Tumbling tech stocks drag Wall Street to its worst day in 3 weeks

NEW YORK (AP) — More drops for superstar artificial-intelligence stocks knocked Wall Street off its record heights on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 1.1% from its all-time high for its worst day in three weeks. The weakness for tech stocks yanked the Nasdaq composite down by a market-leading 1.7%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average gave back 245 points, or 0.5%, after setting its own record the day before.

Broadcom dragged the market lower and tumbled 11.4% even though the chip company reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Analysts called the performance solid, and CEO Hock Tan said strong 74% growth in AI semiconductor revenue helped lead the way.

But investors may have been concerned with some of Broadcom’s financial forecasts, including how much profit it can squeeze out of each $1 of revenue. The AI heavyweight may also have simply run out of momentum after its stock came into the day with a surge of 75.3% for the year so far, more than quadruple the S&P 500’s gain.

Broadcom’s drop added to worries about the AI boom that flared a day before. That’s when Oracle plunged nearly 11% despite likewise reporting a bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Questions remain about whether all the spending that Oracle is doing on AI technology will produce the kind of profits that make it worth the expense, along with how the tech giant will pay for it. Such doubts are dogging the AI industry broadly, even as many billions of dollars continue to flow in.

Broadcom was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 Friday, followed by Nvidia. The chip company that’s become the poster child of the AI boom fell 3.3%. Oracle fell another 4.5%.

The stock market also felt some pressure from the bond market, where the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.18% from 4.14% late Thursday. Higher yields can discourage investors from paying high prices for stocks and other investments, particularly when critics say they already look too expensive.

Friday’s drops for AI superstars continue a jagged return toward Earth after they earlier had been the main engine lifting Wall Street higher. Other stocks that used to struggle with uncertainty about the U.S. economy’s strength and what the Federal Reserve will do with interest rates, meanwhile, have been doing better.

The stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has much less of an emphasis on tech, rose 1% this past week. That’s much better than the Nasdaq composite’s drop of 1.6%.

Notwithstanding Friday’s rise in yields, investors have been feeling more optimistic about interest rates. The Fed earlier this week cut its main interest rate for the third time this year and indicated another cut may be ahead in 2026.

Wall Street loves lower rates because they can boost the economy and send prices for investments higher, even if they potentially make inflation worse.

The Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, did hint on Wednesday that interest rates may be on hold for a while. But he helped soothe nerves when his comments appeared less harsh than some investors expected in shutting off the possibility of more cuts in 2026.

Stocks of companies that depend on spending by U.S. consumers were relatively strong Friday, as two out of every five stocks within the S&P 500 rose. Oil prices eased this week, which could help ease people's bills, and hopes are rising that easier interest rates will help support spending.

Chipotle Mexican Grill rose 3.6%, McDonald’s climbed 2.3% and Norwegian Cruise Line added 1.5%.

The biggest gain in the S&P 500 came from Lululemon Athletica, which jumped 9.6% after reporting better profit and revenue for the three months through Nov. 2 than analysts expected. It also said its CEO, Calvin McDonald, plans to step down at the end of January following pressure to boost revenue.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 73.59 points to 6,827.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 245.96 to 48,458.05, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 398.69 to 23,195.17.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell modestly in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.7% in Hong Kong and rose 1.4% in Tokyo for two of the world’s bigger gains.

AP Writers Teresa Cerojano and Matt Ott contributed.

Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A board above the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

CLEVELAND, Miss. (AP) — A sparse crowd drifted into Walter Sillers Coliseum for Delta State’s first women’s basketball game in 1973.

It was a 4 p.m. tipoff against Holmes Community College — announced only in the local paper in rural Cleveland, Mississippi. There were no tickets, no concessions or buzz. Just a handful of curious women's basketball fans with no clue what this team led by a former high school coach named Margaret Wade could be.

“We had no expectations because, see, the coach came from the high school, and she had never coached college ball," said Dot Bright, a 1962 Delta State graduate who still lives just a few blocks from the school. "So we thought, 'Oh, OK. It’s all in the family. We thought it was just little hometown people.”

What Bright and a few others saw that day was the beginning of something bigger. Within a couple of years, Delta State became one of women's basketball's early powerhouses. The Lady Statesmen were the first No. 1 team when the women's college basketball poll debuted 50 years ago and won three straight national championships in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1975-1977.

The Lady Statesmen will be recognized during “The AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience” being held Thursday-Saturday at Arizona State’s First Amendment Forum in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The poll has served as a road map for the rise of the sport, though a lot has changed since the NCAA took over in 1982.

