The Nasdaq Composite is under pressure again today as a broad tech selloff and fading hopes for a near‑term Fed rate cut drag Wall Street lower. By late morning U.S. time, the Nasdaq was down around 1.5% in its fifth straight losing session, with chip and EV names once again at the center of the storm. [1]
Yet even on a red day, a handful of Nasdaq stocks are dominating traders’ screens thanks to big earnings surprises, blockbuster M&A, and fresh data out of China. Here are five of the most interesting Nasdaq stocks to watch today, November 14, 2025.
1. Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) – China Curbs Hit the AI Chip Tool King
Why it’s moving:
Applied Materials is one of the day’s most closely watched Nasdaq stocks as investors digest a strong fiscal Q4 report overshadowed by a bearish outlook for China.
The chip‑equipment giant reported Q4 FY2025 revenue of about $6.8 billion, down 3% year over year, with non‑GAAP EPS of $2.17, modestly ahead of Wall Street expectations. For the full year, revenue climbed to a record $28.37 billion, with record annual earnings as well. [2]
Despite the beat, AMAT shares are down roughly 4–6% today as the market focuses on management’s warning that chip‑equipment spending in China is likely to fall in 2026 due to tighter U.S. export restrictions. Pre‑market, the stock was already off about 4%, and headlines throughout the morning reiterated that China demand is set to decline as Washington cracks down on advanced chip tools shipped via subsidiaries and affiliates. [3]
China’s share of Applied’s systems and services revenue has already dropped to around 28% for 2025, highlighting how geopolitics are reshaping the company’s customer mix even as AI data‑center demand remains robust. [4]
What Wall Street is saying:
- Some analysts remain aggressively bullish: Evercore ISI raised its price target to about $290 early today, citing long‑term AI tailwinds. [5]
- Others are turning cautious. Craig‑Hallum downgraded AMAT from Buy to Hold with a $190 target, explicitly flagging export‑control risk. [6]
Why AMAT is one of today’s key Nasdaq stories:
Applied sits at the center of the AI hardware build‑out, but today’s reaction shows that policy risk can outweigh even “beat and raise” earnings in the short term. The stock is a live barometer of how far investors are willing to look past near‑term China headwinds in exchange for long‑dated AI demand.
2. Cidara Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CDTX) – Biotech Doubles on a $9.2 Billion Merck Buyout
Why it’s moving:
Small‑cap biotech Cidara Therapeutics has turned into a Nasdaq rocket ship today, after Merck announced a deal to acquire the company in cash.
Merck has agreed to buy Cidara for $221.50 per share, valuing the transaction at roughly $9.2 billion. That offer is more than double Thursday’s closing price around $106. [7]
The stock response has been immediate and dramatic:
- Premarket, CDTX jumped more than 100%, trading around $217–218. [8]
- Intraday, it has hit a new 52‑week high near $217 on very heavy volume. [9]
What Merck is buying:
The deal is centered on CD388, Cidara’s long‑acting antiviral being developed to provide broad protection against both seasonal and pandemic influenza. The drug:
- Is designed as a “strain‑agnostic” long‑acting prophylactic for high‑risk patients
- Has Fast Track and Breakthrough Therapy designations from the FDA
- Reported positive topline results in the NAVIGATE trial earlier this year and recently moved into the ANCHOR Phase 3 study. [10]
For Merck, the acquisition helps diversify the respiratory pipeline ahead of patent cliffs for key oncology assets. [11]
Not everyone is celebrating:
As is typical with large‑premium biotech takeovers, at least one shareholder‑rights firm, Halper Sadeh LLC, has already announced an investigation into whether Cidara is being sold too cheaply. [12]
Why CDTX is one of today’s key Nasdaq stories:
With a 100%+ one‑day jump and a multibillion‑dollar pharma takeover, Cidara is the quintessential “deal day” stock. For Nasdaq watchers, it’s a textbook example of how late‑stage biotech risk can flip overnight into a full‑cash exit.
3. Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) – AI Bellwether Under Pressure Ahead of Q3 Earnings
Why it’s moving:
Nvidia is again at the center of the Nasdaq narrative. The stock is trading lower today, extending Thursday’s slide, as investors reassess lofty AI valuations amid rising rate‑cut doubts and fresh volatility across big tech. Thursday’s drop of around 3–4% made Nvidia one of the heaviest drags on the major indexes. [13]
This morning, pre‑market updates highlighted that NVDA was down roughly 3% before the open, alongside Tesla, as futures pointed to another weak session for the Nasdaq. [14]
The setup: huge expectations for November 19 earnings
Despite the pullback, analysts’ expectations for Nvidia’s upcoming Q3 FY2026 results on November 19 remain sky‑high:
- Nvidia has guided to Q3 revenue around $54 billion, implying ~50% year‑over‑year growth driven by data‑center AI demand. [15]
- A Zacks/Nasdaq preview today argues Nvidia is “likely to beat” consensus estimates, highlighting surging AI infrastructure spending. [16]
- Morgan Stanley’s top chip analyst raised his price target from $210 to $220 and reiterated an Overweight rating, calling for Nvidia’s “strongest result in the last few quarters.” [17]
At the same time, Nvidia has become a lightning rod for AI bubble fears. A Reuters “week ahead” piece today notes that Nvidia’s earnings are one of the last big macro catalysts of 2025, with investors debating whether the stock’s massive run‑up has gone too far. [18]
Adding to the drama, a widely shared MarketWatch article reminds readers that only one major Wall Street analyst currently has a Sell rating on Nvidia, underscoring how extremely bullish the Street remains despite recent volatility. [19]
Why NVDA is one of today’s key Nasdaq stories:
Today’s dip is less about company‑specific bad news and more about positioning ahead of a critical earnings event. Nvidia is the de facto proxy for the entire AI trade, so how it trades into — and out of — next week’s report will likely influence the Nasdaq’s direction into year‑end.
4. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) – iPhone 17 Boom in China Shows the Brand Still Bites
Why it’s moving:
Apple shares are slightly lower with the rest of big tech today, but under the surface the company is riding a wave of surprisingly strong iPhone 17 demand in China.
Fresh data cited by Reuters this morning show that iPhone sales in China jumped about 22% year over year in the first month after the iPhone 17 launch on September 19, even though the overall Chinese smartphone market shrank about 2.7% over the same period. The iPhone 17 lineup accounted for nearly 80% of Apple’s smartphones sold during that window. [20]
That’s a sharp reversal from the iPhone 16 launch, which saw a mid‑single‑digit decline in early China sales last year. [21]
Fundamentals look healthier than the headlines:
- For fiscal 2025, total revenue reached about $416 billion, with iPhone sales of roughly $209.6 billion, up 4.2% from the prior year and again making up about half of Apple’s top line. [22]
- Services and Mac both posted record results in the latest fiscal quarter, reinforcing the narrative that Apple is increasingly a devices + services ecosystem rather than a pure hardware story. [23]
On Wall Street, today’s commentary from Zacks and Nasdaq emphasizes that AAPL is up roughly 20% over the past 12 months, driven in part by improving iPhone and services trends post‑iPhone 17. [24]
Still, some analysts remain cautious, arguing that smartphone demand may have peaked and pointing to mixed signals like the delayed rollout of the ultra‑thin “iPhone Air” model. [25]
Why AAPL is one of today’s key Nasdaq stories:
In a market obsessed with hyper‑growth AI names, Apple stands out as a relatively defensive mega‑cap that’s still posting solid growth in a tough macro backdrop. Today’s China sales data reinforce the idea that Apple’s brand power remains intact, even as domestic Chinese rivals and economic headwinds intensify.
5. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) – Musk’s $1 Trillion Payday Meets Market Reality
Why it’s moving:
Few Nasdaq stocks are under the microscope today like Tesla.
The EV giant plunged about 6.6% on Thursday to around $402, its worst single‑day performance since late July, and is slipping further today, with shares briefly trading below the psychologically important $400 level. Several outlets put Tesla’s two‑day slide at roughly 10%, effectively erasing its year‑to‑date gains and sending the stock back toward September lows. [26]
This correction comes just a week after shareholders approved CEO Elon Musk’s controversial $1 trillion pay package, a vote that initially helped push the stock higher. [27]
What’s weighing on the stock:
- Tech‑wide risk‑off mood:
Tesla is one of the most heavily traded members of the Nasdaq 100, and Thursday’s tech rout saw many high‑beta names sold indiscriminately as hopes for a December Fed rate cut faded. [28] - Weak EV demand — especially in China:
- Tesla’s October China sales fell to about 26,000 vehicles, the lowest in three years, amid fierce competition and shifting consumer sentiment. [29]
- Several reports note that Giga Shanghai is increasingly acting as an export hub, masking softness in local demand even as Chinese rivals like Xiaomi roll out new models. [30]
- Institutional selling and sentiment shifts:
Coverage today highlights that some major investors, including ARK‑associated funds and smaller asset managers, have been trimming Tesla positions, adding pressure to a stock that had already become stretched after a big 2025 rally. [31]
Analysts are split. Some view the pullback into the $380–$400 range as a potential buying opportunity after a 15–20% drawdown from recent highs. Others have downgraded Tesla to “Sell” or “Sell candidate” in recent weeks, pointing to weakening technicals and slowing global EV adoption. [32]
Why TSLA is one of today’s key Nasdaq stories:
Tesla is once again acting as a volatility amplifier for the entire Nasdaq. The combination of macro jitters, China‑specific headwinds, and debate over Musk’s mega‑pay package makes TSLA the focal point for investors trying to gauge where risk appetite truly stands.
Big Picture: What Today’s 5 Nasdaq Standouts Are Telling Us
Taken together, Applied Materials, Cidara Therapeutics, Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla illustrate the cross‑currents driving the Nasdaq on November 14, 2025:
- Policy risk vs. AI demand – AMAT shows how U.S.–China tensions can overshadow even record results in the chip‑equipment space.
- Biotech M&A still pays – CDTX proves that late‑stage assets with differentiated data can command massive takeout premiums.
- AI euphoria vs. valuation anxiety – NVDA’s pullback ahead of earnings is as much about expectations management as fundamentals.
- Resilient consumer brands – AAPL’s China iPhone 17 surge stands out against a weak smartphone market and broader tech sell‑off.
- EV growing pains – TSLA’s slide underscores how sensitive high‑multiple growth stories are to even modest demand disappointments and positioning shifts.
For traders and long‑term investors alike, these five stocks offer a real‑time snapshot of the themes currently reshaping the Nasdaq: AI, geopolitics, health‑care innovation, Chinese demand, and the future of electric vehicles.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and news purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. ir.appliedmaterials.com, 3. m.economictimes.com, 4. www.gurufocus.com, 5. www.investing.com, 6. www.gurufocus.com, 7. www.bloomberg.com, 8. www.tradingview.com, 9. www.investing.com, 10. www.cidara.com, 11. finance.yahoo.com, 12. www.morningstar.com, 13. www.investing.com, 14. www.investopedia.com, 15. www.nasdaq.com, 16. www.nasdaq.com, 17. seekingalpha.com, 18. www.reuters.com, 19. www.marketwatch.com, 20. www.reuters.com, 21. intellectia.ai, 22. finviz.com, 23. markets.financialcontent.com, 24. www.tradingview.com, 25. finviz.com, 26. finance.yahoo.com, 27. www.wsj.com, 28. www.reuters.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. evxl.co, 31. www.ainvest.com, 32. seekingalpha.com
