Stock Market News for Jan 26, 2026

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday as investors digested the mixed fourth-quarter earnings. The Dow ended in negative territory, closed lower, while both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished in the positive zone. However, despite the mixed session, all three major indexes posted weekly losses.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.6%, or 285.30 points, to close at 49,098.71. Sixteen components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, and 14 ended in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3% to close at 23,501.24.

The S&P 500 gained 0.03%, or 2.26 points, to end at 6,915.61. Out of 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index, seven ended in positive territory while four ended in negative territory. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB), the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY), and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 0.9%, 0.7%, and 0.7%, respectively, while the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) receded 1.4%.

The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), increased by 2.9% to 16.09. A total of 17.34 billion shares were traded on Friday, higher than the last 20-session average of 17.07 billion. 

Mixed Q4 Earnings Results

Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $3.86 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.12 per share. Revenues of $15.58 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.38%.

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $0.43 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.11. Revenues came in at $3.63 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.51%.

Bank First Corporation (BFC) reported fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $2 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.75. Revenues of $44.92 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.23%.

Consequently, shares of Capital One Financial fell 7.6%, while Alaska Air Group and Bank First rose 4.1% and 1.1%, respectively. The three companies carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Weekly Roundup

Over the week, the S&P 500 declined 0.36%, the Dow fell 0.53%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.06%.

Consumer Confidence Rose in January

The University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers showed that the consumer sentiment index rose to 56.4 in January from its final reading of 52.9 in December.

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Capital One Financial Corporation (COF) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Bank First National Corporation (BFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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