Stocks close lower for second day as investors continue selling AI plays Nvidia and Oracle

The three major U.S. averages finished with losses for another day on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 shed 0.28%, closing at 6,637.97. The Nasdaq Composite also ticked lower by 0.34% to settle at 22,497.86. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 171.50 points, or 0.37%, to end at 46,121.28.

— Sean Conlon

Intel surged more than 6% in late trading Wednesday after Bloomberg News said it had approached Apple about an investment in the underperforming chipmaker.

The report cited unnamed people familiar with the matter and said the move was part of a broader effort to strengthen the company that's now partly owned by the U.S. government.

Beyond an investment in Intel, the two companies have also "discussed how to work more closely together," according to the Bloomberg story.

— Scott Schnipper

Google-parent Alphabet has roared back of late, but questions are emerging over whether the tech giant can sustain its pace of growth.

Alphabet shares are up 30% this year and nearly 20% over just the past month. They've also soared more than 69% from an April closing low. However, the stock may have run too far too fast. LSEG data shows the consensus price target implies a decline of 5% ahead for Alphabet shares.

Although the market has rewarded Google for its improving Gemini adoption rates, Melius Research tech analyst Ben Reitzes raised questions over how Google is counting AI and Search volume, particularly given reports of lower rate of return on Google ad spend.

"GOOGL is doing well in Cloud and Gemini is seeing more subscribers, but it still isn't out of the woods yet in Search as checks indicate that AI summaries don't provide the same rate of return for ads ... GOOGL has deserved its rally, but Microsoft still deserves a meaningful premium," Reitzes said in a note to clients Monday.

Alphabet's 60-day outperformance relative to Microsoft last week also reached its highest level since January 2006, a CNBC data analysis showed. More in CNBC Pro here.

— Pia Singh

The energy sector's rally is top of mind for Christopher Verrone, chief market strategist at Strategas.

The S&P 500 sector has climbed almost 3% this week, bringing its quarter-to-date gain above 6%. The sector is now up more than 6% in 2025.

"Energy as a sector has had some life around it over the last several weeks," Verrone said Wednesday on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." "Now, some of these very traditional oil names (are) starting to get involved."

Verrone said the question is now if the strength in energy will start happening at the expense of consumer discretionary and bank stocks. In that case, he said it would be a "problem."

— Alex Harring

Regulators are moving to dismantle one of the most controversial barriers for active retail traders — the $25,000 minimum equity rule for pattern day trading.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has approved amendments that would replace the long-standing threshold, making active day trading more accessible to smaller accounts. The change is pending approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The rule change could lead to more options trading and boost activity for brokers like Robinhood.

Robinhood shares rebounded from an earlier loss and were higher by nearly 1% in Wednesday trading following the FINRA news.

— Yun Li

Check out the stocks making big moves in midday trading Wednesday:

• Freeport-McMoRan — The mining company's stock tumbled nearly 12% after it declared force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Freeport halted activity at the mine earlier this month after a mud rush led to a fatal accident. In addition, the company warned consolidated sales for copper and gold will be lower in the third quarter than it previously expected.
• UniQure — Shares of the biotech firm soared more than 250% after its experimental gene therapy for Huntington's slowed progress of the neurodegenerative disease's progress in a key clinical trial.
• Thor Industries — Shares of the Airstream manufacturer rose nearly 6% after posting better-than-expected earnings. Thor earned $2.36 per share, excluding items, on revenue of $2.52 billion. Analysts had anticipated Thor would earn $1.28 per share on $2.32 billion.
• Alibaba — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese tech company jumped more than 9% after Alibaba said it will boost spending on artificial intelligence models and development. It also unveiled new AI products and updates. 

Read here for the complete list.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

The Trump administration will return $13 billion in unobligated subsidies for renewable energy to the Treasury Department, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.

Wright called spending on solar and wind power during the Biden administration "reckless."

President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act phases out two key credits for wind and solar projects. Trump has said his administration will not approve new reneable energy projects.

— Spencer Kimball

ServiceNow shares climbed 1% after Morgan Stanley upgraded the software company to overweight from equal weight. Analyst Keith Weiss also raised his price target on the stock to $1,250 from $1,040, which signals more than 34% upside.

"GenAI-related risks and federal concerns have overshadowed management's consistent execution and solid positioning to deliver GenAI capabilities, creating an attractive risk-reward, Weiss said.

"investors appear to be 'missing the forest for the trees' on ServiceNow, with the company boasting multiple avenues to achieve its 2026 subscription revenue target, and more importantly, sustain 20%+ free cash flow growth for the next several years," he added.

— Fred Imbert

OpenAI is exploring the option to lease the server chips from Nvidia rather than buying them outright, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Leasing could save OpenAI 10% to 15% in costs, the report said.

Earlier this week, Nvidia said it will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI as the AI lab sets out to build hundreds of billions of dollars in data centers based around Nvidia's AI processors.

Some are warning that the partnership fits the definition of vendor financing — Nvidia giving OpenAI money so OpenAI can turn around and spend it on Nvidia chips — and investors shouldn't celebrate. 

— Yun Li

Freeport-McMoRan shares tumbled 10% on Wednesday, after the mining company declared force majeure at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

That declaration on contracted supplies from Grasberg has led Freeport-McMoRan to lower its consolidated sales estimates for copper and gold by 4% and nearly 6%, respectively.

The lackluster predictions come after the mining firm was forced to temporarily pause activity at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia due to safety concerns. Several miners became trapped at the worksite following a mud rush earlier this month, and local rescue operations are ongoing.

