AI sector faces a major test: leaders surge while laggards plunge; keep a close watch on Fed signals tonight

Index Close

- Dow Jones:53569.44，+0.20%

- S&P 500:7730.99，+0.72%

- Nasdaq:26541.35，+1.57%

- Philadelphia Semiconductor Index:+2.33%, AI chip sector sees significant rebound

Key Focus Events

1. NVIDIA (NVDA) earnings explode, surging 8.74% in a single day

Opened higher in pre-market trading, fluctuated near intraday highs, and closed with a substantial 8.74% gain, adding $442 billion to its market capitalization in a single day—the largest one-day increase in nearly four months. Q2 revenue reached $96.2 billion, with Q3 guidance at $108 billion, projecting approximately 70% revenue growth for fiscal year 2028. Mass production of Vera Rubin chips is underway, and significant share buybacks continue to be executed, thoroughly alleviating market concerns about a short-term peak in AI demand.

2. The memory sector spiked in pre-market trading but faced profit-taking sell-offs at the open, resulting in intense intraday volatility.

Pre-market: Western Digital (WDC) and SanDisk (SNDK) opened significantly higher; SanDisk and Kioxia announced a $31 billion capacity expansion plan. $Western Digital (WDC.US)$$SanDisk (SNDK.US)$

At the open: Good news was priced in, leading to an exodus of short-term capital. WDC and SNDK quickly plunged into negative territory, experiencing wide-range fluctuations throughout the day; Micron (MU) similarly spiked and then retreated. Market divergence: While NVIDIA's high prosperity is certain, the market is concerned about HBM allocation and NAND capacity release, leading to a differentiated performance where leaders remain strong while smaller memory stocks see profit-taking. $Micron Technology (MU.US)$

3. Clear divergence among the Mag 7

✅ Gainers: NVIDIA +8.74%, Tesla +2.60%, Microsoft +1.75%, Apple +0.36%

❌ Losers: Meta -0.87%, Google -0.41%, Amazon -1.54%

Salesforce surged 22%, with enterprise software earnings exceeding expectations, becoming another major highlight.

4. The countdown to the Jackson Hole Annual Symposium has begun, with markets remaining on high alert.

The aftershocks of hotter-than-expected PCE inflation persist. Although NVIDIA's earnings report boosted risk appetite, the market's primary focus remains on waiting forthe Fed Chair's speech on Friday.If hawkish signals are released, high-valuation tech stocks will continue to face volatility driven by US Treasury yields.

5. Chinese concept stocks under pressure

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 0.74%, with most constituents pulling back. The strength in the AI computing power chain failed to spill over into the Chinese concept sector.

6. Sector OverviewThe semiconductor sector strengthened overall, with Broadcom and Intel surging; banking and aviation weakened; energy stocks showed divergence; and cryptocurrencies rebounded in line with improving tech sentiment.

Key areas to watch next:

1. Whether WDC and SNDK in the memory storage sector can recover the losses from the opening sell-off, which would signal confidence among follow-on capital in the AI supply chain;

2. Can NVIDIA hold its gains at current highs? $NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$

3. Fed speeches at Jackson Hole will determine the ceiling for this round of the tech rebound.。

50K Views