Nasdaq Surges 150 Points; Lowe's Posts Upbeat Earnings

U.S. stocks traded mostly higher midway through trading, with the Nasdaq Composite gaining around 150 points on Wednesday.

The Dow traded down 0.06% to 43,594.06 while the NASDAQ gained 0.87% to 19,192.72. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.46% to 5,983.30.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Information technology shares jumped by 1.4% on Wednesday.

In trading on Wednesday, consumer staples shares fell by 1.6%.

Top Headline

Lowe's Companies, Inc. LOW reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.93 above the street view of $1.84. Quarterly sales were $18.553 billion, a slight decline of 0.3% year over year, but they outpaced the analyst consensus estimate of $18.292 billion.

Lowe's said it sees 2025 EPS of $12.15–$12.40, below the $12.51 consensus estimate. Total sales are projected at $83.5 billion – $84.5 billion, compared to the $84.56 billion consensus.

Equities Trading UP

Enveric Biosciences, Inc. ENVB shares shot up 108% to $2.4540 after the company announced its non-hallucinogenic psychedelic compounds showed promise for treating addiction and ADHD.
Shares of Mullen Automotive, Inc. MULNgot a boost, surging 72% to $4.0685 after the company announced that its Mullen ONE and Mullen THREE vehicles have been added to National Auto Fleet Group’s Sourcewell contract for public sector government purchasing.
Porch Group, Inc. PRCH shares were also up, gaining 65% to $6.25 after the company reported fourth-quarter financial results.

Equities Trading DOWN

Flywire Corporation FLYW shares dropped 41% to $10.48 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results.
Shares of Venus Concept Inc. VERO were down 34% to $0.3540. Venus Concept recently announced several senior management changes.
Geron Corporation GERN was down, falling 31% to $1.64 after the company posted quarterly results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.3% to $68.76 while gold traded up 0.4% at $2,929.50.

Silver traded up 1.4% to $32.28 on Wednesday, while copper rose 1.3% to $4.5875.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 rose 0.99%, Germany's DAX 40 gained 1.71% and France's CAC 40 climbed 1.15%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index rose 1.64%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.72%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed mixed on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 0.25%, China's Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.02% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surging 3.27%.

Economics

U.S. mortgage applications declined by 1.2% from the previous week during the week ending Feb. 21
U.S. crude oil inventories declined by 2.332 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 21, compared to market estimates of a 2.54 million gain, the EIA said.
Sales of new single-family homes in the U.S. dipped 10.5% to an annualized rate of 657,000 in January.
Building permits declined by 0.6% to an annualized rate of 1.473 million in January.

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