Updated: 1:33 p.m. ET | December 24, 2025
U.S. markets wrapped a thin, holiday-shortened Christmas Eve session with fresh records—and AI-linked stocks were once again the center of gravity.
The S&P 500 finished at a record level near 6,932, while the Dow and Nasdaq also closed higher, extending a winning streak into what traders call the start of the “Santa Claus rally” window. Trading ended early at 1:00 p.m. Eastern for Christmas Eve, leaving investors with a compressed burst of price discovery and a long weekend to digest what comes next for the AI trade heading into 2026. [1]
What made today notable for AI-stock watchers wasn’t just the headline records—it was the composition of the move. After a recent wobble tied to valuation anxiety and questions about whether AI spending will deliver enough profit to justify the bill, the market’s risk-on mood returned—and it returned with AI back in the driver’s seat. [2]
Below is a full, publication-ready roundup of the news, forecasts, and analyst takes dated Dec. 24, 2025 that shaped the AI-stock conversation today.
AI stocks lift as the S&P 500 returns to records
By mid-session, Reuters reported the S&P 500 reached a new intraday high as investors rotated back into AI and mega-cap tech, helped by easing rate-cut expectations for 2026 and the perception that the economy is holding up better than feared. Reuters also noted the index had previously pulled back in November amid “AI bubble” concerns and valuation pushback—context that’s crucial for understanding why today’s rebound in AI sentiment mattered. [3]
At the close, Reuters framed the session as a broad rally with AI-related names rebounding after a selloff tied to concerns over lofty valuations and heavy capital spending. The same Reuters wrap highlighted that jobless claims fell unexpectedly last week, adding to the “soft landing” narrative that tends to benefit long-duration growth stocks (including many AI leaders). [4]
AP put numbers on the tape: S&P 500 +0.3% to 6,932.05; Dow +0.6% to 48,731.16; Nasdaq +0.2% to 23,613.31, with trading volume significantly lighter than normal due to the holiday schedule. [5]
Why this matters for AI stocks: when liquidity is thin, leadership is often “revealed” by what still gets bought. Today, headlines and flows repeatedly circled back to semiconductors, data-center beneficiaries, and platform companies building the AI “stack.” [6]
Semiconductors back in focus: Nvidia’s momentum vs. the “capex reality check”
Nvidia: a technical tailwind returns to the AI bellwether
MarketWatch’s technical view on Dec. 24 emphasized Nvidia’s renewed rally as a key force lifting broader tech sentiment, with Fundstrat’s Mark Newton describing a breakout from an earlier downtrend and projecting a potential near-term move toward $220. Whether investors follow technical targets or not, the takeaway is that Nvidia’s chart strength is again being treated as a “tell” for the entire AI complex. [7]
Separately, Reuters pointed to Nvidia’s central role in the prior market peak and again in today’s renewed AI bid—underscoring how tightly index performance remains tied to a small group of AI-heavyweights. [8]
Micron: memory remains a core AI scarcity story
While today’s biggest Micron-specific guidance headlines originally broke last week, Dec. 24 market coverage repeatedly referenced Micron’s strong outlook as a catalyst that helped revive the broader AI trade. Reuters explicitly credited Micron’s forecast as one reason momentum returned after bubble fears. [9]
In daily “what’s moving” coverage, Barron’s reported Micron was among notable gainers, rising after a strong earnings report, reinforcing the view that AI infrastructure isn’t just about GPUs—memory and storage are increasingly treated as bottlenecks and beneficiaries. [10]
Intel: the Nvidia 18A headline that hit AI-supply-chain hopes
Intel landed on the other side of the AI-chip narrative today.
Reuters’ market wrap said Intel fell after a report that Nvidia halted tests related to Intel’s 18A manufacturing process—an important datapoint because winning advanced-node foundry business from an AI leader would be a major “proof point” for Intel’s turnaround story. [11]
A deeper Reuters feature on Intel’s CEO and Washington ties added more context: it reported Nvidia tested Intel’s 18A process but “stopped moving forward,” citing sources—while also describing Intel’s broader effort to regain relevance in AI and manufacturing as it courts partners and public-sector support. [12]
Barron’s also flagged Intel’s move lower in its Christmas Eve stock-movers list, linking the decline to the Nvidia/Intel manufacturing headline. [13]
Why this matters for AI investors: AI chip demand is enormous, but the market is increasingly discriminating between AI demand and who can reliably manufacture, supply, and monetize it. Today’s Intel headline reinforced that the foundry race remains hard—and that the market continues to reward certainty. [14]
Meta stock and the WhatsApp AI ruling: regulation becomes a near-term AI catalyst
Not all AI-stock news today was about chips.
