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

Live Updates

BofA Bullish on GOOGL

2 minutes ago

Live

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

44 minutes ago

Live

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.

This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates. 

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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