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Good morning investors!

If this is your first time reading, welcome to The Investor’s Edge — a thriving community of over 22,000 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.

Market Talk

Markets were doing well this week, then Friday happened and all three major indexes ended the week much lower.

3 Stories Moving the Market

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

UnitedHealth’s rough stretch continues, with buyouts, a reported DOJ probe and a 23% drop in three months

UnitedHealthcare is under investigation by the DOJ for alleged fraudulent Medicare billing practices. The probe examines whether the company made questionable diagnoses to receive extra payments for its Medicare Advantage plans. UnitedHealth denies the allegations, calling them “misinformation.”

The company is also cutting costs through employee buyouts and potential layoffs, while dealing with the fallout from a cyberattack on its subsidiary, Change Healthcare, which exposed the health information of 190 million people.

Additionally, UnitedHealthcare faced public criticism from investor Bill Ackman, who accused the company of overstating profitability by denying necessary medical procedures, though he later retracted his comments.

Despite these challenges, UnitedHealth Group remains the largest U.S. healthcare conglomerate by revenue, though they have led to a 23% drop in UnitedHealth Group's stock over the past three months.

Palantir Falls On CEO Share Sale Plan, Possible DOD Budget Cut

Palantir’s stock fell over 18% this week after CEO Alex Karp disclosed plans to sell up to $1.23 billion worth of his shares and news emerged that the Pentagon is considering defense budget cuts over the next five years.

The planned sale involves up to 48.9 million shares, as disclosed in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This sizable sell-off from Karp has raised concerns among investors about insider sentiment and its potential impact on the stock price.

Adding to investor anxiety, the Pentagon is reportedly considering budget cuts over the next five years, as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked senior military officials to draft a cost-cutting plan

Despite these developments, some analysts believe the budget cuts could benefit Palantir by driving demand for cost-efficient defense software solutions.

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Earnings: Walmart, Alibaba, Mercado Libre and more report results

Earnings season is off to a strong start. Here’s how some of the major companies that reported this week have performed:

Walmart shares fell despite beating earnings and revenue expectations as the company provided a much weaker than expected full year outlook. Here are the key numbers from the report:

• Earnings per share: $0.66 vs. $0.65 expected

• Revenue: $180.55 billion vs. $180.07 billion expected

Alibaba shares surged last week after beating earnings and revenue expectations. Here are the key numbers from the report:

• Earnings per share: $2.93 vs. $2.67 expected

• Revenue: $38.38 billion vs. $38.14 billion expected

Mercado Libre shares surged after topping earnings and revenue estimates and showing continued strength and growth. Here are the key numbers from the report:

• Earnings per share: $12.61 vs. $7.90 expected

• Revenue: $6.06 billion vs. $5.88 billion expected

Block shares plunged after missing earnings and revenue expectations and providing guidance that was softer than expected. Here are the key numbers from the report:

• Earnings per share: $0.71 vs. $0.88 expected

• Revenue: $6.03 billion vs. $6.29 billion expected

*Note - our full breakdown of these reports, as well as several others, was sent out in Friday’s Earnings Recap.

In Other News

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.

• Walmart shares drop as retailer says profit growth will slow

• Tesla recalls more than 375,000 vehicles in U.S. due to failing power-assisted steering systems

• Alibaba stock surges as Chinese tech giant touts 'robust' AI momentum

• MercadoLibre Stock Jumps On Big Q4 Earnings Beat, Strong Sales Growth

• Block shares plunge 17%, head for worst day in 5 years after earnings miss

• Inflation fears surge in February as consumer sentiment plunges over tariff uncertainty

• Coinbase says the SEC has agreed to end ‘bogus’ enforcement case against crypto exchange

• Celsius Stock Is Soaring. Earnings and Deal News Are Fueling a Big Rally.

• Rivian beats Wall Street’s fourth-quarter expectations, but expects lower deliveries in 2025

• Home sales drop sharply as prices hit an all-time high for January

Edge+ Posts of the Week

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.

The Edge Report

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 earnings ahead, the impacts of tariffs, and the potential for new record highs. See the latest full report here:

The Options Edge Report

This week, we dropped the latest Edge Options Report for our members—packed with actionable insights and options strategies. This week we discussed a trade to capitalize on Amazon’s recent sell-off. See the latest report here:

Earnings Recap

Every week during earnings season is extremely busy for us here at the Edge as we dive into over 100 reports and provide our members with top tier breakdowns and insights. This week we saw earnings from Walmart, Alibaba, Mercado Libre, and many more. See this week’s recap:

The Week Ahead

Earnings season carries on with several major companies reporting, including Nvidia, and the Fed’s preferred inflation metric is set to be released.

Earnings Reports

Can Nvidia save the day again? The semiconductor company will be in focus next week, as will several retail names. Here is the list of names we will be covering:

• Monday 2/24: Domino’s Pizza and Realty Income

• Tuesday 2/25: Home Depot and American Tower

• Wednesday 2/26: Nvidia, Salesforce, and Lowe’s

• Thursday 2/27: --

• Friday 2/28: --

Here is the full calendar of scheduled earnings releases:

Economic Reports

Next week’s PCE inflation report will be the main catalyst on the economic news front.

We also get initial jobless claims, GDP, housing data, and several Fed speeches.

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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

Disclosure

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.