Stock Market Today, Aug. 25, 2026: Indexes Close Higher as Chip Stocks Rebound

Major U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, as semiconductor stocks recovered from steep declines on Monday ahead of Nvidia’s quarterly report after Wednesday’s close. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each added 0.3%. The Dow posted its third consecutive higher close.

The gains came despite a weaker-than-expected consumer confidence reading from the Conference Board and retaliatory tariffs from Canada of up to 50% on certain U.S. goods. Stock futures rose before the opening bell after a losing session for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq on Monday. Futures tied to the Dow were up 0.5% premarket, and the blue-chip index finished with a smaller gain of 0.3%.

Chipmakers accounted for much of the advance. Memory stocks, the broader semiconductor group and Nvidia all rose, and server maker Super Micro Computer led technology shares higher during the afternoon.

The day’s largest single-stock moves came from earnings and analyst notes. Dick’s Sporting Goods plunged more than 30% after missing second-quarter estimates and cutting its full-year outlook. Moderna rose 13% to lead S&P 500 gainers. Lululemon Athletica fell nearly 4% after a cautious Morgan Stanley note, and Walmart extended its August decline after an Oppenheimer analyst said the stock could fall further. Intuit dropped about 3.5% ahead of its fiscal fourth-quarter results after the bell.

In other markets, crude oil fell for a second day, the 10-year Treasury yield dropped six basis points, gold held near its highest level since mid-May, and bitcoin topped $80,000 for the first time since May 15.

Chip Stocks Lead the Rebound

Semiconductor shares drove Tuesday’s gains after leading Monday’s declines. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq began the week lower on Monday as chip stocks sold off, and Tuesday’s session reversed much of that move.

Memory makers rebounded sharply. The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) sank nearly 6% on Monday and gained nearly 4% on Tuesday, leaving the fund short of a full recovery from Monday’s loss. Its components Western Digital (WDC), SK Hynix (SKHY), Micron Technology (MU) and Seagate Technology (STX) all climbed on Tuesday.

The broader iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) ended 1.6% higher after falling more than 2.5% on Monday. Its rebound was aided by gains in components Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), along with Nvidia, another SOXX holding, which ended a seven-session losing streak.

Chip stocks have swung sharply several times this summer. In the July 27 session, the Nasdaq slipped as chip stocks dropped while the Dow rose. Monday’s selloff and Tuesday’s partial recovery came in the days immediately before Nvidia’s results.

Nvidia Snaps Its Losing Streak Ahead of Earnings

Nvidia (NVDA), the world’s most valuable public company, rose more than 2% on Tuesday. The gain ended a seven-session skid, the stock’s longest losing streak since 2022.

The rebound came one day before Nvidia’s quarterly report, scheduled for release after Wednesday’s closing bell. The stock fell for seven straight sessions heading into the report, and Tuesday’s advance came alongside the broader recovery in memory makers and chip designers.

The other Magnificent Seven mega-cap technology stocks finished mixed. Tesla (TSLA) rebounded modestly after closing almost 4% lower on Monday.

Technology Tops the S&P 500 Sector Board

Super Micro Computer helped technology stocks power the S&P 500 higher. The S&P 500 Information Technology sector was the best performer of the index’s 11 sectors in early afternoon trading, up 0.7% at that point, while the S&P 500 as a whole was up 0.3%.

Supermicro (SMCI) was the top-performing individual stock in the technology sector during the afternoon, up nearly 9%. The server maker’s gain added to the advance in hardware names that included memory makers, chip designers and Nvidia.

Six of the 11 sectors were in positive territory in early afternoon trading. The S&P 500’s 0.3% gain at that point matched its finish at the close.

Dick’s Sporting Goods Plunges on Foot Locker Weakness

Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS) delivered the largest corporate move on a light day for earnings reports. The stock was down about 15% in morning trading and extended its losses through the session to close down more than 30%. The retailer’s second-quarter results fell short of analysts’ estimates, and the company cut several of its fiscal 2026 projections, including those for Foot Locker comparable sales and operating income.

The company said its Foot Locker business was “impacted by challenging conditions” in the quarter.

The Pittsburgh-based retailer reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of $3.53 per share on net sales of $5.59 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected adjusted earnings of $3.77 per share on net sales of $5.64 billion. Comparable sales rose 2.1% from a year earlier, well below the 3.4% increase Visible Alpha had projected.

Foot Locker Drags on Results and Guidance

The Foot Locker business accounted for most of the shortfall. Pro-forma comparable sales at Foot Locker fell 3.6%, compared with the 0.2% decline analysts had expected.

