The weekly returns for the Tech Check list weighed in at 17-15 with the Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) positioned alongside the Software ETF (IGV) in the top quartile. That offers a sign of better balance in the tech subsector performances, but the software and SaaS-based services names seem more like bottom-fishing for value given how badly many of the IGV constituents have been pummeled YTD. We look at more timelines in the full asset returns commentary to be posted later.
The Mag 7 returns show 3 positive and 4 negative with the 7 spread across the quartiles. We see 1 in the top quartile (NVIDIA), 1 in the 2nd quartile (Amazon), 3 in the 3rd quartile (Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla), and 2 in the bottom quartile (Apple, Meta).
In a sign of the times, Micron (MU) reported extraterrestrial revenue growth in its 4Q26 quarter of almost 5-fold. That booming sales number generated gross margins of 87%, and MU sees even tighter conditions in their end markets into 2027 and 2028. The long-term supply agreements add to the confidence factor in forecasts.
Capex will keep rising even after the FY 2026 level of $30.7 billion, which in turn was almost double FY 2025. Despite that, the stock ended the week in the red with a return in the chart sitting on the bottom of the 3rd quartile. MU YTD is #2 on the Tech Check list at +277% YTD behind Dell at 347%.
The bigger winners this week are more semiconductor-biased with Applied Materials (AMAT), Taiwan Semi (TSM) and NVIDIA (NVDA) in 3 of the top 4 rankings with Cisco (CSCO). The numbers show a decent week for Intuit (INTU) and Oracle (ORCL) edging into the top quartile with Adobe (ADBE) in the upper end of the 2nd quartile. INTU, ORCL, and ADBE are the 3 worst performers YTD. The bottom quartile for the tech list YTD shows 6 of 8 from the software/SaaS group with Tesla and IBM rounding out the YTD bottom tier.
Among the outliers for the week on the downside, Qualcomm (QCOM) posted a -8.47% return with much of the headline noise around how to frame AI prospects vs. handset challenges. At least that was the flavor. It is worth noting that QCOM is down in the 3rd quartile YTD with a +8.1% return with most of that generated over the past 1-month period.