AI Stocks Close
🔔 AI Stocks Close — Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Closes: SPX 7,675.70 (-0.03%) · NDX ~29,155 (+0.09%) · DJI 53,463.88 (-0.21%)
Day narrative: A textbook holding-pattern session — sticky July PCE at 3.7% headline, 3.3% core knocked the wind out of the morning, and nobody wanted to take a real position ahead of Nvidia's print. Then the bell rang and the after-hours tape absolutely exploded.
Sectors: Best Energy/Industrials (modest gains) · Worst Basic Materials & Healthcare
Movers:
• ANF +35.7% — Abercrombie crushed the quarter and raised full-year guidance
• ORCL +2.8% — AI backlog optimism kept the bid under it
• PLTR +2.7% — momentum names caught a late-day chase
• NET +2.6% — analyst target hikes rolling in post-Q2, plus FedRAMP High
• ARM +3.9% — Raymond James to $272 on server royalty exposure
• NVDA -1.6% — eighth down day in nine, pure pre-print de-risking
• IBM -1.8% and SMCI -2.8% — funding sources for the day's rotation
After-hours / Earnings:
• CRM reported a monster beat, +12.4% AH ($231.09) — EPS $4.29 vs $3.27 expected, FY27 EPS guide lifted to $16.67–$16.71 from $14.06–$14.12. Benioff's line: "Claudeforce is here," formalizing the Anthropic Claude tie-in
• CRWD beat, +10.5% AH ($208.97) — adj EPS $0.31 vs $0.29, revenue $1.47B vs $1.44B, FY27 revenue raised to ~$6.0B. Management called it the best quarter in company history
• NVDA — results crossing right now; shares +0.35% AH at $210.39. Street wanted ~$92B revenue and $2.09 EPS with a Q3 guide near $107B. The tape's barely twitched so far
• ADBE +2.0% AH, SNOW +2.3% AH, MDB +1.0% AH — sympathy bid off the software beats
Watchlist:
• MU $938.16 (+0.56%, +0.06% AH)
• NVDA $209.66 (-1.59%, +0.35% AH)
• MSFT $496.37 (+0.95%)
• GOOGL $342.00 (-1.43%)
• META $576.14 (+1.07%)
• AMZN $260.28 (-0.30%)
• AAPL $313.45 (+1.15%)
• AMD $480.93 (+0.37%)
• TSLA $345.82 (-1.26%)
• PLTR $177.44 (+2.73%)
• ARM $251.06 (+3.93%, +0.40% AH)
• SMCI $37.39 (-2.78%)
• ORCL $148.87 (+2.84%)
• SOUN $7.01 (-0.57%)
• IONQ $40.03 (-4.80%)
• BBAI $3.05 (-1.29%)
• AVGO $355.59 (-0.32%)
• CRM $205.62 (-0.03%, +12.38% AH)
• ADBE $273.47 (-0.16%, +2.02% AH)
• IBM $229.87 (-1.84%)
• SNOW $315.37 (-0.52%, +2.26% AH)
• MDB $406.11 (+0.29%, +0.96% AH)
• NET $284.65 (+2.55%)
• CRWD $189.18 (+2.05%, +10.46% AH)
• TSM $417.69 (+0.07%)
• ASML $1,745.36 (+0.07%, +0.02% AH)
Macro:
• July PCE: headline +0.2% m/m, +3.7% y/y — hotter than hoped. Core held at 3.3% y/y, unchanged from June
• Inflation stubbornness lands right ahead of the Fed's Jackson Hole gathering, which keeps the September cut debate messy
• META caught a bid on the roughly $16.7B social-media addiction settlement — a number that big landing as a positive tells you how much overhang was priced in
• BABA erased losses after a $10B share placement to fund AI buildout
• Anthropic is in the headlines via Salesforce's "Claudeforce" branding — still private, still an IPO watch item, no tradable security. No fresh OpenAI news on the tape today
Tomorrow: The full Nvidia digestion trade — guidance, data center mix, and whatever Jensen said about memory costs will set the tone for every AI name on this list. Q2 GDP revision and weekly jobless claims on the calendar. Watch Micron especially: if Nvidia flagged memory pricing pressure, MU trades off it. SNOW reports Sept 2, MDB Sept 1, ADBE Sept 10.