AI Stocks Take Wall Street on a Rollercoaster Ride

More sudden reversals for high-flying artificial-intelligence stocks sent Wall Street reeling on Tuesday.

• The S&P 500 fell 19.08 points, or 0.3%, to 7,386.65 after careening between an early gain of 1% and a midday loss of 2.3%.e S&P 500 fell 19.08 points, or 0.3%, to 7,386.65.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.10 points, or 0.2%, to 50,872.11.
• The Nasdaq composite fell 250.84 points, or 1%, to 25,678.82

Indexes swung lower after companies selling computer chips, memory, and other building blocks of the AI boom broke from early gains to losses, the AP reports.

Micron Technology went from a jump of 4% to a plummet of 10%, for example, before finishing with a drop of 1.4%. That's a day after it soared 9.9% and two days after it plunged 13.3%. The computer memory company's stock has already tripled so far this year, raising criticism that it's gone too far, too fast. Following last week's industrywide sell-off, the question is whether AI stocks broadly are heading for a long downturn or just needed a shake-out to get rid of excessive optimism. Marvell Technology dropped 7.6%, and Advanced Micro Devices sank 3% after both AI winners also erased early-morning gains.

All the while, several big-name AI companies are racing to list their stocks on a US exchange and sell them at high prices. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, said Monday it was the latest to file confidential paperwork with US regulators for an initial public offering. SpaceX's IPO could happen later this week.

• The weakness for AI stocks drowned out the benefit Wall Street got from easing oil prices. Nearly three out of every four stocks within the S&P 500 rose, despite the sharp swings for the overall index, as the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil sank 3% to $91.45. Oil prices pared their losses, though, after President Trump said Iran was responsible for downing an American military helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz and that the US "must" respond to the attack.

On Wall Street, airline stocks flew higher after the drop in oil prices hinted at less pressure on their fuel bills. American Airlines rose 3.6% and Delta Air Lines gained 3.8%. JM Smucker jumped 10.4% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind the Folgers, Hostess, and other brands benefited from higher prices charged for coffee and sweet baked goods. It joined a long list of US companies delivering stronger profit growth than analysts expected, which has helped drive the S&P 500 to record after record this year. Nuvalent soared 39.3% after GSK agreed to buy the biotech company for $10.6 billion. The shares of UK-based GSK that trade in New York added 1.2%.