Wall Street Today in the Buzz

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Your pulse on Wall Street! WallStreetBuzz delivers real-time market intelligence, breaking news, and expert analysis. From opening bell to closing bell, we cover major movers, market trends, sector rotation, institutional flows, and the stories moving stocks
 

•  18 Feb 2026
 

•   CDNS  
   
  -1.45%
•   NVDA  
   
  -0.82%
•   NYT  
   
  +0.75%
•   PANW  
   
  -1.26%
•   PLTR  
   
  -2.85%

$NVDA Nvidia gained 1.8% after expanding its AI chip partnership with Meta Platforms, signaling deeper integration of Blackwell and Rubin processors. While the headline highlights growth, the market may be underestimating NVIDIA’s structural dominance in AI hardware, as adoption at scale by Meta could widen barriers to entry for competitors. This reinforces the company's long-term leverage in enterprise AI demand.

$PANW Palo Alto Networks dropped 7% following the CyberArk acquisition and local exchange registration. The market focuses on short-term operational noise, but the underlying story is a corporate integration challenge, signaling cultural and strategic friction that could weigh on performance into next year. Observing employee alignment post-acquisition will be key to operational execution.

$NYT The New York Times rose 2% as Berkshire Hathaway initiated a 5 million share position. Beyond headline buying, the divergence lies in Buffett reallocating capital away from tech giants, highlighting selective value capture in publishing versus broader technology exposure. This may recalibrate institutional flows into content-driven equities.

$SNDK SanDisk Corp. climbed 1.8% after Western Digital announced a secondary offering and debt restructuring via share conversion. The headline notes supply actions, but the market may overlook short-term pressure on liquidity and share availability, creating transient volatility despite stable fundamentals. Monitoring institutional participation in the offering will clarify near-term demand dynamics.

$CDNS Cadence Design Systems surged 8% following a strong Q4 beat and above-consensus annual guidance. The immediate reaction underscores optimism, yet the pattern of earnings outperformance coupled with AI-driven design demand suggests a sustained structural lift in semiconductor software infrastructure, positioning the company for extended momentum beyond cyclical swings.

$PLTR Palantir rose 2% after Mizhuu upgraded to overweight while maintaining a $195 target. The market may be underappreciating the company’s differentiated revenue growth and margin expansion relative to peers, which could stabilize earnings visibility and support valuation recovery despite YTD underperformance.

$STLD Steel Dynamics gained 0.5% after a joint improved bid with SGH for BlueScope Steel valued at AUD 11B. Beyond the headline of M&A activity, the divergence lies in cross-border strategic execution and potential synergies, indicating the market may be underpricing integration upside and competitive positioning in steel consolidation.

Overall, moderate gains across tech-led sectors reflect post-Fed protocol digestion and a recalibration of AI enthusiasm. Patterns suggest that structurally advantaged AI enablers, integration-focused software firms, and strategic M&A plays are attracting differentiated flows, signaling that the current environment favors companies with scalable operational leverage and clear execution catalysts.

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