US Stocks Pressured by Semiconductor Shares

2026-02-26 21:02 By Felipe Alarcon 1 min. read

The S&P 500 lost 0.5% and the Nasdaq slumped 1.1%, while the Dow edged higher on Thursday as a sharp contraction in semiconductor shares overshadowed a rotation into defensive financials following Nvidia's latest results.

Nvidia tumbled 5.5% despite exceeding estimates for earnings and revenue.

Investors questioned the sustainability of elevated capital expenditure for artificial intelligence which pressured the broader chip sector with Applied Materials and Lam Research dropping 4.9% and 4.1% respectively.

In contrast, the financial sector helped mitigate broader losses after JPMorgan rose 0.9% and American Express gained 2.5%.

Salesforce provided a notable divergence in the software space rising 3.9% after beating profit forecasts though a cautious revenue outlook highlighted concerns regarding AI-led disruption.



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