The Nasdaq index lost ground on Monday as Wall Street scrambled to gauge the toll President Trump’s tariff war has taken on the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants slated to report earnings this week.
Apple, led by CEO Tim Cook and set to report on Thursday, will be watched closely for signs that tariffs are snarling its supply chain and squelching demand for its pricey iPhones and MacBooks. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company is reportedly looking to shift most production to India by 2026 to curb China risks.
Elsewhere, investors will be tracking whether Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, which report Wednesday, and Amazon, set for Thursday, will plan to pour tens of billions of dollars into the artificial intelligence race despite the uncertain economic environment.
“The Street is laser focused to hear from Big Tech titans to get a better grasp on the demand and spending patterns abound from enterprises and consumers,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to clients.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index, which on Monday dipped as much as 243 points, closed down 16 points 0.1%.
This week also brings key economic data releases that could serve as a barometer for Trump’s hardnosed trade tactics, including the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge on Wednesday and the jobs report on Friday.
Due to their massive valuations, the large-cap tech firms that comprise the so-called “Mag 7” – Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Tesla and Nvidia – have an outsized impact on the overall market.
Their shares have been under pressure since January over concerns that Trump’s tariffs – including 145% levies on Chinese imports – could cause supply chain difficulties and higher prices for consumers.
The first quarterly results from Mag 7 companies last week produced mixed results.
Google parent Alphabet’s stock popped after the company revealed that AI initiatives had powered better-than-expected revenue and profit results.
Meanwhile, Tesla shares plunged after the company reported dismal first quarter results that included a 71% decline in net income – only for the stock to climb after Elon Musk confirmed that his work with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency was winding down.
Apple and other tech companies are likely to avoid providing much forward-looking guidance given the uncertainty, experts told The Post. Tesla notably withdrew its full-year guidance last week.
“Tariff uncertainty is the black cloud overhang on the tech sector with semis and Apple in the eye of the Category 5 storm on this trade war with China as we would expect minimal guidance from Cupertino,” Ives added.
The broad-based S&P 500 eked out a gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced more than 100 points, or 0.3%.
Shares of Apple and Meta rose marginally in Monday trading. Microsoft and Amazon were slightly lower. Tesla was up 0.3%.
Adding to the uncertainty, Chinese tech giant Huawei is reportedly developing an AI computer chip that will compete with US-based Nvidia’s hardware. Nvidia shares traded nearly 2% lower on the news.
Earlier this year, Wall Street welcomed news from Big Tech giants who reaffirmed their plans to spend big on AI development despite the rise of China’s DeepSeek, which claimed to have built an advanced AI model for a fraction of the cost of what US firms had spent on similar products.
However, it’s unclear if further affirmations of spending plans will be seen as a positive given fears that Trump’s tariff disputes will cool the economy and potentially spark a recession.
“Is the uncertainty in the markets going to weaken Mag 7’s resolve to spend blindly into this dark cloud that we seem to have over the markets right now?” said Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management.
“Any given day, investor reaction can be completely unique to what it was the previous day. So, I don’t know if reaffirming capex is going to be welcomed in the face of DeepSeek and tariff uncertainty,” Dollarhide said.
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