New York, Jan 21, 2026, 13:55 EST — Regular session
Intel (INTC.O) jumped almost 9%, closing at $52.92 in afternoon trading Wednesday, standing out among AI-related stocks. Nvidia (NVDA.O) edged up roughly 1.4%, and AMD (AMD.O) climbed nearly 6%. Meanwhile, Broadcom (AVGO.O) dropped 1.7%, and Microsoft (MSFT.O) slid about 3.2%.
The rebound follows Wall Street’s sharpest drop in three months, triggered by new tariff threats linked to President Donald Trump’s Greenland ambitions. “One of the reasons why the market is bouncing back is Trump stressed that he does not intend to use force,” said Damian McIntyre, head of multi-asset solutions at Federated Hermes. (Reuters)
Timing is key for AI stocks. They’ve driven a big chunk of index gains, but now face an earnings season where solid guidance, not hype, will carry the weight.
In Washington, the House Foreign Affairs Committee was set to consider a bill granting Congress authority to review—and possibly block—export licenses for advanced AI chips. The move came after Trump approved shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, according to Reuters. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei cautioned in Davos that sending these chips “would be a big mistake.” (Reuters)
Policy risk has long been a factor for chip makers, but perceptions are shifting. When demand runs high, investors tend to shrug off export headlines as mere noise. That approach falters quickly once market nerves kick in.
In Europe, SAP (SAPG.DE) dropped to its lowest since August 2024, continuing a selloff that has erased roughly $130 billion from its market cap since last year’s peak. Angelo Meda, portfolio manager at Banor SIM, pointed to investor concerns that AI might simplify replication of some enterprise software, squeezing service pricing. (Reuters)
But plenty can still trip up the rally. If chipmakers flag margin pressure or weaker demand, or if Washington tightens restrictions on AI processor exports, these stocks could easily take a hit next.
Intel is set to release its Q4 results after the market closes on Thursday, Jan. 22. Investors are eager for signs that CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround is gaining traction, with rising demand for server CPUs driven by data-center expansions. Analysts forecast the data center unit will climb over 30% to $4.43 billion, while the PC segment is expected to inch up 2.5% to $8.21 billion. Gross margin, however, is projected to drop to around 36.5%. “It’s the most optimistic, I think, people have felt about the company in a long time,” said Ryuta Makino, an analyst at Gabelli Funds. (Reuters)
