Stocks traded lower Tuesday as technology stocks were getting hit again as fears over artificial-intelligence spending snapped back into focus.
The tech selloff was partly due to the disastrous trading debut of South Korean data-center-infrastructure company Elice. The stock plunged 32% after its initial public offering despite reports retail demand was 400 times oversubscribed.
Korean memory-chip giant SK Hynix's American depositary receipts fell 2.9%. But the pressure extended to the broader U.S. tech sector as last week's brutal selloff threatened to reignite.
Chip stocks finally snapped their nine-day losing streak -- the longest in 20 years -- on Monday but the sector was back in the red. Intel, Marvell, and Advanced Micro Devices declined.
Micron fell 1.7% as the company has flashed three warning signals to investors: a potential workers' strike in Taiwan, spillover effect from Elice's disastrous IPO, and broader pressures about the mounting debt required to fund AI infrastructure expansions.
CoreWeave, the poster-child of AI debt fears, was down 5.7%. The shares have fallen 30% in October and more than 50% over the past year through Monday's close of trading. IREN, another so-called neocloud provider, was down 7.3%.
Salesforce fell 0.4%. The company said Tuesday it would acquire customer engagement platform Braze for about $5.66 billion in enterprise value. Under the agreement, Braze Class A shareholders would receive $47.50 in cash per share, a 58% upside from the closing price of $30.04 from Monday. Shares of Braze surged 51%.
SpaceX dropped 3% ahead of the rocket and AI company's eagerly-anticipated earnings. It could be a volatile ride as options markets imply a move of 7% in either direction.
Apple declined 0.5% to $341.11. Loop Capital downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy based on the firm's new iPhone data after Apple reduced its September and December iPhone unit shipments by 10%. The firm also reduced Apple's price target to $330 from $370.
General Motors dropped 5.2%. The Detroit-based auto maker left the midpoint of its full-year operating profit guidance unchanged at $15 billion. Wall Street anticipates that figure to slightly top $15 billion, so management's outlook implies a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter.
GE Aerospace declined 3.5%. Though the company topped Wall Street's estimates, investors looked past the strong earnings and were likely worrying about a potential slowdown in aftermarket growth in 2027.
3M advanced 3.8% after its earnings as the company expanded its date-center products deal with Amazon. Steel Dynamics fell 3.2% after earnings missed estimates late Monday.
Equifax gained 9.1%. The company said U.S. mortgage revenue grew 15% even as the mortgage market weakened on a substantial increase in mortgage rates.
Halliburton rose 1.8%. The oilfield services giant outlined preliminary guidance for 2027 and posted an 8% sequential increase in revenue from the Middle East, reversing the previous quarter's sequential decline.
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