{"id":65285,"date":"2026-07-23T12:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-sell-off-deepens-midday-as-alphabet-and-tesla-earnings-weigh-on-sentiment\/65285\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T12:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T16:07:13","slug":"tech-sell-off-deepens-midday-as-alphabet-and-tesla-earnings-weigh-on-sentiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/tech-sell-off-deepens-midday-as-alphabet-and-tesla-earnings-weigh-on-sentiment\/65285\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Sell-Off Deepens Midday as Alphabet and Tesla Earnings Weigh on Sentiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets faced significant downward pressure during midday trading on Thursday, July 23rd, 2026, as a wave of selling hit the technology sector. The momentum, which began in the premarket<\/a> session following high-profile earnings reports, has accelerated as investors reassess the valuation of "Magnificent Seven" stocks amidst a shifting economic landscape. Market breadth remains challenged, with defensive sectors and energy providing the only notable pockets of strength in an otherwise sea of red.<\/p>\n

Major Indexes and Midday Momentum<\/h2>\n

As of midday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is the clear underperformer, with the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ<\/a>) sliding 1.98%. This decline reflects a broader retreat from high-growth technology names that have led the market higher throughout the year. The S&P 500<\/a>, tracked by the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY<\/a>), is down 1.29%, while the Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA<\/a>) has fallen 0.99%. Small-cap stocks are also participating in the retreat, with the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM<\/a>) losing 0.87%.<\/p>\n

Volatility has spiked in response to the price action, with the iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX<\/a>) jumping 6.02%. In the commodities space, United States Oil Fund, LP (USO<\/a>) surged 6.69%, providing a tailwind for the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE<\/a>), which rose 1.12%. Conversely, precious metals are under pressure, with the SPDR Gold<\/a> Trust (GLD<\/a>) falling 2.04%.<\/p>\n

Corporate News and Earnings Impact<\/h2>\n

The primary catalysts for today's negative sentiment are the recent earnings releases from tech titans. Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL<\/a>) saw its shares drop 5.9% as investors reacted to rising capital expenditures related to artificial intelligence infrastructure, despite beating top and bottom-line estimates. Similarly, Tesla (TSLA<\/a>) plummeted 8.8% following a disappointing earnings report that highlighted narrowing margins and a lack of immediate catalysts for vehicle delivery growth.<\/p>\n

The semiconductor sector is also feeling the heat, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH<\/a>) down 1.51%. Industry bellwether Nvidia<\/a> (NVDA<\/a>) and Micron<\/a> Technology, Inc. (MU<\/a>) are seeing active trading as the market debates whether the AI-driven rally has reached a temporary peak. Meanwhile, STMicroelectronics N.V. (STM<\/a>) plunged 17.5% after a weak outlook, and Leslie's, Inc. (LESL<\/a>) cratered 38.2% following a significant earnings miss.<\/p>\n

On a more positive note, some industrial and healthcare names are bucking the trend. The State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI<\/a>) gained 1.7%, supported by a solid report from Union Pacific Corp. (UNP<\/a>). Other companies making news include Comcast Corp (CMCSA<\/a>), Blackstone Inc. (BX<\/a>), and Honeywell International, Inc. (HON<\/a>), all of which reported results before the opening bell.<\/p>\n

Upcoming Market Events<\/h2>\n

The market remains hypersensitive to upcoming economic data and policy signals. Investors are closely watching for the latest jobless claims and manufacturing data to gauge the health of the U.S. economy. Furthermore, the Federal Reserve\u2019s upcoming policy meeting remains a focal point, with market participants looking for confirmation of a potential interest rate cut in the fall.<\/p>\n

The earnings calendar remains packed for the remainder of the week. After the close today, all eyes will be on Intel Corp (INTC<\/a>) and SAP SE (SAP<\/a>). Looking ahead to Friday, July 24th, major financial and communication players including American Express Company (AXP<\/a>) and Verizon Communications (VZ<\/a>) are scheduled to report, which will likely dictate the market's closing momentum for the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. equity markets faced significant downward pressure during midday trading on Thursday, July 23rd, 2026, as a wave of selling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[4,95,633,3710,3768,4223,4380,5001],"class_list":["post-65285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-tsla","tag-nasdaq","tag-nvda","tag-federal-reserve","tag-googl","tag-inflation","tag-stock-market","tag-earnings-season"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}