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Live Nasdaq Composite: Chip Stocks Buckle Under Capex Pressure as Markets Hunt Leadership

By Gerelyn Terzo · Updated Jul 16, 10:19am ET · Published Jul 16, 9:37am ET

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BofA Bullish on GOOGL

BofA remains firmly in the bullish camp on Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL) ahead of July 22 earnings, reemphasizing a “buy” rating with a $430 target on the stock. The analyst’s channel checks point to solid retail search activity, even as consumer packaged goods and travel appear a little softer. BofA trimmed its search forecast to account for FX, but its roughly 17% growth view still sits slightly above Wall Street’s bar. Alphabet stock is up fractionally at last check.

Retail Sales Slow

In a sign of a fatigued consumer, June retail sales slowed but held up, rising 0.2% from May and matching expectations. The softer pace versus May’s revised 1% gain gives the market a mixed read: consumers are still spending, but momentum is easing just as investors are watching whether higher rates and sticky prices are starting to bite.

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Stocks are seeking direction, but the chip trade was doing most of the dragging. S&P 500 futures slipped 0.4% and Nasdaq-100 futures fell 1% as investors looked past Taiwan Semiconductor’s earnings beat and focused instead on the rising cost of the AI buildout. Dow futures held roughly flat, helped by a 6%-plus move in UnitedHealth (UNH) after the health insurer topped earnings expectations.

The pressure point was Taiwan Semi (TSM). Shares fell 4.6% after the company raised its full-year capex outlook to $60 billion to $64 billion, up from $52 billion to $56 billion. That spending reset spilled across semiconductors. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF dropped 2.2%, with Arm Holdings (Nasdaq: ARM) falling 4%, SK Hynix tumbling 11% in Seoul, STMicroelectronics off 4.6%, and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) sliding 2.8%.

Here’s a look at where things stand as of early morning trading:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 52,731 Up 0.14%
Nasdaq Composite: 26,057 Down 0.77%
S&P 500: 7,545 Down 0.35%

Market Movers

TSMC (TSM) gave the AI chip trade another data point, posting a record Q2 while raising its 2026 capex plan to $60 billion to $64 billion. Revenue rose 33.7% to $40.2 billion, net profit jumped 77.4% to about $22.4 billion, and Q3 guidance came in ahead of expectations. In Arizona, TSMC plans another $100 billion investment, boosting its U.S. manufacturing commitment to roughly $265 billion.

SpaceX (Nasdaq: SPCX) is hitting post-IPO turbulence, with shares slipping below the $135 IPO price intraday as lockup risk starts to overtake debut euphoria. The stock is now down about 33% from its post-IPO peak, with up to 911.5 million insider and early-investor shares reportedly eligible to come unlocked after the company’s first earnings report, creating a fresh supply overhang.

Dell Technologies (Nasdaq: DELL) stayed under pressure in premarket trading after a 10% slide in the prior session, as investors grew more cautious on whether the AI server buildout is getting ahead of itself. The stock has become a proxy for the AI infrastructure trade, which cuts both ways: demand is still strong, but any hint of overcapacity can hit the hardware names first.

Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is reportedly sharpening its AI sales pitch against OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, training teams to sell Azure as the full-stack enterprise AI platform. Microsoft is not just pushing model access or cloud capacity. Microsoft’s Jay Parikh said in a motivational speech to employees, “Everyone else is selling parts, we’re selling the full end-to-end system.”

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Gerelyn Terzo

Gerelyn Terzo is the author of dividend investing handbook "Dividend Investing Strategies: How to Have Your Cake & Eat It Too." A veteran financial journalist, she covers agri-finance for outlets like Global AgInvesting and the broader stock market and personal finance for 24/7 Wall Street. She began at CNBC and later helped launch Fox Business in New York. Gerelyn currently resides in Woodland Park, Colorado and dabbles in nature photography as a hobby.

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