Stock Markets February 23, 2026

Market Movers: Tech, Financials and Biotech Drive Monday Swings

Eli Lilly and Arcellx among gainers while major tech and financial names slide amid varied headlines

By Leila Farooq AXP IBM ORCL MA
Market Movers: Tech, Financials and Biotech Drive Monday Swings
AXP IBM ORCL MA

Monday's trading session produced pronounced moves across market-cap tiers, with notable declines among large-cap financial and technology stocks and sharp rallies in selected biotech and mid-cap names. Eli Lilly and Arcellx were among the biggest gainers, while MongoDB, Datadog and multiple mega-cap banks and card issuers posted sizable drops.

Key Points

  • Biotech and select mid-cap companies posted the largest percentage gains, led by Arcellx and Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
  • Major financial and technology large-caps experienced broad declines, with American Express, IBM, Oracle and multiple banks moving lower.
  • Clinical trial outcomes and corporate transactions were primary drivers of heavy single-stock volatility in the session, affecting healthcare, financials and technology sectors.

Markets exhibited notable intraday volatility on Monday as company-specific developments and corporate headlines influenced stocks across capitalization bands. Gains in several biotech and mid-cap names contrasted with broad weakness among many large-cap technology and financial firms.

Quick take - Eli Lilly recorded an uptick after regulatory approval tied to a device for its Zepbound therapy, while Arcellx surged following a confirmed acquisition agreement. Conversely, several megacap names, including American Express, IBM and Oracle, posted declines of multiple percentage points.


Mega-cap movers ($200 billion and above)

  • American Express (AXP): -7.87%
  • IBM (IBM): -6.49%
  • Oracle Corp (ORCL): -5.65%
  • Mastercard Cl A (MA): -5.79%
  • Citigroup (C): -4.75% - Citi Nears Banamex Stake Sales To Blackstone, Televisa Co-CEOs - Bloomberg
  • Morgan Stanley (MS): -4.36%
  • JP Morgan Chase (JPM): -4.41%
  • Tesla Motors (TSLA): -4.16%
  • Wells Fargo (WFC): -4.23% - Wells Fargo names Dennis Devine as head of Business Banking
  • Eli Lilly And Co (LLY): +4.1% - Lilly gains FDA approval for Zepbound multi-dose KwikPen device

Large-cap movers ($10-$200 billion)

  • MongoDB (MDB): -12.22%
  • Datadog Inc (DDOG): -11.69%
  • Crowdstrike Holdings Inc (CRWD): -11.2%
  • Zscaler Inc (ZS): -10.55%
  • Applovin (APP): -10.05%
  • Snowflake Inc (SNOW): -9.71%
  • Wayfair Inc (W): -9.33%
  • Cloudflare Inc (NET): -9.61% - Cloudflare adds post-quantum encryption to SASE platform
  • KKR & Co LP (KKR): -8.61%
  • Regencell Bioscience Holdings (RGC): -8.06%

Mid-cap movers ($2-$10 billion)

  • Arcellx (ACLX): +77.44% - Gilead to acquire Arcellx for $7.8 billion in cash deal
  • NantKwest (IBRX): +11.09% - ImmunityBio reports $113M in ANKTIVA sales, up 700% in 2025
  • Viking Therapeutics Inc (VKTX): +10.44%
  • Ringcentral Inc (RNG): -12.38%
  • Tenable Holdings Inc (TENB): -11.65%
  • Netskope Inc (NTSK): -11.59%
  • Compass (COMP): -10.63%
  • Heartflow Inc (HTFL): -10.4%
  • Slm Corporation (SLM): -9.89%
  • Grail (GRAL): -14.76%

Small-cap movers ($300 million - $2 billion)

  • Gossamer Bio Inc (GOSS): -84.31% - Gossamer Bio’s seralutinib misses primary endpoint in PAH trial
  • Vanda Pharmaceuticals (VNDA): +45.23%
  • Enhabit (EHAB): +22.54% - Enhabit agrees to $1.1 billion sale to Kinderhook Industries
  • Tandem Dtes Care (TNDM): +16.04% - Tandem Diabetes stock rating upgraded by Lake Street on pharmacy shift
  • Vor Biopharma (VOR): +14.24%
  • WeShop Holdings Ltd (WSHP): -31.82%
  • AEABridges Impact (LVWR): -19.23%
  • Stepan Comp (SCL): -19.28% - Stepan stock edges up after Q4 earnings, revenue miss
  • Starfighters Space (FJET): -15.23% - Starfighters Space founder Rick Svetkoff steps down as CEO
  • ACV Auctions (ACVA): -13.36%

These moves cover a wide cross-section of sectors, including financial services, enterprise and cloud software, semiconductors and life sciences. Several of the largest percentage changes were prompted by corporate actions or clinical trial outcomes called out in company statements or headlines.

What to watch

  • Regulatory and clinical updates in the biotech and pharmaceutical sector, which have driven outsized moves in names such as Eli Lilly, Gossamer Bio, Arcellx and Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
  • Operational and corporate developments among large financial institutions and payments networks, where multiple banks and card issuers showed notable weakness.
  • Technology and cloud security vendors, which recorded broad declines across several names, including MongoDB, Datadog and CrowdStrike.

For investors tracking market-moving headlines in real time, subscription news services were referenced as a resource for up-to-the-minute developments.

Risks

  • Clinical trial failures or regulatory decisions can produce extreme negative moves in biotech stocks, as shown by Gossamer Bio’s steep drop - impacting the healthcare sector.
  • Corporate headlines and leadership changes may create uncertainty for small-cap firms, exemplified by CEO departure news for Starfighters Space - affecting small-cap industrial and aerospace names.
  • Broad weakness in large-cap financials and technology firms suggests sensitivity to sector-specific news, introducing downside risk to portfolios concentrated in those sectors.

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