News and analysis

Solana (SOL) is down 4.7% to $179.40 this week, underperforming the broader crypto market, where Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.7% to $98,470. The decline follows the LIBRA memecoin scandal, which has cast a shadow over Solana, the blockchain on which LIBRA was launched.

Argentine President Javier Milei is facing fraud allegations after promoting LIBRA, claiming it would fund small businesses and startups. Following his endorsement, LIBRA skyrocketed by 4,000% on February 14, only to collapse by 95% after early investors reportedly took $100 million in profits. Milei later deleted his post and admitted to making a mistake, with some opposition politicians even considering impeachment proceedings.

Nevertheless, Solana maintains strong institutional backing. Franklin Templeton actively uses Solana in its operations, while Bank of America has compared Solana’s speed and efficiency to Visa in the cryptocurrency space. The blockchain continues to see growing adoption, though its rapid expansion brings increased risks.

SOL briefly dropped 20% earlier this week, hitting a low of $160.82—the lowest since November 5, 2024, before the Trump-driven rally began. Prices have since recovered, but SOL must reclaim $175.00 to sustain a move toward its $225.00 target. Failure to do so could see a further decline to $125.00, which would likely present a strong buying opportunity.

The largest U.S. chain of hypermarkets, Walmart, shed new light on its inner sales projections. For its fiscal year of 2026, the particular numbers turned out to be somewhat lower compared to current estimates by the Wall Street analytical pool. The crowd responded by a nearly 8% plunge in the pre-market trading before the opening bell on February 20. Many investors may have thought they witnessed first signs of fading consumers' optimism. Yet, I personally do not believe this is a kind of fundamental trend reversal. Walmart's business has more than doubled over the past year, from about $50 to $105.30 at its new peak on February 14, with more than two-thirds of this rise being made in the last five months. Such steep climbs may easily face technical corrections under appropriate conditions, which occasion could immediately be considered as a great buying opportunity to enter the stock. The $90-a-piece support line formed a powerful pillar of the immediate post-Christmas rush. For me, the price area just above it plays the same role now.

What actually happened was that the fourth quarter of 2024 today revealed a very nice annual revenue growth of 4.1% (to reach the absolute record of $180.55 billion vs $179.85 in average expectations). This gave even up 5.3% in constant currency, with operating income rising at 8.3% (up $0.6 billion), or 9.4% in the so-called adjusted calculations. Walmart's EPS (equity per share) came out at $0.66, slightly better than $0.64 in average analyst pool forecast, which was only $0.01 lower than the best-ever quarterly indication of August 15, 2024. Global eCommerce sales by Walmart by 16%, reportedly led by "store fulfilled pickup & delivery" and U.S. marketplace. U.S. comparable sales, excluding gasoline, expanded by 4.9% in the last quarter, compared to previous expectations for a jump of 4.15%, helped by solid demand for obesity drugs. The chain's advertising business has increased by 29%, including 24% for Walmart Connect program in the U.S., which extends ad reach beyond Walmart's owned properties by displaying ads on a network of partner websites. In 2024, Walmart also raised its dividend payment to shareholders by 13% to $0.94 per share, which was the largest increase in over a decade. "We have momentum driven by our low prices, a growing assortment, and an e-commerce business driven by faster delivery times," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said in a statement, adding that the chain continued to gain its market share. I see only good things in last year's report, despite all natural disasters in December, am I thinking in the wrong direction?

As to the current financial year, Walmart only projected consolidated net sales to rise within the range of 3% to 4%, against Wall Street egghead analyst suggestions of a 4% uptick, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. For Q1 2025, the store chain sees its adjusted per-share profit at $0.57 to $0.58, marginally less than Wall Street estimates as well, citing negative currency effects. If you can call this a weakness, then call it a weakness that Kylian Mbappe scored "only" three goals instead of using his possible four or five scoring chances for Real Madrid against Manchester City in the Champions League match last eve. I think we now have 3-1 in Walmart's favour and no investor should cry if the score is not 4-0. The result is great anyway, still giving Walmart a ticket to the next round of buying to follow the uptrend.

When offering every possible thing from retail goods to groceries, the clear progress of Walmart also serves as a bellwether for other U.S. consumer staples just a few days after the recent set of retail sales data has shown only a monthly decline, very typical for February. But I still see Walmart and Costco as leaders in which it makes good sense to invest more than other stocks in the segment.

Monero (XMR) is trading flat around $231 this week after briefly rising by 4.72% to $242.7 earlier. The token maintains a steady uptrend, having surpassed key resistance levels at $175 in December and $195 in January. It is now retesting the $225 resistance from above, with price targets set at $275–$285.

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Monero is less affected by broader market volatility due to its strong focus on privacy and fungibility. Optimism around privacy coins surged after the U.S. Treasury lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash last December. Although Monero was previously delisted from Binance due to regulatory concerns, the easing of restrictions suggests a more favourable outlook for the project going forward. If momentum continues, XMR could push toward its next resistance levels in the coming weeks.

As most Wall Street stocks are only hovering near record highs, reluctant to take extra steps up under global tariff threats, some equities noted in our previous reports are making headway. In particular, the dizzying success of Intel Corporation (INTC) becomes so clear, following a new U.S. regulatory landscape. In a tariff-driven domestic frame, a recent pledge by Donald Trump's vice president JD Vance for a stepped-up push to support the nationally-oriented chip manufacturers raised the market price of Intel from just $20 to $25 per share in a few days over the past week. Now, to this initial 25% jump, another 16% has been added within one trading session on February 18. When touching the next $27.5 mark, Intel continues to shine on news about potential splitting this large business in two.

Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported after the long weekend that the other two semiconductor flagships, Broadcom (AVGO) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) were exploring the prospects of the deal. Broadcom, which is a worldwide specialist in designing and developing solid-state components for a lot of chip-based technologies, including its role in common efforts for Apple's chip Baltra for new iPhones after 2026, seems to be trying to acquire Intel's chip-design segment and its marketing operations. Meanwhile, the chip giant of Taiwan is considering controlling stake in Intel factories. A possible partnership between Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor in dividing Intel was noted by several whistleblowers. White House plans to boost U.S. chip production may create legal guarantees and also expedite a possible approval for the deal.

TSM already has its fabrication facility in the state of Arizona, which it officially plans to expand "in the coming years". That's why TSM could be very receptive to such a deal, if Trump's administration would make preferences for producing U.S.-designed chips on United States soil. There could be only two obstacles. First, negotiations are probably in early stages. Trump could have objections to the concept of letting a foreign entity control U.S.-based chip factories. But he supposedly has no big choice on financing domestic chip production, taking into consideration that Intel was too weak in recent decades, lagging behind AI grands.

The U.S. new government may be ready to push for TSM to support Intel, as the Republicans need production expansion in the U.S. to show the success in creating jobs and adding the market value to the company, which was declining for years. TSM could even avoid import tariffs in this case. It is only unclear whether these plans will include Intel. Anyway, those stockholders who had responded to our call after the start of Intel's surge last week have already made at least 20%, and can now make a calm and informed choice on whether to take profits or wait beyond a reasonable $50 per share target that looks likely if all the deal leaks later materialize.