Nvidia's drop drags the US market down even as most stocks rise

NEW YORK (AP) — Nvidia 's latest blowout profit report is getting waved off by Wall Street on Thursday, and it's dragging the U.S. market down even though most stocks are rising.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% following its swivels earlier in the week driven by hopes and worries created by the artificial-intelligence revolution. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 77 points, or 0.2%, as of 11:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.3% lower.

Nvidia, whose chips are helping to power the AI boom, reported another stellar quarter of profit growth that breezed past analysts’ expectations. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that once again topped Wall Street’s estimates.

But such blowout performances have become so typical for Nvidia that they're losing their oomph. Its stock sank 4.1%. Earlier in the morning, it had been down as much as 5.6% and on track for its worst loss since April.

“Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute — the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.

Worries are nevertheless rising that those customers may eventually curtail their spending on Nvidia's chips and other AI investments amid doubts about whether they can make back all their billions of dollars through future gains in productivity.

Because Nvidia’s is the largest stock in the U.S. market by value, it has more influence on the S&P 500 than any other. It alone accounted for more than half the S&P 500's drop. That's a large part of why the index fell, even though most of the stocks within it rose.

Back on the winning side of Wall Street Thursday was Salesforce, which rose 3.6% after it likewise reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

It’s a return to gains for the stock, which is still down roughly 25% for the young year so far. It’s been under pressure because of worries that AI-powered competitors could undercut its business.

Salesforce uses AI itself in its offerings that help customers manage relationships with their own customers. It also made several announcements that typically give a stock’s price a boost: It will send up to $50 billion to shareholders through buybacks of its stock, and it increased its dividend.

“Agentic AI is a tailwind for our business,” CEO Marc Benioff said.

Stocks of companies in industries as far flung as trucking logistics and financial services have likewise come under sudden and aggressive attacks this year by investors who fear their businesses may lose out to AI or even become obsolete.

The sharpest swings have hit software companies, and a widely followed ETF that tracks the industry rose 2.1% Thursday to trim its loss for the year so far to 21.9%.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Warner Bros. Discovery shares edged down 0.1% after the entertainment giant reported a $252 million loss for the fourth quarter. That didn’t seem to bother investors, who are likely more interested in which acquisition offer — Netflix or Paramount Skydance — the company and its shareholders ultimately accept.

Some of the sharpest swings in financial markets were for oil, where prices swiveled as the United States and Iran held indirect talks to try to reach a deal about Iran’s nuclear program.

A peaceful solution would remove the threat of war, which investors worry could block the global flow of oil and drive up its price. The U.S. military has already built up the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades, which has raised the stakes. The current round of talks feels “make or break,” according to strategists at Macquarie.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude briefly fell as low as $63.60. But it quickly erased that loss and then climbed back to $66.38, up 1.5%. Brent crude also erased an earlier loss to rise 2.2% to $72.24 per barrel.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi leaped 3.7% to another record, driven by gains for tech-related stocks. It’s already surged nearly 50% since the turn of the year.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, meanwhile, lost 1.4%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.02% from 4.05% late Wednesday.

A report showed that the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits ticked up last week, but not by any more than economists expected. It also remains relatively low compared with history.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Options traders Chris Dattolo, left, and Steven Rodriguez work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Snow falls outside the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of over 6,000 points during a ceremony at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Lee Eog-weon, second from left, Chairman & CEO of the Korea Exchange, Jeong Eun Bo, center, a and other officials celebrate as a screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of over 6,000 points during a ceremony at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People walk near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands as a vehicle passes by in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

GENEVA (AP) — Iran and the United States were holding another round of indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday to try to reach a deal on Tehran's nuclear program and potentially avert another war as the U.S. gathers a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump wants a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, and he sees an opportunity while the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests. Iran also hopes to avert war, but maintains it has the right to enrich uranium and does not want to discuss other issues, like its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

If America attacks, Iran has said U.S. military bases in the region would be considered legitimate targets, putting at risk tens of thousands of American service members. Iran has also threatened to attack Israel, meaning a regional war again could erupt across the Middle East.