Dick’s lowered its full-year outlook for Foot Locker pro-forma comparable sales to a range of negative 2% to flat. Its previous guidance had called for growth of 1.5% to 3%. The company also reduced its operating income outlook for both Foot Locker and the namesake Dick’s business, and it cut its guidance for net sales and profit.

Executive Chairman Ed Stack said the environment “had a more significant impact on the Foot Locker Business given its greater exposure to legacy footwear silhouettes and greater dependence on footwear launch and retro product.” He added that “not only were there fewer launches in the second quarter, but those launches performed below both industry and our expectations. As a result, we are taking a more cautious view of the balance of the year.”

Dick’s shares entered Tuesday down more than 9% since the start of the year. The decline of more than 30% on Tuesday added sharply to those losses.

Intuit Falls Ahead of Fiscal Fourth-Quarter Results

Intuit (INTU), the parent of TurboTax and QuickBooks, was scheduled to publish fiscal fourth-quarter results after the closing bell. Its shares were little changed in premarket trading and closed down about 3.5%.

Analysts tracked by Visible Alpha expected adjusted earnings of $3.58 per share on revenue of $4.27 billion for the quarter.

Intuit shares have lost nearly half their value since the start of 2026, making the stock one of the S&P 500’s worst performers this year. The decline has come despite the company’s recent results. Intuit beat expectations last quarter and announced plans to shrink its workforce, but the stock has slumped along with a broader pullback in software shares driven by concern about disruption from artificial intelligence.

Walmart Extends Its August Slide

Walmart (WMT) fell about 1.5% on Tuesday. The stock had already dropped 4% in August through Monday’s close, with losses accelerating last week after the retailer issued a third-quarter financial outlook that disappointed the market.

Analysts remain broadly positive on the shares. Visible Alpha’s mean price target is around $127, a premium of nearly 20% to Monday’s close around $106.

Oppenheimer said on Tuesday that the stock could move into the “low $90s.” Walmart shares have not traded below $100 since November.

The Oppenheimer analysts still cited strengths at the company, including trends in operating profit and e-commerce growth, as well as gains in U.S. grocery market share. They also called the latest retreat “justified,” pointing to a multiyear rally that ended in May and slowing same-store sales growth. Oppenheimer, which downgraded the stock earlier this month, does not currently have a price target on Walmart and said the shares “remain on our radar.”

Lululemon Slips on a Cautious Morgan Stanley Note

Lululemon Athletica (LULU) fell nearly 4% on Tuesday, ranking among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, after Morgan Stanley said the retailer’s upcoming results are “unlikely to change the debate” around the stock.

Lululemon is scheduled to report second-quarter results next Thursday, Sept. 3. Its new chief executive, Heidi O’Neill, starts on Sept. 8, five days later. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote that they “doubt major strategy changes arrive before new CEO [Heidi] O’Neill starts.” They added: “Instead, we think the more important catalyst is her initial reset plan.”

Morgan Stanley has an “underweight” rating on the stock. The analysts said the rating “reflects our view that she ultimately embraces a ‘shrink to grow’ strategy, driving another leg of negative earnings revisions.”

Lululemon shares are trading around $118. The stock is down 43% since the start of the year and well below its 52-week high of nearly $226, set on Dec. 18.

Moderna Resumes Its Climb

Moderna (MRNA) rose 13% to lead S&P 500 gainers on Tuesday, extending a volatile week for the stock in which shares have moved up, down and up again.

The stock soared 177% to $174.38 last Wednesday after Moderna and Merck (MRK) released positive late-stage trial data for their personalized skin-cancer vaccine. Moderna shares then fell a cumulative 20% over the next three sessions and closed Monday at $138.89 before turning sharply higher on Tuesday.

Moderna stock has gained about 430% since the start of the year.

Wednesday’s Inflation Report and the Fed

Along with Nvidia’s results, Wednesday brings the July Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. The cost-of-living index rose 3.7% from a year earlier in June, down from 4.1% in May. Other inflation trackers have also shown cooling.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal expect headline PCE to show a 3.6% annual increase for July, which would mark a deceleration from June. The forecast reflects a temporary dip in gasoline prices that provided some relief to household budgets. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, are expected to have risen 3.3%, unchanged from June.

The report could influence the Federal Open Market Committee’s next meeting in December. Fed officials have said they are closely monitoring the data to determine whether the central bank should raise its key interest rate. Inflation has exceeded the Fed’s 2% annual target since 2021. The U.S. inflation rate by year shows how the current readings compare with earlier years.

For now, the Fed uses core PCE as its benchmark to determine whether inflation is low enough to fulfill its congressional mandate for stable prices. That could change later this year. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who has criticized PCE, is leading an effort to revisit how the central bank uses inflation data.

