Tech Weekly: Stocks Sink as Iran War Continues, Stoking Inflationary Fears

This week's tech sector performance

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) navigated a volatile week.

Early week caution gave way to a rebound by Monday’s close (March 2), with the Nasdaq eking out a small gain led by defense and tech stocks. On Tuesday (March 3), the Trump administration’s plans to secure Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes helped pare losses, with major indexes closing down, but less severely.

Wednesday's (March 4) ISM Services PMI report shows the fastest expansion since mid-2022, supporting gains; however, the Nasdaq rose only slightly, with gains capped by lingering oil price worries.

Markets plunged on Thursday (March 5) after an Iranian missile strike on an oil tanker in the Persian Gulf intensified concerns of conflict longevity and supply constraints. Oil saw its biggest weekly gain since 2022, with analysts forecasting further increases if the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted beyond three to four weeks.

Also on Thursday, reports surfaced that the Trump administration is considering implementing new rules that would require US approval for artificial intelligence (AI) chips shipped abroad.

The news hit Nasdaq heavyweights NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), and came after earlier reports that officials were considering limiting purchases of NVIDIA's H200 chips and AMD's MI325 chips, which have similar capabilities to Chinese companies, capping them at 75,000 chips per firm.

Friday’s (March 6) February US jobs report boosted the odds of an interest rate cut, but fueled recession fears. It shows nonfarm payrolls dropped by 92,000, a stark contrast to forecasts that 50,000 to 60,000 would be added. Unemployment rose to 4.4 percent, signaling that the labor market is cooling faster than expected.

These macroeconomic pressures and geopolitical uncertainty exerted a palpable weight on financial markets, heavily impacting volatility-sensitive tech stocks.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1. Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU)

Intuit had a strong week, finishing up 25.08 percent as investors rotated into defensive fintech and software stocks amid weakness in the capital-intensive and cyclical semiconductor sector.

Zacks Investment Research explained Intuit’s rise as a gain driven by analyst upgrades and price target hikes. Piper Sandler raised its price target on Intuit to US$780 and is maintaining an "overweight" rating; Susquehanna raised its target to US$850 and kept a "positive" rating. Meanwhile, TD Cowen cut its target to US$633, but reiterated "buy."

Analysts cited Intuit’s strong AI-driven results from last week’s Q2 earnings and highlighted growth in the company’s GBS Online Ecosystem, Desktop Ecosystem and Credit Karma.

2. Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR)

Palantir Technologies gained alongside other defense stocks as Middle East tensions boosted demand for defense AI. Shares rose more than 5 percent on Monday, with analysts at Wedbush naming it a top pick on Thursday with a US$75 price target. Palantir gained 17.22 percent for the week.

2. AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin closed 16.29 percent higher on Arete’s upgrade to "neutral" from "sell," with an adjusted price target of US$340, down from US$458. Speculation about AppLovin potentially launching a competing app to rival TikTok may have further contributed to its share price gains.

Top tech news of the week

• Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) jumped on Thursday morning after reporting quarterly financial figures that were slightly above estimates, as well as strong current-quarter guidance after hours on Wednesday. The company’s revenue reached US$14.9 billion, up 34 percent year-on-year, with AI revenue reaching US$4.1 billion. Earnings per share came to US$1.72, beating estimates of US$1.65. The company’s Q2 guidance forecasts revenue between US$15.25 billion and US$15.65 billion.

• Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) rose on post-earnings momentum after reporting results from its 2026 fiscal year on Thursday. The company reported US$8.195 billion in revenue, a 42 percent gain year-on-year. Earnings per share came in at US$2.84, 81 percent higher, while Q4 AI networking revenue hit US$2.2 billion amid data center strength. 2027 fiscal year guidance is strong, with 30 percent overall growth and US$2.2 billion in forecast revenue for Q1, beating estimates.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) made a string of announcements during its March Madness product reveal, unveiling low-priced devices, including a US$599 iPhone 17e, equipped with the A19 chip, as well as a new US$599 MacBook Neo powered by the A18 Pro chip. Premium options were also revealed, such as a new MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and M5 Max chipsets and M5-updated MacBook Air and Pro models.

• In the prediction market space, Kalshi announced on Monday that it has struck a deal with the Associated Press to license election data, beginning with the midterms. Also on Monday, DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) announced plans for a new “Super App” merging its sportsbook, iGaming and Predictions platform; on Friday, the company detailed ESPN account linking for personalized March Madness betting. Meanwhile, a proposed rule change filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday reveals the Nasdaq’s intention to introduce outcome-related options on the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) and the Nasdaq 100 Micro Index (INDEXNASDAQ:XND).

• As proposals for AI data centers boost power demand, energy company AES (NYSE:AES) is being taken private in a US$33.4 billion deal led by BlackRock's (NYSE:BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners and the EQT Infrastructure VI fund, marking the second largest private equity-backed power deal ever recorded.

• Shares of Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ:LITE) and Coherent (NYSE:COHR) jumped on Monday after NVIDIA said it would invest US$2 billion in each company to accelerate the development of advanced optics and laser technologies for AI data centers.

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang confirmed his company's US$30 billion investment in OpenAI is “likely its last major commitment there,” and that the original US$100 billion pledged in September 2025 is “not in the cards” due to OpenAI's impending initial public offering.

• OpenAI has launched GPT-5.4, an AI model targeting the enterprise market. The release includes advanced reasoning capabilities and the ability to autonomously operate computers, alongside new integrations like ChatGPT for Excel and Google Sheets.

• Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) is reportedly planning to eliminate thousands of jobs, possibly as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the situation, who said the cuts will partially target roles that the company anticipates needing less of due to AI.

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) declined by 5.91 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) lost 5 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) also decreased by 4.21 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Investors face a pivotal week ahead, headlined by the March 9 release of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's one year inflation expectations, and the highly anticipated February US consumer price index report on March 11.

Later in the week, jobless claims on March 12 will be under the microscope to see if February’s labor trends hold steady. On the corporate side, it will be a big week for software and cloud infrastructure companies, with Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:HPE) and Constellation Software (TSX:CSU,OTCPL:CNSWF) reporting their results on Monday, followed by Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) on March 12.