AI Stocks Close
🔔 AI Stocks Close — Thursday, September 24, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Closes: SPX 7,693.98 (-0.02%) · NDX 30,410.49 (+0.03%) · DJI 51,296.11 (-0.27%)
Day narrative: A grind-it-out session where the indexes basically went nowhere but the internals fought hard — the Dow shed 162 points while the S&P and Nasdaq clawed back early losses on hopes of a Strait of Hormuz deal. Under the surface it was a tug-of-war: Meta's Muse rally versus an Oracle-led scare in AI data-center land, all with the 10-year yield at 5.14% and crude up over 3%.
Sectors: Best Energy (+1.1%) · Worst Utilities (-1.5%), with REITs right behind — both crushed by 20-year-high yields
Movers:
• ORCL -3.5% — sent a force majeure notice to Blue Owl over Project Jupiter, its $165B New Mexico AI data center; Oracle insists the project's "on our planned schedule"
• META +4.5% — Connect 2026 afterglow, Muse AI agent monetization plans, and a string of target hikes (Tigress to $995)
• ARM -7.9% — profit-taking after a violent run, plus AI-capex jitters and a valuation that had gotten well ahead of targets
• IONQ +5.7% — first end-to-end real-time quantum error decoder, plus a deployment at NVIDIA's quantum research center
• MGM -10% — Barry Diller pulled his $48.30-per-share takeover offer
• IBM -2.45% — gave back ground as rate-sensitive value names took it on the chin
After-hours / Earnings:
• COST results just crossed the tape, +0.1% AH — a muted first reaction to Q4; options had priced a 3.5% move, so the market's still chewing on membership renewal and core margins
• Mega-cap AH tape is quiet — NVDA -0.34%, MSFT -0.15%, META -0.28%, all noise-level
• CRM +0.75% AH — the lone watchlist name with any green after the bell
Watchlist:
• MU $1,078.72 (+0.64% day, -0.16% AH)
• NVDA $224.58 (-0.41%, -0.34% AH)
• MSFT $497.59 (-0.60%, -0.15% AH)
• GOOGL $342.36 (+1.34%, -0.13% AH)
• META $777.59 (+4.50%, -0.28% AH)
• AMZN $249.35 (+0.03%, -0.14% AH)
• AAPL $335.88 (-0.34%, flat AH)
• AMD $629.01 (+2.34%, -0.21% AH)
• TSLA $377.68 (-0.64%, -0.11% AH)
• PLTR $192.61 (+0.43%, -0.23% AH)
• ARM $306.34 (-7.88%, -0.11% AH)
• SMCI $41.51 (+0.16%, -0.13% AH)
• ORCL $139.53 (-3.48%, -0.11% AH)
• SOUN $6.10 (+1.50%, -0.16% AH)
• IONQ $44.98 (+5.74%, -0.31% AH)
• BBAI $2.81 (-1.23%, -0.18% AH)
• AVGO $350.36 (-1.30%, -0.29% AH)
• CRM $238.22 (+0.27%, +0.75% AH)
• ADBE $238.93 (-0.73%, -0.14% AH)
• IBM $227.06 (-2.45%, +0.04% AH)
• SNOW $334.00 (-0.24%, -0.05% AH)
• MDB $421.40 (-1.62%)
• NET $358.99 (+1.89%, -0.25% AH)
• CRWD $259.67 (-1.07%, -0.26% AH)
• TSM $451.15 (+1.03%, -0.13% AH)
• ASML $1,722.50 (-1.27%, -0.15% AH)
Macro:
• 10-year Treasury at ~5.14%, a 19-year high; the 30-year touched 5.43%, highest since 2004 — yields are the story right now
• Brent above $102 and crude up 3%+ as the Strait of Hormuz stays effectively closed; Iran's reviewing a US response and Macron's pushing a deal
• Rate-hike expectations are creeping back into the curve, which is exactly why utilities and REITs got hit hardest
• AI private-market watch: Anthropic is reportedly advancing an October IPO at a ~$2T target valuation, with NVIDIA in talks for a $10B cornerstone stake; OpenAI's rumored round pencils to ~$1.2T, though Altman has said flatly there's no 2026 IPO. Neither trades publicly — flagging as news only.
Tomorrow: Durable Goods Orders for August at 6:30 AM MT (headline forecast -0.4%, ex-transport +0.4%), final University of Michigan sentiment at 8:00 AM MT with 5-year inflation expectations at 3.4% — that print matters more than usual with yields where they are. Three Fed speakers on the tape: Williams, Schmid, and Hammack. Micron's fiscal Q4 lands Wednesday, September 30, and that's the big one for this watchlist.