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After nearly two years of lackluster production, the U.S. factory sector’s efforts to mount a comeback slowed in February, with a closely-watched industry survey showing that tariff worries were making manufacturers nervous.

The Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) survey showed that the factory sector expanded in February with a 50.3% reading. It’s the second month in a row the index has registered above 50, indicating an expanding manufacturing sector, after 26 straight months of contraction. 

However, the February survey reading was down from the month before and came lower than economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires expected.

The report weighed on market sentiment Monday as investors have grown increasingly concerned about the health of the economy and the impact of policies being pursued by the Trump administration.

Tariffs Spur Concerns About Inflation

Selected commentary from the factory managers answering the survey pointed to worries over President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, which includes 25% levies on Canada and Mexico set to go into effect tomorrow. 

“New orders plunged into contraction in February as tariff uncertainty caused many downstream consumers to take a wait-and-see approach to expenses in 2025,” wrote Nationwide Senior Economist Ben Ayers.

The potential impact of the tariffs was already causing some real price increases for manufacturers, as the prices paid index rose by 7.5 percentage points to hit 62.4% in February.

“Prices growth accelerated due to tariffs, causing new order placement backlogs, supplier delivery stoppages and manufacturing inventory impacts,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Kroger (KR) shares are falling more than 1% Monday morning after the grocery chain said that CEO and Chairman Rodney McMullen has resigned after a probe on his personal conduct.

McMullen is stepping down “following a Board investigation of his personal conduct that, while unrelated to the business, was inconsistent with Kroger’s Policy on Business Ethics,” the company said. 

Kroger said it “was made aware of certain personal conduct by Mr. McMullen” on Feb. 21 “and immediately retained outside independent counsel to conduct an investigation.” Kroger also said McMullen’s conduct wasn’t related to its “financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates.” 

Kroger declined to comment further Monday.

Lead Director Ronald Sargent was appointed board chair and interim CEO, according to a news release.

McMullen joined Kroger in 1978 as a part-time stock clerk in Lexington, Kentucky, according to his biography on the Kroger website, and became CEO in 2014.

Several CEOs in recent years have lost their jobs for personal relationships or other issues that ran afoul of company policies. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, seven CEOs left due to allegations of misconduct in 2024 through October last year.

Shares of Kroger, which is scheduled to report earnings Thursday, are up about 30% in the past 12 months.

Intel (INTC) said it plans to push back the opening of two chipmaking facilities currently under construction in Ohio. 

The beleaguered chipmaker now expects the two plants on its Ohio One campus to finish construction in 2030 and 2031, Intel Chief Global Operations Officer Naga Chandrasekaran said in an open letter to employees Friday. A year ago, the company said its goal was to finish construction on the $28 billion project in 2026—already a delay from its original target of 2025. Intel broke ground on the project in 2022.

“As we continue to invest across our U.S. sites, it’s important that we align the start of production of our fabs with the needs of our business and broader market demand,” Chandrasekaran said. Construction could be accelerated in the future “if customer demand warrants,” he added. 

The delay comes as Intel’s struggling foundry business has been the subject of acquisition speculation. TSMC (TSM), the world’s largest chip manufacturer, has reportedly considered taking over some or all of Intel’s chip plants as part of an investor consortium or another structure. Separately, Broadcom (AVGO) has also reportedly looked into buying Intel’s chip-design and marketing business. 

Shares of Intel were little changed in extended trading Friday after climbing close to 3% in the regular session. They’ve lost close to half their value over the past 12 months.

Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, was the first member of the new cabinet to be confirmed. For years a senator from Florida, he differs from some members of Trump’s inner circle on financial terms: He’s not exactly one of the ultra-rich.

Neither a tech entrepreneur nor a titan of finance, Rubio’s money has come mostly from his government salary, his home and book royalties. (For examples of some of Trump’s wealthier advisers, here’s our coverage of the fortunes of Elon Musk, Howard Lutnick, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.)

Rubio served as a U.S. senator from 2011 to 2025, and was a member of the Florida House of Representatives before that. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

He has an estimated net worth of more than $1 million, according to Forbes. Here’s how Rubio got there.

Senate and Secretary of State Salaries

Rubio earned an estimated $174,000 annually in his years as a U.S. senator from 2011 to 2025. In his latest role secretary of state, Rubio will earn more than $200,000 each year, according to Forbes.

Rubio’s most recent financial disclosure, from August 2024, shows stock in Coca-Cola (KO) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) valued at between $1,001 and $15,000 each. Both assets were divested after the report was filed, according to endnotes on the disclosure.