Grasberg boasts some of the largest gold and copper reserves in the world.

— Liz Napolitano 

Housing stocks rose broadly on Wednesday after fresh data showed new home sales increased 20% in August to 800,000 — their highest since January 2022.

The iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (ITB) gained almost 1%. Lennar gained more than 2%, while LGI Homes and M/I Homes climbed more than 1% each.

— Fred Imbert

Sales of new single-family homes saw gains in August, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau reported Wednesday.

In August, new home sales rose 20.5% to 800,000, more than the previous period's revised reading of 664,000.

That figure is also better than the 650,000 that economists polled by Dow Jones were looking for.

— Sean Conlon

Oracle shares fell 2% after the company announced it would corporate notes maturing between 2030 and 2065, with Bloomberg News reporting the software giant was looking to raise about $15 billion.

"The net proceeds of this offering will be used for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures, repayment of indebtedness, future investments or acquisitions and payment of cash dividends on or repurchases of our common stock," Oracle said in the filing.

The announcement comes after the stock fell in the previous session on concerns the AI trade may be losing steam.

— Fred Imbert

Stocks traded higher Wednesday morning.

The S&P 500 advanced 0.2% just after 9:30 a.m. ET, while Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also gained 123 points, or 0.3%.

— Sean Conlon

These companies are making the biggest moves before the opening bell Wednesday:

• Alibaba — U.S.-listed shares of the Chinese tech company jumped 9.3% after Alibaba said it will boost spending on artificial intelligence models and development. It also unveiled new AI products and updates. 
• Lithium Americas — The mining stock rose more than 69% after Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Trump administration was looking to acquire a stake of up to 10% in the company.
• Oracle – The database software company's stock dropped 1.4% amid uncertainty over the extent to which Oracle will exercise control over TikTok's algorithm as part of its deal to purchase the social media platform alongside other BigTech investors from China-based ByteDance.
• Micron — Shares fell nearly 1% even after the company posted a better-than-expected quarterly report and upbeat current-quarter guidance. The stock has nearly doubled so far in 2025

For the full list, read here.

— Liz Napolitano

Micron Technology could be due for even more upside in the coming months after the company's latest quarterly results topped Wall Street's expectations, JPMorgan said on Wednesday.

The firm, which has an overweight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer, increased its price target to $220 from $185, implying more than 32% upside from Wednesday's closing price.

"We believe the fundamental setup (pricing/demand) remains favorable through CY26, with expectations for sequential [average selling price] improvements and bit shipment growth well into next year," analyst Harlan Sur wrote.

The analyst also pointed to the company's strength in making high-tech memory known as high-bandwidth memory, as Sur expects Micron to command at least 22% to 23% of HBM share in 2026. He added that realized share is "likely to exceed that level."

"Next year's HBM production/ pricing is expected to be contractually secured over the next several months," he said.

The bullish view comes as the stock has already surged nearly 98% this year and more than 41% in the past month, far outpacing the S&P 500's respective gains of more than 13% and about 3%.

— Sean Conlon

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba soared 9% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the company said it will invest more in artificial intelligence and rolled out new AI products and updates. 

Alibaba plans to increase spending on AI models and infrastructure development, on top of the 380 billion yuan ($53 billion) over three years it announced in February, Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said Wednesday at Alibaba Cloud's annual flagship technology conference.

"We are vigorously advancing a three-year, 380 billion [yuan] AI infrastructure initiative with plans to sustain and further increase our investment according to our strategic vision in anticipation of the [artificial superintelligence] era," Wu said.

— Dylan Butts, Victoria Yeo

Nvidia shares rose 0.7% in the premarket Wednesday after a rough day for the AI stalwart. The chipmaker on Tuesday fell 2.8%, marking its worst day since Aug. 29, as investor concern around sustainability of the AI trade grew.

— Fred Imbert

The Trump administration is looking to get an equity stake amounting to as much as 10% in Lithium Americas as it renegotiates terms of the company's Energy Department loan for its Thacker Pass project, according to a Reuters report that cited two people familiar with the matter.

Shares of the Canada-based lithium company popped roughly 75% on the back of the news. Albemarle jumped nearly 6% in sympathy.

Thacker Pass is a proposed large lithium mine in Nevada that has been under construction for almost one year. General Motors has a 38% stake in the project, which would be the Western Hemisphere's largest source of lithium when it opens in 2028, the report said. It underscores President Donald Trump's efforts to boost U.S. production of lithium, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles, grid storage and batteries.

Trump's interest in Lithium Americas comes after the administration took a 10% stake in beaten-down chipmaker Intel.

— Pia Singh

Shares of Micron Technology rose about 2.8% after Tuesday's close on the back of the chip manufacturer's strong quarterly results.

Micron, one of the world's leading suppliers of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, exceeded estimates on top and bottom lines and gave a strong forecast for the current quarterly period. The company's overall revenue jumped 46% on a year-over-year basis during the quarter.

Micron reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.03 on revenue of $11.32 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected earnings of $2.86 per share on $11.22 billion in revenue. The company said that its revenue in its fiscal first quarter will be about $12.5 billion, higher than the $11.94 billion consensus analyst estimate per LSEG.

Shares of Micron have skyrocketed 97.7% this year amid ongoing demand for Micron's high-tech memory and storage technology, which powers AI workloads.

— Pia Singh, Kif Leswing

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each gained 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 33 points, or less than 0.1%.

— Pia Singh