Markets Close a Highly Volatile Week 26/06/2026

 HOT stories for today

Market wrap:

• The Nasdaq fell Thursday despite a blowout Micron report, as investors continued rotating out of major technology names and into more defensive and cyclical parts of the market. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5%, marking its first four-day losing streak since February. The S&P 500 was little changed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 72 points and touched a fresh intraday record. Dow strength came from healthcare, financials and industrials, with Johnson & Johnson rising and Caterpillar jumping 6%. Apple led the pressure on tech, falling 6% after announcing price increases for MacBooks and iPads, citing higher component costs. Microsoft also declined 3.5% after raising Xbox console prices.
•  Other megacap tech names also weakened, with Alphabet and Meta lower. Investors are increasingly worried that rising chip costs could pressure margins for large companies buying semiconductors to fund AI and hardware expansion. Inflation also stayed in focus after the Fed’s preferred core gauge rose to 3.4% in May, its highest level since October 2023. Fed officials remained cautious, with Austan Goolsbee saying inflation is still too high, while John Williams pointed to easing price pressures. The global tech selloff deepened into Asia, with South Korea’s Kospi sliding sharply and S&P 500 futures moving lower. Traders now turn to preliminary wholesale inventories and the final University of Michigan sentiment reading.

Apple got hit as the memory price surges

• Apple (AAPL) suffered its worst session since April 2025 after announcing price increases across several MacBook and iPad models, confirming that surging memory and storage costs are now being passed on to consumers. Shares fell more than 6% after Apple raised prices on products including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iPad Air and iPad Pro. The company said the AI data-center boom has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage, pushing component costs sharply higher. CEO Tim Cook recently warned that Apple could no longer fully absorb the spike, describing the current memory crunch as unlike anything he had seen in decades. The pressure comes as chipmakers such as Micron benefit from the same supply shortage.
• Micron’s latest revenue more than quadrupled, while gross margins surged to 84.9%, showing how powerful pricing has become in the memory market. For Apple, the challenge is balancing higher input costs with consumer demand. Analysts expect price increases to be concentrated more heavily in higher-memory configurations, while Apple may frame the move around more capable hardware and new AI features. The broader concern for investors is that rising AI-related component costs could pressure margins across major tech companies, especially those exposed to consumer hardware.

Stocks on the move:

• BlackBerry (BB): Shares surged 20% after the cybersecurity and software company delivered stronger-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results. BlackBerry reported adjusted earnings of 4 cents per share on revenue of $152.9 million, beating analyst expectations on both earnings and sales.
• AeroVironment (AVAV): Shares fell 4% ahead of next week’s fourth-quarter earnings report, extending their recent decline after the defense drone maker announced it will restate financial results for previous reporting periods. Investors remain cautious despite expectations for solid quarterly growth.
• Microsoft (MSFT): Shares dropped 3.8% after the company announced price increases across its Xbox console lineup, raising prices by up to $150 on certain models. Microsoft said gaming consoles are typically sold at little or no profit, making it increasingly difficult to absorb higher manufacturing costs.
• Hertz Global (HTZ): Shares tumbled more than 9% after a 37-million-share secondary offering priced at $2.70 per share. Hertz will not receive proceeds from the transaction, as the shares are being loaned to JPMorgan to facilitate hedging activities tied to the company's convertible notes.

Watchlist: AAPL, MU, SNDK, SPCX, MSFT, APOG, UNH, USO, QCOM

Key Economic Events Today:

EST time

08:30 am: USD Prelim Wholesale Inventories
08:30 am: USD Goods Trade Balance
10:00 am: USD Inflation Expectations
10:00 am: USD Consumer Sentiment
11:30 am: USD FOMC Member Kashkari Speaks


Earnings

BMC (Before Market Open): Apogee Enterprises (APOG), Cinverse Corp (CNVS)




The TEFS Analyst team wishes you a successful day!