Book Royalties

Rubio has written several books, incluidng “An American Son,” “American Dreams,” and “Decades of Decadence.” He earned an $800,000 book advance in 2012 for “An American Son,” per Forbes.

He earned $102,500 in royalties from Penguin Random House for “American Dreams,” according to the secretary of state’s financial disclosures.

Rubio also earned more than $100,000 from sales of his most recent book, “Decades of Decadence,” which came out in 2023, according to an estimate by Forbes. Rubio’s 2024 disclosure shows he earned up to $50,000 in royalties for “Decadence.”

Real Estate

Rubio bought a property in Miami in 2021 for just under $1 million. It is now valued at about $1.75 million, according to an estimate by Forbes.

Home buyers are less interested in “sweat equity” and “good bones” than a quick move-in, according to recent research.

At least this is what Zillow says its search trends suggest, according to a new report. Real estate marketplace company Zillow in a recent report said their analysis of search trends suggests that buyers are willing to pay nearly 4% more than expected, or about $13,000, for a home that is already remodeled.

Remodeled listings are saved 26% more than homes that are not remodeled, Zillow said, while turnkey homes are shared with a home shopping partner 30% more often than similar homes that aren’t remodeled—indications that those shoppers are more serious about buying.

This hasn’t always been the case, according to Zillow. A year earlier, the company said, the term “remodeled” contributed to a sale price premium of less than 1%. And before the pandemic, Zillow said, listings mentioning terms like “fixer,” “TLC” “needs work” or “good bones” were more likely to sell than those without those terms.

Fixer-upper opportunities can attract buyers looking to spend less money up front or eager to personalize a home. But others may prefer to forego the additional cost, effort and time to complete the work. Some market watchers say Americans who have been avoiding home renovations because of inflation and interest rates may soon decide they can’t put them off much longer. Indeed home-improvement retailers have been waiting for them to restart spending on big-ticket projects.

Homebuyers’ preferences may be influencing home prices, too. Fixer-uppers are now selling for 7% less than other similar homes—the largest discount in three years, according to Zillow.

“Buyers who are already stretching their budget to afford a home in today’s market may not be willing or able to spend more on renovations or repairs. A remodeled home may come with a higher price tag, but a buyer would get to spread that additional cost over the course of a 30-year mortgage versus paying cash upfront to make similar upgrades themselves,” said Amanda Pendleton, ZIllow’s home trend expert.  

Thousands of Americans carrying student loan debt are turning to their communities for help footing the bills. In many cases, those communities are showing up.

Nearly 40,000 individuals and organizations got help funding tuition costs and loan repayment expenses from GoFundMe fundraisers in 2024, according to the crowdfunding platform. While many fundraisers were started by the people with the need themselves, according to GoFundMe, others were launched by parent-teacher organizations, sports teams, clubs or other groups.

One fundraiser was started by a friend of a Santa Fe nursing student and single mom of two who said she maxed out on her Pell Grant and opportunity scholarship during her last semester. “I am reaching out in the hopes that my community, who knows how hard I have worked and how far I have come, may be able to help me in this time of need,” she wrote.

The campaigns come as federal student loan borrowers face rising tuition costs and unexpected lawsuits challenging repayment plans.

“Everyone is in school in order to accomplish something professionally, and people are inspired to support those dreams and [to help people avoid] being burdened or prevented from [accomplishing] those dreams because of their debt,” said Margaret Richardson, chief corporate affairs officer at GoFundMe. “There is a real innate human desire to show up for people in those moments.”

Why Are Borrowers Reaching Out For Help?

There are 42.7 million federal student loan borrowers who have debt totaling almost $1.64 trillion, according to Federal Student Aid.

Among those borrowers, surveys indicate, are people who worry that their educations might not pay off: More than two-thirds of student loan borrowers said their education wasn’t worth the burden they now feel from their debt, according to a survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of childcare and education provider Bright Horizons.

Student loans have typically been considered “good debt” that offers a return on the investment due to the higher incomes that a college degree can provide. However, as tuition costs have increased over the years, more borrowers have been wary of student loan debt and turned to donation platforms to receive help with tuition, Richardson said.

Many borrowers also asked for tuition support because an outside circumstance, such as the loss of a job or a car accident, made it harder to pay back the debt, according to GoFundMe.

“While I hate asking for things, I know I’m too close to finishing this journey to give up now,”one student at the Berklee College of Music wrote. “Thus, I’m putting aside my pride and asking for help from anyone who feels it in their heart to give.”

