What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after new trade tensions and disappointing earnings from major tech companies weighed heavily on investor sentiment.
A key driver was the news that the White House is considering new restrictions on Chinese exports that use U.S. software, a move that could significantly impact technology companies. This uncertainty over escalating trade tensions created a broad sense of worry in the market. Simultaneously, shares of the semiconductor giant Texas Instruments dropped 6% after its latest earnings and future revenue forecast both came in weaker than expected, which is a big concern for the health of the tech industry. This poor performance from Texas Instruments immediately dragged down the entire semiconductor sector, causing other major chipmakers like Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology to also see significant declines.
Compounding the bad news, streaming service Netflix saw its stock slump 9% after it missed its earnings targets, partly blaming a tax dispute in Brazil. The combined effect of renewed trade war fears and the direct evidence of underperformance from influential companies in the technology sector was enough to push the major market indexes lower.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Data Infrastructure company C3.ai (NYSE: AI) fell 4.3%. Is now the time to buy C3.ai? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Lending Software company Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) fell 6.5%. Is now the time to buy Upstart? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Automation Software company UiPath (NYSE: PATH) fell 8.5%. Is now the time to buy UiPath? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Advertising Software company Zeta Global (NYSE: ZETA) fell 4.4%. Is now the time to buy Zeta Global? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Automation Software company SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) fell 7.5%. Is now the time to buy SoundHound AI? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On UiPath (PATH)
UiPath’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 2 days ago when the stock gained 2.9% on the news that positive news on corporate earnings, easing political and trade tensions, and optimism about future interest rate cuts all converged to lift investor sentiment. The overall market, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite, climbed significantly. A major catalyst was Apple shares rising 4% after a firm upgraded its rating, citing improving iPhone demand and predicting a long growth cycle. More broadly, the third-quarter earnings season got off to a strong start, with 76% of the 58 S&P 500 companies beating expectations, lifting the market's mood. Additionally, there were hope for an end to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which is seen as good for the economy. Investors also moved past recent fears over credit risks that had caused a sell-off the previous week, with shares of regional banks rebounding. Finally, signs that trade tensions with China were de-escalating, including expectations that new tariffs might be avoided, added to the overall positive momentum, leading traders to focus on more favorable factors like earnings and potential Federal Reserve rate cuts.
UiPath is up 14.2% since the beginning of the year, but at $14.76 per share, it is still trading 20.3% below its 52-week high of $18.51 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of UiPath’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $213.91.
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