The Nasdaq 100 officially slipped into correction territory on Tuesday, falling more than 10% from its early June record high as the AI-driven sell-off deepened on mounting concerns over rising competition from China.
The memory sector has been at the heart of July’s rout.
SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) — the S&P 500’s top performer of 2026 before the downturn — has plunged more than 50% from its peak, while Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has lost roughly one-third of its market value.
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Peers SK Hynix Inc. (NASDAQ:SKHY), Seagate Technology Holdings plc (NASDAQ:STX) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF) also sold off sharply Tuesday as investors reassessed the memory sector after China’s memory champion, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), surged 466% in its Shanghai trading debut.
Across U.S. equity markets by midday Tuesday, the tape was sharply bifurcated, with earnings winners and rate-sensitive corners rallying against a bleeding AI-hardware complex.
The S&P 500 added 0.4% to 7,440, while a blitz of blue-chip earnings beats powered the Dow Jones more than 650 points higher, or 1.3%, to 52,865 points.
Sherwin-Williams Co. (NYSE:SHW) led the Dow index, surging 8.3% after beating on earnings per share of $3.70 versus the $3.52 consensus and raising full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $11.80-$12.20.
Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE:KO) gained 5.3%, reaching fresh record highs, after topping estimates at 97 cents per share and boosting its outlook on World Cup-fueled demand.
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6% to 27,882. Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 2.2%, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) share price was volatile ahead of Wednesday’s earnings, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) climbed 1.9%, and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.9% before Thursday’s report.
West Texas Intermediate crude sank 5% to $78.50 a barrel and Brent slid 5.2% to $83.81, amid rising hopes for a ceasefire. The 10-year Treasury yield fell for a third straight session, down six basis points to 4.60%.
The Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting kicked off Tuesday, with rate futures assigning roughly a 35% probability to a hike at Wednesday’s decision under Chair Kevin Warsh and about 80% odds to a September move, after June inflation cooled to 3.5% from 4.2%.
Tuesday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices
| Index | Last | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,440.27 | +0.4% |
| Dow Jones | 52,865 | +1.3% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 27,882 | -0.6% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,946.93 | -0.1% |
According to the Benzinga Pro platform:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) gained 0.3%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) rallied 1.3%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) slid 0.6%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) edged down 0.1%.
The AI Hardware Trade Unravels
The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) led all sectors, up 2.2%, followed by the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) at 2.2%, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) at 2.2% and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) at 2.0%.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) was the worst performer, down 1.7% on crude’s slide, just below the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK), off 1.6% and now down 10.0% in July.
Falling yields and hot home-price data lifted the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (BATS:ITB) 2.8%, while cheaper fuel sent the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS) up 2.4% and the SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (NYSE:KIE) added 2.5%.
On the losing side, the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (NYSE:PBW) dropped 3.6% – hit by a 12.5% slide in Bloom Energy Corp. (NYSE:BE) ahead of its report tonight.
The AI hardware complex was the session’s bleeding edge.
Aside Micron’s 8.9% drop, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) lost 6.7%, Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) fell 5.4%, and equipment makers Applied Materials Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) and Lam Research Corp. (NASDAQ:LRCX) shed 7.9% and 8.2% ahead of Lam’s Wednesday report.
Storage and optical names cratered in sympathy: Western Digital Corp. fell 9.3%, Coherent Corp. (NYSE:COHR) dropped 12.0%, Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LITE) lost 10.0% and Ciena Corp. (NYSE:CIEN) slid 9.2%.
Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) gave up 10.3% and Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) lost 4.9%, while the data-center build-out trade unwound through Vertiv Holdings Co (NYSE:VRT), down 6.7% before Wednesday’s print, GE Vernova Inc. (NYSE:GEV), off 4.6%, and Quanta Services Inc. (NYSE:PWR), down 5.1% ahead of Thursday’s results.
The other side of the rotation was just as violent: software and IT services ripped higher, with Workday Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) up 7.0%, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ:CTSH) up 7.5%, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) up 7.0%, Autodesk Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) up 6.6%, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) up 6.1% and Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) up 4.9%.
Tuesday’s Earnings Winners and Losers
Among earnings movers, Repligen Corp. (NASDAQ:RGEN) topped the Russell 1000, soaring 15.6% after beating with adjusted EPS of 54 cents versus 45 cents expected on revenue up 12% to $204 million, raising full-year guidance and unveiling a roughly $1.5 billion cash-and-stock deal for BioLife.
IQVIA Holdings Inc. (NYSE:IQV) jumped 12.7% on a revenue beat of $4.37 billion, adjusted EPS of $3.15 and a full-year guidance hike backed by record clinical bookings.
TransUnion (NYSE:TRU) rallied 10.9% after adjusted EPS of $1.23 beat the $1.15 consensus on 15% revenue growth, with full-year guidance raised to $5.13 billion-$5.16 billion.
Armstrong World Industries Inc. (NYSE:AWI) added 10.8% after beating on EPS ($2.36 versus $2.25) and revenue while lifting its full-year sales outlook.
Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) gained 4.9% following its quarterly report, with deliveries up 14% year over year, a $695 billion backlog and the FAA’s July 23 restoration of its certification authority still fresh.
On the downside, Amkor Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:AMKR) collapsed 24.5% — the Russell 1000’s worst — as a soft third-quarter revenue outlook of $2 billion-$2.1 billion overshadowed a record quarter in which EPS of 70 cents crushed the 47-cent consensus.
Sanmina Corp. (NASDAQ:SANM) plunged 18.9% despite beating fiscal third-quarter estimates with adjusted EPS of $3.31 versus $2.77, as the midpoint of its $3.3 billion-$3.6 billion revenue guide sat below the $3.5 billion consensus and the AI-hardware unwind amplified the damage.
Corning Inc. (NYSE:GLW) sank 15.7% even after core EPS of 78 cents beat by two cents on sales up 17% to $4.74 billion; a merely in-line third-quarter outlook triggered profit-taking in one of the year’s hottest AI-optics names, despite CEO Wendell Weeks pointing to a coming phase of accelerating growth.
United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS), meanwhile, slid 5.6% after its morning report failed to impress.
After the close, attention turns to Visa Inc. (NYSE:V), along with Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F), Seagate Technology Holdings plc, KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Teradyne Inc. (NASDAQ:TER).
Tuesday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Repligen Corp. | +15.57% |
| IQVIA Holdings Inc. | +12.68% |
| TransUnion | +10.89% |
| Armstrong World Industries Inc. | +10.82% |
| AppFolio Inc. (NASDAQ:APPF) | +9.27% |
Tuesday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers
| Name | % change |
|---|---|
| Amkor Technology Inc. | -24.49% |
| Sanmina Corp. | -18.93% |
| Corning Inc. | -15.71% |
| Sandisk Corp. | -13.72% |
| Sterling Infrastructure Inc. (NASDAQ:STRL) | -13.38% |
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