A memory-led rally swept across Wall Street on Tuesday, with Micron Technology Inc. (MU) jumping more than 12% — the top performer among mega-cap stocks — as investors kept their focus on corporate earnings and looked past a 10th straight day of U.S.-Iran hostilities.
Bank of America semiconductor analyst Vivek Arya reiterated a Buy rating on Micron with a $1,550 price target and struck an upbeat tone on the broader memory industry. The rise of open-source, lower-cost Chinese AI models, Arya argued, will ultimately fuel even greater memory demand rather than curb it.
Across U.S. equity markets by midday Tuesday, gains were broad-based, though momentum was concentrated in technology after strong export data from Taiwan and South Korea reinforced the recovery in semiconductor demand.
The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 7,507.65, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 419 points, or 0.8%, to 52,258. The Nasdaq 100 outpaced with a 1.5% gain to 29,022. The small-cap Russell 2000 rose 1.1% to 2,976.40.
Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) climbed 3.0% ahead of its results Wednesday, and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) added 1.4%. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) slipped 1.0% ahead of its own report Wednesday, while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) each eased about 1.0%.
In metals, gold – tracked by the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) – rose 1.7% to about $4,077 an ounce and silver jumped 4.6% to $58.98. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was up 2% to $66,000, reflecting improving risk sentiment in digital assets.
Tuesday's Performance In Major US Indices
| Index | Last | % Change |
|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,507.65 | +0.9% |
| Dow Jones | 52,258 | +0.8% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 29,022 | +1.5% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,976.40 | +1.1% |
Updated by 12:30 PM ET
According to market data:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) gained 0.9%.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) rose 0.8%.
- The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) climbed 1.5%.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) rallied 1.1%.
Chip Rout Reverses As Memory Names Roar Back
The rebound was overwhelmingly a technology story. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) led S&P 500 sectors, up 2.8%, powered by a violent snap-back in memory and equipment stocks captured by the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH).
Other than Micron, peers Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) and Western Digital Corp. (WDC) were also up over 12% on the same strengthening pricing backdrop for NAND and DRAM. SK Hynix Inc. (SKHY) rallied 10.5%. The broader RoundHill Memory ETF (DRAM) was up 11.3%, on pace for its best day in over a month.
On the other side, software lagged as money rotated into hardware, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) weighed down by broad declines across cloud and SaaS names.
Among individual movers, Bloom Energy Corporation (BE) was the standout in the Russell 1000, surging 14.6% after Brookfield expanded its framework to finance Bloom-related AI and data-center power projects to $25 billion, up from a previously announced $5 billion.
Optical and networking names rode the AI-infrastructure wave alongside it: Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AAOI) climbed 13.2%, with peers Coherent Corp. (COHR) and Ciena Corporation (CIEN) up 10.3% and 8.3%, respectively.
The day's laggards were dominated by earnings disappointments in life sciences and financial data. Danaher Corporation (DHR) tumbled 13.5%, even after topping estimates with Q2 EPS of $1.94 versus $1.84 expected, as the company cut its full-year core revenue growth outlook to 3%-4% from 3%-6% and guided Q3 core growth to just 2%-3% on a more cautious bioprocessing forecast. That read-through hammered bioprocessing supplier Repligen Corporation (RGEN), which slid 7.9%.
MSCI Inc. (MSCI) dropped 9.0% despite reporting Q2 EPS of $4.94 against the $4.86 consensus, as the beat failed to offset investor concerns on forward growth. Equifax Inc. (EFX) fell 6.9% after a modest EPS beat of $2.25 versus $2.20 was overshadowed by weak guidance, with the credit bureau cutting its full-year revenue outlook to $6.71 billion-$6.78 billion.
Elsewhere in earnings, General Motors Company (GM) climbed 4.9% after beating with Q2 EPS of $3.57 versus $3.19. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC) fell 2.5%, despite topping estimates at $7.68 versus $6.82. The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) was unchanged after beating estimates.
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