Many borrowers have faced uncertainty with their repayment plans. Many federal student loan borrowers were pushed into forbearance, which made it impossible to work toward loan forgiveness after President Joe Biden’s Saving on a Valuable Education repayment plan and greater student loan forgiveness were struck down by federal courts.

“To be able to share this need, in some cases, an unexpected need with their community is something that is a real gift for people,” Richardson said. “To be able to say, ‘I need help,’ and for their community to show up for them, and be able to say, ‘We’ve got your back’.”

President Donald Trump on Tuesday is set to give what will be his first address to a joint session of Congress since he was reelected. Tariffs against products from Canada and Mexico are also set to go into effect Tuesday, Trump announced last week, along with the doubling of the existing tariff on goods from China.

Market participants may look forward to comments this week from Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman and New York Fed President John Williams ahead of the blackout period. The latest jobs report for February, due Friday, could be in the spotlight as well, amid concerns about emerging weakness in the labor market.

Updates to consumer credit levels, the U.S. trade balance, factory orders, and manufacturing and Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys are also expected, along with scheduled earnings from Broadcom (AVGO), Costco (COST), Target (TGT), and others.

Monday, March 3

• S&P manufacturing PMI (February)
• ISM manufacturing PMI (February)
• Construction spending (January)
• St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem is scheduled to deliver remarks
• Okta (OKTA) and GitLab (GTLB) are scheduled to report earnings

Tuesday, March 4

• President Donald Trump is scheduled to address joint session of Congress
• New York Fed President John Williams is scheduled to deliver remarks
• CrowdStrike (CRWD), Target, AutoZone (AZO), Ross Stores (ROST), Best Buy (BBY), and Nordstrom (JWN) are scheduled to report earnings

Wednesday, March 5

• ADP employment (February)
• S&P services PMI (February)
• ISM services PMI (February)
• Factory orders (January)
• Federal Reserve Beige Book
• Marvell Technology (MRVL), Veeva Systems (VEEV), Zscaler (ZS), MongoDB (MDB), Campbell’s (CPB), Brown-Forman (BF.A), and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) are scheduled to report earnings

Thursday, March 6

• Initial jobless claims (Week ending March 1)
• U.S. trade deficit (January)
• U.S. productivity – final (Q4)
• Wholesale inventories (January)
• Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic is scheduled to deliver remarks
• Broadcom, Costco, Kroger (KR), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Burlington Stores (BURL), Gap (GAP), and Macy’s (M) are scheduled to report earnings

Friday, March 7

• U.S. employment report (February)
• Consumer credit (January)
• Fed Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman and New York Fed President John Williams are scheduled to deliver remarks
• Final day before Federal Reserve blackout period ahead of March 18-19 meeting

Trump To Address Congress as Tariffs Take Effect

President Trump is set to address a joint session of Congress at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 4. The address could offer an opportunity for Trump to lay out his agenda and highlight his administration’s early actions, including the tariffs scheduled to take effect the same day.

Fresh Jobs Report To Come Amid Focus on Labor Market

The February jobs report scheduled for Friday comes after employers added fewer positions than expected last month, raising worries the labor market may be softening. Those concerns were reinforced last week when jobless claims came in higher than expected.

Reports on weekly initial jobless claims and private sector hiring in February are due earlier in the week. Federal Reserve officials have pointed to strength in the labor market as helping influence their recent decision not to lower interest rates at their January meeting. 

Fed Officials To Speak Ahead of Blackout Period

It’s the last week for Federal Reserve officials to deliver remarks before the start of the blackout period ahead of the March 18-19 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, New York Fed President John Williams, and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic are scheduled to give remarks. The Fed’s latest Beige Book is also due for release Wednesday, offering a qualitative review of economic conditions.

Several economic indicators this week could provide updates on the health of the manufacturing and services sectors, including PMI survey results for February, wholesale inventories data, U.S. fourth quarter productivity, and factory orders. January consumer credit data could also provide insight into the strength of consumers, coming as retailers like Walmart (WMT) have projected lower-than-expected sales growth in coming quarters.

Earnings Due From Broadcom, Target, Costco and More

Broadcom is set to report earnings Thursday, after chip stocks sold off last week in the wake of Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings. Nvidia’s results surpassed Street estimates, but they may not have been good enough for investors amid some concerns about AI spending and economic uncertainty. Analysts have so far largely remained bullish on Nvidia’s stock as well as Broadcom’s, pointing to the chipmakers’ potential to benefit from growing AI demand.

