Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) closed 3.56% higher on Thursday, ranking third in trading volume with $22.55 billion in transactions. During its Wednesday keynote at headquarters, the tech giant unveiled its most eagerly awaited and ambitious product to date — the iPhone Duo foldable smartphone. The event, however, served as more than just a hardware reveal; it was a concentrated showcase of Apple's artificial intelligence capabilities. The company had long faced criticism for lagging behind in generative AI development, with rivals such as Samsung already embedding AI technology into their devices and applications. At the Duo launch, Apple mounted a forceful counteroffensive, rolling out a wide array of AI features across the iPhone and Apple Watch in one fell swoop. CEO John Turner placed AI at the center of his opening remarks, framing the iPhone as the user's intelligent personal hub, stating, "It sits at the core of an entire ecosystem of smart features and experiences, where all devices work seamlessly together, woven throughout every product you use on a daily basis."
NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) slipped 2.26% to rank fourth with $22.13 billion in turnover. The U.S. Department of Justice is probing the technology licensing and talent acquisition agreement between NVIDIA and AI chip startup Groq, examining whether the transaction was structured to circumvent routine antitrust scrutiny by avoiding a direct acquisition. According to sources familiar with the matter, the DOJ has issued a formal request for information to NVIDIA, though the investigation has not reached a conclusion, nor does it indicate that regulators have determined any wrongdoing.
SpaceX advanced 0.43% to claim the sixth spot with $17.76 billion in trading volume. The company plans to complete additional backup power and cooling systems, conduct more comprehensive testing, and reduce reliance on temporary power sources and refrigeration equipment before its data centers are fully operational. Some existing facilities may also undergo redesigns. This approach differs from the model used by xAI when building its Colossus data center in Memphis, where 100,000 GPUs were installed and activated in just 122 days. To compress the timeline, construction teams worked in parallel on cooling pipes, power, and networking, with the facility operating before all backup systems were finalized and relying on temporary power sources such as gas turbines for an extended period. SpaceX completed its acquisition of xAI in February and began transitioning data center operations to its rocket manufacturing and operations team in late June. Wesley Salandro, a SpaceX veteran of over seven years who previously oversaw Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft production, has taken over leadership of the team from Dan Rowland.
SanDisk fell 4.06% to rank seventh with $14.74 billion in trades. With oil prices surging above $100, Treasury yields climbing higher, and August PPI data coming in hot, markets have increasingly priced in further rate hikes. High-beta memory stocks were sold off across the board, with SanDisk and Micron each dropping roughly 4%, while SK Hynix suffered even steeper losses. Adding to the cautious sentiment, executives executed sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 trading plans — the chief legal officer, CTO, and others sold millions of dollars' worth of shares in recent days, with total proceeds reaching approximately $7.2 million, amplifying bearish pressure at elevated price levels.
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) tumbled 5.57% to rank 11th with $9.72 billion in volume. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on the chipmaker with a neutral rating and a price target of $110.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) edged up 0.16% to take the 14th spot with $7.84 billion in turnover. The company announced plans to triple its data center capacity, bringing total capacity to 38 gigawatts.
Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) gained 0.59% to rank 17th with $7.61 billion in trading volume. Google launched its Gemini application for Windows 10 and 11 operating systems.