Dow Closes Up 153 Points as Markets Steady Ahead of Micron Earnings After Tuesday's Chip Selloff

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.33 points, closing at 51,820.17, as Wall Street stabilized Wednesday following a brutal session a day earlier that had been triggered by a sweeping global selloff in semiconductor and memory chip stocks.

The market is bouncing slightly on Wednesday morning after Tuesday's deep selloff, said TheStreet Pro contributor James "Rev Shark" DePorre. "The bounce sets up Micron Technology as the most important single event of the week and arguably the most important in the next month," he noted, pointing to the chipmaker's earnings report, due after Wednesday's closing bell, as the key catalyst the market would be watching closely.

What Triggered Tuesday's Rout

Wednesday's recovery followed one of the sharpest single-day selloffs in the technology sector in recent weeks. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were lower on Tuesday as a tech selloff that began during the prior session picked up steam overnight, with global markets in Asia routed as memory chip-related shares tumbled. The broad market index fell 1.44% to 7,365.46, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 2.21% to close at 25,587.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 45.87 points, or 0.09%, at 51,666.84.

The scale of the overseas rout that started the chain reaction was staggering. The S&P 500 fell 1.4%, and the Nasdaq 100 lost 3.3% as AI infrastructure companies, including semiconductor and memory chip producers, tanked on increasing skepticism that AI spending by hyperscalers will not meet returns. Also, SK Hynix slowed production of advanced AI chips to boost commodity DRAM capacity, a sign that demand for compute could slow.

Which Stocks Got Hit Hardest

The damage to individual chip and AI-adjacent names on Tuesday was severe and widespread. Nvidia fell 4.2%, Broadcom dropped 3.1%, Qualcomm tumbled 8%, AMD slid 5.8%, Micron plunged 13.2%, and Sandisk lost 11.2%. Tesla also fell 5.8%, and Oracle slipped 5.8% on the same day.

Defensive Sectors and IBM Provided Some Cushion

Even amid Tuesday's broad declines, certain sectors and individual names managed to buck the downward trend. Gains for healthcare and consumer defensive companies aided the Dow to close near flat. International Business Machines shares popped 5% following an upgrade to overweight at JPMorgan, with the analyst citing greater confidence in software acceleration in the second half of the year and IBM's position as a beneficiary of AI infrastructure spending.

The relative resilience of the blue-chip index compared to the tech-heavy Nasdaq reflects how the Dow is structured. Small caps in the Russell 2000 also fell, while the large cap-focused Dow Jones Industrial Average measured an extremely modest decline by comparison. Those declines happened even despite about half of the U.S. stock market advancing, per data from FinViz. The hefty declines in tech weighed on the market, offsetting advances in other sectors such as staples, health care, and utilities.

SpaceX Continues Its Volatile Post-IPO Stretch

Among the most closely watched individual stocks throughout the week has been SpaceX, which has experienced wild swings since its blockbuster public debut earlier this month. SpaceX fell 16% Monday before finding a few buyers this morning and advancing 1%. Shares remain just above last week's low point of just below $150. SpaceX confirmed its first-ever bond issuance, according to Yahoo Finance — a move some analysts viewed as adding to caution around the company's colossal capital expenditure plans, even as the stock found some stability.

Bitcoin and Broader Risk Sentiment

Beyond traditional equities, broader risk appetite also showed signs of softening earlier in the week. Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, fell 2.2% to $61,066.38 in early trading Wednesday, reflecting a broader pullback in risk assets that coincided with the technology stock selloff.

Adding a note of geopolitical reassurance to the week's trading, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran has informed him there will be no tolls, insurance costs, or other charges for commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, CNBC reported. "Additionally, no money has been given to Iran, or released from their money to them, by the U.S.," Trump said, addressing the terms of the ongoing diplomatic arrangement.

Other Notable Movers

Beyond the chip-driven volatility, several other individual stocks posted significant moves during the week. On the downside, Hertz Global Holdings tumbled 27.3%, Cerebras Systems fell 16.1%, and Casey's General Stores lost 6.8%.

With Wednesday's session largely a holding pattern ahead of the day's most significant catalyst, all attention turned to Micron's after-hours earnings report. Analysts polled by FactSet expect the semiconductor company to post earnings of $20.83 a share on revenue of $35.75 billion. "The big news this week is expected to be Micron Technology's earnings announcement on Wednesday, which will be the grand finale to a stunning earnings season," said Louis Navellier, chairman of Navellier & Associates.

Treasury Yields Remain Elevated

Beyond equities, the bond market also reflected the cautious mood gripping investors throughout the week. The 2-year Treasury yield hit its highest point since February 2025 on rate hike reports, while the 10-year Treasury yield jumped to 4.499%, with elevated yields continuing to limit any broader relief for rate-sensitive sectors of the economy despite the partial equity market recovery.

With Micron's earnings report due after Wednesday's close, alongside other scheduled releases including May new home sales data, Federal Reserve bank stress test results, and earnings from Paychex and Jefferies Financial, Thursday's session is likely to be shaped heavily by how the market interprets Micron's results as a bellwether for the broader memory chip and AI infrastructure narrative that triggered this week's volatility. Given the speed and severity of Tuesday's selloff — driven initially by an overnight rout in South Korean chip stocks — investors will be watching closely to see whether Wednesday's modest rebound represents a genuine stabilization or merely a pause before further turbulence in the semiconductor sector.