Major Averages Rise Following Fed Meeting Minutes
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 3 hours ago
0mins
Should l Buy MSFT?
The major averages finished broadly higher following the release of minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting, with earlier gains supported by optimism around corporate earnings, particularly in technology and select cyclical segments.According to the Fed minutes, several participants indicated that they would have "supported a two-sided description of the Committee's future interest rate decisions," reflecting the possibility of "upward adjustments" in the federal funds rate. Additionally, Fed members said that cutting rates further could be "misinterpreted" as implying diminished policymaker commitment to the 2% inflation objective.Looking to commodities, gold was sharply higher, rebounding from yesterday's losses as the "safe haven" asset continues to have a tumultuous year. Oil was also sharply higher as well.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Berkshire Hathawayin New York Timesand cut its stake in AmazonPalo Alto Networksreportedand cut its FY26 earnings outlookModernasaid the FDA willof its seasonal influenza vaccine submissionMSG Sportsisthat would separate its New York Knicks business from its New York Rangers businessmeeting show that participants see the possibility of a rate increase2. WALL STREET CALLS:Palantirto Outperform from Neutral at MizuhoBioAge Labsto Buy from Hold at JefferiesWorkdayto Market Perform at CitizensGenuine Partsto Hold from Buy at TruistWilliams TradingCrocsto Sell on eroding U.S. demand3. AROUND THE WEB:Microsoftpresident Brad Smith told CNBC that U.S. tech firms should "worry a little bit" about the subsidies their Chinese competitors receive from their government in the AI raceActivist investor Starboard Value is asking Riot Platformsto speed up its transition from Bitcoin miner to a data center company that could house hyperscaler tenants, Bloomberg saysJPMorgan Chaseintends to open over 160 branches in 30 states in 2026 as the company further invests in its brick-and-mortar network, FT reportsMicrosoftis on pace to invest $50B by the end of the decade to help AI expand to countries across the 'Global South,' specifically emerging or lower-income countries in the southern hemisphere, Reuters saysAT&Tis being sued by NYC pension funds for blocking a shareholder vote on workforce diversity disclosures, Reuters says4. MOVERS:Sabreincreases afterand naming Shawn Williams as Chief Commercial OfficerImmunitygains after the European Commissionfor AnktivaMister Car Washand Caesarshigher afterAxcelisfalls afterand providing guidance for Q1HF Sinclairlower afterand announcing the departure of CEO Tim Go5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Insuletand provided guidance for FY26LCI Industries, with CEO Jason Lippert commenting, "We delivered a very strong 2025"Clean Harbors, with EPS and revenue beating consensusWingstopand provided guidance for FY26, with CEO Michael Skipworth commenting, "Our team continues to demonstrate operational excellence as we opened 493 net new restaurants and expanded into six new international markets"JLL, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:The Dow rose 129.47, or 0.26%, to 49,662.66, the Nasdaq gained 175.25, or 0.78%, to 22,753.64, and the S&P 500 advanced 38.09, or 0.56%, to 6,881.31.
Trade with 70% Backtested Accuracy
Stop guessing "Should I Buy MSFT?" and start using high-conviction signals backed by rigorous historical data.
Sign up today to access powerful investing tools and make smarter, data-driven decisions.
Analyst Views on MSFT
Wall Street analysts forecast MSFT stock price to rise
34 Analyst Rating
32 Buy
2 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 396.860
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
Current: 396.860
Low
500.00
Averages
631.36
High
678.00
About MSFT
Microsoft Corporation is a technology company that develops and supports software, services, devices, and solutions. Its Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of products and services in its portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services, spanning a variety of devices and platforms. It comprises Microsoft 365 Commercial products and cloud services; Microsoft 365 Consumer products and cloud services; LinkedIn, and Dynamics products and cloud services. The Intelligent Cloud segment consists of its public, private, and hybrid server products and cloud services. It comprises server products and cloud services, including Azure, and enterprise and partner services, including Enterprise Support Services. Its More Personal Computing segment primarily comprises Windows and Devices, including Windows OEM licensing; Gaming, including Xbox hardware and Xbox content; Search and news advertising, comprising Bing and Copilot, Microsoft News, and Microsoft Edge.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Microsoft to Invest $50 Billion to Expand AI Access in Global South
- Massive Investment: Microsoft announced at the India AI Impact Summit its plan to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to enhance AI access in Global South countries, demonstrating its commitment to emerging markets and long-term growth.
