Micron Results Power Tech, PCE Meets Estimates
June 25, 2026
The Nasdaq climbed more than 2% early after Micron's earnings easily topped Wall Street's estimates, renewing optimism about the chip sector. PCE price data met expectations.
Published as of: June 24, 2026, 9:13 a.m. ET
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| The markets | Last price | Change | % change |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500® Index | 7,358.22 | -7.24 | -0.10% |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average® | 51,848.90 | +182.06 | +0.35% |
| Nasdaq Composite® | 25,476.64 | -110.40 | -0.43% |
| 10-year Treasury yield | 4.37% | -0.03 | -- |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 101.53 | -0.07 | -0.08% |
| Cboe Volatility Index® | 17.83 | -0.80 | -4.29% |
| WTI Crude Oil | $69.62 | -$0.72 | -1.02% |
| Bitcoin | $61,190 | +$1,355 | +2.26% |
(Thursday market open) Ignited by Micron's (MU) impressive results, chip stocks surged this morning to lift the Nasdaq Composite more than 2%. In addition, investors grappled with fresh inflation data. May's Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) prices jumped 0.4% monthly, matching consensus and the April increase. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3%, also meeting analysts' expectations.
"One report doesn't make a trend, but this likely allows the Fed to be patient as it approaches potential rate hikes," said Collin Martin, head of fixed income research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR). "A hotter-than-expected report would have likely raised the likelihood of a hike sooner rather than later, but now the Fed has some time to wait and see how the next few months evolve."
Wednesday saw stocks end flat to lower, with chips extending losses. The rest of this week lacks catalysts, but next week features a full array of jobs data in a shortened span before markets close Friday, July 3 for Independence Day. "This 'buy the dip' price action looks tentative," said Nathan Peterson, director of derivatives research and strategy at SCFR, writing Wednesday. One factor potentially limiting gains is quarter-end rebalancing, which could mean funds trimming equities.
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Three things to watch
- Deeper dive into data: In other data this morning, the third and last government estimate for first quarter gross domestic product (GDP) surprisingly jumped to 2.1% from 1.6%. Analysts had expected no change. In less positive news, the government revised first quarter personal consumption in the GDP report down to 0.5% from the initial 1.4% estimate. The 0.5% increase was its smallest annualized quarterly increase since the first quarter of 2022. "The upward revision to overall GDP should come with an asterisk since the consumer tends to be a big driver of the economy, and it's not good news that personal consumption was lower than initially expected," Martin said. Additionally, the GDP deflator, which measures prices across the economy, rose 3.6% last quarter, above the 3.5% second estimate. Weekly initial jobless claims fell to 215,000, below the 225,000 consensus estimate from Briefing.com. May personal spending and personal income both climbed 0.7%, but personal spending in April, was revised down to 0.4% from 0.5% in April. Treasury note yields, already at one-month lows, extended their decline after the data.
- Micron earnings and early chip action: Micron's earnings appeared to make a good impression as shares of the $1 trillion memory chip firm surged 18% ahead of the open. Its strength translated into positive performance for other chip stocks after two sessions of struggles. Checking the data, Micron's earnings per share of $25.11 easily beat consensus of $20.83 while revenue of $41.46 billion topped consensus of $35.85 billion. Gross margin of 84.9% was up sequentially, and the company cited "rapidly growing demand." For the current quarter, Micron projected earnings per share between $30 and $32, well above consensus of $25.72, and revenue of $49 billion to $51 billion. That topped consensus of $43.58 billion, per FactSet. Though Micron's results revived the chip sector this morning after the "great chip dip" earlier this week, one solid earnings report doesn't necessarily negate factors that drove the recent unwinding of crowded positioning. Concerns remain about returns on massive AI investments, concentration of investor money in chip, hyperscaler, and AI-related names, and the possible slowing of compute demand, said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at SCFR.
- Fed rate hike not certain: The U.S. dollar index hit new 2026 highs Wednesday, supported by ideas the Federal Reserve could hike rates at least once this year. It's fully priced in by October, and there's a rising implied volatility that one could come in September. That's far from assured. "We are not there yet—we need to see how the inflation outlook evolves over the next few months before we become more certain a hike is likely," Martin said. Last week's Fed statement made it clear that the committee favors its inflation mandate over its labor market mandate right now given recent strength in labor. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh repeatedly stated that the committee was "unambiguous and unanimous" in its commitment to bringing inflation down. The updated "dot plot" of rate expectations also showed that nine participants now project a hike this year. That' doesn't really match the comments from Fed officials over the last month or so where there didn't seem to be an urgency to hike. Inflation trends may become more favorable with the recent drop in oil. In another development, the Fed's annual bank stress test confirmed banks are well positioned to weather a severe recession and continue lending to households and businesses. Banks often announce dividend increases after passing this test.
