growing worries of a US military attack on Iran. Brent (BZ=F) crude, the international pricing benchmark, climbed to above $71 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was near $66 following an Axios report that the Trump administration is edging toward conflict. Against that backdrop, gold (GC=F) rose back above $5,000 an ounce.

Meanwhile, Treasurys were set for their longest run of losses in a month amid oil-driven inflation concerns. Price pressures were already in focus as investors parsed minutes from the Fed's January policy meeting, which revealed deep divides over the future path of rates. The December PCE inflation reading on Friday could help adjust expectations.

Earnings continue, with Walmart (WMT) posting a modest quarterly beat but flagging headwinds in its guidance for the year ahead. Shares rose in early trading.

The US stock market fell in the minutes after the opening bell on Thursday as US-Iran tensions kept oil prices top of mind, while investors digested earnings from Walmart (WMT) and a split in the Federal Reserve over the path for interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and tech-exposed Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way down , losing roughly 0.5% each, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) shed 0.3% following gains across the major indexes in the previous session.

As investor attention looked toward the Middle East, oil prices continued to climb, extending their biggest daily jump since October amid simmering tensions between the US and Iran over potential military action. Brent (BZ=F) crude, the international pricing benchmark, climbed to above $71 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) climbed above $66 following an Axios report that the Trump administration is leaning toward conflict.

Walmart (WMT) posted a modest quarterly beat before the bell and advanced roughly 2% to start the session. Newmont Corporation (NEM), Comfort Systems USA (FIX), and Live Nation Entertainment (LYV) will all report after the close.

Oil prices climbed again on Thursday morning as traders priced in shocks from a potential armed conflict between the US and Iran, adding to large gains in Wednesday trading and the overnight session.

Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international pricing benchmark, and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude (CL=F) both rose around 2% to trade above $71.60 and $66.20, respectively. The price action brings monthly gains on both energy products to more than 11%.

The oil market has been closely watching developments in Iran, with recent fuel added by the Trump administration's decision to send a second aircraft carrier to the region. The move adds to what has now become the largest air power armament in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to The Wall Street Journal.

While Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that talks between Tehran and Washington had reached a potential framework for a deal on Iran's nuclear program, the X account for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spent Tuesday posting incendiary comments about the deal.

While Iran sits on the third largest proved crude oil reserves in the world and ranks in the top 10 of producers globally, oil markets pay most attention to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping chokepoint that sees roughly 20 million barrels of petroleum products per day cross through its waters.

On Monday, the Iranian government said it was partially closing the strait to conduct military exercises — notable since it has before conducted military drills without issuing a formal closure notice.

Initial jobless claims fell by 23,000 to 206,000 for the week ended Feb. 14, the largest decline since November, according to data from the Department of Labor.

The reading is significantly below economists' expectations of 225,000 initial claims, according to Bloomberg's consensus estimates.

Continuing claims, which track the number of people continuing to receive benefits, rose by 17,000 over the previous week to 1.87 million, according to Labor Department data.

The initial claims data comes as investor attention turns toward rate cut decisions at the Federal Reserve's upcoming meeting in March. The minutes of the central bank’s Jan. 27-28 policy meeting, released Wednesday, made clear the Fed is shifting further away from agreeing on another cut. The minutes even made mention of discussion around potential rate hikes.

Traders were pricing in a 94% chance that the Fed will maintain rates at their current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% next month, according to data from CME Group. Most traders are still expecting two rate cuts by the end of th

Etsy (ETSY) shares surged 22% during premarket hours on Thursday after reporting fourth quarter earnings. Despite revenue falling short, the online retailer's stock soared after the company announced it would be selling Depop to eBay (EBAY) for $1.2 billion.

Investing.com reports:

Etsy reported Q4 earnings per share of $0.92, beating analyst expectations of $0.85. Revenue came in at $881.6 million, up 6.6% year over year excluding Reverb from the prior-year period, but slightly below the $884.14 million consensus estimate.

Adjusted EBITDA totaled $222.5 million, translating to a consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin of roughly 25.2%. Gross merchandise sales (GMS) reached $3.59 billion, rising 2.4% year over year, or 1.3% on a currency-neutral basis, excluding Reverb.

The take rate for the quarter was 24.5%.

Looking ahead, the company guided first-quarter 2026 GMS to a range of $2.38 billion to $2.43 billion and expects an adjusted EBITDA margin of about 28% to 30%. It also forecasts a Q1 take rate of approximately 25.5%.

Read more here.

Etsy (ETSY) shares surged 22% during premarket hours on Thursday after reporting fourth quarter earnings. Despite revenue falling short, the online retailer's stock soared after the company announced it would be selling Depop to eBay (EBAY) for $1.2 billion.

Ebay (EBAY) stock rose 7% before the bell on Thursday following the release of its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, which beat analysts' estimates. The e-commerce company also announced the Depop deal with Etsy, in the hope of attracting younger consumers to the online auction site.

Deere (DE) shares rose 5% during premarket hours after raising its annual profit forecast amid a rebound in its construction business.

Epam (EPAM) stock sank 17% before the bell today after forecasting first quarter results in line with analysts expectations.

Walmart (WMT) posted earnings on Thursday that slightly topped Wall Street estimates for the past holiday quarter and year, amid solid growth in sales.