The women's basketball spotlight has since shifted elsewhere as money reshaped the sports landscape and large programs with big budgets — like the powerhouses in this weekend’s Final Four including UConn and South Carolina — began to dominate.

In Cleveland, Delta States' rich legacy still resonates.

“People still support it," Delta State athletic director Mike Kinnison said. "While we’ve had some ups and downs with it, it’s still a good program. That's still very important to me that we keep that tradition and keep that history and heritage out front.”

Reminders of that history are scattered across Delta State's campus. The basketball court is named after coach Lloyd Clark, who led the program to three national titles in 1989, 1990 and 1992 after its move to the NCAA's Division II. The jerseys of star players including women's basketball pioneer Lusia Harris are hanging in the gym. A “Hall of Fame” room of photos and trophies is set up in the athletic building chronicling those dominant days.

Current Delta State women's basketball coach Tracy Stewart-Lange makes sure prospective players are aware of the program's legacy when they arrive on campus.

Stewart-Lange, who just led the Lady Statesmen to an 18-11 record in her fourth season, stops recruits by the stadium's concourse to see a replica of the Wade Trophy given each year to the best player in women's basketball, which is encased near the front door, as well as a display of Delta State's national championship trophies under Wade and Clark.

Even Delta State football coaches bring up Wade, Clark and Harris when selling recruits on the school.

“You try to give them little snippets of, ‘Guys, this is where you are now,’” Stewart-Lange said. “'Don’t take it for granted. Step into those shoes and shine and push it forward. Get it back to the top.'”

Wade, who had coached at nearby Cleveland High School years before taking over at Delta State ahead of the 1973 season, had a roster that included the future Hall of Famer, Harris, who became one of the greatest women's players ever.

But publicity was scarce that first year. Former sports information director Langston Rogers recalled that many local and regional papers mostly ran box scores — until the wins and crowds became impossible to ignore.

The Lady Statesmen went undefeated in 1974, upsetting Philadelphia powerhouse Immaculata to win the AIAW national title and quickly building national credibility with wins over teams like Ole Miss and Auburn. They eventually drew thousands to venues like Madison Square Garden and UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, a rarity in women's hoops during that time.

Demand at home far exceeded the 3,000-seat Walter Sillers Coliseum, so portable bleachers were brought in and students sat along stage railings to squeeze inside.

"Everybody in Cleveland knew us and knew our names," said Debbie Brock, starting point guard from 1974-78. “You would drive up to the Sonic — and we didn’t have many restaurants or anything then — but I’d go to the Sonic, and the man would say, ‘Great game tonight.’”

Kinnison, athletic director since 2019, is now trying to recapture those times.

After the NCAA replaced the AIAW as the governing body for women's college sports, Delta State and other small colleges faced a major challenge to stay competitive on a national scale.

Recruiting advantages and national media attention have since dwindled, and for a while it was hard to bring in the same caliber of coaches.

“People don’t jump up and down when they find out they’re moving to the Mississippi Delta,” Bright said. “It’s hard to recruit here. I think the coach we have now, Coach Lange, she is doing an awesome job ... We have a very good record this year, some of the best since Lloyd Clark.”

Bright, 82, still never misses a game — though they're much quieter than they were 50 years ago.

Stewart-Lange runs into people around the Cleveland area who talk of their memories from those days. That gives her hope that local support can still remain even as the national spotlight has faded.

“I do feel like the undercurrent is there within the community,” Stewart-Lange said. “It’s been done before. And it can be done again.”

AP Top 25 Fan Poll Experience: https://apnews.com/https:/apnews.com/projects/arizona-state-fan-poll-experience/

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

FILE - Delta State center Lusia Harris, right, towers over Penn State's Mag Strittmatter, left, as she pulls down a rebound at Penn State in University Park, Pa., March 24, 1976. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Delta State University's Lusia Harris (45) gets off a shot against Queens College during a women's college basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Feb. 23, 1976. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm, File)

Delta State women's basketball coach Tracy Stewart-Lange poses for a photo, Feb. 17, 2026, in Cleveland, Miss. (AP Photo/Alanis Thames)

The Delta State women's basketball locker room is seen, Feb. 17, 2026, in Cleveland, Miss. (AP Photo/Alanis Thames)

The Delta State basketball court is seen, Feb. 17, 2026, in Cleveland, Miss. (AP Photo/Alanis Thames)