New York, January 18, 2026, 12:33 EST — The market has closed.
U.S. chip and software stocks tied to AI closed Friday on a mixed note ahead of the long holiday weekend. Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom posted gains, with AMD up 1.7% at $231.83 and Broadcom climbing 2.6% to $351.71. Meanwhile, Nvidia slipped 0.5% to $186.23, and Intel dropped 2.8% to $46.96. On the software side, Palantir slid 3.4%, Alphabet dipped 0.9%, and Microsoft edged up 0.7%.
U.S. stock and bond markets are closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with trading restarting Tuesday. The break is notable for AI stocks, which have lately reacted more to shifts in earnings forecasts, investor positioning, and sudden policy announcements than to new company developments. 1
Investors are relying on earnings to drive the market as the reporting season expands. “Earnings actually carry the news cycle,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, in a Reuters report. Expectations are high, and for companies linked to data-center spending, guidance could be just as crucial as the actual results. 2
The broader market ended Friday mostly flat: the Dow slipped 0.17%, the S&P 500 dipped 0.06%, and the Nasdaq also fell 0.06%. Semiconductor stocks bucked the trend, with the chip index climbing 1.2%. Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, noted the S&P 500 remains “within spitting distance of 7,000.” Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management, described the “middle part of January” as typically “pretty choppy.” 3
Traders are closely watching Tuesday’s reopen to see if volatility spikes after January’s monthly options expiration. Options give investors the right to buy or sell shares at a fixed price by a certain date. Reuters quoted options-market experts who say this expiration could trigger bigger swings in U.S. stocks. SpotGamma founder Brent Kochuba noted it might let the S&P 500 “start moving around a bit more.” The report also highlighted that a large portion of open options contracts for Nvidia will expire, potentially boosting short-term volatility. 4
Nvidia continues to lead the AI stock pack, but analysts are split on how much more room the rally has after rivals stepped up. RBC Capital Markets’ Srini Pajjuri kicked off coverage with an “outperform” rating and a $240 price target, according to Barron’s. Still, he flagged mounting threats from in-house chips like Google’s TPUs and AMD. RBC forecasts Nvidia’s slice of the AI accelerator market—those high-end chips that power huge AI models—could shrink to around 70% by 2027, down from roughly 80% today.
Intel is set to release its quarterly and full-year earnings after the market closes on Thursday, Jan. 22, followed by a conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific. Investors will be focused on any updates about demand for AI servers and progress in Intel’s foundry business, which the company is aggressively trying to grow. 5
The risk remains that politics will rattle markets before company fundamentals can take hold. Reuters reported Sunday that global markets face a “fresh bout of volatility” after U.S. President Donald Trump promised new tariffs on imports from certain European countries starting Feb. 1, with rates set to rise further if no deal materializes. IG analyst Tony Sycamore warned markets could reopen in “risk-off” mode. When broad risk-off sentiment hits, high-valuation growth stocks—many in AI—usually take the hardest hit. 6
Investors are focused on a few key events: the market reopening Tuesday after the holiday, Intel’s earnings report following Thursday’s close, and the Fed’s policy meeting set for Jan. 27-28. For AI stocks, the big question remains whether strong earnings and clear signals on rates will sustain buying, or if volatility and Fed chatter will regain control. 7
