Market Movers

S&P 500 — daily market movers

Macro backdrop

Indices fell for a 4th straight day — the S&P 500 -0.58%, the Dow -0.60% and the Nasdaq -0.65%, the S&P's longest losing streak since early March. Two forces drove the session: an oil shock (Brent to $105.37, its highest since July, and WTI above $100 on escalating U.S.-Iran tensions) and a hot August PPI (+5.4% YoY, above expectations) that pushed rate-hike odds to ~70% and sent the 10-year Treasury yield to a 52-week high of 4.95% (+11bps). Surging yields hammered high-multiple AI and tech names.

Top 10 gainers

  • 1. SWKS+9.79%
    Skyworks Solutions
    RF and analog semiconductors for smartphones and wireless devices
    Surged ~10% on renewed speculation that its merger with Qorvo is clearing; Qorvo also jumped while the broader chip group fell.
  • 2. RDDT+6.08%
    Reddit
    Social community platform monetized through advertising
    Rose on user-growth data: its user base expanded 8% month-over-month in August (fastest pace of the year), lifting year-over-year audience growth to 18%.
  • 3. CHTR+4.98%
    Charter Communications
    Cable broadband and pay-TV under the Spectrum brand
    Benefited from a defensive/value rotation into lower-multiple cable and telecom names as investors fled rate-sensitive tech.
  • 4. ELV+4.95%
    Elevance Health
    Health insurance and managed care (formerly Anthem)
    Managed-care names rallied on a defensive rotation; the broader health-insurer group rose, with UnitedHealth up nearly 4%.
  • 5. AAPL+3.56%
    Apple
    iPhone, Mac and other consumer electronics plus services
    Gained on post-event analyst optimism about iPhone 17 demand following the prior day's product launch.
  • 6. F+3.20%
    Ford Motor
    Automobile manufacturer
    Rose with a broad rally in autos, with Detroit automakers among the day's value-oriented outperformers.
  • 7. APP+3.09%
    AppLovin
    Mobile app advertising and marketing-technology platform
    Ad-tech strength and analyst bullishness (recent price-target increases) lifted the shares; no single day-of catalyst.
  • 8. GDDY+2.96%
    GoDaddy
    Domain registration, web hosting and small-business online tools
    Rose amid rotation into profitable, non-AI software; no single dominant catalyst confirmed for the day.
  • 9. GM+2.82%
    General Motors
    Automobile manufacturer
    Part of the broad auto-sector strength on the day.
  • 10. TTWO+2.76%
    Take-Two Interactive
    Video-game publisher (Grand Theft Auto, NBA 2K)
    Media/gaming names drew analyst attention and rotation interest; no standalone corporate catalyst.

Common Themes

The gainers reflect a clear defensive-and-value rotation out of rate-sensitive AI/semiconductors and into lower-multiple sectors: managed-care health (ELV), cable/telecom (CHTR), and autos (F, GM). Three names had their own idiosyncratic catalysts — SWKS on Qorvo merger speculation, RDDT on accelerating user growth, and AAPL on iPhone 17 post-event optimism — while APP, GDDY and TTWO rode ad-tech/media sentiment without a single day-of driver.

Top 10 losers

  • 1. COO-14.67%
    Cooper Companies
    Contact lenses (CooperVision) and women's health/fertility products
    Plunged after a Q3 revenue miss, weak forward guidance, and the conclusion of its strategic review disappointed investors.
  • 2. BKR-6.66%
    Baker Hughes
    Oilfield services and energy equipment/technology
    Fell despite higher oil on weak margin guidance from its Chart Industries acquisition and a cut to free-cash-flow conversion; UBS trimmed its price target.
  • 3. FCX-6.59%
    Freeport-McMoRan
    Copper and gold mining
    Dropped as tariff uncertainty reversed a record copper rally, dragging copper miners lower across the board.
  • 4. HPE-6.25%
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise
    Enterprise servers, storage, networking and AI infrastructure
    Extended post-earnings weakness (a soft 2026 forecast) amid the broad selloff in AI-hardware names.
  • 5. FDS-5.82%
    FactSet Research Systems
    Financial data and analytics software
    Slid on a guidance miss tied to AI investment and bonus costs, with Q4 profit falling short of estimates.
  • 6. LRCX-5.65%
    Lam Research
    Semiconductor wafer-fabrication equipment
    Hit by the semiconductor-equipment selloff as 52-week-high yields and AI-spending fears pressured the group.
  • 7. VRT-5.61%
    Vertiv Holdings
    Data-center power and thermal/cooling infrastructure
    Sold off with the AI-infrastructure complex as rising yields weighed on high-multiple data-center names.
  • 8. INTC-5.57%
    Intel
    CPUs, semiconductors and foundry services
    Fell with the broad chip selloff driven by the spike in Treasury yields.
  • 9. LITE-5.39%
    Lumentum
    Optical components for data-center and telecom networking
    Dropped alongside the AI/optical-infrastructure group in the rate-driven tech selloff.
  • 10. ORCL-5.38%
    Oracle
    Enterprise database software and cloud infrastructure (OCI)
    Weakened into its after-close earnings on profit-taking (after last year's huge post-earnings jump) and broad AI-infrastructure pressure.

Common Themes

The losers split into three threads. First and largest, the AI-infrastructure/semiconductor complex (LRCX, VRT, INTC, LITE, ORCL, HPE, plus MU, WDC and DELL just off the list) was hit hardest by the jump in yields and AI-spending fears. Second, an energy/materials paradox: even with oil surging, BKR fell on its own deal-margin guidance and FCX on copper-tariff doubt. Third, idiosyncratic earnings/guidance disasters (COO, FDS).

Overall read

A textbook rate-shock, risk-off session. A hot PPI print and an oil shock pushed Treasury yields to 52-week highs, and capital rotated decisively out of high-multiple AI/tech/semiconductors and into lower-multiple defensives — healthcare, cable/telecom and autos. Both ends of the board tell the same rotation story.

Sources