Nasdaq 100 Marks Fresh Records, Intel Jumps 23% On AI Chip Mania: Stock Market Today

The Nasdaq 100 pushed to a new record high at midday Friday as a blowout quarter from Intel Corp. (NASDAQ:INTC) supercharged chip stocks, with the iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index Fund (NASDAQ:SOXX) pencilling in its 18th straight session of gains.

• Intel shares are testing new highs. Why is INTC stock breaking out?

Oil pulled back roughly 1% after Pakistan signaled that Iran’s foreign minister was heading to Islamabad for possible ceasefire talks, easing some of the energy-driven pressure that had dominated the tape all week.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Friday, gains were concentrated in megacap tech while cyclicals and health care lagged.

The Nasdaq 100 jumped 1.6% to 27,203, a fresh record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 7,161, pushing further into record territory, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 65 points, or 0.1%, to 49,245.

Within Magnificent Seven stocks, NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) rallied 4.5% to $208.59, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) climbed 2.8%, and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) added 2.4%. 

Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) was 1.2% higher — nearing record highs — after headlines showed Google committing as much as $40 billion in new investment to Anthropic, including an initial $10 billion cash commitment and up to five gigawatts of computing capacity. 

The Russell 2000 added 0.6% to 2,792.

Friday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices

According to the Benzinga Pro platform:

• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) advanced 0.6%.
• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.7%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slipped 0.1%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) climbed 1.6%.

Chip Stocks Roar Fueled By Intel’s Blockbuster Earnings

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) led all S&P 500 sectors, rising 2.6% as Intel’s earnings beat ignited a broad chip rotation and lifted software and AI-exposed names across the board.

At the other end, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) fell 1.4% under pressure from HCA Healthcare Inc. (NYSE:HCA) miss, while the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) dropped 1.3%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) slid 1.1% as crude gave back some of its weekly gains.

Semiconductor ETFs did the heavy lifting on the industry tape. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) jumped 5.5% to $508.56 and the iShares PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index Fund rose 5%.

Intel rocketed 22.6% to $81.90, a fresh record, after Thursday night’s print sharply beat revenue and profit forecasts for the year and reinforced the narrative that Intel is catching a tailwind from AI server demand. The stock is now up 85% month-to-date, on pace for its best month ever.

Peers Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) and QUALCOMM Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) rallied 15% and 11% respectively.

Month-to-date semiconductor stocks have rallied over 40% — the chip’s best month ever.

Elsewhere in earnings, Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG) jumped more than 3% after topping revenue estimates at $1.59 in EPS and reiterating its full-year outlook. 

Charter Communications Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) collapsed more than 23% on a steep subscriber miss, dragging its controlling holder Liberty Broadband Corp. (NASDAQ:LBRDK) down 23.4%. The contagion spread to Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ:CMCSA), which fell 9.3%.

Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM) climbed 7.1% to $118.92 after topping consensus with $4.05 in adjusted earnings, riding the broader gold-miner bid. SLB NV (NYSE:SLB) rose 3%, reaching levels last seen in November 2023.

Friday’s Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Friday’s Russell 1000 Top Losers

Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.