Micron and MongoDB Sink as AI Chip Complex Buckles Before Nvidia Earnings, SOXX -2.67%

Semiconductor stocks bore the brunt of Monday's selloff as Micron Technology faced fresh patent headwinds from Netlist and investors trimmed AI hardware exposure ahead of Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement of "Operation Economic Outcast," a new round of Iran sanctions, added a macro overhang even as the Dow managed a 0.26% gain; the S&P 500 fell 0.28% to 7,652.86 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 0.76% to 25,980.19. Among the top AI stocks today, hyperscalers Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet each gained between 0.9% and 1.7%, the widest single-session chip-versus-cloud divergence in recent weeks.

Top AI stocks today: August 24, 2026

Micron falls 5.83% as Netlist patent fight rattles HBM supply outlook

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) declined 5.83% to $910.43 on volume of 29.8 million shares after Netlist filed new ITC and federal court patent cases targeting Micron's DDR5 RDIMM and MRDIMM memory products, seeking exclusion orders that could block certain MU products from U.S. import and sale, according to StocksToTrade. The timing is conspicuous: Micron has publicly confirmed it locked in price and volume agreements for its entire calendar 2026 high-bandwidth memory output, a supply position that had been one of the clearest demand supports for the stock's 188.64% year-to-date gain. Wall Street retains a Strong Buy consensus across 43 analysts, with an average 12-month price target implying roughly 65% upside from Monday's close, but the patent cases introduce binary headline risk that fundamentals alone cannot offset. StartupHub.ai data shows 269 semiconductor and AI hardware startups currently active in our tracked ecosystem, underscoring how consolidated the chip supply chain has become heading into the 2026 inference buildout.

MongoDB down 6.53% ahead of September 1 earnings

MongoDB Inc. (NASDAQ: MDB) retreated 6.53% to $402.69 in what reads as a pre-earnings positioning trade ahead of its fiscal second-quarter report on September 1. Citi recently raised its MDB price target to $545 from $455, maintaining a Buy rating and citing durable enterprise demand for the Atlas cloud database platform. The 35% spread between the Citi target and Monday's close signals the market is pricing in meaningful execution risk despite the upgrade. Forty analysts cover MDB with an average Buy rating. Among the best AI stocks to watch going into late-August earnings season, MongoDB's ability to translate AI workload growth into durable revenue remains the central question for the September print.

Ouster drops 6.95%, biggest single-session decline among AI stocks today

Ouster Inc. (NASDAQ: OUST) led percentage declines in our AI chip stocks universe, falling 6.95% to $35.75 as the broader AI infrastructure selloff punished unprofitable hardware names hardest. The lidar sensor maker has delivered 56% year-over-year revenue growth but carries an operating margin of -39.5%, a profile that makes OUST acutely sensitive to risk-off rotation in the AI trade. Nine Wall Street analysts hold a median price target of $39.00, implying limited upside from current levels even on the consensus bull case. The stock remains up 52.97% year-to-date, reflecting the market's longer-term confidence in AI sensing infrastructure as autonomous vehicles and robotics adoption accelerates.

Super Micro slides 5.56% as AI server trade pulls back pre-earnings

Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) fell 5.56% to $35.17 on 39.8 million shares as AI infrastructure stocks broadly retreated ahead of Nvidia's Wednesday earnings. With Nvidia a likely reset point for the entire AI capex narrative, traders are trimming exposure to higher-beta AI infrastructure stocks before Jensen Huang's data center guidance commentary. SMCI is up 13.6% year-to-date but has given back a large portion of earlier gains, a pattern consistent with names closely tied to near-term hyperscaler spending sentiment.

monday.com gains 3.88%, leads AI software stocks higher

monday.com Ltd. (NASDAQ: MNDY) was the top gainer among the best AI stocks today, rising 3.88% to $94.25 on volume of 1.4 million shares. The enterprise work-management platform has been expanding its mondayAI suite, and Monday's session gain reflects selective rotation into SaaS names that have underperformed meaningfully: MNDY is still down 34.28% year-to-date despite the session's advance. The stock's move bucked peers like ServiceNow (NOW, -0.33%) and Salesforce (CRM, -0.05%), suggesting position-specific buying rather than broad SaaS rotation. The next concrete catalyst is the next earnings print and updated mondayAI adoption metrics.

