The past month has been particularly harsh for the stock market, with technology stocks driving the downturn—mirroring their leadership during the market rally of 2023 and 2024.
While much of the recent sell-off has centered around the dominant “Magnificent Seven” companies, a tier of high-flying tech stocks just below these industry giants has also suffered significant declines in recent weeks.
Major Tech Stocks Face Sharp Losses
Several high-profile tech stocks, including Netflix (NFLX), AMD (AMD), Micron (MU), Dell (DELL), and Palantir (PLTR), have been caught in the turbulence of the latest market downturn, experiencing sharp declines.
Although some of these stocks saw a brief rebound on Wednesday as the tech sector attempted to recover, concerns remain on Wall Street that the recent volatility signals deeper, more troubling trends beneath the market’s surface.
Mizuho analyst Jordan Klein noted in a Friday report to clients that the recent price movements have felt like an “unwinding” rather than full-scale panic or capitulation—but warned that conditions are edging closer to that threshold.
Netflix, in particular, has tumbled roughly 15% from its 52-week high, which it reached just a month ago when the stock was trading above $1,000 per share.
Semiconductor Stocks and Momentum Plays Struggle
Klein highlighted a group of former retail and momentum-driven favorites within the tech, media, and telecom sectors, including AppLovin (APP), Affirm (AFRM), Oklo (OKLO), and Reddit (RDDT). These stocks have experienced steep declines over the past month, with losses ranging between 30% and 50%.
Semiconductor stocks have also been hit hard, with major chipmakers such as AMD, Micron, Super Micro (SMCI), Intel (INTC), and ON Semiconductor (ON) all down at least 40% from their respective 52-week highs, according to data compiled by Yahoo Finance.
Palantir, which had previously been a hot momentum stock on Wall Street, has now dropped 30% from its record closing high set on February 19. Meanwhile, Dell shares have suffered an even steeper decline, plummeting approximately 50% from their 52-week peak.
Broader Market Uncertainty and Shifting Leadership
Naturally, some of these stocks have also been grappling with fundamental challenges.
Palantir, which frequently trades with the volatility of a meme stock, saw a sharp sell-off last month amid fears that the U.S. government could make significant cuts to defense spending. Netflix, meanwhile, has drawn scrutiny from analysts who question its valuation, citing concerns over its substantial content investment and potential slowdowns in user engagement.
Chip stocks have also encountered growing competitive pressures both domestically and internationally. February’s DeepSeek-driven sell-off further underscored broader worries about the sustainability and long-term prospects of the artificial intelligence trade.
The “Magnificent 7” stocks that fueled the market’s two-year bull run—Nvidia (NVDA), Tesla (TSLA), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Apple (AAPL), and Microsoft (MSFT)—have all pulled back significantly, with declines ranging from 16% to 25% from their 52-week highs. Among them, Apple has seen the smallest drop, while Nvidia has suffered the steepest losses.
Tesla, however, stands out as the clear exception. The stock has plunged nearly 50% from its record closing high in December, marking a far deeper decline than the rest of the group.
As a collective force, the Magnificent Seven played a crucial role in driving overall profit growth for the S&P 500 (^GSPC), while many non-tech companies lagged behind.
The surge in smaller tech stocks suggested that investor enthusiasm extended beyond these market giants, fueled by continued excitement around the AI boom. However, recent disappointments in earnings outlooks have cast a shadow over this bullish narrative.
A prime example is AMD. Despite delivering a strong fourth-quarter earnings report, the stock tumbled after the company issued a weaker-than-expected growth forecast for its data center business—raising concerns about a potential slowdown in AI chip momentum.
“A shift in market dynamics is underway, and what worked in the past will no longer be as effective moving forward,” independent economist Peter Boockvar wrote in a note on Tuesday. “The stock market has a history of passing the baton to different sectors, and this appears to be one of those moments.”
Boockvar, who contended that tariffs and political uncertainty alone cannot fully explain the market’s downturn, added, “If you lose the ‘Magnificent Seven’—which at its peak accounted for about 35% of the S&P 500—you’re left without a safety net in the broader market unless another sector immediately takes the lead.”
However, with uncertainty dominating the landscape and all 11 sectors posting losses over the past month, it remains unclear which areas of the market are even capable of stepping up to carry the momentum forward.