On Tuesday, Micron Technology (MU) was the top stock by trading volume, closing down 4.71% with a turnover of $47.544 billion. The US memory chip sector experienced a broad sell-off. In related news, Samsung Electronics released data showing its second-quarter operating profit reached 89.4 trillion won, a surge of over 1,810% year-over-year, boosted by a semiconductor super-cycle and regained technological competitiveness. This single-quarter profit already exceeds double the company's full-year profit from last year. Reports indicate that, among global tech firms, Samsung's quarterly profit scale has surpassed the historical highs of companies like NVIDIA and Apple.
However, despite this exceptionally strong performance, for Samsung, whose stock had already been "perfectly priced" by the market, these results still fell short of meeting investors' exceedingly high expectations. Some analysts believe that although Samsung's Q2 operating profit skyrocketed over 18-fold year-over-year, its stock price closed sharply lower, reflecting deep-seated market doubts about the sustainability of the AI-driven rally.
NVIDIA (NVDA) was the second most-traded stock, closing up 0.71% with a turnover of $23.948 billion. Prominent financial commentator Jim Cramer stated on Tuesday that despite growing bearish sentiment among investors towards NVIDIA, the chip giant remains the core pillar of the current artificial intelligence boom. Cramer remarked on his program "Squawk on the Street": "All the main market narratives still revolve around NVIDIA."
"Everyone is down on NVIDIA right now," he said, "but I can't get behind the idea that NVIDIA has lost its central position."
SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) ranked third, closing down 7.26% with a turnover of $22.576 billion. The company reported strong results for its fiscal 2026 third quarter, with revenue reaching $5.95 billion, a massive 251% year-over-year increase, and net profit of $3.615 billion, up 287%, both exceeding market expectations. Growth was primarily driven by the data center business, where revenue soared 645% year-over-year to $1.467 billion; edge business revenue grew 295% to $3.663 billion. The company's gross margin improved significantly to 78.4%. Operating cash flow surged to $3.038 billion. SanDisk expects fourth-quarter revenue between $7.75 billion and $8.25 billion, noting it is debt-free, has share repurchase authorization, and maintains a robust financial position.
Tesla Motors (TSLA) was fourth, closing down 4.02% with a turnover of $15.419 billion. According to Tesla, its global network of Superchargers has surpassed 80,000 units.
Intel (INTC) ranked fifth, closing down 9.66% with a turnover of $15.294 billion. US chip stocks were broadly lower on Tuesday.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was sixth, closing down 6.51% with a turnover of $14.817 billion.
SpaceX ranked eighth, closing down 6.83% with a turnover of $11.99 billion. JPMorgan stated that investors are underestimating the potential hurdles to a merger between Tesla and SpaceX. Analyst Rajat Gupta noted that while a merger "makes sense on paper," current speculation underestimates the potential obstacles that could block a deal.
Gupta said a merger would allow CEO Elon Musk to "combine the vision, mission, and engineering leadership of both platforms," with the companies' shared AI ambitions acting as a "potential strategic glue."
However, the analyst pointed to potential hurdles including regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions; governance and voting rights symmetry; and the perception that a merger "would be an acquisition led by SPCX, not a merger of equals."
He added, "Overall, we would watch SPCX's acquisition currency, the regulatory landscape, and Musk's voting stake in Tesla as catalysts for a potential merger nearing."
JPMorgan suggested that if a deal occurs, the most likely structure would be a SpaceX-led, all-stock acquisition of Tesla. Gupta stated this structure might best bridge the valuation gap and avoid a large cash outlay. Gupta rates Tesla as Neutral with a $475 price target.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) was tenth, closing up 2.55% with a turnover of $11.161 billion. The company on Tuesday launched Muse Image, a new AI model for creating images, as it seeks to attract creators and advertisers.
The AI technology, internally codenamed Mango, is the second major product released by Meta Superintelligence Labs, led by Alexandr Wang, who previously oversaw the Muse Spark large language model launched in April, which succeeded the company's prior Llama series models.
Muse Image will be made available for free to consumers via the Meta AI app and website, WhatsApp direct messages, and Instagram Stories. Power users and creators will need to subscribe to one of Meta's monthly subscription plans launched in May to generate large volumes of AI images and access specific features. The company said if users hit free limits, they can purchase a Meta One subscription or wait for limits to reset.
Marvell Technology ranked fourteenth, closing down 7.45% with a turnover of $7.972 billion. The company raised its growth forecast for its interconnect business for fiscal 2027 and plans to sample 1.6T optical modules in 2026, with industry capital expenditure showing considerable growth momentum.
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals ranked sixteenth, closing up 98.74% with a turnover of $6.744 billion. Vertex Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire Crinetics for $10 billion in cash, marking the largest deal in the company's history, aimed at expanding its business into endocrinology. The $85 per share acquisition price represents a 102% premium to Crinetics' closing price on Monday. The acquisition has been approved by both companies' boards and is expected to close in the third quarter.
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