Meta-AMD Partnership Boosts Markets as 10% Global Tariffs Take Effect

[00:00] Cole Mercer: From Neural Newscast, I'm Cole Mercer. [00:03] Cole Mercer: And I'm Daniel Brooks. Today is Tuesday, February 24th, 2026. [00:08] Cole Mercer: U.S. markets find relief today as meta strikes a massive AI deal with AMD. [00:14] Cole Mercer: This comes just as new global tariffs go into effect. [00:18] Cole Mercer: We also look at the human toll of the war in Ukraine as the conflict enters its fifth year. [00:25] Cole Mercer: Plus, we analyze the latest data in the race for weight loss drug dominance. [00:30] Cole Mercer: New findings suggest Eli Lilly is pulling ahead of Novo Nordisk. [00:34] Cole Mercer: We start on Wall Street. Equities rose today as investors moved past recent fears of AI-driven disruption in the tech sector. [00:42] Cole Mercer: The S&P 500 climbed nearly 8 tenths of a percent. [00:46] Cole Mercer: The NASDAQ led the session's gains. [00:49] Cole Mercer: Advanced MicroDevices was the clear standout. Its shares jumped 8%. [00:54] Cole Mercer: This followed an announcement that Meta will use AMD graphics processing units for its AI data centers. [01:01] Cole Mercer: This is a multi-year deal. Meta plans to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of power through this partnership to support its growing infrastructure. [01:09] Cole Mercer: This deal provides stability for AMD. [01:12] Cole Mercer: Last week, Meta confirmed it is also using millions of NVIDIA chips. [01:17] Cole Mercer: The move suggests there is plenty of room for multiple players in the hardware space. [01:21] Cole Mercer: It also alleviates concerns that one manufacturer would monopolize the supply chain. [01:26] Cole Mercer: We are also seeing a relief rally in enterprise software. [01:30] Cole Mercer: Salesforce shares rose 4%. [01:32] Cole Mercer: DocuSign added 2%. [01:35] Cole Mercer: This follows an announcement from Anthropic. [01:37] Cole Mercer: Its Claude Co-Work tool can now integrate directly with existing office software suites. [01:43] Cole Mercer: Analysts suggest the sell-off earlier this week was premature. [01:47] Cole Mercer: Large companies are unlikely to replace established software with unproven AI tools in just a few quarters. [01:54] Cole Mercer: Significant liability risks and integration hurdles remain. [01:57] Cole Mercer: Most firms are choosing to augment their current tools rather than replace them. [02:02] Cole Mercer: The Dow is further supported by Home Depot. [02:05] Cole Mercer: Shares rose nearly 2%. [02:07] Cole Mercer: This marks the first time in a year that the home improvement retailer has beaten earnings expectations. [02:13] Cole Mercer: Consumer spending in the home sector appears to be stabilizing despite high interest rates. [02:17] Cole Mercer: While we see optimism in tech, the geopolitical scene is more complex. [02:23] Cole Mercer: A 10% global tariff takes effect today. [02:26] Cole Mercer: President Trump had previously threatened these hikes during his campaign. [02:30] Cole Mercer: They are now an official reality for international traders. [02:34] Cole Mercer: Those tariffs are being felled immediately. [02:38] Cole Mercer: Combined with ongoing tensions between the US and Iran, [02:42] Cole Mercer: they have kept a lid on some of today's market gains. [02:45] Cole Mercer: Investors are still weighing how these costs will filter through to the broader economy [02:50] Cole Mercer: and affect inflation targets. [02:52] Cole Mercer: In other news, Ukrainians are marking four years of full-scale war this week. [02:57] Cole Mercer: The anniversary is a somber reminder of the toll on civilians. [03:02] Cole Mercer: Many have transitioned into roles they never expected when the invasion began in 2022. [03:08] Cole Mercer: One such story is Tatiana Himion. [03:11] Cole Mercer: She was once an international ballroom dance judge. [03:15] Cole Mercer: After the invasion, she trained in Europe and now serves as a sniper in the Ukrainian army. [03:22] Cole Mercer: She says she uses her creative background to master the complex mathematics required for her new role. [03:29] Cole Mercer: Others are dealing with the physical and emotional scars of drone warfare. [03:34] Cole Mercer: Ruslan Kinch is only 20 years old. [03:37] Cole Mercer: He lost both his arms and legs in an attack last October. [03:41] Cole Mercer: He is now preparing to travel to the United States. [03:45] Cole Mercer: He will receive specialized prosthesis and begin a long road of rehabilitation. [03:50] Cole Mercer: The loss of life remains staggering. [03:53] Cole Mercer: Yaroslav Nahoda recently lost his wife, their six-month-old daughter, and his niece. [04:00] Cole Mercer: They were killed in a singly drone strike on their home in the Kyiv region. [04:04] Cole Mercer: These civilian casualties continue to mount as the front line remains static. [04:10] Cole Mercer: These portraits show a population that has lost limbs and livelihoods, but remains determined. [04:17] Cole Mercer: Families like Oksana Osipenko's are still grappling with the long-term impact [04:23] Cole Mercer: Their children are growing up without fathers who were killed in the earliest days of the conflict four years ago. [04:30] Cole Mercer: Next, we look at a different kind of competition in the pharmaceutical sector. [04:34] Cole Mercer: Deutsche Bank is naming Eli Lilly, the likely winner in the race for weight loss drug dominance. [04:41] Cole Mercer: The firm is expected to outperform its primary rival, Novo Nordisk. [04:46] Cole Mercer: Recent data shows that patients using Eli Lilly's Tirzapatide saw a 25.5% weight loss over 84 weeks. [04:56] Cole Mercer: That outperformed Novo Nordisk's Cagri-Sema. [05:00] Cole Mercer: That drug saw a 23% weight loss in the same period. [05:04] Cole Mercer: While both numbers are significant, the gap is enough to sway market sentiment. [05:09] Cole Mercer: Analysts now believe the market will likely coalesce around the Eli Lilly portfolio. [05:15] Cole Mercer: Despite the bullish long-term outlook, both companies saw their stocks dip slightly today. [05:21] Cole Mercer: The market appears to be processing the high expectations already priced into these shares. [05:27] Cole Mercer: And I'm Daniel Brooks. [05:28] Cole Mercer: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. [05:33] Cole Mercer: View our AI transparency policy at neuralnewscast.com. [05:38] Daniel Brooks: Neural Newscast uses artificial intelligence in content creation [05:41] Daniel Brooks: with human editorial review prior to publication. [05:45] Daniel Brooks: While we strive for factual, unbiased reporting, [05:48] Daniel Brooks: AI-assisted content may occasionally contain errors. [05:51] Daniel Brooks: Verify critical information with trusted sources. [05:54] Daniel Brooks: Learn more at neuralnewscast.com.