Nvidia Falls Behind Apple in Mixed Day for Stocks -- WSJ

By Heather Gillers

Monday was another bad day for AI chip stocks. A stratospheric stock-market debut by Chinese memory-chip maker CXMT fueled fears of competition for U.S. firms, particularly coming on the heels of news that Apple has been lobbying the Trump administration to use Chinese chips in some of its products.

Adding to those worries were some recent concerns about the AI build-out, the source of chip makers' good fortune. A Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia could provide a roughly $250 billion backstop for a massive OpenAI data-center project helped send shares down 5%, with investors fretting about the extent to which Nvidia is investing in its own customers.

With the decline, Nvidia ceded back to Apple the position of largest U.S. company by market cap, a title it has held since May of last year. Meanwhile, shares in Google-parent Alphabet rose about 2% Monday, but have fallen 4.5% since the firm in its July 22 earnings report disclosed negative cash flow amid big AI spending.

Every stock in the PHLX Semiconductor Index closed below its respective 50-day moving average Monday for the first time since April 2025. The index ended the day down 2.2%.

"The market is saying if there's anything negative about capex, that's bad for chips," said Gil Luria, head of technology research at D.A. Davidson. At the same time, said Shannon Saccocia, chief investment officer of wealth at Neuberger Berman, competition with Chinese chip firms is "an outside concern that's starting to move from the back burner to the front burner."

Investors have responded by rotating into other areas of the market. Salesforce shares rose 6.1%, part of a strong day for software stocks. 3M, Walmart, McDonald's and American Express were all up 2% or more, aiding the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

As a result, the major indexes were little changed. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%, the S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% and the Dow industrials added 0.5%, or 263 points.

Global oil prices, meanwhile, retreated below $89 a barrel after an 8.7% drop in front-month Brent crude futures. The decline followed the Trump administration pausing plans to escalate its war in Iran. While pressures on global energy supplies remain in place, travel stocks advanced Monday, while the S&P energy sector retreated 2%.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.640% from 4.678% Friday. The Federal Reserve's rate decision Wednesday, one of the least predictable in years, is also in focus. Interest-rate futures show investors Monday saw a 38% chance that the Fed will raise rates at this week's meeting, according to CME data.

The possibility of a rate hike only adds to investors' jitters about elevated stock prices and the ambition of the artificial-intelligence build-out, said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Baird.

"Every day we walk in the door and say what is AI worth," he said. "And that changes based on the headlines, that changes based on the wind."

Write to Heather Gillers at heather.gillers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 27, 2026 17:04 ET (21:04 GMT)