Positive trend in Europe; Check Point falls close to 7% after the reports

16:18

Trading on Wall Street opened with moderate gains, a day after a strong employment report that sparked mixed feelings in the markets, and while investors digest new earnings data from giant companies.

The Dow Jones is up by 0.3%, the S&P 500 by 0.2% and the Nasdaq by 0.3%.

stock Cisco Drops by about 7%, after the communications equipment company (routers, switches, etc.) published a disappointing forecast for the current quarter. McDonald’s shares actually moved higher after a stronger than expected report, rising by almost 1%.

These moves come after a weak day of trading on Wall Street: the Dow fell by more than 66 points (about 0.1%), the Nasdaq shed about 0.2%, and the S&P 500 ended with only a negligible decline.

Stocks ended the day lower after an early rally following a strong employment report. The jobs report (NFP) for January indicated an addition of 130,000 jobs – well above forecasts, and also significantly higher than the downwardly revised December figure. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 4.3% compared to 4.4%.

The report reassured investors who feared a sharp slowdown in the labor market, after a series of data that indicated a slowdown in growth in a “no hire, no fire” environment.

However, strong employment data also complicates the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook — and could lead to fewer rate cuts than markets had hoped for, especially if inflation remains high. Therefore, the importance of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that will be published on Friday increases, as it may clarify whether the Fed can better balance its two goals: price stability and full employment.

15:00

The cyber security company Check point published the 2025 reports a little while ago and reported at the same time on the acquisition of three Israeli start-up companies: Cyclops, Cyata and the staff of Rotate. The amounts of the purchases were not disclosed, but according to estimates, these amount to over 150 million dollars. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Check Point, under the management of Nadav Tzafir, recorded an approximately 6% growth in revenue to $745 million, less than market forecasts, but significantly exceeded the bottom line forecasts with a non-GAAP net profit of $3.40 per share. In the fourth quarter, the addition to the net profit per share stood at 52 cents.

Check Point ended the year 2025 with 6% growth for revenues of 2.725 billion dollars, in the middle of the range of the forecast given by the company in the past. The volume of its billing (orders) at the end of the year increased by 9% to over 2.9 billion dollars. Net profit per share on a Non-GAAP basis amounted to $11.89, an increase of 30% from the previous year. The company benefited from an addition of $1.90 to the net profit per share due to taxation changes.

Following the reports, the stock is now down about 7% in early trading.

Also the dual chip company Nova published its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025 a few minutes ago. The company reported quarterly revenues of $222.6 million, an increase of 14% compared to the corresponding quarter last year. Net profit on a GAAP basis was $64.7 million, or $1.94 per fully diluted share, a 23% increase compared to the same quarter last year. Net profit on a non-GAAP basis was $72.2 million, or $2.14 per fully diluted share, a 10% increase compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

As for the full year 2025, the company reported record annual revenues of $880.6 million, an increase of 31% compared to this year last year; Record GAAP net income of $259.2 million, or $7.96 per fully diluted share, a 38% increase over the previous year;
And a record in net profit on a non-GAAP basis of $282.6 million, or $8.62 per fully diluted share, a 29% increase compared to this year last year.

Following the report, the stock is now down 7.5% in early trading on Wall Street.

13:00

Trade in Europe continues to be conducted in a mixed trend. The DAX index jumps by about 1.3%, the FTSE advances by about 0.2% and the KAC climbs by about 0.6%.

The German technology giant Siemens Increases by over 6%, after the company raised its earnings per share forecast for the fiscal year 2026 from a range of 10.4-11 euros, to a range of 10.7-11 euros. When asked about the investments in AI and data centers, CEO Roland Bush told CNBC that “it’s a very dynamic field. We believe that the impact in the real world – that is, in industrial production, product design or operational testing using artificial intelligence – will come faster than we expect.”

The share of the French luxury company Hermes Climbing, after posting 9.8% growth in fourth quarter revenue, supported by strong sales in the US and Japan.

10:50

The stock of the German car giant Mercedes down over 4%, after reporting a sharp drop in its profits for the full year 2025 and warning of a challenging period; This, later in the year during which the competition from the Chinese car manufacturers increased and the costs of the tariffs increased. The company reported an operating profit of 5.8 billion euros – a 57% decrease compared to 2024. The result is significantly lower than analysts’ expectations, which was 6.6 billion euros.

10:15

European stock markets open the day with price increases. The Dax index rises by about 1%, the Potsi advances by about 0.4% and the KAC jumps by about 1.3%. The futures contracts on Wall Street register increases of up to 0.3%.

9:20

Asia

Asian stock markets are trading in a mixed trend this morning. The Tokyo Stock Exchange made history during the night, when the Nikkei index crossed the 58,000 point mark for the first time – although later it retreated from the record and rose by only 0.1%. This is the continuation of the rally that began with the victory of the President of Japan, Sana Takaichi, in the round of elections held in the country at the beginning of the week. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is down by about 1%, the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed steady and the South Korean Stock Exchange jumped over 3% to a new all-time high.

Wall Street

In New York, the stock market closed slightly lower, after the stronger than expected employment report. The Nasdaq fell by about 0.2%, the S&P 500 closed flat and the Dow Jones lost about 0.1%, after three consecutive days of gains.

The report indicated that the economy added 130,000 jobs compared to an expected 55,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate stood at 4.3%, while it was expected to remain stable at a level of 4.4%. Following the publication, the stock indices initially reacted with increases, but later deleted most of them, apparently due to the fact that the stronger than expected report makes the next interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve more distant. According to CME Group data, the probability priced in the markets for an interest rate cut in the upcoming decision of the Federal Reserve in March, decreased from about 20% before the publication of the report to a rate of about 6%.