Other tech companies scheduled to report this week include Marvell Technology, HP Enterprise, MongoDB, GitLab, CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and Okta. Several big retailers are also scheduled to release quarterly results, with Ross Stores, Best Buy, and Target reporting Tuesday, with Costco set to follow on Thursday.

Kroger’s report Thursday follows the grocery chain’s weak report last quarter and represents the first since its failed efforts to merge with Albertsons (ACI).

Stocks hit a rough patch in February as the AI rally’s momentum waned and Wall Street grew antsier about an increasingly uncertain economic outlook.

The S&P 500 fell 1.4% last month, giving back a big chunk of its January gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4% to post its worst month since April as investors sold off some of last year’s favorite AI stocks.

Fourth-quarter earnings season will completely wind down in March, leaving Wall Street with far less to distract from this month’s economic data and the likely torrent of headlines out of Washington. Below, we look at stocks investors should keep an eye on this month.

Nvidia

Nvidia (NVDA) will host its annual GPU Technology Conference (GTC), which analysts have dubbed the “Woodstock of AI,” between March 17 to 21, with CEO Jensen Huang set to deliver a keynote address at 10 a.m. PT on March 18.

“We have some really exciting things to share with you guys at GTC,” CEO Jensen Huang said on Nvidia’s earnings call on Wednesday. He promised updates on its new Blackwell Ultra chip, expected to roll out later this year, and its next-generation Vera Rubin architecture. 

Nvidia shares have been under pressure all year after a massive run-up following ChatGPT’s November 2022 release. The company lost nearly $600 billion in market value after Chinese start-up DeepSeek released an open-source AI model that required far fewer Nvidia chips than comparable American models. 

Some on Wall Street argued the sell-off was a buying opportunity, and that DeepSeek’s efficiency was likely to benefit Nvidia in the long run. Huang echoed those sentiments on Wednesday, telling analysts that DeepSeek’s R1 had “ignited global enthusiasm” and driven innovation in reasoning models, which, Huang said, “can require 100x more compute per task compared to one-shot inferences.” 

Nvidia shares gained 4% in February but are down 7% so far in 2025.

Tesla

Tesla (TSLA) shares fell 28% in February as investors grew increasingly concerned about the time CEO Elon Musk is spending culling the federal workforce. 

Musk has become deeply involved with President Donald Trump’s administration as the unofficial leader of the Department of Government Efficiency’s campaign against government spending. He has even held a press conference in the Oval Office and attended Trump’s first cabinet meeting, despite not being a Senate-confirmed cabinet member. 

Some investors have expressed fears that Musk’s government work will distract him from leading Tesla at a critical juncture for the EV maker. Musk has said he’s aiming to roll out full self-driving software and a Cybercab this year, a lofty goal that underpins Musk’s ambition to make Tesla a leader in not just electric vehicles, but in AI and autonomous vehicles.   

Besides possibly distracting him, Musk’s DOGE work has risked tarnishing the Tesla brand. European registrations, a proxy for sales, were down 45% in January from the prior year, a precipitous drop that may be linked to public blowback against Musk’s controversial support for far-right politics on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Investors will be watching this month to see if pushback against DOGE from Congressional Democrats, federal workers, and courts makes Musk even more consumed by his work in Washington.

Target

Target (TGT) is set to report earnings for the three months through January before markets open on March 4. 

The report comes just a couple of weeks after Walmart (WMT), Target’s largest competitor, spooked Wall Street with a conservative full-year outlook. Walmart estimated net sales growth and operating income growth would slow this year. Its earnings forecast also fell short of Wall Street’s estimates. 

Walmart’s report came a week after data showed Americans significantly reined in their spending in January after a strong holiday shopping season. That data, along with signs of stubborn inflation and uncertainty around President Trump’s ever-changing tariff plans, has helped cloud the economic outlook, putting market participants on edge. 

Discretionary purchases make up a higher share of sales at Target than at Walmart or Costco (COST), which makes its sales slightly more sensitive to shifts in consumer preference and sentiment. Its January results and near-term outlook could clarify or add color to Walmart’s tepid forecast. 

Target shares fell 9% last month, putting the stock down 8.1% year-to-date. 

Momentum Stocks

Investors showed signs of souring on the AI trade last month, dealing a big blow to the market’s highest-flying stocks. 

