Tech is bifurcating hard — mega-cap AI names are ripping while chip stocks bleed, and that split is your entire story today.

Tech is bifurcating hard — mega-cap AI names are ripping while chip stocks bleed, and that split is your entire story today.

Asian markets — no data overnight. Flying blind on that front.

Futures are mixed. SPY up 0.4%, IWM up 0.43%, DIA up 0.24% — broad market holding. QQQ down 0.27%, which is interesting given what individual tech names are doing. VIX at 16.09, calm. Gold flat, essentially unchanged.

Now the stocks.

Apple up 4.01% to $327.50. Biggest mover on the board today, no contest. Oracle up 3.56% to $132.49 — keeps grinding. Google up 3.17% to $370.92. Meta up 3.07% to $681.31. Amazon up 3.02% to $254.96. Microsoft up 2.78% to $395.63 — the entire mega-cap software and platform stack is green.

Then you have the other side.

Intel down 4.43% to $102.99. Worst performer on this list by a wide margin. AMD down 3.46% to $529.14. Both chip names getting hit while the platform names that use those chips are soaring. That is not a coincidence — that is a margin conversation happening in real time.

QQQ negative while Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are all up 3% or more tells you something is dragging the index. Semis are that drag.

No economic data on the calendar today. Nothing scheduled. So price action is self-directed — no macro catalyst to hide behind.

Earnings to watch: ALV reports before the open, EPS estimate $2.45. BALY after the close, estimate negative $1.35. BTM also after, estimate negative $0.56. CCBC, CCFN, and BOTJ on the calendar with no published estimates.

The setup: software wins, semis bleed, broad market tilts positive. Watch whether QQQ can recover as the session opens or whether Intel and AMD drag it lower.

Numbers don't lie. People do. Trade accordingly.