Samsung Posts a Record Quarter. Wall Street Sells Chips Anyway.

A Whiplash Week for Chips Continues, This Time to the Downside

Samsung's Record Profit Wasn't Enough. Global Chip Rout Hits Wall Street.

• Samsung Electronics reported a sharp jump in second-quarter profit, but investors focused instead on rising concerns about spending and demand, sending South Korea's KOSPI and the broader Asian tech trade lower overnight. The selloff carried straight into the U.S. session.
• Chipmakers led the U.S. decline: Micron fell roughly ▼ 5%, while KLA, Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Marvell Technology each dropped more than ▼ 4%. Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD, and Qualcomm also traded lower. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) fell more than 3% on the session. "Expectations are up, and fundamentals are struggling to meet these high sky-high demands," said Mike Bailey, director of research at FBB Capital Partners, describing the pullback as a rotation out of a sector that's been red hot for months.
• Adding to the pressure, Reuters reported that DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip for running trained models — a step that could reduce the Chinese AI firm's reliance on suppliers like Nvidia and Samsung, and a fresh reminder that the chip industry's customers are also becoming potential competitors.
• SpaceX (SPCX) officially joined the Nasdaq-100 today under the exchange's new "fast-track entry" rules for mega-IPOs — one of the most anticipated index additions in years — yet the stock itself fell more than ▼ 6% as it got swept up in the same AI-valuation jitters hitting chipmakers.

While Chips Fell, Healthcare Dealmaking and Insurance Highs Told a Different Story

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals agreed to buy Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $85 per share in cash, a deal valuing the rare-hormonal-disease specialist at roughly $10 billion. Crinetics shares nearly doubled ▲ 98.8%, while Vertex slipped about ▼ 2% on standard acquirer-side pressure. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.
• Insurance and regional bank stocks quietly had a strong session. The SPDR S&P Insurance ETF (KIE) rose more than 1%, and names including Bank of America, US Bancorp, BNY Mellon, Chubb, Travelers, Aflac, MetLife, and Allstate all touched fresh 52-week highs.
• Rivian (RIVN) tumbled roughly ▼ 18% — its worst single day since 2024 — after announcing a surprise 75-million-share public offering to raise about $1.5 billion, even as the company pre-released stronger-than-expected preliminary Q2 revenue of $1.55–$1.65 billion.
• Elsewhere, T-Mobile gained around ▲ 3% after Morgan Stanley reiterated it as a top telecom pick, First Solar rose nearly ▲ 3% on a Deutsche Bank upgrade, and Fiserv added more than ▲ 2% on a report that it's exploring a sale of its debit-processing business to major banks.

Where the Money Actually Went

• Crinetics Pharmaceuticals (CRNX) ▲ 98.8% was the day's standout by a wide margin, on the back of Vertex's $10 billion buyout announcement.
• Eli Lilly (LLY) gained almost ▲ 3% as investors rotated into large-cap healthcare names, with JPMorgan raising its price target ahead of the company's August earnings report.
• T-Mobile (TMUS) ▲ ~3% and First Solar (FSLR) ▲ ~3% both benefited from fresh analyst upgrades, showing that stock-picking — not just index direction — mattered today.
• Insurers extended their quiet 2026 run, with several names in the group hitting 52-week highs even as the broader market slipped, a reminder that this year's rally has never been just about AI stocks.

Yields Rise as Oil Spikes, Trade Deficit Widens, and Markets Await FOMC Minutes

• Oil prices jumped more than 5% after a U.S. official said the Treasury Department is revoking the license permitting Iranian oil sales. Brent crude climbed above $76 a barrel and WTI crude topped $72, extending gains tied to rising tension around the Strait of Hormuz, where the threat level to shipping has been raised to "severe" following recent Iranian attacks on tankers.
• Treasury yields moved higher Tuesday morning: the benchmark 10-year rose to about 4.50%, the 30-year to roughly 5.01%, and the 2-year to about 4.14%, as investors weighed the oil spike, trade data, and upcoming Fed commentary.
• The U.S. trade deficit widened sharply in May to $77.6 billion, up from a revised $54.6 billion in April, as exports fell 3.2% and imports rose 3.3%. The reading came in just below the $78.08 billion economists had expected.
• Markets are also watching the start of the NATO Summit in Turkey and awaiting the release of FOMC meeting minutes from the Fed's most recent policy meeting, both of which could add to volatility later this week.

What to Watch Wednesday

• FOMC Minutes. Markets are awaiting the release of minutes from the Fed's most recent meeting, which should offer more detail on how divided policymakers are over the path for rates in the second half of the year.
• NATO Summit continues in Turkey. Day two of the summit could bring headlines on defense spending commitments and the ongoing Middle East conflict — both of which have been feeding into the oil and defense-stock trades.
• SK Hynix's U.S. ADR issuance, due Friday. The memory-chip maker's American listing will be closely watched as a read on investor appetite for chip stocks after this week's whiplash.
• Amazon's $25 billion bond sale. Pricing is expected this week; the size of the deal underscores how much capital hyperscalers are raising to fund AI infrastructure buildouts.
• Oil and the Strait of Hormuz. Continued tension around Iranian tanker attacks and the Treasury's license revocation could keep crude prices — and by extension bond yields — elevated into the back half of the week.