Crypto currents
Bitcoin tests bulls' nerves again: With the dollar strengthening, bitcoin slipped below $60,000 Wednesday afternoon to probe the current bear market low just above $59,000. The question, of course, is whether that will remain this bear market's low. Money is still flowing out of bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETP). The seven-day average of net ETP flows—a proxy for mainstream investor interest—has been in the red since May 12, though the bleeding has slowed sharply the past couple weeks. But bitcoin's price remains around the 200-week moving average, which has served as support in previous bear markets, and other metrics point to constructive consolidation, according to Jim Ferraioli, director of digital currencies research and strategy at SCFR. One is perpetual futures funding rates. The other is options skew—what options data tells us about on-chain positioning. While leaning bearish, both indicators could also be read as "washed-out," meaning the worst could be over, Ferraioli said. "This is a bear market. It's going to end when investors have finally capitulated. It takes time to recover from these things," he said.
" id="body_disclosure--media_disclosure--239721" >Bitcoin tests bulls' nerves again: With the dollar strengthening, bitcoin slipped below $60,000 Wednesday afternoon to probe the current bear market low just above $59,000. The question, of course, is whether that will remain this bear market's low. Money is still flowing out of bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETP). The seven-day average of net ETP flows—a proxy for mainstream investor interest—has been in the red since May 12, though the bleeding has slowed sharply the past couple weeks. But bitcoin's price remains around the 200-week moving average, which has served as support in previous bear markets, and other metrics point to constructive consolidation, according to Jim Ferraioli, director of digital currencies research and strategy at SCFR. One is perpetual futures funding rates. The other is options skew—what options data tells us about on-chain positioning. While leaning bearish, both indicators could also be read as "washed-out," meaning the worst could be over, Ferraioli said. "This is a bear market. It's going to end when investors have finally capitulated. It takes time to recover from these things," he said.
On the move
- With Micron on the rise, other chip stocks including SanDisk (SNDK) and Western Digital (WDC) followed suit this morning, rising 15% and 12%, respectively. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) came into Thursday down 6% for the week but seems likely to claw back some of those losses as Micron's earnings eased concerns about a potential drop in demand.
- The early rally wasn't limited to the memory chip side of semiconductors. Many chip infrastructure firms also surged this morning, including ASML (ASML) and Seagate (STX). Arm Holdings (ARM) climbed 6%. Meanwhile, Micron got upgraded to buy from hold at Erste Group.
- Qualcomm (QCOM) soared 10% in early action after it raised guidance and announced a new partnership with Meta Platforms (META) to produce central processing units (CPUs) for Meta, according to MarketWatch.
- KB Home (KBH) jumped almost 17% Wednesday after a mixed earnings report earlier this week that saw revenue top analysts' expectations while earnings missed. Share in other homebuilders also rose after Congress passed a bill to improve home affordability, though President Trump delayed the signing ceremony. Toll Bros (TOL), D.R. Horton (DHI), and PulteGroup (PHM) all gained about 7%.
- Corning (GLW) rose 6% early today after a Needham analyst said Nvidia is "embarking on a massive project to construct an entirely new very high-capacity global long-haul telecom network" and that Corning could benefit.
- Cerebras Systems (CBRS) fell around 19% Wednesday despite first-quarter revenue exceeding analysts' expectations amid broad-based growth. Investors appeared concerned about margin and shares sank to post-IPO lows.
- SpaceX (SPCX) rebounded 3% this morning. It lost about 1% Wednesday as short sellers added to positions, looking for further declines after the company gave up its post-IPO gains.
- Freeport McMoRan (FCX) rebounded 2% after a tough recent stretch, possibly aided by a 2% jump in the price of copper (/HG) this morning. Copper has also struggled this week, but earnings from Micron reignited optimism about demand for chips, where copper is a key ingredient.
- Year-over-year margin debt in the U.S. is near 2000 and 2008 highs and considered excessively speculative, Peterson said. "Of course, the AI infrastructure complex-tech trade is where the money has been pouring into, so caution is warranted from a near-term trading perspective," he added.
- Crude oil (/CL) dropped below $70 for U.S. futures today, nearing levels last seen before the war and at least for now removing one major source of pressure on stocks and Treasuries. The 10-year Treasury note yield is at its lowest point since early May. These factors could help support discretionary parts of the stock market, and already gave the airline sector a lift yesterday.
More insights from Schwab
Bitcoin seasonality and halving: It may take time for bitcoin to emerge from its current bear market. Schwab recently analyzed whether the cryptocurrency can find support later this year when it has historically rallied, and weighed in on whether the bitcoin halving cycle will persist.
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Chart of the day
Data source: ICE. Chart source: thinkorswim® platform.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
For illustrative purposes only.
The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY—candlesticks) reached the highest level in 13 months Wednesday, breaking above a year-long trading range (trendline), following an unexpectedly hawkish Federal Reserve meeting last week. The dollar also neared a 40-year high against the Japanese yen.
The week ahead
June 26: University of Michigan final June consumer sentiment.
June 29: No major earnings or data expected.
June 30: June consumer confidence, May job openings and labor turnover survey (JOLTS), and expected earnings from Nike (NKE) and Constellation Brands (STZ).
July 1: ADP June employment change, June construction spending, June ISM Manufacturing PMI®, and expected earnings from General Mills (GIS).
July 2: June nonfarm payrolls, June unemployment, June hourly earnings, and June factory orders.