It was a difficult week for equities, hitting tech investors hard, as the Nasdaq experienced its steepest weekly decline since April 2025. Meta and Micron experienced declines in the double digits, while broader market worries over the Iran conflict pushed energy prices higher.
The Nasdaq fell 3.23% throughout the week. The previous instance of such a dramatic downturn for the tech-focused index occurred in April after President Donald Trump threatened extensive tariffs, resulting in a state of near panic in the market.
The parent company of Google, Alphabet saw a decline of nearly 9%, and Microsoft plummeted nearly 7% over the week, while Nvidia and Amazon both saw a decrease of roughly 3%. Tesla fell nearly 2%. Among the large technology firms, Apple performed the best, achieving a marginal gain for the week.
Meta encountered the most significant setback in the sector, plunging more than 11% following two severe legal losses that compounded the challenges facing the social media giant. Both cases — one in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the other in Los Angeles — underscored the difficulties Meta has experienced in properly regulating Facebook and Instagram, which continue to be the main revenue sources as the company competes with Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic in the AI sector.
Meanwhile, investors distanced themselves from Micron, a prominent player in memory production that has excelled in the past year due to a supply shortage driven by surging demand for AI chips.
Micron’s stock dropped over 15% for the week, although it remains nearly 300% higher than it was a year ago. The downward trend commenced last week after Micron announced a remarkable second-quarter earnings report. Revenue surged almost threefold to $23.86 billion in the most recent quarter, with the company providing robust future projections, estimating gross margins of around 80% for the upcoming quarter.
“Memory currently has a very constrained supply, and increasing it is not a straightforward process, which is reflected in our results,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra shared with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” following the announcement.
However, as global markets grapple with the effects of rising fuel costs and the unpredictability of the prolonged Middle Eastern conflict, Micron’s performance did little to alleviate Wall Street’s anxieties.
Oil prices closed on Friday at their highest point in over three years due to events in the Strait of Hormuz that intensified concerns regarding energy supply. In a post on Truth Social, President Trump indicated he is pursuing a resolution to the Iranian war, as escalating costs impact sentiment and create increasing challenges for Republicans in Congress as midterm elections approach.
As investors exited tech stocks this week, the focus shifts to Elon Musk, the wealthiest individual in the world, and what lies ahead for his billion-dollar enterprises. SpaceX, valued at $1.25 trillion last month post-merger with Musk’s xAI, is anticipated to submit its IPO soon, potentially the largest in history. Furthermore, Tesla, Musk’s electric car manufacturer, is expected to report quarterly delivery figures next week.
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