- Five-Part Strategic Plan: The company's five-part strategy includes empowering schools and nonprofits through technology and skills, strengthening multilingual and multicultural AI capabilities, enabling local AI innovations to meet community needs, and measuring AI diffusion to guide future policies and investments, aiming to enhance AI's societal impact comprehensively.
- Food Security Initiative: Microsoft also unveiled a new AI initiative aimed at strengthening food security across Sub-Saharan Africa, starting in Kenya and designed for regional scalability, reflecting its focus on addressing local challenges through technology.
- Global AI Gathering: India is set to host one of the world's largest AI gatherings, with Prime Minister Modi aiming to position the country as a key player in the global race for advanced AI models, attracting top executives from major tech firms including Microsoft, thereby enhancing India's influence in the global AI landscape.
See More
Robinhood Investors Favor Blue-Chip Stocks
- Investor Preferences: The ten most owned stocks on Robinhood include blue-chip stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet, indicating that investors are still focused on high-growth tech plays, even as they avoid more speculative stocks.
- Google's AI Potential: Google's Gemini generative AI platform is rapidly growing, with analysts expecting revenue and EPS to grow at CAGRs of 15% and 12% from 2025 to 2028, highlighting its strong potential in the digital advertising and cloud infrastructure markets.
- Amazon's Market Advantage: As the world's largest e-commerce and cloud infrastructure company, Amazon leverages AWS profits to expand its retail business, with analysts projecting revenue and EPS growth at CAGRs of 12% and 18% from 2025 to 2028, indicating robust future growth.
- Investment Recommendation: Analysts view both Alphabet and Amazon as evergreen stocks worth investing in, and Robinhood investors' choices reflect confidence in these stocks, especially amid current market volatility, showcasing their long-term investment value.
See More
Robinhood Investors Favor Alphabet and Amazon Stocks
- Investor Preference: On the Robinhood platform, Alphabet and Amazon are the most favored stocks, each receiving 58 buy ratings, indicating strong investor confidence and reflecting market recognition of their long-term growth potential.
- Alphabet's Diversification: With a robust ecosystem that includes a search engine, cloud services, and a generative AI platform, Alphabet is expected to grow its revenue and EPS at CAGRs of 15% and 12% from 2025 to 2028, demonstrating its ongoing expansion capabilities in the digital advertising and cloud markets.
- Amazon's Market Leadership: As the world's largest e-commerce and cloud infrastructure company, Amazon's AWS business supports its retail operations, with projected revenue and EPS growth rates of 12% and 18% from 2025 to 2028, showcasing its potential in the rapidly growing AI market.
- Investment Value: Despite market volatility, analysts still view Alphabet and Amazon as evergreen stocks worth investing in, indicating that Robinhood investors are leaning towards stable blue-chip stocks rather than more speculative ones.
See More
CrowdStrike Expands Strategic Alliance with Microsoft for Falcon Platform
- Marketplace Integration: CrowdStrike's Falcon platform is now available on Microsoft Marketplace, enabling organizations with full Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment eligibility to deploy the platform faster, thereby simplifying procurement and billing processes and enhancing operational efficiency.
- Increased Financial Flexibility: Customers can apply existing Azure Consumption Commitment funds to purchase the Falcon platform, a move that not only accelerates security implementation but also reduces procurement friction, maximizing the impact of their cloud investments.
- Security as a Foundation: Microsoft’s commercial business CEO Judson Althoff emphasized that security is foundational for AI transformation, and this integration allows customers to optimize cloud spending while maintaining a rigorous security posture.
