Happy Friday afternoon to everyone on The Street. Here's a snapshot of where markets ended the trading session, plus tomorrow's trade idea delivered to you today.

• 🟥 | US stocks fell sharply today as investors sold off growth stocks in search of safe havens amid Trump-era uncertainty and slumping sentiment. It was the Dow’s worst day of 2025 to date.

• 📈 | One Notable Gainer: MercadoLibre’s (MELI) stock jumped more than 7% to record highs after the Latin American e-tailer smashed earnings estimates.

• 📉 | One Notable Decliner: Shares of UnitedHealth (UNH) slid about the same amount on a WSJ report of a DOJ investigation into its Medicare billing practices.

Sponsored by Centurion Publishing

SHOCKING Footage from Strange South Carolina Facility…

This isn’t some AI data center, government facility, Tesla factory or Amazon plant… But the technology being implemented here could soon begin to usher in $24 trillion of new wealth.

Click here to watch as chief investment analyst Matt McCall reveals exactly what’s going on PLUS his top 3 picks to profit from the massive tech rollout.

MARKET MOVERS

Airbnb, Hershey, Tesla

ABNB (-6%) Airbnb Faces Boycott Calls (Newsweek)

HSY (+4.1%) 3 Reasons to Buy Hershey Stock Like There's No Tomorrow (The Motley Fool)

TSLA (-4.7%) / RIVN (-4.7%) Tesla Stock Falls. Rivian Beat It on This Metric. (Barron’s)

HIMS (-25.8%) Shares of Hims & Hers tumble 23% after FDA says semaglutide is no longer in shortage (CNBC)

AKAM (-21.7%) Akamai Technologies Stock Leads S&P 500 Decliners Following Weak Outlook (Investopedia)

OVERHEARD ON THE STREET

Reuters: US business activity stalled in February, with inflation expectations rising to their highest levels in years, amid concerns over tariffs and government cuts.

CNBC: Home sales dropped 4.9% from December to January, while the median home price still hit an all-time high for the month.

The Street: The February Flash PMI report showed a sharp decline in the service sector, raising concerns about the economic impact of Trump’s tariffs.

WSJ: President Trump plans to disband the USPS governing board and place the service under the control of the Commerce Department.

MarketWatch: The SEC agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against Coinbase — but is the crypto exchange out of the regulatory woods yet?

TOMORROW’S TRADE IDEA, TODAY

How Long Til the Future Gets Here?

Microsoft’s Macro Move

Among tech giants, one conversation topic has become increasingly contentious: quantum computing.

Some tech CEOs, like Meta’s (META) Mark Zuckerberg, believe that the technology, which promises ultra-fast computing of complex problems, is decades off. But companies like Google (GOOGL) are heavily invested in bringing quantum computing chips to market as soon as possible.

Well, Microsoft (MSFT) appears to have done just that. Earlier this week, it unveiled its first quantum computing chip. DA Davidson thinks that’s great news for a little-known company called IonQ (IONQ).

The Future Is Here

IonQ is a company dedicated to developing a general-purpose quantum computer. And, as the debate around the technology rages on, it has had an understandably volatile year. Its shares are down 24% since the start of 2025, but up nearly 200% over the past 12 months.

Now, following Microsoft’s reveal, analyst Alexander Platt reiterated his Buy rating on IonQ and set a $50 12-month price target for the stock, representing around 57.5% upside from current prices.

Platt believes the new chip could catalyze the quantum computing industry as a whole, and “serves to validate IonQ’s modular approach to quantum hardware.” According to the analyst, this means that quantum computers capable of solving real industrial problems could be mere years away, not decades.

Undeniable Upside

IonQ could benefit more directly from Microsoft’s breakthrough too. The tech giant has partnered with IonQ to help it construct quantum computing systems, and has made its quantum hardware available through Microsoft’s Azure platform.

According to MarketWatch data, 4 of 7 analysts covering the stock give it a Buy rating, with an average price target of $48.33. Notably, despite the dissidence when it comes to opinions on quantum computing, none have rated it a Sell.

Sponsored by Centurion Publishing

SHOCKING Footage from Strange South Carolina Facility…

This isn’t some AI data center, government facility, Tesla factory or Amazon plant… But the technology being implemented here could soon begin to usher in $24 trillion of new wealth.

Click here to watch as chief investment analyst Matt McCall reveals exactly what’s going on PLUS his top 3 picks to profit from the massive tech rollout.

ON OUR RADAR

AP: How realistic is Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to return DOGE savings to taxpayers?

Bloomberg: A federal judge ordered a probe into the DOJ's motion to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams and did not drop the case.

CNBC: Tesla recalled some 375,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the US due to issues with failing power-assisted steering systems.

The Verge: Apple pulled its encrypted iCloud storage from the UK market following demands for backdoor access to encrypted files.

CNN: Despite its reputation for tiny seats and extra fees, US travelers are turning to Spirit Airlines, given its all-Airbus fleet and fewer safety incidents compared to American and Delta.

THURSDAY’S POLL RESULTS

Are you bullish or bearish on CyberArk (CYBR) over the next 12 months?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🐂 Bullish

🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🐻 Bearish

And, in response, you said:

• 🐂 Bullish — “Cyber attacks will continue to be a threat.”

• 🐻 Bearish — “More momentum than merit.”