Stocks face potentially a volatile week. Not just from the earnings that are due from the likes of Nvidia, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target.
There’s also a bit of unease settling over markets coming from crypto land, where prices for bitcoin, ethereum and other crypto currencies have slumped since peaking in the last few months, and from the strains in the U.S. economy from tariffs, inflation and slowing job growth.
So, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 800 points on Thursday and was down as many as 594 points on Friday before investors began to buy the dip. The average still closed down nearly 310 points to 47,147. Amazingly, it meant the Dow ended the week up 0.3%.
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The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 536 points on Thursday and was down as many as 459 points the next day, when the dip buying set in. The index closed at 22,900, up 30 points but off 0.5% for the week.
So, Nvidia’s report, due after Wednesday’s close, is a big deal. You start with the market capitalization: $4.63 trillion as of Friday, the richest market cap of any company in the world. Indeed, at the end of October, Nvidia’s market cap represented about 8.5% of the markete cap of the entire Standard& Poor’s 500 Index.
The earnings estimate is for $1.22 a share, up 50% from a year earlier. The revenue estimate is for $547 billion, up 56% from a year ago.
But the stock finished Friday at $190.17 and is down 10.4% from its 52-week high of $212.19 on Oct. 29. The shares are still up 41.7% this year, however, and, when CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang speaks, he gets an audience.
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It is the dominant player in chips used in artificial intelligence with the financial strength to remain dominant. At the end of its second quarter, the company had $57 billion in cash to work with and only $8.5 in long-term debt.
Even if Google-parent Alphabet, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta Platforms develop their own chips for AI, Nvidia is likely to dominate, writes Morningstar analyst Brian Colella, because many AI users and developers will still prefer semiconductors and graphic user interface chips that aren’t effectively dedicated.
Colella sees 40% growth for its 2027 fiscal year, which ends on the last Sunday of January 2027.
The downside to consider is to remember the dot-com bust that began in early 2000. A big factor in that abrupt downturn was that demand for chips and networking equipment was so great that customers double- and triple-ordered the technology they needed.
The worry in some circles is that the AI demand may be exposed to similar forces.
The other big reports to consider
The week is filled with huge companies still, including
- Walmart
- Home Depot
- Lowes Companies
- Target
- Medtronic
All are more exposed to the broad economy overall and the stresses of consumers and businesses generally.
Walmart, which reports before Thursday’s open, has invested heavily in technology to make its global system operate most efficiently and has managed its way around Trump Administration tariffs as anyone. The company announced that CEO Doug McMillon will step down in January with John Furner, CEO of Walmart U.S., taking the top job.
Target has struggled in recent years to develop and execute a decent plan to compete more effectively against Walmart and Costco Wholesale.
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Home Depot and Lowe’s see their fortunes tied to the housing market  — either new construction or renovation by homeowners or house flippers. And their prospects depend on low interest rates.
Medtronic’s products are mostly geared to the health care sector of the economy. So, its prospects are tied to the ability of patients and their insurance coverage.
The stress that’s hitting crypto
The end of the week saw Bitcoin dropping 3.9% to $94,263. The best-known crypto currency is about 14% down for November. And just under 24% from its peak on Oct. 6.
True, Bitcoin is up 41% since the November 2024 election, but it is up just 1.9% on the year and down 9% since President Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Bitcoin is not alone in the swoon. Most crypto currencies are suffering.
Crypto’s slump has hit a number of brokerage stocks that do a lot of business in crypto. Coinbase, the biggest crypto dealer, is down 17.4% so far in November (but up 229% year to date). Robinhood Markets was up 229% as late as Oct. 8. It’s fallen 19.7% since.
The crypto crash has hurt one of its biggest cheerleaders, Michael Saylor, CEO of Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy. The company buys bitcoin, and, for much of 2025, it seemed like a barn burner of a stock, hitting $455.90 in July. It’s down to $199.75 since then. Its market cap, which hit $125 billion in July, is now down to $57.3 billion.
Bitcoin, as like most crypto currencies, is volatile and see a huge runup and then a 50% drawdown. Investors who don’t recognize the tops can lose a lot of money. They’re learning that right now.
What’s not clear is if the crypto crash will damage the entire stock market.
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