After the recovery registered in the last few days in the software shares, the basket fund iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF, which tracks the sector, fell by about 2.6%. Among the stocks that stood out in the declines, you can find Microsoft , Palantir , Shopify , oracle , Applewing , Now service and more.

A number of stocks made significant movements during the trading day following the publication of their financial results:

thyme – The shares of the Israeli company, which deals in the field of digital printing on textiles, reported a return to growth in revenues – they grew by 2.2% to approximately 208 million dollars. The net loss amounted to $13.5 million on a GAAP basis, a reduction compared to 2024, and on a non-GAAP basis a net profit of $14.4 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $1.5 million were recorded, an increase from 2024. CEO Ronan Samuel said: “The fourth quarter concludes a year of focused and consistent execution. This year we returned to revenue growth, achieved positive adjusted EBITDA and generated strong operating cash flow.”

and wet – The digital infrastructure company’s stock jumped nearly 25%, after its profits in the fourth quarter exceeded analysts’ forecasts. The company reported revenues of 2.88, in line with analysts’ expectations, while the earnings per share stood at $1.36 – above the expectation of $1.29 and significantly above the earnings per share in the corresponding period last year, which was $0.99. The company also raised its forecasts for the full year 2026.

Unity – The shares of the software company, which provides an engine for the development of video games, plunged by about 25%, although its financial results exceeded analysts’ forecasts in the top and bottom lines. The company presented a revenue forecast of 480-490 million dollars in the first quarter of 2026, slightly below the analyst consensus.

Astra Labs – The AI ​​infrastructure company’s stock fell by over 20%, even though it beat the top and bottom line forecasts. The company reported revenues of $271 million and earnings per share of 58 cents, compared to expectations for revenues of $250 million and earnings per share of 51 cents. CNBC reports that although revenues in the fourth quarter grew by 92% compared to the same period last year, some analysts expected the company to show revenues of over 280 million dollars.

Yesterday, CNBC reported that the founder of the Pershing Square hedge fund, Bill Ackman, revealed that he has a stake in the stock Meta . According to the report, Ackman’s holding is equivalent to 10% of Pershing Square’s capital, as of the end of 2025. In the fund’s annual investor presentation, it is stated that “We believe that Meta’s current share price does not sufficiently reflect the company’s long-term upside potential in the field of AI, and represents a significantly discounted valuation for one of the largest businesses in the world.”

Macro

As mentioned, the expected employment report for the month of January indicated that the American economy presented an addition of 130,000 jobs – far above the expectation of an addition of 55,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate stood at 4.3%, while it was expected to remain stable at a level of 4.4%.

Ellen Zantner, chief economic strategist at Morgan Stanley, told Bloomberg that “markets may have expected a slowdown in today’s data after last week’s weak data, but the labor market actually stepped on the gas pedal. Today’s data shows an acceleration in employment that was strong enough to push the unemployment rate down.”

Brett Canwell, an analyst at eToro, told Bloomberg that this is a report that investors should welcome, even if it gives the Federal Reserve more leeway to keep interest rates unchanged. “It is important to keep proportions: this is one data point, and it does not erase the recent weakness observed in other data. But if the labor market does stabilize, it will help both the economy and the market,” he noted.

Tomorrow, the consumer price index for the month of January will be published in the US. The index is expected to indicate that inflation will rise by 0.3%, a rate similar to that recorded in December 2025 – which will reflect an annual increase of 2.5%.

The commodity and currency markets

Oil prices jumped by about 1.5% yesterday, against the background of the ongoing tensions between the US and Iran and the Netanyahu-Trump meeting at the White House. The increases also came against the background of a report in the Wall Street Journal yesterday that the Pentagon ordered another aircraft carrier to prepare for departure to the Middle East. The price of a barrel of American oil this morning stands at about 64.9 dollars, while the price of a barrel of Brent oil stands at about 69.5 dollar

In the crypto market, Bitcoin fell by about 4% yesterday and was trading around $67,000 this morning. Crypto stocks like Robin Hood , strategy andCoinbase Ended the trading day on Wall Street with notable declines.

forecast

The effects of the AI ​​revolution continue to be felt in less predictable areas of the market. stock Generac – a manufacturer of home generators – took off yesterday by about 18% on Wall Street, although its financial results were weak and missed analysts’ forecasts. The reason: an optimistic sales forecast, against the background of the company’s shift to focus on backup generators for server farms – the demand for which is expected to accelerate.

The company reported net sales of $1.09 billion in the fourth quarter – a 12% decrease compared to the same period last year. The decrease was due to a sharp slowdown in generator deliveries to residences, against a background of fewer power outages compared to the corresponding period last year, which was full of hurricanes in the US.

However, sales in the Industrial and Commercial Products (C&I) division grew 10% in the quarter to a record $399.5 million – above the FactSet analyst consensus of $387 million. In the investor call held after the publication of the reports, the company’s CFO, York Ragan, stated that the growth in C&I products “was mainly due to revenues from products sold to local and international data center customers.”

The company expects its C&I activity to grow by 30% in 2026 – above the Factset analyst consensus of 21.7% growth. Also, according to the company’s growth forecasts, the share of C&I sales of all sales is expected to increase to 43% in 2026, compared to 39% in 2025.

In an article published by Yahoo Finance, it was noted that “while demand in the private sector remains cyclical and depends to a large extent on the weather, electricity backup for the commercial sector – linked to growth in the hyperscale and industrial sectors – appears to be a more durable and stable profit engine”. The stock has risen by about 52% since the beginning of the year, when out of 21 analysts who cover it, 15 set a “buy” recommendation for it and six set a “hold” recommendation for it. According to Investing, its average target price now stands at about $203 – and reflects a downside of about 5.5% compared to its current price.