- Market Sentiment Shift: Over the past 24 hours, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for CRWD shares shifted from 'bearish' to 'neutral', while sentiment for MSFT shares declined from 'neutral' to 'bearish', indicating differing market perceptions of the two companies' stocks.
See More
Cantor Fitzgerald Increases Stake in IREN
- Share Acquisition: On February 17, 2026, Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed to the SEC the acquisition of an additional 3,333,423 shares of IREN, with an estimated transaction value of $171.96 million, indicating strong confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Market Value Increase: This acquisition led to a $124.65 million increase in IREN's quarter-end value, reflecting the dual impact of new purchases and price changes, thereby solidifying Cantor Fitzgerald's investment strategy in the digital asset sector.
- Portfolio Adjustment: Following this transaction, IREN now represents 1.99% of Cantor Fitzgerald's 13F AUM, while the firm drastically reduced its stake in CoreWeave by 86%, highlighting its focus on IREN's growth potential.
- Market Performance: As of February 17, 2026, IREN shares were priced at $40.97, up 215.9% year-over-year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 by 203 percentage points, showcasing its robust performance in the data center and Bitcoin mining sectors.
See More
Cantor Fitzgerald Increases Stake in IREN Shares
- Share Acquisition Details: On February 17, 2026, Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed the acquisition of an additional 3,333,423 shares of IREN, with an estimated transaction value of $171.96 million based on the quarterly average price, indicating strong confidence in the company.
- Value Increase: The quarter-end value of IREN's position rose by $124.65 million, reflecting both new purchases and stock price movements, suggesting Cantor Fitzgerald's optimistic outlook on IREN's future growth.
- Market Position Analysis: With a market capitalization of $13.59 billion, IREN represents only 1.99% of Cantor Fitzgerald's 13F AUM, yet its growth potential has drawn investor interest, particularly given its dependency on a contract with Microsoft.
- Investment Strategy Shift: Cantor Fitzgerald significantly increased its investment in IREN while reducing its stake in CoreWeave during Q4, indicating a belief that IREN may offer higher return potential moving forward.
See More
Microsoft to Invest $50 Billion to Expand AI Access in Global South
- Massive Investment: Microsoft announced at the India AI Impact Summit its plan to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to enhance AI access in Global South countries, demonstrating its commitment to emerging markets and long-term growth.
- Five-Part Strategic Plan: The company's five-part strategy includes empowering schools and nonprofits through technology and skills, strengthening multilingual and multicultural AI capabilities, enabling local AI innovations to meet community needs, and measuring AI diffusion to guide future policies and investments, aiming to enhance AI's societal impact comprehensively.
- Food Security Initiative: Microsoft also unveiled a new AI initiative aimed at strengthening food security across Sub-Saharan Africa, starting in Kenya and designed for regional scalability, reflecting its focus on addressing local challenges through technology.
- Global AI Gathering: India is set to host one of the world's largest AI gatherings, with Prime Minister Modi aiming to position the country as a key player in the global race for advanced AI models, attracting top executives from major tech firms including Microsoft, thereby enhancing India's influence in the global AI landscape.
See More
Robinhood Investors Favor Blue-Chip Stocks
- Investor Preferences: The ten most owned stocks on Robinhood include blue-chip stocks like Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet, indicating that investors are still focused on high-growth tech plays, even as they avoid more speculative stocks.
- Google's AI Potential: Google's Gemini generative AI platform is rapidly growing, with analysts expecting revenue and EPS to grow at CAGRs of 15% and 12% from 2025 to 2028, highlighting its strong potential in the digital advertising and cloud infrastructure markets.
- Amazon's Market Advantage: As the world's largest e-commerce and cloud infrastructure company, Amazon leverages AWS profits to expand its retail business, with analysts projecting revenue and EPS growth at CAGRs of 12% and 18% from 2025 to 2028, indicating robust future growth.
- Investment Recommendation: Analysts view both Alphabet and Amazon as evergreen stocks worth investing in, and Robinhood investors' choices reflect confidence in these stocks, especially amid current market volatility, showcasing their long-term investment value.
