Palantir Surge and AI Rebound Drive S&P 500 and Dow to Record Highs

Market momentum shifted sharply on Tuesday, as major indexes climbed to milestone heights. According to reporting by George Glover, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both notched record highs intraday, powered by an aggressive resurgence in tech stocks and robust second-quarter corporate reports across multiple sectors.

Palantir Surge and the Artificial Intelligence Trade Rebound

The artificial-intelligence sector found renewed footing following a Reuters report indicating that the United States plans to implement bans on imports of new China-made data-center parts. Leading the S&P 500 surge was Palantir, which saw its shares jump 24% after the data analytics software developer revealed its second-quarter financial results.

Karp described the quarter as “otherworldly,” as U.S. commercial revenue rose 149% from a year ago, according to market reporting.

Semiconductor Gains Led by Advanced Micro Devices and Coherent

Chip stocks rallied to recover from a steep July correction that followed an intense spring surge. Advanced Micro Devices rose 6.3% ahead of its scheduled second-quarter earnings report, which was slated for release after the market closed on Tuesday. Other component suppliers also posted significant gains: Coherent climbed 12%, Marvell advanced 10%, Lumentum increased 5.6%, and Micron moved up 5.4%.

Dow Surges Over 500 Points as Falling Oil Prices Ease Inflation Fears

In international semiconductor markets, South Korea’s SK Hynix saw its shares rise 4.3% to $148.54. William Blair initiated coverage on the company’s U.S. listing, assigning an Outperform rating alongside a $260 price target that indicates an 82% upside from Monday’s closing price. Additionally, SK Hynix and Sandisk—which gained 7.1%—released a joint technical blueprint for high bandwidth flash technology on Tuesday.

Bitcoin Faces 1929 Crash Parallels As Bloomberg Strategist Warns Of Downturn

SpaceX Earnings Debut and Industrial Machinery Surprises

Elon Musk’s AI and robot company, SpaceX, stepped onto the public financial stage by releasing its inaugural quarterly figures on Tuesday evening. Wall Street projections pegged the company’s sales at $6.8 billion alongside earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $2.1 billion.

Industrial machinery manufacturer Caterpillar also delivered positive surprises, adding 6.1% after easily clearing Wall Street’s second-quarter earnings estimates. Meanwhile, Wayfair soared 26% following a quarterly report that featured its best sequential revenue growth level since 2020.

Automation Providers and Healthcare Earnings Diverge

Automation technology provider Zebra Technologies advanced 19%, positioning itself to log its best daily percentage gain in 26 years after beating expectations and lifting its full-year sales growth guidance to about 15% from a prior target of 12%. By contrast, fellow automation technology provider Rockwell Automation dropped 6.6% despite beating fiscal third-quarter earnings estimates and raising its full-year guidance.

Global Markets Rally as US and Iran Pause Hostilities and Oil Prices Plunge

In healthcare, Merck shares rose 0.7% after topping top- and bottom-line estimates despite dealmaking costs stemming from a recent acquisition. Merck’s quarter was propelled forward by the continued market adoption of Keytruda, its blockbuster cancer treatment. Pfizer declined 0.4% despite reporting results above expectations and raising the bottom end of its full-year revenue guidance on the strength of its non-Covid pharmaceutical portfolio. Spotify gained 0.9% after reaching 300 million premium subscribers in the second quarter, though higher marketing and AI expenses weighed on its earnings outcomes.