Tech stocks fell early Tuesday after the Nasdaq Composite hit a record high in pre-market trading.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.4% in early trading Tuesday, after rising 0.7% on Monday and setting a record closing price for the ninth time this year.
Palo Alto Networks shares were among the worst performers, falling 6% early Tuesday after the cybersecurity company's guidance failed to inspire investors. The company raised its full-year outlook, but not by much. The company now expects revenue of $7.99 billion to $8 billion, a slightly narrower range than its previous forecast of $7.95 billion to $8 billion. Wall Street is expecting revenue of $7.99 billion, according to FactSet.
Shares plunged 28% the day after the company released its February quarter results as the company lowered its outlook and warned of “spending fatigue” among its cybersecurity customers. At the time, CEO Nikesh Arora explained that this was due to a strategic shift to a platform model.
The stock fell from $366 to $262 after its last earnings report, but has since regained most of the lost ground, closing at $323.77 on Tuesday. However, Palo Alto shares are on the brink of another bad earnings report for the company, falling to $296 in premarket trading.
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Third Bridge analyst Jordan Berger said late Monday that “minor revisions to full-year guidance fall short of indicating a meaningful pick-up in momentum, and downstream benefits from increased platform buy-in from large customers are yet to emerge. I don't see it,” he said.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks also showed movement, and digital assets soared. Ethereum has soared 24% in the past 24 hours on optimism about the potential approval of spot exchange traded funds (ETFs). Bitcoin rose 6.5% to $71,218 early Tuesday.
Coinbase Global stock rose 1.2% and Robinhood Markets stock rose 0.4%, while Marathon Digital stock fell 0.5% and MicroStrategy stock fell 0.7%, both of which were up significantly on Monday.
Microsoft
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Stocks were also in the spotlight on Tuesday ahead of the start of the three-day Build developer conference. The tech giant announced new Surface PC products on Monday and plans to demonstrate a variety of new AI tools throughout this week. The stock rose 0.1% in early trading after rising 1.2% in the previous session.
Chip stocks got off to a bad start to the day, with Nvidia shares down 1.3%, Advanced Micro Devices shares down 1.5% and Micron Technology shares down 2.3% after closing at a record high on Monday. did.
Separately, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and ASML are preparing ways to disable their high-performance chip-making machinery if China invades Taiwan, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. It was reported as a story. ASML's American deposit receipts decreased by 0.7% and TSMC's ADR decreased by 0.1%.
samsung electronics,
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The world's largest memory chip maker on Tuesday appointed Yong Hyun-hoon as the new head of its semiconductor business.
Email Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com.
