Key Market Insights for This Monday: Steel Tariffs and Nvidia Earnings

As the stock market opens on Monday, there are important developments and trends forming that investors should pay attention to.

Market Overview

Markets are expected to start positively on Monday. This comes after the S&P 500 saw a 1% decline on Friday due to worries regarding tariffs and consumer sentiment. Weekly losses were mild for the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones. The upcoming week will feature fewer earnings reports, but DuPont is slated to report next on Tuesday morning.

Impact of Steel Tariffs

Shares of Nucor and other steel manufacturers are set for a boost in premarket trading. This follows President Donald Trump's announcement that he intends to impose a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. Nucor, based in North Carolina, has been on the watchlist of stocks favored for its potential growth.

Nvidia's Strong Position Ahead of Earnings

Investment firm Evercore ISI has upgraded Nvidia to its "Tactical Outperform" list as the company prepares for its earnings report on February 26. Analysts see the recent decrease in Nvidia's stock price, attributed to concerns surrounding its DeepSeek product line, as a purchasing opportunity, maintaining a price target of $190 per share.

McDonald's Earnings Surprise

Fast-food giant McDonald's reported quarterly sales that fell short of Wall Street's expectations, although its earnings per share met forecasts. The company did see a same-store sales increase of 0.4%, which was better than anticipated despite a decrease in sales within the U.S. McDonald's shares showed a slight gain in premarket trading.

Home Depot's Positive Outlook

The price target for Home Depot has been raised from $450 to $475 by JPMorgan. The analysts have also included it on their "Analyst Focus List," anticipating a 1% rise in U.S. comparable store sales for the upcoming quarter, in contrast to the general market expectation of a 2.4% decline.

Merck's Downgrade

Investment firm TD Cowen has lowered its rating for Merck from buy to hold. Additionally, the price target was adjusted down to $100 from $121. Analysts reported a lack of improvement in clarity regarding the HPV vaccine Gardasil, along with concerns about the company's business development trajectory, especially as its critical cancer treatment, Keytruda, approaches the expiration of its exclusivity.

Johnson Controls Receives Upgrade

Johnson Controls was upgraded to a buy rating at UBS. With the upcoming leadership transition to CEO Joakim Weidemanis, analysts are optimistic about the company's potential for margin expansion in various sectors such as HVAC and security.

Palo Alto Networks' Earnings Forecast

Barclays expressed confidence in Palo Alto Networks as it approaches its earnings report on Thursday. Analysts believe the company may outperform expectations on key metrics like bookings and recurring revenue. Despite being downgraded multiple times in January, the stock has climbed nearly 7% since the start of the year.

Kraft Heinz Faces Challenges

Kraft Heinz has been downgraded to neutral from buy at Mizuho Securities, amid tough conditions in the packaged food sector. The company's stock has seen troubled times, down approximately 18.5% over the past year.

Shopify Gains Positive Attention

In anticipation of its earnings report on Tuesday, Shopify has been upgraded to a buy rating from hold, with expectations that the e-commerce platform will deliver strong metrics on gross merchandise value.

stocks, tariffs, earnings