Good morning investors!

If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 27,000 subscribers striving to be better investors with an edge in the market.

Every weekend we publish “The Weekly Wrap-Up” — your ticket to being well informed and staying ahead in the investment game!

This report is designed to help investors of all skill levels break down important stories/topics within the stock market. And best of all, we cut through all of the BS and give you exactly what you need to know in easy to digest, bite sized pieces of content.

Grab your coffee and let’s dive in.

It was a red week for the market as many stocks continue to struggle in February.

These are some of the biggest stories from the second half of the week that had an influence on market action.

This week’s CPI and jobs reports delivered a broadly constructive read on the economy. Inflation came in cooler than expected and showed continued easing across several key categories. At the same time, hiring surprised to the upside after a sluggish stretch last year. Together, the data points to steady growth, moderating price pressure, and a labor market that is showing signs of stabilization.

🔑 Key Points

👀 What You Need to Know

The combination of cooling inflation and stronger hiring gives policymakers room to stay patient without fearing immediate economic weakness. Shelter inflation slowing is especially important since it drives a large share of CPI. Job gains concentrated in healthcare and social assistance highlight stability but not broad acceleration. Markets are starting to price in cuts by midyear, though steady growth and wage strength could delay aggressive easing.

📚 Edge-ucation: What is the Fed’s Dual Mandate?

The Federal Reserve operates under a “dual mandate,” which means it has two primary goals when setting interest rate policy: keep prices stable and support a strong labor market. Every decision around raising, holding, or cutting rates is guided by how inflation and employment are trending relative to those targets.

Understanding the dual mandate helps explain why the Fed reacts so strongly to CPI and jobs reports, since those two data points directly shape the path of interest rates and financial conditions.

Software stocks have been slammed in what some are calling the “SaaS-pocalypse,” as a mix of AI disruption fears, slower growth, and stretched valuations sparked a sharp repricing. Investors are starting to question how durable traditional SaaS models are if AI can replace parts of workflows or reduce the need for multiple tools. The selling has been broad and fast, hitting both weaker names and long-time leaders across the space.

🔑 Key Points

👀 What You Need to Know

AI is at the center of the selling narrative right now, and it’s forcing investors to rethink which software tools remain essential long term. The market is trying to figure out whether AI becomes a feature inside existing platforms or replaces parts of the stack entirely. That uncertainty is pushing valuations lower and raising the bar for companies to prove they can keep growing. Strong platforms with deep integration and high retention should still hold up, but the easy premium multiples across the whole sector are likely gone.

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Several major names reported this week, and the common thread was steady demand but uneven execution, with beats often getting sold as investors focused more on guidance, margins, and forward growth durability than headline numbers.

Coca-Cola $KO ( ▲ 1.18% ) delivered a modest earnings beat but missed on revenue, as steady pricing was partly offset by softer demand in North America and Asia.

Shopify $SHOP ( ▲ 1.94% ) delivered a strong top-line beat with resilient GMV growth and double-digit free cash flow margins, but EPS came in a touch light.

Cisco $CSCO ( ▲ 0.82% ) beat on EPS and revenue, but the stock sold off as investors digested full-year revenue guidance and the mix of AI tailwinds versus broader enterprise demand.

McDonald’s $MCD ( ▲ 0.65% ) delivered a clean beat powered by value-led traffic and strong global comps, reinforcing the durability of the model in a pressured consumer backdrop.

Robinhood $HOOD ( ▲ 0.61% ) beat on EPS but missed on revenue, with crypto softness and lower activity pressuring the top line despite strong full-year momentum.

For full breakdowns of these earnings, including graphics and all key takeaways. head to the earnings channel in our Discord.

In this section, we'll be curating a selection of news headlines we think you'll find interesting. If a topic catches your eye, click the provided links to read more about it.

We continue to push out more and more content every week to give investors that edge. Here are the posts Investor’s Edge+ subscribers received this week.

Mondays are for the investors. Every Monday morning we share exactly what we’re watching in the week ahead, how we’re positioning, and even share a sneak peek into our systems and models. This week we discussed the massive week of earnings ahead, as well as upcoming inflation data, and the delayed jobs reports. See the latest full report here:

Every month we break down 5 stocks that we believe are attractive from a valuation perspective right now. Here’s a look at the 5 stocks we are buying in February:

Every month we share a full access look into our portfolios, including holdings, performance, activity and our watchlists for the upcoming month. You can see both of our portfolios, what moves we made in January, and how we performed in 2025 here:

Another inflation print and more earnings will keep us busy here at the Edge.

Earnings season winds down a bit next week but it’s only a lull as there are still several major names left to report this quarter. Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:

Overall, 2 of the names we cover are set to report:

Next week will be another busy one for economic data as the Fed’s preferred inflation metric will be updated and the meeting minutes from the latest Fed meeting will be released.

We also get initial jobless claims, housing numbers, manufacturing data, and consumer sentiment throughout the week.

Here is the full calendar of events we will be watching:

If you are only reading the newsletter, you are only getting a fraction of the benefits of being an Edge subscriber.

Our Discord server is tailor-made for investors like you who want to dive deeper into stocks, share insights, and engage directly with us. And it’s completely free!

Here’s what you’re missing in the Discord:

🗨️ Chat rooms: Investors discussed the the huge moves from mega cap tech. Members also dove into the number of jobs reports and shared their views on the overall economy.

📊 Earnings / Economic reports: No more waiting for our newsletters to hit your inboxes - see earnings results and economic data as they are released. And more importantly, get our reactions and insights immediately.

🚨 Trade Alerts: Chris and Mark shared several trades, including additions to the portfolio and trades that set up their portfolios for the week.

Join us on Discord and let's level up our investing game together. The future of trading awaits—and you're invited to be a part of it! 🌟

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Thank you for reading this edition of the Weekly Wrap-Up. Have a great weekend!

Until next time investors!

Mark & Chris

The Investor’s Edge

This is not investing advice. It is very important that you do your own research and make investments based on your own personal circumstances, preferences, goals and risk tolerance.