Semiconductor stocks powered a broad market rally on Tuesday, led by explosive gains in Micron Technology and a surge across the AI chip ecosystem. Investor optimism, fueled by unrelenting demand for artificial intelligence hardware, pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to fresh all-time intraday highs.
Micron Technology shares skyrocketed 17%, propelling the memory chip maker past a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time. The move was sparked by tightening memory markets and AI infrastructure buildouts, with analysts at UBS suggesting the stock could more than double. Premarket trading had already seen Micron jump 6%, but the rally accelerated throughout the session. Other memory-focused names joined: Western Digital surged about 8%, Seagate Technology added 3%, and the Roundhill Memory ETF climbed roughly 12%.
Processor giants also posted robust gains. Intel rose as much as 4% after a 2.8% premarket uptick, while Advanced Micro Devices gained nearly 5% following CEO Lisa Su’s comments on expanding production capacity for AI workloads. Qualcomm rallied roughly 6% after expanding its automotive partnership with Stellantis. Marvell Technology, Arm Holdings, and Lattice Semiconductor all moved higher.
Dell Technologies, a key player in AI server demand, climbed 4.2% in premarket ahead of its earnings report on Thursday, which could set the tone for AI hardware stocks. Meanwhile, Nvidia reinforced its long-term AI strategy, with CEO Jensen Huang highlighting a future $200 billion CPU opportunity and the new “Vera” architecture designed to capture a broader AI infrastructure market beyond GPUs.
Broader market sentiment was lifted by signs of progress in US-Iran negotiations, though the U.S. military also conducted self-defense strikes in southern Iran. President Trump said talks were “proceeding nicely.” Tech futures led the advance: the S&P 500 rose 0.6%, the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.1%, and Dow futures added 254 points. Oil stocks slid on peace hopes, with Exxon Mobil down 1.4% and Chevron off 1.2%. Space stocks also extended gains after SpaceX’s massive IPO filing, with EchoStar up 4.6%.
