Stocks surged higher on Friday, leading the Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) to settle above 50,000 for the first time ever, with technology shares traded higher as investors snatched up key players at their lows.
The Dow soared over 1,200 points on Friday to settle at a new record of 50,115.67. The S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: QQQ) also jumped higher, each rising around 2% to end the day at 6,932.30 and 23,031.21, respectively. Semiconductor and software leaders such as Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) were among the high market gainers on Friday.
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), however, did not join its peers on Friday, instead slipping lower after the ecommerce giant announced it expects to spend $200 billion in capital expenditures this year after its muted quarterly earnings report. Much of the forecasted spending will go into artificial intelligence related investments, including data centers and other infrastructures; Amazon's capital expenditures totaled about $131 billion last year.
"With such strong demand for our existing offerings and seminal opportunities like AI, chips, robotics, low earth orbit satellites, we expect to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across Amazon in 2026, and anticipated strong long-term return on invested capital," CEO Andy Jassy said in a statement.
Despite the strong AI demand, analysts were cautious over the high spending outlook and the company's weaker-than-expected first-quarter margin guidance.
"The 1Q sales guide for $173.5 [billion]-$178.5bn bracketed Street at $176bn and suggests 13% growth at the midpoint (a 1ppt deceleration vs 4Q, while the profit outlook at $16.5 bn-$21.5 bn was below Street at $22.2bn, with investments in [international] retail pricing, lower FBA fees, and a $1bn y/y increase in project Leo costs pressuring margins," wrote Bank of America analyst Justin Post in a note to clients following Amazon's earnings report.
On the economic front, consumer sentiment rose in early February as near-term inflation expectations eased, the University of Michigan's bi-monthly survey showed Friday. The survey's headline preliminary reading for the month came in at 57.3, up 1.6% from January's final print and coming in ahead of economist estimates. However, the index is still off more than 11% from its reading a year ago.
For inflation, the one-year outlook was 3.5% in February's early reading, down a half a percentage point from January, while the five-year outlook ticked higher to 3.4%.
"While sentiment is currently the highest since August 2025, recent monthly increases have been small - well under the margin of error - and the overall level of sentiment remains very low from a historical perspective, said Joanne Hsu, director of the Surveys of Consumers, in a statement. "Concerns about the erosion of personal finances from high prices and elevated risk of job loss continue to be widespread."
For next week, market participants will be met with a series of Fedspeak from several policymakers, alongside economic readings on U.S. retail sales, employment data, and inflation reports throughout the week. Key earnings also slated to release include Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), Spotify Technology (NYSE: SPOT), Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD), Ford Motor (NYSE: F), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT).