NVIDIA, the top stock by trading volume on Wednesday, closed down 3.41% with a turnover of $35.624 billion. This marked the fourth consecutive day of declines for NVIDIA, resulting in a cumulative drop of 9.52%.
US software stocks and AI-related equities experienced broad declines recently. An analyst from Bank of America, Vivek Arya, suggested in a Tuesday report that the "indiscriminate" sharp volatility surrounding chip stocks "seems paradoxical and could represent another overreaction similar to the DeepSeek incident."
He stated the scale of the sell-off reflects "contradictory" viewpoints. The report indicated that the decline in AI-related chip stocks suggests investments in AI are "deteriorating to a point" where returns will be weak and further growth is unfeasible. Conversely, the drop in software stocks implies the market believes "AI adoption will be so pervasive and productivity-enhancing" that software-based businesses and applications are doomed to become obsolete.
Tesla, the second-highest by volume, closed down 3.78%, hitting its lowest level since late November, with a turnover of $30.072 billion. The stock extended its recent weak performance as investors weighed near-term fundamental concerns against Wall Street analysts' optimistic long-term forecasts.
Despite a Wolfe Research report stating the electric vehicle maker is heading for a "catalyst-rich year" in 2026, Tesla's share price still fell. Analyst Emmanuel Rosner maintained a tactically positive view on Tesla, while acknowledging challenges in profit visibility and execution risks.
Micron Technology, ranked fourth by volume, closed down 9.55% with a turnover of $21.849 billion. Memory chip concept stocks were broadly lower in Wednesday's session.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the fifth by volume, plunged 17.31%, its largest single-day drop since 2017, with a turnover of $21.817 billion. The company's CEO, Lisa Su, defended the weak performance outlook, stating that despite the stock's sharp decline, the chipmaker has seen a significant demand recovery in recent months.
In an interview, she remarked, "As an insider, I can tell you that the pace of AI development has exceeded my previous expectations." She added that current market demand continues to outstrip the supply of computing power.
Su pointed out that AMD's data center business accelerated from the fourth quarter into the first quarter, with demand for its central processing units (CPUs) growing "robustly" as enterprises rapidly scale computing capacity for AI enterprise applications.
The company reported fourth-quarter earnings that surpassed Wall Street expectations on Tuesday, but some analysts viewed its future guidance as weak, causing the positive results to be overlooked by the market.
SanDisk Corp., ranked eighth by volume, closed down 15.95% with a turnover of $17.386 billion. Memory concept stocks declined across the board on Wednesday.
Recently, Bernstein-SocGen analyst Mark C. Newman significantly raised the price target for this memory chip company to $1,000 while maintaining an Outperform rating. This new target represents a 72.4% increase from the previous target of $580 and suggests approximately 50% upside from the current stock price of around $665.
Palantir Technologies Inc., ranked ninth by volume, closed down 11.62% with a turnover of $15.772 billion. The company recently reported fourth-quarter results and a 2026 outlook that both exceeded market expectations, with Wall Street analysts generally bullish, further solidifying its status as a "core AI beneficiary."
The earnings report showed Palantir had a strong fourth quarter, with total revenue growing approximately 70% year-over-year, marking the tenth consecutive quarter of accelerating revenue growth, primarily driven by explosive growth in its US commercial business. The company's guidance for fiscal year 2026 was particularly impressive, projecting full-year revenue growth exceeding 60%, far above the market's previous expectation of a slowdown to around 40%, while its US commercial business growth target of 115% prompted investors to reassess its long-term growth potential.
Meta Platforms, Inc., ranked twelfth by volume, closed down 3.28% with a turnover of $11.117 billion. Reports on Wednesday indicated that Solos Technology Limited has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Meta and its partners, alleging infringement of multiple patents related to smart glasses technology. The allegations cover key technological areas including multimodal sensing, audio processing, and system architectures for real-time interactive glasses.
According to the lawsuit, Solos claims Meta and related parties used protected technical solutions in their smart glasses products and developer features. The company is seeking court-ordered compensation for economic losses and has not ruled out seeking limitations on the implicated smart glasses products and related functions.
Eli Lilly, ranked fourteenth by volume, closed up 10.33% with a turnover of $7.776 billion. The company issued an optimistic full-year sales forecast, further solidifying its leading position in the obesity treatment market, driven by strong demand for its weight-loss drugs.
This outlook presents a stark contrast to competitor Novo Nordisk, which warned investors on Tuesday that its sales could decline by up to 13% this year due to intensified price competition in the weight-loss drug market. In comparison, Eli Lilly expects sales to grow by up to 27%.
Boston Scientific Corporation, ranked seventeenth by volume, closed down 17.59% with a turnover of $6.052 billion. The company issued a 2026 revenue growth forecast on Wednesday that was relatively modest, and its adjusted earnings per share also fell below Wall Street expectations. This outlook overshadowed the company's strong fourth-quarter performance, leading to a sharp decline in its stock price.
Data from London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) showed the medical device manufacturer expects 2026 adjusted earnings per share to be between $3.43 and $3.49, with a midpoint of $3.46, below the analyst average estimate of $3.47.
Applovin, ranked eighteenth by volume, closed down 16.12% with a turnover of $5.992 billion. AI application software stocks experienced a broad sell-off in Wednesday's trading session.
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