Panic over, everyone. The latest technology-stock slump looks more like a brief bout of volatility than a bubble popping. But that doesn’t mean investors can relax entirely as two crucial tests loom. 

It’s not clear what triggered the two-day tech rout to start the week. Some mixture of SpaceX spending fears, Korean investors getting nervous about their huge gains in memory chips, and the threat of cheap Chinese AI seems to be as close an explanation as any. But the truth is, when the 20 hottest S&P 500 stocks have all more than doubled in value in less than six months, it’s no surprise to see some pullbacks. 

It’s the concentration of gains among semiconductor and AI-infrastructure-related stocks that is making the S&P 500 vulnerable. In fact, the benchmark index fell more than 1% despite the majority of its component companies actually ending the day higher on Tuesday. Rather than a wholesale flight, there were signs of rotation toward the safety of consumer staples and healthcare, which should be healthy for market breadth. 

Still, more fundamental challenges loom for the tech trade. Micron Technology earnings after the market close have suddenly become a crucial bellwether. A knee-jerk reaction to an underwhelming report could trigger a substantial slide. Just look at the reaction to AI chip company Cerebras Systems’ earnings on Tuesday, with the stock plunging early Wednesday. 

An even bigger test is what happens if the Federal Reserve starts hiking interest rates—a move that could bring back bad memories of 1999 and the popping of the dot-com bubble. That will bring a sharp focus to Thursday’s release of May’s personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s favored measure of inflation. 

Markets have found their footing for now, but Micron earnings and inflation data still have the potential to reignite investors’ lurking fears.

—Adam Clark

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average is about to become even more tech-heavy. Google parent Alphabet is joining the blue-chip index, with wireless carrier Verizon Communications set to be booted out.

• S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a press release that Verizon’s low stock price meant it had an “immaterial impact” on the Dow Industrials, which is price-weighted. Alphabet has a stock price of around $350, against about $47 for Verizon.

• Adding Alphabet will “broaden and strengthen” the Dow Industrials’ exposure to “dynamic areas of the U.S. economy,” S&P Dow Jones Indices said. The stock has jumped 103% over the past year, powered higher by soaring revenue for Google Cloud and the integration of AI into the company’s search-engine business.

• There also will be a change in the S&P 500 as Honeywell Aerospace, a spinoff from Honeywell International, will join the index, replacing Conagra Brands. Honeywell International will remain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the Honeywell Aerospace spinoff.

• The Alphabet addition is the first change to the Dow Jones Industrial Average since Nvidia and Sherwin-Williams were added to the index in November 2024, replacing chemical company Dow and chip manufacturer Intel.

What’s Next: The reshuffles are set to take place before trading opens on June 29. It means that five members of the Magnificent Seven megacap group will be part of the Dow Industrials—Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon.com, and Nvidia.

—Andrew Bary and George Glover

FedEx said fourth-quarter results got a boost from higher domestic and international shipping rates and volume plus its ongoing cost cuts after spinning off its freight business into a separate company this month. CEO Raj Subramaniam said FedEx’s growth strategy is working, positioned to further optimize its network.

• The company reported adjusted profit of $6.31 a share and a 12.5% gain in revenue to $25 billion, both beating Wall Street’s forecasts. Reported profit of $1.6 billion reflects the costs associated with the spinoff and other matters.

• FedEx is moving to reporting earnings on a calendar year basis, so comparisons with past quarters and years are difficult. For calendar year 2026, it expects revenue to rise 11% and it expects adjusted earnings of $16.90 to $18.10 a share.

• The lower earnings per share outlook for the calendar year ending this December versus the fiscal year ending last month could explain in part why the stock fell 6% in after-hours trading on Tuesday. Historical comparisons are skewed by the spinoff of the freight business on June 1.

• When it last reported earnings in March, FedEx said that $1.991 billion of its $24 billion in quarterly revenue came from those less-than-truckload (LTL) operations. LTL shippers usually serve industrial customers that don’t need a full truck to send items short distances. 

What’s Next: As part of the spinoff, shareholders got one share of FedEx freight for every two shares they already held of FedEx. That effectively lowered Fedex’s stock price, which was around $411 at the end of May, by approximately $80 a share. The freight business reports earnings on Thursday.

—Anita Hamilton

In its first earnings report since its initial public offering, the chip maker Cerebras Systems beat revenue expectations and narrowed its loss. But the outlook for its annual adjusted gross margin shows that the company expects to see reduced profitability over the rest of the year as it ramps up its service contract with OpenAI.

• Revenue for the quarter reached $193 million, up 94% from a year ago. The company’s adjusted operating loss was a smaller-than-expected $3.5 million, versus a $44 million loss last year. For the second quarter it sees revenue rising 88% to $194 million.

• The company makes a unique AI chip. Though just going public in May, it already has 11 analysts who have initiated coverage, according to FactSet, with an average price target of $294 and a Buy rating. It isn’t expected to show a profit until its $20 billion multiyear cloud contract with OpenAI accelerates next year.

• OpenAI uses Cerebras’ cloud to host one of its software coding models, Codex-Spark. This is typical of the medium-sized AI models seen running on Cerebras hardware, but the company claims they will soon be able to run much larger models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5.5.

• The chip maker also has a binding term sheet with Amazon Web Services, which would be the first major cloud to host Cerebras’ AI chips. At the end of 2025, Cerebras’ backlog was $24.6 billion, mostly from the OpenAI deal. 

What’s Next: Cerebras has said it would recognize $3.7 billion of the backlog as revenue in 2026 and 2027. Investors are hoping that the stock gets caught up in the same tailwind that has supercharged stocks of Nvidia and Micron Technology, which reports earnings today.

—Adam Levine

Walmart’s long-term contract to buy nuclear power from a Constellation Energy facility in Illinois for its stores and a high-tech warehouse in the area is a promising sign that the nuclear industry’s future is supported by more than just the AI data center boom.

• The retailing giant will buy 176 megawatts of power from the plant over a 15-year period, or enough to power 150,000 homes. It allows Constellation to expand the capacity at that plant by 30 megawatts, a process called an uprate, which can involve replacing older equipment and improving efficiency.

• Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but these types of deals tend to go for premium prices because they allow the buyer to lock in their costs over a long period. Walmart has pledged to eliminate net carbon emissions from its U.S. operations by 2040. Nuclear generates electricity without carbon emissions.

• The deal isn’t large enough to significantly boost Constellation’s growth trajectory, given that Constellation has 55 gigawatts of generating capacity and the Walmart deal represents less than 0.5% of that total.

• The Trump administration is backing a nuclear revival, announcing $17.5 billion in low cost loans from the Energy Department for utilities to finance equipment orders for the Westinghouse AP1000 large-scale nuclear reactor. 

What’s Next: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the loans will play a role in reviving the supply chain needed to build large-scale commercial reactors and accelerate the timeline of building those reactors by up to three years, lowering construction costs.

—Avi Salzman and Liz Moyer

Meta Platforms is turning to Kardashian clan member Kylie Jenner for its new line of smart glasses. Influencer marketing is common with brands that want to get their product recognized by a younger demographic. Jenner founded a successful makeup line called Kylie Cosmetics,