Reuters reported that Italy’s antitrust authority ordered Meta to suspend WhatsApp contractual terms that could exclude rival AI chatbots, as regulators investigate potential abuse of a dominant position. Meta called the decision “fundamentally flawed” and said it will appeal, arguing AI chatbots strain systems not designed to support them. [15]
The regulatory fight matters because messaging platforms are turning into distribution rails for consumer and business AI assistants. The Italian order, and the wider European scrutiny referenced by Reuters, raise a key question for investors in 2026: Will AI “gateways” be forced open—and if so, who captures the economics? [16]
TechCrunch’s Dec. 24 coverage echoed the same core development (Italy ordering Meta to suspend a policy that would ban rivals using WhatsApp business tools to offer AI chatbots), underscoring how quickly the story moved from a platform-policy tweak to a market- and regulatory-level event. [17]
Enterprise AI stocks: UiPath gets an index-driven boost, while the market debates monetization
UiPath: “AI winner” narrative meets forced buying dynamics
UiPath was one of the day’s standout AI-adjacent movers.
Barron’s reported UiPath shares surged after news it will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 effective Jan. 2, a change that often triggers mechanical buying by index-tracking funds. Barron’s framed the move as another sign investors are revisiting “AI winners” beyond mega-cap. [18]
In a broader stock-movers roundup, Barron’s also highlighted UiPath’s jump tied to the same index inclusion. [19]
Investor takeaway: in the final stretch of the year—especially during thin sessions—index rebalances and membership changes can meaningfully influence price action. UiPath’s move is a reminder that AI-stock performance isn’t driven only by earnings headlines; flows and structure matter, too. [20]
Salesforce: the market’s favorite 2026 question—can AI revenue scale fast enough?
While chipmakers dominate AI headlines, enterprise software is where many investors expect “durable” AI monetization to show up.
Barron’s argued Salesforce is positioned to emerge as an AI winner, pointing to growth expectations around its Agentforce offering and the broader premise that the next phase of AI investing will reward companies that can show recurring revenue rather than only infrastructure spending. [21]
This theme aligns with what Reuters highlighted in its 2026 market outlook: investors increasingly want evidence that the massive AI capex cycle is converting into profits, and that expectation could shape how markets price software and cloud names relative to hardware in 2026. [22]
Forecasts for 2026: strong earnings expectations, rate-cut bets, and a spotlight on AI ROI
Today’s AI-stock story wasn’t only about what moved—it was also about what strategists think comes next.
Reuters: 2026 depends on earnings breadth and sustained AI spending
In a Dec. 24 outlook, Reuters reported strategists broadly see 2026 performance hinging on three forces:
- Corporate earnings growth (with forecasts cited by Reuters projecting S&P 500 earnings up 15%+ in 2026)
- A dovish Federal Reserve backdrop (Fed funds futures implying at least two quarter-point cuts in 2026)
- Continued AI investment—but with growing scrutiny of whether returns will justify spending [23]
Reuters also relayed a range of strategists’ index targets for 2026, including CFRA’s Sam Stovall (7,400) and Deutsche Bank (8,000), illustrating how bullish forecasts remain—but also how dependent they are on execution and macro stability. [24]
Investopedia: optimism with rising “AI sector” risk
Investopedia reported that Wall Street expects a positive 2026, but warned “risks are growing,” explicitly pointing to concerns around overheated tech and AI segments and the durability of the AI boom relative to spending levels. [25]
That caution matches the market’s lived experience this year: Reuters described the November pullback as a moment when investors questioned whether valuations and AI optimism had run too far ahead of fundamentals—only for sentiment to rebound again into year-end. [26]
The “Santa Claus rally” lens
Multiple outlets noted the seasonal “Santa Claus rally” period beginning on Christmas Eve and running into early January, a time frame often cited by traders for historically positive equity performance. Reuters explicitly referenced this window and emphasized that today’s session marked the start of that period. [27]
What to watch next for AI stocks after Dec. 24
With Christmas Day market closures and year-end positioning underway, the next phase for AI stocks may be driven less by day-to-day headlines and more by a handful of big catalysts:
- 2026 AI capex budgets and discipline
Reuters framed AI spending as a key support for the bull case—but also a key risk if investors decide returns aren’t showing up fast enough. [28] - Rate cuts and Fed leadership uncertainty
Reuters highlighted rate-cut expectations as a support for equities, while also flagging attention on who leads the Fed next and how markets interpret central-bank independence and policy direction. [29] - Semiconductor supply-chain confidence
Nvidia’s technical strength helped lift sentiment today, but Intel’s 18A headline showed the market will still punish uncertainty around manufacturing execution and strategic partnerships in the AI chip pipeline. [30] - Platform rules and AI distribution regulation
Meta’s WhatsApp ruling in Italy is a real-time example of how competition policy can directly influence AI business models—especially for companies that control major consumer gateways. [31] - Index-driven flows and “second-tier” AI beneficiaries
UiPath’s S&P MidCap 400 inclusion illustrates how market structure can amplify moves—particularly in smaller AI names—during low-liquidity periods. [32]
Bottom line: Dec. 24 put AI leadership back on the map—but 2026 is about proof, not hype
Christmas Eve’s record closes delivered a clear message: investors are still willing to pay for AI-linked growth—especially when macro conditions feel supportive and the market believes the AI buildout is translating into real earnings power. [33]
But the same day’s headlines also showed what could define 2026: scrutiny of AI capex returns, regulatory battles over AI access and distribution, and an increasingly sharp divide between companies that can monetize AI at scale and those still trying to prove they belong in the winners’ circle. [34]
Note: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
References
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