After-Hours: Amazon Soars Over 15%, Apple Plunges More Than 7%; Nasdaq Rises but Posts Worst July Since 2006

U.S. stocks closed broadly higher on Friday, July 31, as investors temporarily set aside concerns over rising Treasury yields and turned their attention to earnings from large technology companies. Amazon's revenue beat expectations, sending its shares soaring more than 15% and driving the Nasdaq Composite Index up by 1%. The S&P 500 Index also climbed.

Despite significant market volatility, all three major indexes posted weekly gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 each rose about 1%, while the Nasdaq gained approximately 1.6%. Alphabet (Google’s parent), Amazon, and Microsoft collectively added nearly $1.5 trillion to their market capitalizations this week.

For the month of July, the Dow rose 0.3%, marking its fourth consecutive monthly gain. The S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while the Nasdaq dropped 3.2%, recording its worst July performance since 2006.

Persistently high U.S. Treasury yields remain a key market risk. The 30-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 this week and rose another 4 basis points on Friday to 5.25%. The 10-year yield briefly surpassed 4.7%, reaching its highest point since January 2025.

Bond market fluctuations reflect investor skepticism about Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s commitment to fighting inflation. Although Powell reaffirmed his dedication to lowering inflation this week, his comment that the Fed has “no magic wand” failed to calm market nerves.

Notably, The New York Times reported on Friday that Powell is considering reducing the frequency of Federal Reserve interest rate meetings.

In energy markets, West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose about 1.3%, closing at $84.67 per barrel. Brent crude futures gained 1.2%, ending at $90.12 per barrel.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the U.S. would resume large-scale military strikes on Iran to force the Iranian regime back to negotiations, vowing “very severe” attacks on Iran.

Major U.S. index performance on Friday, July 31:

Dow Jones Industrial Average: +276.97 points (+0.53%) at 52,485.03 Nasdaq Composite Index: +251.68 points (+1.00%) at 25,373.85 S&P 500 Index: +52.09 points (+0.70%) at 7,489.72 Philadelphia Semiconductor Index: +8.09 points (+0.07%) at 11,311.08 NYSE FANG+ Index: +288.30 points (+1.70%) at 17,261.36

Key Individual Stocks

Major tech giants within the NYSE FANG+ Index mostly closed higher. Meta (META-US) rose 3.28%; Apple (AAPL-US) plunged 7.35%; Alphabet (GOOGL-US) jumped 6.73%; Microsoft (MSFT-US) gained 3.02%; Amazon (AMZN-US) soared 15.32%.

Semiconductor stocks in the Philadelphia index showed mixed results. AMD (AMD-US) fell 1.90%; Broadcom (AVGO-US) rose 0.37%; NVIDIA (NVDA-US) gained 2.93%; Applied Materials (AMAT-US) rose 1.18%; Qualcomm (QCOM-US) dropped 2.63%; Micron (MU-US) plunged 5.90%.

Taiwanese ADRs mostly rose. TSMC ADR (TSM-US) gained 0.23%; ASE ADR (ASX-US) rose 1.15%; UMC ADR (UMC-US) gained 0.48%; Chunghwa Telecom ADR (CHT-US) fell 0.16%.

Corporate News

Amazon (AMZN-US) surged 15.32% to $271.58 per share on Friday, marking its largest single-day gain since 2012 and a weekly rise exceeding 15%. Strong growth in its cloud computing business drove second-quarter revenue above market expectations, reinforcing investor confidence that AI spending is translating into real revenue.

Apple’s fiscal 2026 third quarter (ended June) revenue beat expectations, with iPhone sales growing 22%. However, service revenue fell short of market estimates.

Apple (AAPL-US) tumbled 7.35% on Friday, closing at $308.91 per share—the worst single-day performance since April 2025—and allowing NVIDIA to reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable company by market cap.

South Korea’s SK Hynix surged nearly 30%—hitting its daily limit—while Samsung Electronics jumped 27%, pushing the KOSPI Index up nearly 18%. However, SK Hynix ADR (SKHY-US) declined 3.6%.

Chevron (CVX-US) rose 2.35% after both second-quarter revenue and profits exceeded expectations. The company reported a net profit of $12.1 billion, up nearly 400% year-over-year.

ExxonMobil (XOM-US) reported second-quarter earnings below expectations, causing its stock to drop 0.97%. Adjusted EPS was $3.52, below the LSEG analyst consensus of $3.60.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN-US) posted its third consecutive quarterly loss, with a net loss of $359.5 million and a loss of $1.36 per share—far worse than expected—dragging its stock down 10.59% to $146.26.

Reddit (RDDT-US) delivered both revenue and profit above expectations, with guidance far exceeding market forecasts. However, CEO Steve Huffman admitted that search traffic from Google has become less stable, sparking investor concerns about user growth and causing the stock to plunge 20.99% to $140.67.

Wall Street Analysis

José Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers, noted that major indices ended higher despite sharp swings. Recent big tech earnings show robust capital spending on AI remains strong, and strong cloud and semiconductor sales further boost investor confidence in future prospects.

Ryan Detrick, market strategist at Carson Group, believes the recent pullback resembles a pause before the next leg up. After strong rallies in April and May, a moderate correction is reasonable.

However, Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management, warned that if the 10-year Treasury yield approaches 5%, it could hurt market sentiment and increase pressure on stock valuations.

Sandven described the current market as a 'rollercoaster of anxiety and opportunity.' Corporate earnings remain strong and inflation relatively stable, but escalating Middle East conflicts are pushing oil prices higher and could reignite inflationary pressures.

(All figures are updated as of press time; please refer to actual quotes for final values.)