Tech got a reality check Tuesday

The market woke up grumpy

Tuesday was one of those days where the market looked at itself in the mirror and said, “Maybe we should cool it.” The Nasdaq Composite fell more than 200 points at one point as investors rotated out of tech and into safer corners like consumer staples, real estate, and energy.

The spark? A messy combo platter:

• Oil prices climbed, giving the market a little inflation-flavored headache
• Trump’s comments on Iran and the Strait of Hormuz kept geopolitics in the background like a Netflix show you can’t quite turn off
• Fresh doubts around AI spending hit the big tech trade, after reports that OpenAI missed internal user-growth targets

The AI party got a little less bubbly

That OpenAI headline mattered because Wall Street has been treating AI capex like the guest who always brings the expensive bottle. When growth questions start popping up, investors immediately wonder whether all those billions in spending are going to look brilliant — or a little overcooked.

That’s why software and semiconductor names caught selling pressure even though this wasn’t a single-company earnings disaster. It was more of a mood shift: the market decided to take a breath and ask for receipts.

Earnings still mattered in the background

Not everything was red ink. Coca-Cola beat on first-quarter results and lifted its FY26 adjusted EPS guidance above estimates, while General Motors also posted upbeat first-quarter numbers. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet were all on deck for earnings later in the day, which only added to the “don’t get too comfortable” vibe.

Big picture

The CNN Fear & Greed Index stayed in the “Greed” zone at 63.8, but it slipped from 67.5. In other words: investors are still optimistic, just a little more skittish than they were yesterday. The market didn’t panic — it just showed you that even a greedy crowd can get nervous when tech valuation math starts getting fuzzy.