S&P 500, Nasdaq close lower on tech weakness but recover after-hours on strong Micron earnings — MU, AVGO, GOOGL in focus

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished lower in the regular session weighed by tech selling, but Micron's after-hours earnings print reversed the tape. MU posted FY revenue of $37.4B — up nearly 49% year-over-year — with a 39.8% gross margin and $7.59 diluted EPS, a result that landed well above the cautious setup heading into the print.

The read-through matters beyond MU itself. Broadcom (AVGO) — which has grown its own revenue 23.9% YoY to $63.9B with a 67.8% gross margin — is a direct beneficiary of the same AI custom silicon and data center spend cycle. Alphabet (GOOGL), at $402.8B in revenue (+15.1% YoY) and a 32.8% net margin, represents the hyperscaler demand side that is ultimately writing the checks for memory and custom chips.

The bull case here is simple: Micron's beat confirms the AI infrastructure buildout is not slowing, and AVGO's custom ASIC exposure (Google TPUs, Meta chips) means demand visibility extends well into 2025-2026. GOOGL's own capex commitments have been a key driver of AVGO's networking and AI accelerator backlog.

The bear tension is that the regular-session selloff reflects genuine macro and valuation concern — semis have had a massive run, and any guidance softness or inventory caveat from MU in the call could cap the afterhours bounce quickly. AVGO trades at a premium multiple that already prices in a significant portion of the AI upside.

Key watch points: MU's guidance for the next quarter and any commentary on HBM supply/demand balance; AVGO's next earnings and whether AI revenue — which management has flagged as its fastest-growing segment — continues to accelerate; and GOOGL capex trajectory as the primary demand anchor for the entire chain.