Tech Stocks Under Pressure as Intel's Weak Outlook Hits Market

The major averages were mixed near noon, with pressure in tech fueled by Intel's sharp slide following a weak outlook from the chipmaker. The mixed midday standings cap off a volatile week that has reflected shifting investor sentiment around geopolitics, earnings, and economic data.Looking to commodities, gold continues to reach record highs, with the "safe haven" asset approaching the $5,000 threshold. Meanwhile, oil prices were sharply higher following yesterday's declines as traders await more news coming out of Venezuela.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:TikTok is forming awith Oracleto comply with President Trump's executive orderIntelreportedbut provided a conservative guidance for Q1Capital Onereported mixed Q4 results andfor $5.15BTech firms have been told by China to begin preparing orders for Nvidia'sH200 AI chips,SLMreported2. WALL STREET CALLS:Starbucks (SBUX)to Outperform from Market Perform at William BlairMeliusDardento Buy from Hold on value disciplineProcter & Gambleto Overweight from Neutral at JPMorganLi Autoto Hold from Buy at JefferiesTrade Deskto Market Perform from Outperform at Citizens3. AROUND THE WEB:Beijing is deepening an investigation into Meta'sacquisition of Chinese-founded AI startup Manus, Bloomberg saysUBSintends to make cryptocurrency investing available for private banking clients, with the company currently in the process of selecting partners for a crypto offering, Bloomberg saysNetflixco-CEO Greg Peters said the company is on track to win the backing of Warner Bros.shareholders for its $82.7B offer for the company, FT reportsCitigroupplans to lay off more employees in March following a round of about 1,000 job cuts this month, Reuters saysA batch of technology companies, including C3 AI, Bill Holdings, GitLab, and Datadog, appear to be candidates to attract buyout offers, Barron's says4. MOVERS:Life360higher afterEricssonincreases in New York afterand announcing a proposed raise to its dividendFortinetgains after TD Cowenthe stock to BuyStreamexfalls after delivering a prepayment notice forBausch Healthlower in New York after announcing itsprogram did not meet its primary endpoint5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEBooz Allenand narrowed its guidance for FY26Webster Financial, with EPS and revenue beating consensusLa Rosa HoldingsFirst Citizens, with CEO Frank Holding, Jr. commenting, "We delivered solid return metrics in the fourth quarter"SLB, with EPS and revenue beating consensusINDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was down 0.51%, or 253.81, to 49,130.20, the Nasdaq was up 0.50%, or 116.13, to 23,552.15, and the S&P 500 was up 0.11%, or 7.37, to 6,920.72.