Tech Weekly: Chip Stocks Pop to Close Volatile Trading Week

This week's tech sector performance

Tech stocks extended their selloff into a second week, with the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) posting its steepest two day decline since last April. Monday (February 2) saw an early rotation out of tech ahead of Palantir Technologies' (NASDAQ:PLTR) earnings report.

Meanwhile, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped on news that its proposed OpenAI‑backed investment has hit a snag, dragging down artificial intelligence (AI) chip names like Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and other semiconductor leaders.

Palantir’s earnings, which beat expectations and included an aggressive revenue growth guide, lifted the company's shares in an early surge on Tuesday (February 3); however, NVIDIA's OpenAI investment snag news, plus general AI disruption worries and positioning, weighed on the broader tech stack, sparking a tech growth selloff that impacted NVIDIA, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and other software‑heavy names.

The Nasdaq fell further on Wednesday (February 4) as influential tech names such as Advanced Micro and other chip and software stocks reversed post‑earnings gains. Advanced Micro saw a sharp intraday plunge following its after‑hours earnings print on Tuesday. Its losses dragged the broader index lower.

Tech selloffs extended into Thursday (February 5), with the Nasdaq closing down 1.6 percent as major tech stocks saw profit taking and forward‑looking CAPEX‑related concerns; these were later crystallized by aggressive 2026 spending plans from Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN).

The Nasdaq made an impressive recovery on Friday (February 6) as a rally in chip stocks helped pare earlier-week losses, despite ongoing volatility in the mega caps.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1.Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)

After reporting Q4 2025 earnings results and strong AI-driven guidance on Monday, Teradyne shares rose sharply. The firm makes equipment used to test chips, including AI‑related compute and memory, plus industrial robots.

2. Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS)

Skyworks Solutions, an analogue and RF semiconductor company that designs and manufactures components used in smartphones, 5G infrastructure, automotive and IoT devices, reported results for its first fiscal quarter of 2026 on Tuesday, beating expectations and guiding up, which helped it outperform the broader tech selloff.

3. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple’s strong performance was driven by a wave of analyst upgrades and bullish notes that reinforced the positive narrative from last week’s record‑breaking Q1 print, especially around iPhone demand and China market strength.

Top tech news of the week

• Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) said it's raising US$45 billion to $50 billion in gross cash proceeds in 2026 to fund additional capacity for contracted demand from its top Oracle Cloud Infrastructure customers.

• Canada led an AI delegation to the World Governments Summit in Dubai, led by SCALE AI.

• Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) reported Q4 2025 results after the market closed on Thursday, beating both earnings and revenue expectations. The stock rose sharply in after‑hours trading on bullish 2026 guidance tied to AI data center demand; the company has secured major deals with Oracle, American Electric Power Company (NASDAQ:AEP) and Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:BAM,NYSE:BAM).

• Alphabet's Q4 numbers were driven by search revenue growth, which accelerated by nearly 17 percent, and Google Cloud revenue, which jumped 48 percent year-on-year, helping ease fears that AI chatbots will eat into search. Despite the strong print, the stock dipped as the company said it plans to increase CAPEX to between US$175 billion and US$185 billion, more than its 2025 cash generation.

• Palantir's Q4 earnings triggered a pop on Tuesday as it beat revenue expectations and laid out an aggressive 2026 growth guide. The company reported Q4 2025 revenue of US$1.41 billion, up 70 percent year-on-year, with US commercial revenue surging 137 percent and government revenue rising 66 percent, while guiding full‑year 2026 revenue to about US$7.2 billion

• Amazon also posted a solid quarter, but said it will spend roughly US$200 billion this year, a 56 percent jump from 2025, to fund AI‑related infrastructure, data centers and custom chips for AWS. Revenue rose about 14 percent to US$213.4 billion, driven by AWS reaccelerating to 24 percent growth and advertising increasing by 22 percent, despite free cashflow collapsing due to a CAPEX surge.

• Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) reported a mixed quarter, with AI-enabled mobile and automotive chip demand supporting revenue near expectations, but earnings missed. The company is maintaining its focus on next-gen Snapdragon, automotive and IoT expansion. However, the stock declined after its report due to general tech growth concerns.

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) advanced by 1.89 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) advanced by 1.66 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also increased by 0.75 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Next week is another earnings‑heavy, tech‑adjacent stretch, with a mix of big‑name reports and key macro data that will likely keep markets sensitive to AI CAPEX and earnings.

Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) will be among the most‑watched names tied to crypto and retail trading. Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) will also report midweek.

In addition to US wholesale inventories, Employment Cost Index and consumer price index reports, the latest Federal Reserve minutes will be released on February 11, keeping interest rates and inflation front of mind.