You know how it goes sometimes. A company reports fantastic earnings, gives optimistic guidance, and the stock... goes down. That's what happened with Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) on Thursday, and the sell-off didn't stop there. It spread like a bad mood across the entire tech sector, dragging down major indices and giving Wall Street's so-called "fear gauge" a notable jolt higher.
The Santa Clara-based chip giant, fresh off what can only be described as blockbuster results, slumped 4.5% during midday trading. That put it on track for its worst single-day performance since October 2025. It’s a classic case of "sell the news," where even great news can trigger profit-taking if everyone was already expecting it. Adding a layer of intrigue to the caution was a warning from "Big Short" investor Michael Burry. He pointed out that Nvidia's purchase commitments are starting to look a lot like those made by Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) back at the dizzying peak of the dot-com bubble. That’s the kind of historical comparison that tends to make investors a little nervous.
The pullback was contagious. Other chipmakers felt the heat, with Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) dropping 6% and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) losing 4%. The pain extended to all the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks, collectively wiping out about $400 billion in market capitalization in a single session. It was a broad-based tech retreat.
By midday in New York, the damage was clear across the board:
- The S&P 500 was down 0.9%
- The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.6%
- The Dow Jones slipped 0.3%
- The Russell 2000 lost 0.5%.
Reflecting the sudden shift in sentiment, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)—the market's fear gauge—rallied over 10%, on pace for its best session in two weeks.
Sector performance told the story of a divided market. Energy was the clear winner, rising 0.8%, while technology led the declines with a 2% drop. Financials managed a modest 0.4% gain, while materials fell 0.8%.
In the commodities space, gold was up 0.3% to $5,180 per ounce, but silver fell sharply, down 2.8% to $86 an ounce. Crude oil rose 1.3% to $66.5 a barrel. Over in crypto, Bitcoin (BTC) gave back some of its recent gains, slumping 1.9% to $66,775.
How Major Markets and ETFs Fared
The midday snapshot showed a sea of red for major indices and their corresponding exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
| Major Indices | Price | % Change |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq 100 | 24,926.80 | -1.6% |
| S&P 500 | 6,884.03 | -0.9% |
| Dow Jones | 49,352.23 | -0.3% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,649.22 | -0.5% |
Data as of 12:00 p.m. ET
Looking at the ETF proxies for these indices:
- The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) fell 1.01% to $631.11.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) fell 0.37% to $492.98.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 1.61% to $606.75.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) traded 0.59% lower to $263.02.
- Sector-wise, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) lagged, down 2.0%, while the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) outperformed, up 0.8%.
Earnings Season Creates Stock-Specific Drama
Beyond the broad tech selloff, individual earnings reports created their own pockets of volatility. In a curious move, Paramount Skydance Corp. (PSKY) rallied more than 10% despite posting weaker-than-expected results. The buzz? Prediction markets are speculating the company could outbid Netflix Inc. (NFLX) for media rival Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD).
On the other end of the spectrum, Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS) plunged over 10% after its revenue slightly missed estimates, marking its worst trading session since April 2022.
Other notable earnings movers included:
- Royal Bank of Canada (RY) down 1.92%
- Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) up 2.34%
- The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) up 0.97%
- Synopsys, Inc. (SNPS) down 5.10%
- Nu Holdings Ltd. (NU) down 7.00%
- Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) down 0.02%
- Snowflake Inc. (SNOW) up 1.05%
- Vistra Corp. (VST) down 3.09%
- Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG) up 5.74%
- Baidu, Inc. (BIDU) down 6.19%
- HEICO Corporation (HEI) down 11.99%
- Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) down 2.36%
- VICI Properties Inc. (VICI) down 1.39%
- Zoom Communications, Inc. (ZM) down 13.38%
- EverQuote, Inc. (EVER) down 13.78%
- IonQ, Inc. (IONQ) up 19.29%
- Celsius Holdings, Inc. (CELH) up 7.85%
- Sterling Infrastructure, Inc. (STRL) down 6.98%
- The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD) down 4.88%