Palantir (PLTR), Applovin (APP), and Vistra (VST), three of the year’s best-performing stocks were among the worst performers in the second half of February. Palantir shares finished February 32% off their mid-month high. Applovin fell 38% from its all-time high in the last two weeks of the month. Vistra, despite topping earnings estimates late in the month, has lost a third of its value since hitting a record in late January. 

The stocks, all of which more than tripled in value last year, had at times appeared unstoppable in their ascent. Applovin soared nearly 50% in a single day last November when it handily topped earnings estimates. Palantir stock jumped more than 20% after each of its two most recent earnings reports. 

That changed last month as economic uncertainty and moderating growth at AI bellwether Nvidia bridled the optimism fueling the AI rally. Investors will be eyeing these and other momentum stocks closely for signs of a bottom or acceleration of last month’s slump. 

Lennar

Homebuilder Lennar (LEN) is scheduled to report quarterly results on March 12. Investors will be paying special attention to executives’ comments on Trump’s protectionist trade policies.

Lennar will be the first major homebuilder to post results after Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, which as scheduled to go into effect on March 4. CoreLogic estimates Trump’s North American tariffs would raise homebuilding costs by 4% to 6% within 12 months of being implemented. Canadian lumber, Chinese steel, Mexican and Canadian concrete, and appliances are all imports that could cost more under Trump’s tariffs.

Executives are likely to be asked about the potential costs of tariffs on Lennar’s earnings call. They may also be asked if Trump’s vow to carry out mass deportations has affected the availability of construction workers, a disproportionate number of whom are immigrants.

Lennar shares fell nearly 9% last month as investors looked ahead to another year of elevated interest and mortgage rates.

If you simply must have blue text bubbles—but don’t require all of Apple’s newest phone technology—the iPhone 16e could right for you, reviewers say.

Apple (AAPL) announced the 16e last month, a comparatively low-cost iPhone that includes its latest AI features but not such capabilities as MagSafe wireless charging technology and the Dynamic Island function that lets users see some background activities—like timers and map directions—on their home screens.

Investopedia read a selection of reviews to get a sense of early responses to the phone, which was to hit stores yesterday. Here’s a selection of what we found, along with links to the reviews.

For $600, the phone comes without some features that are present in other iPhone 16 models. While that means it might not match everyone’s needs, several reviewers wrote, it might be a fit for someone who hasn’t upgraded in a while or is dipping their toe in the iPhone waters for the first time.

“It’s for the person holding on to an iPhone 8 Plus or iPhone X, ready to upgrade because their more than seven-year-old smartphone isn’t working too well nowadays. They want a new phone, and it just needs to be an iPhone,” says a Wired review.

A CNET review said that Apple chose to implement some of its best features in the simplified model, citing battery life (though the review says more testing would be needed), a high-quality camera (though no ultra-wide camera), quick upload speeds, and Apple emergency features including satellite support to reach emergency responders when there’s no cell signal. TechCrunch says the iPhone 16e “isn’t an exciting device. It’s a safe one,” with reliability that keeps costs down.

While other models in the iPhone 16 family start just shy of $800, some reviewers think the list price for the iPhone 16e is still too high, given the omissions. Other budget-friendly phones on the market offer more bells and whistles at a lower cost, several wrote.

“On Android, you can buy a $500 phone with a fast refresh-rate screen, two rear cameras, seven years of software support, and wireless charging. On iOS, you can buy this $599 phone with one rear camera, a standard 60Hz screen, wireless charging (but no MagSafe), and an ample but unstated amount of software support. Apple has no competition when it comes to phones running iOS. The company can gate-keep these conveniences behind a higher price tag, and that’s simply the way things will be,” reads a review from The Verge.

Still, USA Today says it’s “the best entry point into Apple’s ecosystem in years,” and a step up from the company’s iPhone SE, which had its third generation release in March 2022.

Value investors seek stocks that are trading on the market at a price point below their fundamental value. These stocks typically represent high-quality companies that are either emerging or whose shares have otherwise fallen. While it can be difficult to execute successfully, value investing allows investors to buy stocks at a relatively low price point and then benefit when the market eventually corrects itself and the price rises to be more in line with the company’s underlying value.

In March 2025, some likely candidates for value investors to keep an eye on include pre-clinical biotechnology firm Spyre Therapeutics Inc. (SYRE), shipping firm ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (ZIM), and utilities outfit Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP), among others.

Below, we consider some of the top undervalued stocks for this month, as measured by 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. A detailed explanation of our methodology is found below. All data are as of Feb. 24, 2025.