Notable but quieter

SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) fell 4.37% to $7.00 in sympathy with the broader AI infrastructure selloff. Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE: NET) lost 4.36% to $280.35 without a stock-specific catalyst, extending a five-session pullback. Datadog Inc. (NASDAQ: DDOG) gave back 4.18% to $225.77, with the decline consistent with pre-positioning ahead of the sector's earnings cycle. Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) itself slid 2.91% to $208.48 on 134 million shares; CNBC noted continued Taiwan supply chain scrutiny, and the $208 level sits near a key near-term support heading into Wednesday's print. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) fell 3.83% to $348.95, down 20.34% year-to-date. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) gained 1.33% and 1.66% respectively, bucking the chip selloff. More coverage of top 2026 AI stocks to watch is available at our AI Stocks Daily section.

What are the top AI stocks to buy in August 2026?

Across hardware, hyperscale cloud, and enterprise SaaS, the consensus top AI stocks in August 2026 include Micron (MU), Nvidia (NVDA), and Broadcom (AVGO) on the semiconductor side; Microsoft (MSFT) and Amazon (AMZN) for hyperscale AI infrastructure; and monday.com (MNDY) and Oracle (ORCL) for enterprise AI software. Wall Street's 2026 focus has shifted from training-cluster buildout to inference and AI-agent monetization, which is reshuffling which names lead each session among the top AI stocks 2026. Monday's divergence between chip stocks and hyperscalers captures this transition in real time: the best AI stocks to buy today depend heavily on which part of the AI stack you believe is priced correctly into Wednesday's Nvidia print.

Core watchlist

Chips

• Nvidia (NVDA): -2.91% on 134M shares. Pre-earnings positioning ahead of the Aug 26 AMC print; $208 tests near-term support with consensus expecting $92B in quarterly revenue and 97% year-over-year growth.
• AMD (AMD): -3.49% on 16.5M shares. No stock-specific catalyst; tracking the sector lower ahead of NVDA earnings; watching the 200-day moving average near $445 as near-term support.
• Broadcom (AVGO): -2.63% on 18.6M shares. Custom AI silicon thesis intact; down 6.38% over the past month; next catalyst is the fiscal Q3 earnings print in early September.
• Taiwan Semi (TSM): -2.11% on 10.6M shares. Taiwan geopolitical premium widened slightly on Iran sanctions news; Q2 CoWoS capacity guidance remains the fundamental support.

Hyperscalers

• Microsoft (MSFT): +0.84% on 16.8M shares. Azure AI revenue momentum the carrier; up 25.24% over the past month and one of the stronger Magnificent 7 AI stocks on the session.
• Alphabet (GOOGL): +0.94% on 26.3M shares. Google AI Overviews monetization and cloud AI wins the thesis; gained alongside other hyperscalers despite the chip selloff.
• Meta (META): +1.66% on 12.9M shares. Llama 4 adoption and ad monetization the multi-month driver; second-best performer in the Magnificent 7 AI stocks group today.
• Amazon (AMZN): +1.33% on 28.0M shares. AWS AI infrastructure the core thesis; strong session despite broader semiconductor weakness; up 15.7% year-to-date.

Enterprise SaaS

• Oracle (ORCL): -2.74% on 14.1M shares. OCI AI cloud buildout the thesis; management guiding to $104B annual revenue; quiet session ahead of next contract announcement.
• Salesforce (CRM): -0.05% on 8.4M shares. Flat on near-zero volatility; Agentforce ARR above $1B is the thesis; up 20.43% over the past month on Agentforce monetization progress.
• ServiceNow (NOW): -0.33% on 8.9M shares. Workflow AI agent rollout the carrier; up 21.31% over the past month; next catalyst is the Q3 print.

Vol / retail

• Palantir (PLTR): -2.25% on 35M shares. Government AI and FDAS contract pipeline the thesis; up 4.78% year-to-date; $175 level holds for now.
• Tesla (TSLA): -3.83% on 39M shares. Robotaxi and autonomous AI the narrative; -20.34% year-to-date; watching $335 as near-term support.
• Snowflake (SNOW): -3.00% on 3.7M shares. Data cloud AI integrations the thesis; up 48.95% year-to-date despite Monday's decline; no stock-specific catalyst.

What to watch tomorrow

The dominant event this week is Nvidia Corp.'s fiscal Q2 earnings after the close on Wednesday, August 26. Analysts expect approximately $92.07 billion in quarterly revenue, representing 97% year-over-year growth, according to CNBC; CEO Jensen Huang's commentary on Rubin chip timelines, Blackwell demand, and data-center capex will set the tone for AI chip stocks and AI infrastructure stocks heading into September. Marvell Technology reports Thursday after the close. Jackson Hole begins Thursday, August 27, with Warsh's keynote on Friday, August 28, closely watched for signals on the September interest rate decision and the path for monetary policy. MongoDB (MDB) reports fiscal Q2 on September 1, the next significant date for AI software stocks. July PCE data also arrives later this week.

Not investment advice.