October 13 Market Report: Palantir Was the Only Mover
Palantir edged up 0.05% while most big tech stocks stayed put.
Wall Street closed mixed on Monday, the day marking the fourth anniversary of the bull market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.38%, but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.44%, breaking the alignment of tech-driven direction. According to Yonhap News, a sharp spike in oil prices and a plunge in semiconductor stocks were the main factors widening the gap between the indexes. The broader market remains in a sideways phase marked by minor fluctuations.
Big Tech Major Stock Movements
| Stock | Price | Change | Market Cap | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia | $229.28 | -0.01% | $5.54T | 29.0 |
| Apple | $336.64 | -0.01% | $4.91T | 38.6 |
| Alphabet (GOOGL) | $351.66 | +0.01% | $4.30T | 17.6 |
| Microsoft | $535.07 | +0.02% | $3.97T | 29.8 |
| Amazon | $262.43 | +0.03% | $2.83T | 21.1 |
| TSMC | $453.31 | -0.01% | $2.35T | 32.9 |
| Meta | $718.67 | -0.00% | $1.83T | 27.1 |
| Palantir | $209.05 | +0.05% | $0.50T | 180.2 |
| Micron | $1,029.00 | -0.01% | $1.16T | 13.8 |
| Tesla | $382.70 | +0.02% | $1.51T | 354.4 |
As the table shows, big tech's moves were extremely muted. The vast majority of changes stayed within 0.01–0.03%, and among the largest stocks by market cap, only Palantir stood out, rising 0.05%. Even so, this amounts to a swing of just over $10 from the previous close of $198.78 — hard to read as a sign of a trend shift.
Semiconductor Weakness and the Memory Drag
The axis that split the day's index performance was semiconductors. According to CNBC, news related to China's CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) sent memory chip stocks plunging across the board, with the fallout spreading to TSMC (-0.01%) and Micron (-0.01%). AMD and Intel each fell 0.02%. Local broadcasts also reported that Nvidia declined despite expectations of growing GPU demand.
What stands out is the valuation gap. Micron trades at a P/E of 13.8x — the lowest among the large-cap tech names in the table — and Alphabet is at just 17.6x. By contrast, TSMC is at 32.9x and Nvidia at 29.0x. In terms of earnings growth, TSMC's EPS growth rate of 4,430.2% offers some justification for its premium valuation. Yet Micron's decline on the day shows that undervaluation is no shield. Faced with China-driven supply concerns, sector-wide beta mattered more than valuation.
High-Valuation Growth Stocks at a Crossroads
Palantir's P/E of 180.2x and Tesla's 354.4x remain demanding levels. The two stocks headed in opposite directions. Palantir rose modestly on the back of a staggering EPS growth rate of 22,857.1%, while Tesla — whose same metric cratered to -4,709.0% — managed only a 0.02% gain. It is evidence that the market is scrutinizing stocks on earnings.
Meta is also notable: its stock was flat (-0.00%), but its EPS growth rate turned negative at -256.0%. Including Tesla and Exxon Mobil (-1,454.1%), a fair number of names are posting earnings declines. Given that the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) trades at a P/E of 25.2x, index valuations themselves sit above historical averages. The task for the bull market's fourth year ultimately comes down to proving the returns on AI investment.
Outlook: Continued Sideways Action and Supply-Demand Variables
In the short term, the sideways trend is likely to persist. The day's volatility was too scattered to generate a directional move, and rising oil prices — an inflation variable — could rattle rate expectations again. The semiconductor sector will likely remain under correction pressure until the CXMT-related supply concerns are digested.
On the other hand, relatively cheap stocks with earnings momentum, such as Alphabet and Micron, could show defensive qualities during a correction. Palantir's trajectory is also worth watching. Despite a P/E above 180x, as long as the market continues to offset it with the pace of earnings improvement, its uptrend may hold. If Bruce Springsteen spent his life measuring the distance between America's reality and its dreams, the distance investors must measure now is between AI expectations and actual earnings. How quickly that gap closes will determine the fate of the bull market's fifth year.
