The Daily Breakdown takes a closer look at the utilities sector, which is trying to break out and rally to new heights.
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Earnings Movers
Monday delivered plenty of notable moves, with earnings driving much of the action. Spotify surged more than 16% after a strong report, while Ferrari and Datadog also traded higher. Marriott gained more than 8%, pushing to fresh all-time highs. On the downside, S&P Global fell nearly 10%. We may be past the busiest stretch of earnings season, but there are still plenty of stocks making meaningful moves.
Up next: Shopify and Hilton reported this morning, while McDonald’s, Applovin, Grab, and Cisco Systems report after the close.
Consumer Cracks?
Tuesday brought the December retail sales report — and it didn’t impress. Sales were flat month over month versus expectations for a 0.4% increase. Control group sales — the component used in GDP calculations — slipped 0.1%. The prior month was revised lower, and core retail sales were also revised down. In short, it wasn’t a disaster, but it’s not the kind of read you want coming out of the critical holiday shopping season.
Up Next: Monthly jobs report due today at 8:30 a.m. ET.
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The Setup — Utilities ETF
Tech has shown weakness, but other sectors — like utilities — have shown life. The largest ETF by AUM is the XLU. While classically viewed as a defensive play, utilities have been playing a bit of offense over the past two years thanks to AI acting as a bullish catalyst.
The XLU has cleared downtrend resistance (blue line) and has regained all of its daily moving averages. Now bulls are hoping the ETF can enjoy further gains in the weeks ahead. On the upside, the XLU sports a 52-week high of $46.89. On the downside, a break below $42 would put the ETF below recent support, as well as its key moving averages like the 50-day and 200-day.
To learn more about technical analysis, visit our most recent Boot Camp on moving averages.
Options
Investors who are bullish could consider calls or call spreads as one way to speculate on further upside, while bearish investors could consider puts or put spreads to speculate on a further move to the downside. For options traders, it may be advantageous to have adequate time until the option’s expiration.
To learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.
What Wall Street’s Watching
F
Ford shares are active this morning after a mixed quarterly update. Ford posted its largest quarterly earnings miss in four years, driven largely by unexpected tariff costs of roughly $900 million. A stronger outlook for 2026 helped offset some of the disappointment. Dig into Ford’s fundamentals.
LYFT
Lyft is under pressure, down more than 15% after fourth-quarter revenue missed expectations. Sales rose just 3% despite bookings climbing 19%, and several other ride-sharing metrics came in below forecasts. Management also announced a $1 billion share repurchase authorization. Check out the chart for LYFT.
BTC
Bitcoin remains in focus as investors debate whether Friday’s 12.3% surge was just an oversold bounce or the start of a more durable reversal. BTC held most of those gains through Tuesday, but is slipping Wednesday morning. The key question now is whether it can stabilize — or whether lower prices are back in play.
Disclaimer:
Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.