Tech Weekly: Tech Sector Holds Firm Amid Hormuz Whipsaws

This week's tech sector performance

Markets reacted to Middle East hostilities with initial risk-off moves early in the week.

S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) futures were lower on Monday (April 20) morning after tensions in the Strait of Hormuz stalled traffic, calling a second round of negotiations into question after last week’s ceasefire talks.

Tech stocks closed down, but led recoveries on Tuesday (April 21) on earnings optimism, despite volatility from oil price swings; however, indexes erased gains after US Vice President Vance canceled his trip to Pakistan for ceasefire talks with Iran. US President Donald Trump announced an extension of the ceasefire after the markets closed down.

Markets whipsawed, and the VIX spiked to over 3 percent on Wednesday (April 22) following Iranian attacks on three vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, but tech stocks led the recovery after the White House said the attacks were not in violation of the ceasefire agreement, since the ships attacked were neither Israeli nor American.

The Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) hit its fourth record close of 2026, ending the day 1.64 percent higher at 24,657.57, while the S&P reached a new all-time high of 7,137.9.

Thursday (April 23) saw markets stall and close lower as Iran ceasefire doubts reignited alongside a software sector selloff triggered by ServiceNow's (NYSE:NOW) Q1 earnings that showed subscription growth slowed more than expected. IBM's (NYSE:IBM) FY guide also implied deceleration in software growth.

Intel's (NASDAQ:INTC) performance helped the S&P pare losses, pushing it towards Wednesday’s all-time high on Friday (April 24) after CEO Lip-Bu Tan said artificial intelligence (AI) is increasing the need for the company’s chips.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (NYSE:TSM) record Q1 profit last week has helped sustain enthusiasm for semiconductors despite oil price volatility. AI leaders like NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) drove volatility, but contributed to gains. Other key drivers this week included Google's (NASDAQ:GOOGL) AI chip deal talks with Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) and the company’s TPU v8 unveiling.

J.P. Morgan (NYSE:JPM) further boosted sentiment, raising its S&P year-end target to 7,600 on AI and tech strength.

Iran’s IRNA news agency confirmed on Friday that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was heading to Pakistan for talks, offering an encouraging signal. Later reports confirmed that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Islamabad on Saturday morning for talks with Iran, along with Jared Kushner.

Markets ended the week with the Nasdaq Composite closing at 24,836.6, up from 24,468.48 on April 17. The Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) increased by 2.37 percent, ending at 27,303.67 on Friday.

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

This week's top movers, according to TradingView data, were:

1. Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM)

Arm Holdings saw a 40.32 percent increase in its share price.

2. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD)

AMD finished the week up 23.77 percent.

3. Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL)

Marvell Technology ended the week 21.82 percent higher.

Top tech news of the week

• Marvell Technology stock rose on Monday after a reported deal to develop inference TPUS with Alphabet.

• In a joint statement, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Anthropic revealed a broadened partnership involving over US$100 billion in compute purchases by Anthropic over the coming decade. As part of this expanded collaboration for up to five gigawatts of new compute, Amazon is set to provide a US$5 billion investment in the startup, with an additional US$20 billion reserved for future funding.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell on Tuesday morning after the company said John Ternus would take over the position of CEO from Tim Cook in September.

• Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) announced a US$25 million investment in Fortem Technologies, a Utah-based company specializing in drone countermeasures. The announcement came ahead of the company's Q1 results, which missed expectations in both earnings and revenue and revealed negative free cash flow of US$291 million, causing shares to drop.

• Google unveiled its eighth-generation TPUs. It’s the company’s first generation of separated TPU designs, with one chip purpose‑built for training and the other for inference.

• During a Q&A with reporters at the TSMC 2026 North America Technology Symposium, deputy co-chief operating officer Kevin Zhang told reporters that the company had no immediate plans to deploy ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) most cutting-edge lithography machines, citing cost-saving efforts. “We continue to be able to harvest the benefit from current EUV,” Zhang said. TSMC will hold off through 2029, when the company’s A13 chip is slated to go into production.

• Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) shares jumped by as much as 17 percent, the biggest intraday gain in a year, on Thursday after a strong forecast. In a statement, the company projected revenue between US$5 billion and US$5.4 billion for Q2, exceeding estimates of US$4.85 billion. The company also cited increased spending on data centers and industrial equipment as a positive catalyst.

• Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) first quarter results showed adjusted earnings per share that beat estimates for the second consecutive quarter. Tesla shares jumped immediately after the results; however, CEO Elon Musk’s cautious comments on timelines and rising capex during the earnings call that followed caused shares to tumble by the end of the earnings call. Tesla also disclosed its acquisition of an unnamed AI company for US$2 billion. Earlier this week, Musk’s other company, SpaceX, announced a deal with AI-powered code editor Cursor, which has granted SpaceX an option to buy the startup later this year for US$60 billion or pay US$10 billion for the work done together.

• IBM's quarterly sales in its software unit, reported on Wednesday, beat estimates, but marked a deceleration from the growth seen in the previous quarter.

• Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is said to be offering one-time voluntary retirement buyouts for some US employees. Sources for CNBC said a memo was circulated in the company on Thursday, and that eligible employees will receive further details on May 7. Also on Thursday, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) said it plans to terminate another 10 percent of its workers starting May 20.

• Intel's first quarter revenue was US$13.6 billion, up 7 percent year‑on‑year and well ahead of expectations if a two percent decrease. Shares surged more than 22 percent in after-hours trading. The company’s comeback has been driven by AI‑related demand and foundry growth. Revenue in the current quarter will range between US$13.8 billion and US$14.8 billion. Analysts were expecting US$13.06 billion.

• Canada’s Cohere and Germany’s Aleph Alpha GmbH announced a merger to create a new AI company to compete with US tech companies. The combined entity will have its global headquarters in Toronto and its European headquarters in Berlin. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Amazon-backed small reactor and nuclear fuel startup X-energy raised US$1 billion in an upsized IPO.

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) increased by 10.37 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) gained 9.32 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) increased by 8.91 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

Q2 earnings season continues next week with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple among a slew of tech companies reporting their results. Earnings will provide key insights into capital expenditure trends and the strength of balance sheets among industry leaders.

Investors will be closely watching the Bank of Canada and US Federal Reserve interest rate decisions on April 29. Analysts anticipate no cuts from either, but commentary following could spark volatility in bonds, equities and crypto markets.