Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 17
Alphabet, Tesla Earnings Test AI Rally Next Week as Chip ETFs Slide Up to 10%
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Jul 17

Alphabet, Tesla Earnings Test AI Rally Next Week as Chip ETFs Slide Up to 10%

3 articles · Updated · CNBC · Jul 17

Summary

  • Alphabet and Tesla report next week into a market pullback, with investors treating Alphabet as the first major read on whether AI spending can keep supporting stocks.
  • More than 10% has been wiped from the SOXX semiconductor ETF this week, while IBM logged its worst day on weaker software demand, sharpening concern that the AI trade may be overheating.
  • Alphabet is expected to show faster cloud growth and signal higher 2027 capital spending—possibly around $300 billion—key markers for chip demand after reports it delayed its flagship AI model.
  • Markets have stayed relatively resilient despite oil moving back above $80 and renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities, with equal-weight stocks and small caps still broadening the rally; the Russell 2000 ETF is up 19% this year.
  • That resilience is being underpinned by a strong start to earnings season, with S&P 500 profit growth projected above 20%, leaving next week's tech results as a crucial test of whether fundamentals can outweigh macro and AI-spending fears.

Insights

While AI giants stumble, are resilient small-cap stocks signaling a fundamental power shift in the U.S. economy?
Is the AI chip sell-off a bubble bursting or the market repricing for a new, more advanced 'agentic AI' era?
With a silent Fed and surging oil prices, how are investors supposed to navigate the growing threat of runaway inflation?