Wall Street drifts to a mixed finish after Micron soars and Apple drops
[June 26, 2026] By
STAN CHOE
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market meandered to a mixed finish
Thursday after several artificial-intelligence stocks veered back up
their roller-coaster ride, while Apple dropped after hiking prices on
many of its products.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged with a dip of less than 0.1% after
swinging between gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 71 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite
fell 0.5%.
Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 15.7%. The maker
of computer memory reported much bigger profit and revenue for the
latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth
forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped
allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming
into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because
of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the
tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm
said late Wednesday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to
upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years. They’re the
latest signals of the deluge of dollars heading into AI data centers and
other investments.
Qualcomm said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data
centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double
its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.8%.
But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving
profits and stock prices higher for producers is also leading to higher
costs for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its
products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according
to analysts. Its stock slumped 6.1% and was the single heaviest weight
on the S&P 500.
SpaceX, meanwhile, fell 1% to drop below $153 for its lowest finish
since its ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 0.73 to 7,357.49 points. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 71.72 to 51,960.62, and the Nasdaq composite
fell 118.03 to 25,358.60.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to lessen the pressure on
stocks and other investment prices. They regressed after a report showed
inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.
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Specialist Patrick King, left, and trader Dylan Halvorsen work on
the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, June 25, 2026.
(AP Photo/Richard Drew)
 The report said that a measure of
inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from
3.8% in April, but the hope is that inflation is set to ease because
of a drop-off in oil prices.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international
standard, rose 2.2% to $75.50 Thursday. But it’s still well off its
highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil. Earlier
Thursday, it dropped near its roughly $72 price from before the war.
That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.39% from
4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.
“As long as gasoline prices trend lower, inflation expectations will
likely follow suit,” according to Brian Jacobsen, chief economic
strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about
inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already
sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High
yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as
the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its
own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.
Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s
Nikkei 225 and 0.7% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop
for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.
___
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.
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