Earnings beat expectations, but tech sells off anyway — July 17, 2026
S&P 500 -0.51% · Nasdaq -1.47% · Dow -0.20% · VIX 16.7 — July 17, 2026
The S&P 500 fell 0.51% and the Nasdaq dropped 1.47% on a day when corporate earnings are reportedly robust and inflation is cooling. That's the paradox: Q2 results are coming in strong across banks and other sectors, yet money is rotating out of growth stocks and into safer trades. The Dow barely budged (down 0.20%), a sign that defensive plays and old-economy names are holding up while chip stocks and high-multiple names crack.
The damage was concentrated in semiconductors and their suppliers. Micron fell 8%, Marvell dropped 7.3%, and SanDisk slid 8.1%—a coordinated flush that had nothing to do with their own news and everything to do with a broader reassessment of chip valuations. SK hynix, down 9% amid regional weakness, dragged the sector lower. Meanwhile, PayPal surged 17.2%, though the headline—an affiliate fraud scandal at a partner called Phia—reads like old news getting re-litigated. Lucid exploded 28.8% after Rivian disclosed something investors have long worried about for EV makers generally, while Iovance Biotherapeutics jumped 20.6% on a corporate presentation update.
With no insider cluster buys showing up today, this market is running on momentum swings and sector rotation rather than conviction from the people who actually know these businesses. When insiders go quiet, retail flows and algorithm-driven rebalancing fill the void—and that's not a recipe for stability.
Market commentary generated from the day's data and headlines — not investment advice.
Biggest moves today
- LCID (Lucid Group, Inc.) ▲ +28.79% at $5.95 on 56.4M shares — Rivian Just Did What Investors Despised Lucid for. How Bad Is It? (Motley Fool)
- IOVA (Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc.) ▲ +20.61% at $4.74 on 43.4M shares — Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA) Updates its Corporate Presentation, Here’s What’s Important to Note (Insider Monkey)
- PYPL (PayPal Holdings, Inc.) ▲ +17.20% at $55.52 on 89.3M shares — Phia accused of ‘cookie stuffing,’ taking affiliate credit on purchases it didn’t earn (TechCrunch)
- SKHY (SK hynix Inc. - American Depos) ▼ -9.00% at $176.46 on 74.1M shares — Asian shares mostly decline with South Korea's Kospi down 6.6%, while oil prices slip (Associated Press)
- COMP (Compass, Inc.) ▲ +8.30% at $12.65 on 16.7M shares — Velvære Park City Selects Christie's International Real Estate as Exclusive Sales and Marketing Brokerage (GlobeNewswire)
- SNDK (Sandisk Corporation) ▼ -8.12% at $1615.00 on 18.8M shares — Dow Jones Futures Fall, Netflix Dives, SpaceX Scrubs Launch After Latest AI Sell-Off (Investor's Business Daily)
- MU (Micron Technology, Inc.) ▼ -8.02% at $904.28 on 54.2M shares — If I Had $1,000 to Invest, Here's the Tech Stock I'd Invest in Before Micron (Motley Fool)
- MRVL (Marvell Technology, Inc.) ▼ -7.27% at $206.26 on 25.5M shares — IREN Just Collapsed 41% in a Month: Is This Dead Money or an Abandoned Gem? (24/7 Wall St.)
- FRMI (Fermi Inc.) ▼ -7.27% at $6.25 on 15.5M shares — Fermi Outlines Strategic Rationale for Upsized $431 Million Convertible Notes Offering (ACCESS Newswire)
- QXO (QXO, Inc.) ▲ +5.95% at $15.32 on 29.7M shares — KeyBanc Keeps Overweight Rating on QXO (Insider Monkey)
Most active by volume
| # | Ticker | Price | Change | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AAL | $15.63 | -0.26% | 181.4M |
| 2 | NU | $13.88 | -0.79% | 176.8M |
| 3 | ONDS | $7.05 | -4.21% | 130.0M |
| 4 | PATH | $11.95 | +0.08% | 125.4M |
| 5 | INTC | $102.99 | -4.43% | 119.7M |
| 6 | OPEN | $4.75 | +4.40% | 115.2M |
| 7 | NOK | $11.25 | -3.85% | 114.2M |
| 8 | SKHYV | $168.01 | +0.00% | 107.7M |
| 9 | NVDA | $212.50 | +0.33% | 119.0M |
| 10 | PYPL | $55.52 | +17.20% | 89.3M |
| 11 | SKHY | $176.46 | -9.00% | 74.1M |
| 12 | SOFI | $17.87 | -3.67% | 71.2M |
| 13 | T | $21.43 | +0.70% | 75.0M |
| 14 | SPCX | $135.27 | -0.60% | 57.3M |
| 15 | LCID | $5.95 | +28.79% | 56.4M |
| 16 | JOBY | $7.76 | -1.65% | 53.5M |
| 17 | F | $14.18 | +1.72% | 50.8M |
| 18 | AAPL | $327.50 | +4.01% | 60.8M |
| 19 | MU | $904.28 | -8.02% | 54.2M |
| 20 | MARA | $12.29 | +1.07% | 48.5M |
| 21 | PLUG | $2.21 | -2.64% | 44.7M |
| 22 | CLSK | $14.13 | +5.06% | 43.3M |
| 23 | ORCL | $132.49 | +3.56% | 48.3M |
| 24 | IOVA | $4.74 | +20.61% | 43.4M |
| 25 | BMNR | $15.79 | -3.07% | 37.4M |
Market data from Yahoo Finance; insider data from SEC EDGAR Form 4. For research only — not investment advice. Verify on the official source before trading.
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