But the retail giant hinted at headwinds ahead in its guidance, pointing to tariffs, geopolitical conditions, and inflation, among other possible pressures.

Shares fell almost 3% before the bell as investors scrutinized the report, its first under new CEO John Furner.

Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports:

The retailer, whose market cap recently eclipsed $1 trillion for the first time, reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.74 in the period, its fiscal Q4 2026. That was a touch higher than the Street forecast of $0.73, per Bloomberg consensus data.

Revenue increased 5.6% to $190.7 billion, basically in line with Wall Street's predictions of $190.6 billion.

For fiscal year 2026, Walmart posted results that were also slightly above estimates. Revenue came in at $715.9 billion, above the nearly $713 billion Wall Street forecast, whereas adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.64, a cent higher than expected.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.KS, SSNLF) shares jumped to a fresh record high Thursday, after local media reported that the firm is negotiating a price for its latest artificial intelligence memory chip that’s up to 30% higher than the previous generation.

The chipmaker’s stock rose as much as 5.4% on Korea Exchange, as the market reopened following a three-day holiday. Samsung is looking to price its HBM4 at around $700 per unit, according to Chosun Ilbo newspaper. Samsung declined to comment on the media report.

... After initially falling behind smaller SK Hynix (000660.KS) in the early days of the AI race, Samsung has been mounting a comeback. Just last week Samsung said it started mass production of HBM4 chips and had shipped commercial products to customers.

SK Hynix had set the price of HBM4 for Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) in the mid-$500 range in August but may move to match Samsung’s higher number, Chosun Ilbo said, citing unidentified people in the industry.

Read more here.

DoorDash (DASH) reported fourth quarter results that slightly missed Wall Street's expectations on the top and bottom lines, while total orders rose more than forecast.

Earnings per share came in at $0.48, compared with the $0.55 the Street had forecast. But adjusted EBITDA reached $780 million in the quarter — up 38% compared to a year ago and almost $5 million above the Street's estimates.

Meanwhile, revenue grew 28% year over year to $3.96 billion, a tick lower than the nearly $4 billion Wall Street predicted. Total orders, which means all orders through its marketplaces and commerce platform, also jumped 32% to 903 million in the quarter. That's more than the 888 million analysts had anticipated.

Its stock rose as much as 13% during premarket hours on Thursday.

Marketplace GOV — the total dollar value of transactions completed through the marketplace, including taxes, tips, and fees related to DashPass and its international platform Wolt+, clocked in at $29.7 billion compared to the expected $29.1 billion.

That was driven higher by growth in new customers and order rates among existing customers in the US restaurant category.

For the first quarter of 2026, the company expects marketplace GOV to be in the range of $31.0 billion to $31.8 billion, above the Street's forecast of $30.75 billion.

Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $675 million to $775 million, which is below what the Street predicted of $800 million.

Oil steadied after its biggest daily gain since October, following an Axios report that American military intervention in Iran could come sooner than expected.

Bloomberg reports:

Brent (BZ=F) held above $70 a barrel after adding 4.3% on Wednesday, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) traded above $65. Axios reported that any US military operation would likely be a weeks-long campaign and that Israel’s government is pushing for a scenario targeting regime change in the Islamic Republic.

A potential war would put flows at risk from a region that pumps about a third of the world’s oil. However, US President Donald Trump risks angering voters ahead of mid-term elections this year if a spike in crude prices makes gasoline more expensive at the pump.

Talks between the sides so far have been inconclusive, with Tehran saying it reached a “general agreement” with Washington on the terms of a potential nuclear deal and an US official said Iranian negotiators would return to Geneva with a new proposal in two weeks. The US also announced visa restrictions on Iranian officials and executives over a recent crackdown on protests.

“The failure to resolve core areas of contention continues to tip the scales in favor of another military confrontation,” RBC Capital Markets analysts including Helima Croft said in a note.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

OpenAI is close to finalizing the first phase of a new funding round that is likely to bring in more than $100 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, a record-breaking financing deal that would give the startup additional capital to build out its artificial intelligence tools.

As the ChatGPT maker prepares to spend trillions in infrastructure investment, the overall valuation of the company, including the eventual funding, could exceed $850 billion, according to some of the people. That’s higher than the $830 billion initially expected. The company’s pre-money value will remain $730 billion, said one person, all of whom asked not to be identified discussing private information.

The first portion of the funding round will largely come from strategic investors including Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY), Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), the people said. If those companies invest near the highest ranges of what has been discussed, those commitments will near $100 billion. Those companies are expected to finalize their allocations by the end of this month, some of the people said.

Read more here.

Carvana (CVNA) stock hit a rough patch as investors took poorly to an earnings report highlighting high expenses in a push for extreme growth.

Bloomberg reports:

The online used-car retailer said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $511 million, lower than the average analyst estimate of $536 million. Higher non-vehicle costs and depreciation were contributors, the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Carvana’s shares fell more than 15% at 6:49 p.m. during after-hours trading in New York, paring an earlier decline of more than 20%.

The company’s stock has been trading at all-time highs this year as investors expect Carvana to continue strong sales growth and improve margins as it builds scale in its operations. Shares hit a record of $478 in January, but have fallen since short seller Gotham City Research questioned related-party transactions and accused the company without proof of inflating earnings.

Read more here.