Warsh Speaks at Jackson Hole on Friday

Warsh is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. ET on Friday at the Kansas City Fed’s annual Jackson Hole conference, the marquee event on the economics calendar. The speech gives him an opportunity to reset the Fed’s communication with markets if he chooses.

The new chair has adopted a less-is-more communication style, which gives the Fed more flexibility to change course on interest rates in an uncertain environment. Markets have received less guidance on how the Fed may react to incoming data, and that shift was one of several reasons behind last week’s wobbles in bond markets. Analysts do not expect Warsh to suddenly begin offering the guidance markets have been missing.

The U.S.-Canada Tariff Fight Widens

A sweeping set of U.S. tariffs on Canadian products took effect on Saturday after trade talks between the two countries collapsed. Hundreds of products imported from Canada are now subject to a 50% tariff. The list covers a wide range of goods, including whiskey such as Crown Royal, down jackets such as those made by Canada Goose, hockey sticks and baking dough.

Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on certain U.S. goods. On Monday, President Donald Trump answered the prospect of Canadian retaliation by threatening to raise the existing 25% tariff on autos to 50%.

So far, the affected imports account for 5% of the products the U.S. brings in from Canada by dollar value. Despite that small share of trade by value, the list is broad enough that it could touch items in every room of a typical suburban house.

Stocks rose on Tuesday despite the escalation, with the Dow extending its winning streak to three sessions.

Oil, Bond Yields, the Dollar and Gold

Crude oil prices fell further as markets continued to shrug off the Treasury Department’s new sanctions on Iran and on parties that trade with the Middle East nation. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. benchmark, were down 3.5% at $82.05 a barrel at 4 p.m. ET. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, were 4.1% lower at $88.35 a barrel.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell below 4.64%, down six basis points from Monday’s close.

The U.S. dollar index slipped 0.1% to 98.93. Gold futures rose 0.4% to $4,715 an ounce, remaining near their highest price since mid-May.

Bitcoin Tops $80,000 for the First Time Since May

Bitcoin rose above $80,000 early Tuesday for the first time since May 15. The world’s largest cryptocurrency touched just above $81,200 at its high and was recently trading around $78,700, little changed over the past 24 hours.

Several developments accompanied the move. Federal regulators are working to fill rulemaking gaps left by the Clarity Act, the crypto market-structure legislation. Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded six consecutive days of net inflows, according to Farside Investors. CoinMarketCap’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index, the company’s own sentiment gauge, recently read “extreme greed,” up from “neutral” last week.

A 10-year gains table circulating on social media among crypto traders ranks bitcoin first, followed by Nvidia and AMD. Bitcoin’s latest surge pushed it to the top with a 13,429% gain over 10 years through Aug. 23, compared with Nvidia’s 13,156% over the same period.

Strategy Pauses Bitcoin Buying, Sets Up Cash Pool

Strategy (MSTR), which holds about 840,447 bitcoin valued at around $66 billion at recent prices, did not buy any bitcoin last week. The company instead sold about $2 billion of its common stock, which had risen along with bitcoin.

In a report on Monday, Fundstrat Head of Digital Asset Strategy Sean Farrell wrote that “Strategy has now gone two consecutive weeks with zero BTC activity,” which he called a “meaningful departure from the historical playbook.”

Also on Monday, Strategy announced a $1.6 billion cash pool called USD Cash. The company said the pool is “intended to allow management to respond more quickly to market conditions, including dislocations in the markets for bitcoin or Strategy’s securities.” USD Cash is separate from the existing USD Reserve, which recently held $5.1 billion and is designated for dividends on Strategy’s preferred stock and interest on its debt, according to filings.

Farrell likened the new pool to “plunge protection” and said he expects Strategy to tap it if bitcoin or the company’s preferred stocks drop sharply. Strategy’s Stretch preferred stock fell into the low $70s in June, widening the gap to its $100 par value and causing concern among holders.

What Comes Next

Nvidia reports quarterly results after Wednesday’s closing bell, following Monday’s chip selloff and Tuesday’s rebound that ended the stock’s seven-session losing streak.

Also on Wednesday, the Commerce Department’s July PCE price index is due. Economists expect headline inflation of 3.6% from a year earlier and core inflation of 3.3%. The Fed’s next FOMC meeting is in December.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh speaks at 10 a.m. ET on Friday at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole conference.

Intuit’s fiscal fourth-quarter results were due after Tuesday’s close, with analysts expecting adjusted earnings of $3.58 per share on revenue of $4.27 billion. Lululemon reports second-quarter results on Thursday, Sept. 3, five days before O’Neill takes over as chief executive on Sept. 8.

The Dow carries a three-session winning streak into Wednesday. Earlier this month, the Aug. 5 session saw the Dow extend its rally to a record high.