8 Key Items Shaping the Stock Market Thursday

These are the early headlines and other items poised to influence the market at the start of trading Thursday. As we share this collection of market drivers, U.S. equity futures across the board point to a positive market open.

1. The market’s next major focus will be the consumer-price index inflation report, due out on Friday. (Barron’s)

That’s right, the January PPI report that was supposed to have been published today, ahead of tomorrow’s January CPI report, has been pushed back until February 27. Blame the recent and short-lived government shutdown, the same one that led to the January Employment Report being pushed back until yesterday. However, it appears that we could face another mini shutdown on Valentine’s Day (February 14).

While Congress aims to reach a deal on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding this morning, The Hill reports insufficient progress has been made for Senate Democrats to back another short-term DHS funding bill. A shutdown would be limited to the DHS, which includes agencies that handle TSA security checkpoints, cybersecurity threats, and emergency disaster relief.

2. Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) upgrade to the Siri virtual assistant has run into snags during testing, potentially pushing back the release of several highly anticipated functions. The company is now working to spread the new capabilities out over future versions, possibly postponing at least some features until at least iOS 26.5 or iOS 27. (Bloomberg)

While this is a bit of a disappointment and means the long-awaited juice for the iPhone upgrade cycle is pushed out further, this is what product testing is for. Our preference would be for Apple  (AAPL)  to iron out the kinks before introducing the revamped AI-enabled Siri lest it risk an underwhelming consumer experience. We will follow developments, but this could mean Apple shares are rangebound over the next few quarters. But it also suggests a potentially stronger H2 2026 with a full AI-enabled Siri launch and the debut of Apple’s first foldable iPhone.

3. Sales at McDonald’s restaurants that have been open at least a year rose 5.7 per cent between October and December compared with a year before, the hamburger chain reported on Wednesday… Affordability has emerged as a top concern for US consumers as economic uncertainty limits household budgets and presses the revenue of companies that sell families food and household goods… The chain used promotions to lure back cost-conscious diners. (FT)

McDonald's  (MCD)  results are a fresh sign that consumers remain cautious and selective in their spending. Despite that comp sales increase, Mickey-D’s showed no operating margin leverage in Q4 2025 compared to the prior quarter, and operating margins dipped sequentially. This reaffirms the data we’ve seen in recent monthly PMI reports about the ability to pass through price increases. It also reinforces our focus on operating margin prospects when looking at existing holdings as well as prospects for the Pro Portfolio.

4. Cisco Systems reported better-than-expected financial results as demand for artificial intelligence hardware remained strong… The networking segment generated the most revenue for the company. Networking revenue for the quarter was $8.29 billion, above Wall Street estimates of $7.9 billion and a 21% increase from the prior year. (Barron’s)

Certainly, positive for the Portfolio’s chip holdings, especially Marvell  (MRVL)  and Broadcom  (AVGO) , but also Arista Networks  (ANET) , which will report after today’s market close. What Barron’s missed and, in our view, was even more powerful given what it implies is ahead, was the following from Cisco’s  (CSCO)  earnings call last night:

Growth in networking product orders continued to accelerate, reaching more than 20% in Q2 and marking the sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth driven by service provider routing, data center switching, campus switching, wireless, servers, and industrial IoT products… AI infrastructure orders taken from hyperscalers totaled $2.1 billion in Q2, compared to $1.3 billion just last quarter and equal to the total orders taken in all of fiscal year '25.

5. Check Point Software Technologies beat expectations for fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, and said a fast-growing need to protect computer networks from artificial intelligence-led cyber threats would help drive growth in 2026. Companies are expected to spend more on cybersecurity in the coming years, on fears that AI will help hackers use more sophisticated ways to attack their networks and disrupt their businesses... "We're seeing new attack vectors and new capabilities every day ... creating vulnerabilities and threats that are really unprecedented...," (Reuters)

If your reaction is “that sounds very familiar,” we’d agree, given the consistent number of signals we share each month with you. Those signals, and the Check Point  (CHKP)  comments above, keep us bullish on cybersecurity spending and the Portfolio’s position in the First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF  (CIBR) , which holds a more than 4% position in CHKP shares. That ETF’s three largest holdings are in Cisco  (CSCO) , Infosys  (INFY) , and Palo Alto Networks  (PANW) . Our view remains that cybersecurity should be a key holding in everyone’s investment portfolio.

6. Motorola delivered an “exceptional” Q4 and 2025 with record revenue, operating earnings, and margins—Q4 non‑GAAP operating margin was 32.1%, full‑year non‑GAAP margin hit 30.3%, orders rose 26%, and backlog reached a record $15.7 billion… (Yahoo!Finance)

Those comments are very supportive of the Portfolio’s position in Axon  (AXON)  as well as our recent decision to scoop up more shares. The added layer of context is that $15.7 billion in backlog is a record for Motorola Solutions  (MSI) , and it was up $1.2 billion compared to September. The standout management comment on the earnings call, in our view, was about continued consumer adoption of feature-rich devices, which is benefiting services and software solutions. That speaks to a key part of our thesis on Axon.

7. Economic data today per TipRanks: Initial & Continuing Jobless Claims (Weekly), Existing Home Sales (January), EIA Natural Gas Inventories (Weekly).

8. Companies reporting today per TipRanks: Open: American Electric  (AEP) , Anheuser-Busch InBev  (BUD) , Check Point Software  (CHKP) , Lincoln Electric  (LECO) , Restaurant Brands  (QSR) , Utz Brands  (UTZ) , Airbnb  (ABNB) , Applied Materials  (AMAT) , Arista Networks  (ANET) , Coinbase  (COIN) , Dutch Bros  (BROS) , Expedia  (EXPE) , Ingersoll-Rand  (IR) , Instacart  (CART) , Pinterest  (PINS) , Rivian  (RIVN) , Toast  (TOST) , Twilio  (TWLO) , Wynn Resorts  (WYNN) , Yelp  (YELP) .

At the time of publication, TheStreet Pro Portfolio was long AAPL, MRVL, AVGO, ANET, CIBR, AXON and BROS.