AI stocks bounce back — with one notable exception

Key points

• The day featured a broad market swoop into AI-related equities, with the Nasdaq 100 rising 3.4%, its strongest daily move since March and a rare bright spot this year.
• Among beneficiaries were ‘pick-and-shovel’ plays such as engineering firms and providers of data-center inputs like cables, servers, and storage devices, which surged alongside the AI ecosystem.
• Neoclouds, the data-center computing power operators, joined the climb, signaling renewed appetite for AI infrastructure despite earlier financing jitters.
• Meta led hyperscalers higher with a 5.1% gain, while the SOX semiconductor index jumped 6.9%, its best since late July, underscoring a broad tech rally.
• Nvidia stood as the notable outlier, as weekend disclosures about the CEO’s personal connections created investor unease about leadership and future trajectory.
• Among rivals, Broadcom rose 8.8% and AMD surged 13.3%, aided by an upgrade from Oppenheimer and a broader tilt toward ‘Buy’ opportunities after the dip.
• Analysts framed the rally as a potential inflection point, with note after note arguing that the market had become oversold and that AI-related opportunities remained intact even after the pullback.