“There would be no victory for anybody — it would be a devastating war,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told India Today in an interview filmed Wednesday just before he flew to Geneva.

“Since the Americans' bases are scattered through different places in the region, then unfortunately perhaps the whole region would be engaged and be involved, so it is a very terrible scenario.”

Ali Vaez, an Iran expert with the International Crisis Group, said it was a good sign that the Americans did not walk away immediately when Iran presented its latest proposal on Thursday.

“There might still not be a breakthrough at the end of this day, but the very fact that the U.S. team is returning shows that there is enough common ground between the two sides," he said.

The two sides held multiple rounds of talks last year that collapsed when Israel launched a 12-day war against Iran in June and the U.S. carried out heavy strikes on its nuclear sites, leaving much of Iran's nuclear program in ruins even as the full extent of the damage remains unclear.

Araghchi is representing Iran at the talks. Steve Witkoff, a billionaire real estate developer and friend of Trump who serves as a special Mideast envoy, is heading up the U.S. delegation with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The talks are again being mediated by Oman, an Arab Gulf country that's long served as an interlocutor between Iran and the West.

The two sides adjourned after around three hours of talks and planned to resume the discussions later on Thursday. A convoy believed to be carrying Iranian diplomats could be seen returning to the compound hours later.

“We’ve been exchanging creative and positive ideas in Geneva today,” said Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who mediated. “We hope to make more progress.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said diplomats held “very intensive” negotiations, meeting with the Omani envoy and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog. The talks will reconvene later on Thursday, after the sides consult their governments, Baghaei said.

He said the Iranians felt there were “constructive proposals” offered on both nuclear issues and sanctions relief.

Trump wants Iran to completely halt its enrichment of uranium and roll back both its long-range missile program and its support for regional armed groups. Iran says it will only discuss nuclear issues, and maintains its atomic program is for entirely peaceful purposes.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday that Iran is “always trying to rebuild elements” of its nuclear program. He said that Tehran is not enriching uranium right now, “but they’re trying to get to the point where they ultimately can.”

Iran has said it hasn't enriched since June, but it has blocked IAEA inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.

The West and the IAEA say Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003. After Trump scrapped the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60% purity — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to restart a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.” Some Iranian officials have spoken openly about the country's readiness to produce a bomb if that decision is taken.

If the talks fail, uncertainty hangs over the timing of any possible U.S. attack.

If the aim of potential military action is to pressure Iran to make concessions in nuclear negotiations, it’s not clear whether limited strikes would work. If the goal is to remove Iran’s leaders, that will likely commit the U.S. to a larger, longer military campaign. There has been no public sign of planning for what would come next, including the potential for chaos in Iran.

There is also uncertainty about what any military action could mean for the wider region. Tehran could retaliate against the American-allied nations of the Persian Gulf or Israel. Oil prices have risen in recent days in part due to those concerns, with benchmark Brent crude now around $70 a barrel. Iran in the last round of talks said it briefly halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

Satellite photos shot Tuesday and Wednesday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP appeared to show that American vessels typically docked in Bahrain, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, were all out at sea. The 5th Fleet referred questions to the U.S. military’s Central Command, which declined to comment. Before Iran’s attack on a U.S. base in Qatar during the closing days of the war last June, the 5th Fleet similarly scattered its ships at sea to protect against a potential attack.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Melanie Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated Press reporters Will Weissert in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Oman's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, right, holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, and Jared Kushner, as part of the ongoing Iranian-American negotiations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. (Foreign Ministry of Oman via AP)

Oman's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, right, holds a meeting with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, centre, and Jared Kushner, as part of the ongoing Iranian-American negotiations, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday Feb. 26, 2026. (Foreign Ministry of Oman via AP)

The U.S. delegation arrives at the Oman ambassador's residency, where the indirect nuclear talks between the United States and Iran are taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP)

Vehicles drive past the Saint Sarkis church and a painting of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A woman walks past a painting on the wall of a girls school at Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, street in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Commuters drive past Saint Sarkis church and a mural of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini in downtown Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)