Apple spearheaded a renewed sell-off in technology stocks Thursday, plunging 5% and erasing roughly $200 billion in market value—its steepest single-day decline in months. The slide intensified as sector sentiment soured following Cisco’s warning that escalating memory chip costs were squeezing profitability, fueling broader investor concerns over profit margins tied to AI-related spending.
Faizan Farooque for GuruFocus:
Concerns about AI taking employment away from people made the market even more unstable. Microsoft’s AI director said that a lot of white-collar jobs may be automated, which made the discussion over the economic effects of fast AI adoption even more heated.
The Nasdaq dropped more than 2%, but defensive assets went up. U.S. Treasuries drew in safe-haven flows, while gold and silver prices went up after going down recently.
The markets are now paying attention to the next U.S. consumer price index data. If the inflation data is weaker, it might raise hopes for a rate drop in June. If it is greater, it could push rates higher and keep growth stocks under pressure.
MacDailyNews Take: “We expect gross margin to be between 48-49%.” – Apple CEO Kevan Parekh, January 29, 2026. Buying opportunity.
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