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
| Ticker | Close | Day | 1mo | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $MNDY | $94.25 | +3.88% | +14.80% | -34.28% |
| $META | $559.02 | +1.66% | -5.87% | -14.05% |
| $AMZN | $262.07 | +1.33% | +13.26% | +15.70% |
| $GOOGL | $348.06 | +0.94% | +6.58% | +10.44% |
| $MSFT | $487.31 | +0.84% | +25.24% | +3.04% |
| $OUST | $35.75 | -6.95% | +1.74% | +52.97% |
| $MDB | $402.69 | -6.53% | +30.02% | +0.76% |
| $MU | $910.43 | -5.83% | +1.14% | +188.64% |
| $SMCI | $35.17 | -5.56% | +17.98% | +13.60% |
| $DDOG | $225.77 | -4.18% | -10.36% | +68.77% |
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.