New York, February 15, 2026, 12:36 PM EST — The market is closed.
- Shares of Applied Materials jumped 8% Friday after the company projected quarterly results that topped analyst expectations.
- Semiconductor ETFs managed small gains; Nvidia and Broadcom, though, slipped.
- U.S. markets are closed Monday for Presidents Day, leaving traders to focus on a busy stretch ahead: key inflation reports and chipmaker earnings all hit this week.
Applied Materials’ bullish forecast sent chip-equipment names sharply higher Friday, offering semiconductor stocks some traction before the shortened week. Still, the sector stayed mixed—Nvidia and Broadcom both closed out the week in the red.
The distinction is important right now, as investors want to see actual orders for AI data centers making their way through the chip supply chain—not just ambitious spending plans on paper.
There’s also the rates story. With Friday’s softer U.S. inflation reading, some of the weight came off growth stocks—chipmakers among them.
By the end of Friday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) closed up 0.9%, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) tacking on 0.4%. Applied Materials surged 8.0%. Lam Research moved 1.8% higher, and KLA picked up 0.9%. Nvidia dropped 2.2%, Broadcom slipped 1.8%.
Applied, the top U.S. semiconductor equipment supplier, put out a second-quarter revenue outlook at around $7.65 billion, give or take $500 million, with adjusted earnings pegged at $2.64 per share, plus or minus $0.20. Both figures are ahead of Wall Street’s expectations, LSEG data shows. CEO Gary Dickerson pointed squarely to “the acceleration of industry investments in AI computing” as the main force behind the forecast. Morningstar’s William Kerwin weighed in too, predicting “a massive wafer fabrication equipment growth cycle over the next three years.” High-bandwidth memory—HBM, that is—remains a key piece, as it’s stacked DRAM used with AI chips, requiring ever-more advanced packaging tools to put it all together. (Reuters)
January’s U.S. Consumer Price Index crept up 0.2%, putting the annual gain at 2.4%. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, logged a 0.3% monthly rise and moved up 2.5% year-on-year, according to Reuters. “For the Fed, this probably doesn’t change much in the near term,” said James McCann, senior economist, investment strategy, at Edward Jones. (Reuters)
Big tech just wouldn’t budge, even with some backing. The S&P 500 scraped out a 0.05% gain Friday, but the Nasdaq slipped 0.22%. Traders inched up bets on a possible June rate cut, according to Reuters. “Large cap tech stocks continue to be an anchor on the market,” said Michael James, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities. He also noted markets were on edge ahead of Presidents Day. (Reuters)
Still, chip stocks are the go-to lever for traders betting on—or stepping back from—the AI trade. That volatility cuts both ways. “It’s all this whack-a-mole game of trying to figure out what AI is going to destroy next,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth, quoted in a Reuters “Week Ahead” piece. (Reuters)
Semi traders are watching: does the rally in equipment stocks spill over to the broader chip sector, or fizzle after the holiday? Risks are stacked inside lofty expectations—slower AI spending, squeezed margins, or snags in new capacity could knock the group back fast.
Midweek, Analog Devices is set to report. The company plans to post results at 7:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Feb. 18, then jump on a 10:00 a.m. ET conference call. For anyone tracking industrial and non-AI demand, the numbers could offer a useful read. (Analog Devices)
Macro traders are eyeing the upcoming Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the inflation measure favored by the Fed, with the next update set for Feb. 20. (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
The real test for chip stocks lands the next week. Nvidia’s quarterly results call is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 25—a date that usually sways the entire semiconductor sector. (nvidianews.nvidia.com)
