If you wanted to know what was really moving the market this past week, you didn't need to look at a Bloomberg terminal. You just needed to scroll through X or Reddit's r/WallStreetBets. The conversation there was a wild mix of earnings reactions, AI hype, and corporate drama, all filtered through the unfiltered lens of retail investors.
The main characters in this week's financial soap opera were a familiar cast of tech heavyweights: Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR), and Salesforce Inc. (CRM). From semiconductors to streaming, here’s what had everyone talking.
Nvidia: The Great Expectations Problem
Let's start with the elephant in the room, or rather, the chipmaker that briefly lost hundreds of billions in market cap. Nvidia did the thing it always does: it reported absolutely staggering earnings. Revenue hit a record $68.1 billion, up 73% year-over-year, driven by its data center business exploding to $62.3 billion on the back of insatiable AI chip demand. The new Blackwell chips are already ramping up sales.
And then the stock fell off a cliff. It plunged 8.5% on February 26th and another 5.46% on the 27th. The market's reaction was essentially, "Is that all you've got?" It was a classic case of expectations getting ahead of even the most impressive reality. Some retail investors were, understandably, a bit miffed.
Adding fuel to the fire, famed investor Michael Burry drew a comparison that sent a chill down many spines. He pointed to Nvidia's purchase obligations and likened them to those of Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) before its collapse during the dot-com bubble. It's a spicy take, whether you agree with it or not.
Despite the recent stumble, the long-term picture is still rosy. The stock had a 52-week range of $86.63 to $212.19 and was trading around $185 to $187 at the time of writing. It's up over 53% in the past year. Market data showed it had a weaker price trend in the short and medium term but remained strong over the long term, with a solid quality ranking.
Netflix: Knowing When to Fold 'Em
Over in streaming land, Netflix made a power play by deciding not to play. The company declined to raise its offer to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD), after WBD's board labeled an offer from Paramount Skydance Corp. (PSKY) a "superior proposal." Co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters said they wouldn't match the higher price.
On the forums, retail investors weren't mourning a lost deal; they were celebrating a potential payday. By walking away, Netflix may be entitled to a $2.8 billion termination fee since WBD declined its offer. One user's reaction summed it up nicely: sometimes the best deal is the one you don't make.
Analyst Gary Black turned bullish on the move, raising his price target on Netflix to $100 per share. The stock itself had a 52-week range of $75.01 to $134.12 and was trading around $90 to $92. It's down about 12% over the year. Market data indicated a weaker price trend in the medium and long term, but a stronger one in the short term, with a poor value ranking.
AMD: Getting the Ultimate Seal of Approval
While Nvidia was dealing with a sell-off, its rival AMD was busy signing the kind of deal that makes competitors nervous. On February 24th, AMD announced a blockbuster, multi-year strategic partnership with Meta Platforms Inc. (META). The deal involves AMD supplying up to 6 gigawatts of its Instinct GPUs to power Meta's next-generation AI infrastructure. The potential value? Up to $60 billion over five years.
As if that wasn't enough, the agreement also grants Meta an option to acquire up to a 10% stake in AMD via warrants. It's not just a customer relationship; it's a strategic alignment. Experts like Daniel Newman said this provides the "receipts" needed to validate AMD's AI roadmap. Rosenblatt analyst Kevin Cassidy reiterated a "Buy" rating with a $300 price target, suggesting nearly 40% upside.
The retail take was simpler and more confident: with Mark Zuckerberg this deeply invested, the stock isn't going to collapse. The stock had a 52-week range of $76.48 to $267.08 and was trading around $201 to $204, up over 104% in the past year. Market data showed a weaker short- and medium-term price trend but a strong long-term trend and a solid quality score.
Palantir: The Partnership Machine Keeps Churning
Palantir, the data analytics company that often feels more like a philosophy, continued its business development spree. It signed new and ongoing deals with GE Aerospace (GE) to use its AI for defense supply chain management. It also announced a strategic partnership with Rackspace Technology Inc. (RXT) to deploy Palantir's AI platform within Rackspace's Private Cloud and UK Sovereign data centers.
The news had some retail investors feeling bullish enough to draw comparisons to Google. The stock had a 52-week range of $66.12 to $207.52 and was trading around $134 to $137. It was up over 60% year-over-year but down about 13% over the last six months. According to market data, Palantir maintained weaker price trends across short, medium, and long terms, but held a solid growth score.
Salesforce: Record Results Meet Cautious Words
Finally, there's Salesforce, the enterprise software giant trying to prove it's still got it in the age of AI. The company delivered record results: revenue of $11.2 billion and non-GAAP EPS of $3.81, with full-year FY26 revenue hitting $41.5 billion. The momentum for its Agentforce AI product was a key driver.
But then came the guidance. For FY27, the company projected revenue of $45.8 to $46.2 billion, which was seen as slightly cautious amid broader concerns about AI disruption and enterprise software spending. This initially pushed shares lower post-earnings, despite positives like a massive new $50 billion share buyback authorization and an ambitious FY30 revenue target of roughly $63 billion.
The retail reaction had a layer of skepticism. Some mocked the company, calling it "dinosaur tech." The stock had a 52-week range of $174.57 to $304.92 and was trading around $194 to $201, down over 32% in the past year. Market data indicated it was maintaining a weak price trend across all timeframes, though it had a solid quality ranking.
This week's retail focus was a classic blend of meme-driven narrative, earnings psychology, and corporate chess moves. It all played out against a backdrop of negative action for the major indices, proving once again that even in a down market, there's never a dull moment when the crowd gets involved.
