Market Spotlight: Nvidia Earnings, Home Depot Results, Bank Reports, Berkshire Moves & Trump Speech - What’s Shaking Finance This Week

Grab your coffee and strap in—this week's market calendar is packed with enough heavyweight events to make even the most seasoned trader's head spin.

The Tech Bellwether Test

All eyes lock on Nvidia. Its earnings report isn't just another quarterly update; it's a referendum on the AI hype cycle that's been fueling a significant chunk of recent market optimism. A miss could send shockwaves far beyond its own stock ticker.

Retail's Pulse Check

Home Depot steps into the earnings confessional. Forget abstract economic indicators—this is about real people spending real money on plywood and paint. The numbers here will whisper secrets about consumer health and housing market momentum that GDP figures often miss.

Banking on Clarity

A slew of major banks report. Investors will be dissecting every word for clues on credit quality, loan growth, and just how much pain those pesky 'provisions for credit losses' might cause. It's the ultimate reality check for the 'soft landing' narrative Wall Street loves to sell.

The Oracle's Ledger

Berkshire Hathaway's results are always a spectacle. More than profit figures, the market hunts for hints about Warren Buffett's next chess move—massive cash pile deployment, or a defensive hunker-down? It's a masterclass in capital allocation, served with a side of folksy wisdom.

The Wild Card

Then there's the scheduled Trump speech. Love it or loathe it, markets can't ignore it. Expect volatility in anything tied to trade policy, regulation, or geopolitical tension. It's the ultimate reminder that in modern finance, political theater often trumps fundamentals—pun somewhat intended.

Between corporate earnings and political pronouncements, this week perfectly encapsulates the market's dual personality: one part cold, hard numbers, one part pure sentiment. Just another week where betting on fundamentals feels like bringing a spreadsheet to a knife fight.

Nvidia Earnings Come Amid Scrutiny of Big Tech AI Spending

After setting an upbeat tone for the AI trade with its last report, Nvidia’s earnings on Wednesday come as investors continue to raise worries about Big Tech spending. CEO Jensen Huang could speak to the “through the roof” demand for the firm’s AI-specialized chips and provide updates on Nvidia’s access to China. 

Media firms Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery are reporting amid ongoing takeover drama. Warner Bros. Discovery said it was reopening its consideration of a takeover offer from Paramount after it had previously said it WOULD accept the bid from streaming giant Netflix. 

Home improvement retailers Home Depot and Lowe’s are reporting as a housing market slump has hurt sales at the hardware sellers. Traders will also be looking for updates from tech firms Snowflake, CoreWeave, Workday, Dell, and HP.

Berkshire Hathaway’s report on Saturday is the first since Warren Buffett retired from the firm, handing the reins to new CEO Greg Abel.

Trump Speech, Fed Speakers Highlight Economic Calendar

President Trump's annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday comes on the heels of his administration's loss in a court challenge over his tariff policies. TRUMP could use the speech to further lay out his response to the decision, as well as discuss other key economic policies, including housing market reforms and tax policies.

With questions remaining about the path of interest rates amid softening inflation trends and robust labor market data, comments this week from Fed Governor Christopher Waller could provide more insight from an advocate of steeper reductions in borrowing costs. Other Federal Reserve officials are also on the speaking calendar.

The S&P Case-Shiller home price index is on deck as high prices contribute to affordability pressures in the housing market. Wholesale inflation data on Friday follows recent consumer inflation reports that showed price pressures easing more than economists anticipated.

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This Week’s Calendar

• Factory orders (December)
• Federal Reserve Officials Speaking: Fed Governor Christopher Waller
• Key Earnings: Dominion Energy (D), Oneok (OKE)

• President Donald Trump delivers State of the Union address
• More Data to Watch: S&P Case-Shiller home price index (December), Wholesale inventories (December), Consumer confidence (February)
• Federal Reserve Officials Speaking: Fed Governor Lisa Cook, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, Boston Fed President Susan Collins, Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic
• Key Earnings: Home Depot (HD), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), American Tower (AMT), Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), Workday (WDAY), HP (HPQ)

• Key Earnings: Nvidia (NVDA), TJX (TJX), Salesforce (CRM), Lowe’s (LOW), Bank of Montreal (BMO), Synopsys (SNPS), Medline (MDLN), Snowflake (SNOW), Agilent Technologies (A), Paramount Skydance (PSKY)

• Initial jobless claims (Week ended Feb. 21)
• Federal Reserve Officials Speaking: Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman
• Key Earnings: Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Toronto Dominion (TD), Intuit (INTU), Canadian Imperial Bank (CM), Dell (DELL), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), Baidu (BIDU), CoreWeave (CRWV)
  

• Producer price index (January)
• More Data to Watch: Construction spending (December, November), Chicago Business Barometer (February)

• Key Earnings: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B)

One More Thing

Are you in danger of losing your job to AI? It could depend on where you live. Investopedia’s Trina Paul has more on which workers are best positioned to adapt to AI-related job displacement.