Chip Shares Bounce as Foxconn Spotlights AI Demand

Main U.S. equities indexes had been blended on the onset of the primary full week of 2025, which is able to embrace a time off from buying and selling on Thursday in remembrance of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, adopted by the anticipated launch of the December jobs report on Friday morning.

The S&P 500 added 0.6%, whereas upbeat indications of semiconductor demand helped elevate the tech-heavy Nasdaq 1.2%. After buying and selling in optimistic territory for many of the day, the Dow misplaced steam within the afternoon to finish Monday’s session with a minor downtick of lower than 0.1%.

Taiwan-based expertise producer Foxconn posted report income for the fourth quarter, citing robust demand for synthetic intelligence (AI) servers. The report helped enhance shares of corporations throughout the semiconductor trade, together with AI chip behemoth and key Foxconn buyer Nvidia (NVDA), whose shares added 3.4%. Shares of reminiscence options specialist Micron Know-how (MU), whose tech is included in Nvidia’s next-generation Blackwell AI platforms, surged 10.5%, notching Monday’s strongest efficiency within the S&P 500.

Different corporations benefitted from the wave of AI server optimism. Shares of server maker Tremendous Micro Laptop (SMCI) soared 9.4% following optimistic commentary from Lynx Fairness. Analysts count on at the moment’s keynote remarks by Nvidia on the CES convention to incorporate an replace on the latest iteration of its Blackwell AI chips, which might function a catalyst for Supermicro, given the important thing function of Nvidia’s graphics processing models (GPUs) within the agency’s most superior servers.

Shares of digital testing gear producer Teradyne (TER) jumped 7.2% after Northland Securities upgraded the inventory to “outperform” and boosted its worth goal. Analysts imagine Teradyne is properly positioned to realize market share within the sector as cloud computing corporations use the agency’s testing platform to design application-specific built-in circuits (ASICs). Northland additionally indicated that ongoing technological transitions within the semiconductor trade might enhance demand for Teradyne’s testers.

Axon Enterprise (AXON) shares fell essentially the most of any S&P 500 inventory on Monday, tumbling 5.1% to their lowest degree for the reason that producer of the Taser and different regulation enforcement gear posted stronger-than-expected quarterly gross sales and income in early November. Regardless of at the moment’s decline, Axon inventory has greater than doubled in worth over the previous yr, boosted by enthusiasm for its AI options and substantial expertise budgets amongst police departments.

Shares of information analytics software program maker Palantir Applied sciences (PLTR) additionally sank 5% as Morgan Stanley reinstated protection on the inventory with an “underweight” ranking. Though analysts acknowledged Palantir’s robust trajectory, they urged the corporate’s success is greater than priced into the present valuation after the inventory skyrocketed in 2024, making it final yr’s prime S&P 500 performer.

Essex Property Belief (ESS) shares dropped 4% as Mizuho analysts trimmed their worth goal on the actual property funding belief (REIT). With a focus on multifamily condominium complexes on the West Coast, Essex faces headwinds associated to shifting employment and rental dynamics in its core markets, particularly in tech-dominated areas in Northern California.

T-Cell US (TMUS) shares misplaced 3.1% after Wells Fargo and RBC downgraded the wi-fi operator’s inventory and lowered their worth targets. Analysts pointed to considerations about T-Cell’s valuation and a possible slowdown in development throughout 2025, reflecting a decline in wholesale income.