See More
Robinhood Investors Favor Alphabet and Amazon Stocks
- Investor Preference: On the Robinhood platform, Alphabet and Amazon are the most favored stocks, each receiving 58 buy ratings, indicating strong investor confidence and reflecting market recognition of their long-term growth potential.
- Alphabet's Diversification: With a robust ecosystem that includes a search engine, cloud services, and a generative AI platform, Alphabet is expected to grow its revenue and EPS at CAGRs of 15% and 12% from 2025 to 2028, demonstrating its ongoing expansion capabilities in the digital advertising and cloud markets.
- Amazon's Market Leadership: As the world's largest e-commerce and cloud infrastructure company, Amazon's AWS business supports its retail operations, with projected revenue and EPS growth rates of 12% and 18% from 2025 to 2028, showcasing its potential in the rapidly growing AI market.
- Investment Value: Despite market volatility, analysts still view Alphabet and Amazon as evergreen stocks worth investing in, indicating that Robinhood investors are leaning towards stable blue-chip stocks rather than more speculative ones.
See More
CrowdStrike Expands Strategic Alliance with Microsoft for Falcon Platform
- Marketplace Integration: CrowdStrike's Falcon platform is now available on Microsoft Marketplace, enabling organizations with full Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment eligibility to deploy the platform faster, thereby simplifying procurement and billing processes and enhancing operational efficiency.
- Increased Financial Flexibility: Customers can apply existing Azure Consumption Commitment funds to purchase the Falcon platform, a move that not only accelerates security implementation but also reduces procurement friction, maximizing the impact of their cloud investments.
- Security as a Foundation: Microsoft’s commercial business CEO Judson Althoff emphasized that security is foundational for AI transformation, and this integration allows customers to optimize cloud spending while maintaining a rigorous security posture.
- Market Sentiment Shift: Over the past 24 hours, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for CRWD shares shifted from 'bearish' to 'neutral', while sentiment for MSFT shares declined from 'neutral' to 'bearish', indicating differing market perceptions of the two companies' stocks.
See More
Cantor Fitzgerald Increases Stake in IREN
- Share Acquisition: On February 17, 2026, Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed to the SEC the acquisition of an additional 3,333,423 shares of IREN, with an estimated transaction value of $171.96 million, indicating strong confidence in the company's future prospects.
- Market Value Increase: This acquisition led to a $124.65 million increase in IREN's quarter-end value, reflecting the dual impact of new purchases and price changes, thereby solidifying Cantor Fitzgerald's investment strategy in the digital asset sector.
- Portfolio Adjustment: Following this transaction, IREN now represents 1.99% of Cantor Fitzgerald's 13F AUM, while the firm drastically reduced its stake in CoreWeave by 86%, highlighting its focus on IREN's growth potential.
- Market Performance: As of February 17, 2026, IREN shares were priced at $40.97, up 215.9% year-over-year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500 by 203 percentage points, showcasing its robust performance in the data center and Bitcoin mining sectors.
See More
Cantor Fitzgerald Increases Stake in IREN Shares
- Share Acquisition Details: On February 17, 2026, Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed the acquisition of an additional 3,333,423 shares of IREN, with an estimated transaction value of $171.96 million based on the quarterly average price, indicating strong confidence in the company.
- Value Increase: The quarter-end value of IREN's position rose by $124.65 million, reflecting both new purchases and stock price movements, suggesting Cantor Fitzgerald's optimistic outlook on IREN's future growth.
- Market Position Analysis: With a market capitalization of $13.59 billion, IREN represents only 1.99% of Cantor Fitzgerald's 13F AUM, yet its growth potential has drawn investor interest, particularly given its dependency on a contract with Microsoft.
- Investment Strategy Shift: Cantor Fitzgerald significantly increased its investment in IREN while reducing its stake in CoreWeave during Q4, indicating a belief that IREN may offer higher return potential moving forward.
See More
