The worst day for Nvidia's stock since last spring drags Wall Street lower

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst day for Nvidia’s stock since last spring dragged the U.S. market lower on Thursday, even though most stocks on Wall Street rose.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% following sharp swings earlier in the week driven by hopes and worries created by the artificial-intelligence revolution. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.2%.

Nvidia, whose chips are helping to power the AI boom, reported another stellar quarter of profit growth that breezed past analysts’ expectations. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that once again topped Wall Street’s estimates.

But such blowout performances have become so typical for Nvidia that they’re losing their oomph. Its stock sank 5.5% for its worst loss since April.

“Our customers are racing to invest in AI compute — the factories powering the AI industrial revolution and their future growth,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said.

Worries are nevertheless rising that those customers may eventually curtail their spending on Nvidia’s chips and other AI investments amid doubts about whether they can make back their billions of dollars through future gains in productivity.

Because Nvidia’s is the largest stock in the U.S. market by value, it has more influence on the S&P 500 than any other. It alone accounted for more than four-fifths of the S&P 500’s loss.

Despite Nvidia’s troubles, seven stocks rose in the S&P 500 for every three that fell. Among them was Salesforce, which climbed 4% after it likewise reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

It’s a return to gains for the stock, which is still down nearly 25% for the young year so far. It’s been under pressure because of worries that AI-powered competitors could undercut its business.

Salesforce uses AI itself in its offerings that help customers manage relationships with their own customers. It also made several announcements that typically give a stock’s price a boost: It will send up to $50 billion to shareholders through buybacks of its stock, and it increased its dividend.

“Agentic AI is a tailwind for our business,” CEO Marc Benioff said.

Companies in industries as far flung as trucking logistics and financial services have also seen their stocks come under sudden and aggressive attacks this year by investors who fear their businesses may lose out to AI or even become obsolete.

The sharpest swings have hit software companies, and a widely followed ETF that tracks the industry rose 2.1% Thursday to trim its loss for the year so far below 22%.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Warner Bros. Discovery shares edged down 0.3% after the entertainment giant reported a $252 million loss for the fourth quarter. That didn’t seem to bother investors, who are likely more interested in which acquisition offer — Netflix or Paramount Skydance — the company and its shareholders ultimately accept.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 37.27 points to 6,908.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17.05 to 49,499.20, and the Nasdaq composite sank 273.69 to 22,878.38.

Some of the sharpest swings in financial markets were for oil, where prices swung sharply as the United States and Iran held indirect talks about Iran’s nuclear program.

A peaceful solution would remove the threat of war, which investors worry could block the global flow of oil and drive up its price. The U.S. military has already built up the largest force of American warships and aircraft in the Middle East in decades, which has raised the stakes. The current round of talks feels “make or break,” according to strategists at Macquarie.

A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude briefly fell as low as $63.60. But it erased that loss and rose above $66.50 before settling at $65.21, up 0.3%. Brent crude, the international standard, also had a zigzag day and finished at $70.75 per barrel, down 0.1%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi leaped 3.7% to another record, driven by gains for tech-related stocks. It’s already surged nearly 50% since the turn of the year.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, meanwhile, lost 1.4%.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.01% from 4.05% late Wednesday.

A report showed that the number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits ticked up last week, but not by any more than economists expected. It also remains relatively low compared with history.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Options traders Chris Dattolo, left, and Steven Rodriguez work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Snow falls outside the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of over 6,000 points during a ceremony at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, Lee Eog-weon, second from left, Chairman & CEO of the Korea Exchange, Jeong Eun Bo, center, a and other officials celebrate as a screen shows the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) of over 6,000 points during a ceremony at the Korea Exchange in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

People walk near an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands as a vehicle passes by in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Donald Trump had vacated their office.

The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.

Abbott had argued in a lawsuit filed directly to the state’s highest civil court that state Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the House Democratic caucus, and others had effectively abandoned their office.

Wu had argued that he was not abandoning his office in the quorum break, but was exercising a right to dissent.

In denying Abbott’s request, the court opinion written by Justice James Blacklock noted that the Republican-majority Legislature had adequately resolved the problem itself through measures such as fines against the missing lawmakers, and that they eventually returned on their own within a few weeks.

“In the end, a quorum was restored in two weeks’ time, without judicial intervention, by the interplay of political and practical forces,” Blacklock wrote.

“Courts have uniformly recognized that it is not their role to resolve disputes between the other two branches that those branches can resolve for themselves,” the opinion said.

If the issue rises again and the Legislature cannot effectively compel lawmakers to return, the court may someday consider whether the courts should step in, the opinion said.

“When Greg Abbott threatened to arrest and expel us for denying him a quorum, we told him he should ‘come and take it.’ He tried!” Wu said in a statement Friday. “Abbott was wrong, weak, and after all his bluster, he couldn’t come and take a damn thing.”

Wu and the other lawmakers eventually returned to Texas, and the new map was passed and signed into law by Abbott.

Wu had argued that because he had returned to the Capitol and the map was eventually signed into law, there was no longer any reason for the court to weigh in.

“Their return is robust proof that they never intended to abandon their offices,” Wu argued in legal briefs. “Despite the overheated rhetoric, this quorum break was always understood to be temporary.”

The Texas walkout intensified into a high-stakes national drama as Trump urged Texas and other GOP-controlled states to redraw their congressional districts to help Republicans maintain control of the U.S. House. The Texas map effort set off a wave of similar efforts across several states as governors from both parties pledged to redraw maps with the goal of giving their political candidates a leg up in the 2026 midterm elections.

FILE - Texas state Rep. Gene Wu speaks to the crowd before California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a rally with Harris County Democrats at the IBEW local 716 union hall on Nov. 8, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Karen Warren, File)

FILE - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriela Passos, File)