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US stocks wavered on Thursday after progress in US-Iran peace talks stalled and a rout for software stocks was triggered by earnings from ServiceNow (NOW) and IBM (IBM).

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1%, coming off another record-setting day for the broad benchmark. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) pared earlier losses to a decline of 0.1%.

The uncertain movement in stocks comes as oil rose for a fourth day after Iran and the US failed to meet for further peace talks, pushing Brent crude futures (BZ=F) back above $103 per barrel. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) topped $93.

At the same time, the software sector fell throughout the morning as investors digested earnings reports from sector heavyweights ServiceNow (NOW) and IBM (IBM). ServiceNow stock sank over 16% despite an upbeat earnings report, while IBM slid over 8%, as slowing revenue growth fed worries that Anthropic’s AI tools will disrupt its business.

The broader software sector (IGV) dropped by roughly 5% after investors reacted negatively to the results from ServiceNow and IBM.

Investors have been looking to earnings reports to provide uplift as war-stoked inflation worries sour the mood. Tesla stock initially climbed after its earnings beat but turned lower at the opening bell on Thursday, slipping almost 3% after CEO Elon Musk signaled a massive capital expenditure push that will drag on cash flow.

Economic data updates include a preliminary S&P Global reading on April manufacturing activity. Initial jobless claims data showed the weekly employment figures ticked up slightly to 214,000.

Blackstone (BX) president Jon Gray said the AI build-out will be the primary driver of the financial services giant’s investments, as skyrocketing prices for computing capacity and electricity have sent companies and assets that provide them surging as well.

Eight out of 10 of the company’s top-performing investments in the first quarter were in data centers, LNG, and battery storage, the Blackstone president said Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg.

“It’s really rippling through our firm,” Gray said. “It’s clearly the biggest driver for us today.”

On the company’s Thursday earnings call, CEO Steve Schwarzman said he believes his firm is now the “largest investor in AI-related infrastructure in the world.”

While the software sector, long a darling of private equity investors, has faltered over the past several months due to concerns of AI-driven replacement and obsolescence, companies and assets underpinning the infrastructure required for AI have boomed.

In the chips space, Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), and Intel (INTC) have all surged over the past year, while memory stocks Micron (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), and Western Digital (WDC) have become some of the best-performing names in the market.

Companies building and maintaining data centers such as Vertiv Holdings (VRT), Schneider Electric (SU.PA), and Eaton (ETN) have also heavily benefited.

Software stocks are getting smoked.

The decline in ServiceNow (NOW) after earnings is turning into a rout, and the stock is having its worst day in a decade. The company posted a beat and a raise, but investors focused on delayed Middle East deal closings and a near-term margin hit tied to its Armis acquisition.

More broadly, the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV) fell 5% on Thursday — its worst day in over a year — and the group is already undercutting the lows of the week after hitting a two-month high on Wednesday.

The damage is broad. Big software names like Adobe (ADBE), Salesforce (CRM), IBM (IBM), Atlassian (TEAM), HubSpot (HUBS), Workday (WDAY), Snowflake (SNOW), and Autodesk (ADSK) are all getting hit hard, with IBM off over 10%.

Intuit (INTU), Datadog (DDOG), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Microsoft (MSFT), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Oracle (ORCL), Shopify (SHOP), Zscaler (ZS), and DocuSign (DOCU) are also trading lower.

If IGV cannot stabilize here, Wednesday’s pop is going to look like a bull trap.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) just hit its 12th consecutive intraday high.

It is also on track for a 17th straight daily gain, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) may see its 16-day winning streak snapped as it trails all 10 of its sector peers.

Here are this morning’s intraday record highs:

Dow Jones Sectors/Industries: Computer Hardware, Electrical Components & Equipment, Heavy Construction, Marine Transportation, Semiconductors, Steel, Tech Hardware & Equipment

Industry/Style/Country ETFs: Semiconductors (SOXX)

Consumer discretionary stocks: Casey’s (CASY)

Financial stocks: Principal Financial (PFG)

Industrial stocks: Caterpillar (CAT), CSX (CSX), Emcor (EME), Eaton (ETN), Comfort Systems (FIX), GE Vernova (GEV), Jabil (JBL), Kirby (KEX), Quanta Services (PWR), Ryder (R), Snap-on (SNA), Steel Dynamics (STLD)

Real estate stocks: Equinix (EQIX)

Tech stocks: Analog Devices (ADI), Cirrus Logic (CRUS), KLA (KLAC), Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Teradyne (TER), Texas Instruments (TXN)

US stocks fell into the red at the opening bell on Thursday as progress in the Middle East stalled and investors digested a bevy of earnings.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively.

In the oil markets, Brent crude futures (BZ=F) climbed back above $102 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) crossed $93.

American Express (AXP) fell 1.5% after the opening bell despite earnings released Thursday morning showing a beat on both revenue and earnings per share.

Initial jobless claims data showed the weekly employment figures ticked up slightly to 214,000. Later in the morning, investors will get a preliminary read on April manufacturing data from S&P Global.

Initial jobless claims rose to 214,000 in the week ended April 18, according to data released by the Department of Labor on Thursday, coming in above the previous week's revised tally of 208,000 claims.

Economists had expected initial claims of 210,000 for the week, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

The results come after a poll conducted by Bloomberg showed that roughly 1 in 2 employed Americans feared losing their job, even as layoffs have remained relatively low in what economists have called a “low-hire, low-fire” economy.

Continuing claims, which track the unemployed population still seeking work, held steady at roughly 1.82 million for the week ended April 11.

Yahoo Finance’s Ines Ferré reports:

Honeywell (HON) stock tumbled more than 5% in premarket trading on Thursday.

The industrial conglomerate issued a second quarter profit forecast that came in below Wall Street estimates, in part due to the Middle East war. The company highlighted a revenue decline in its process automation and technology business, citing “a challenging geopolitical environment.”

Free cash flow of $100 million was down year over year, primarily due to the timing of collections, stemming partially from conflict.

Honeywell expects second quarter earnings in the range of $2.35 to $2.45 per share, compared with estimates of $2.56. Sales for the quarter are projected to be between $9.4 billion and $9.6 billion, below the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion.

Read more here.

Netflix (NFLX) said on Thursday its board has authorized an additional $25 billion share ‌repurchase program, resuming capital returns after the ‌streaming giant walked away from a $72 billion deal to buy Warner ​Bros Discovery's (WBD) assets.

Shares in Netflix rose over 1% before the bell, following the announcement.

Reuters reports:

The new authorization is on top of a buyback approved in December 2024 and has no expiration date. ‌Netflix had about $6.8 billion ⁠remaining under its previous buyback plan as of March end.

In the two months ⁠since it walked away from the Warner Bros merger race, Netflix has rolled out a series of growth ​initiatives, including ​the acquisition of Ben ​Affleck's AI film-tech firm ‌InterPositive, raised subscription prices in the U.S. and launched a gaming app for kids.

Read more here.

Tim Cook announced plans to step down as Apple (AAPL) CEO this week, with longtime Apple insider John Ternus taking the role on Sept. 1.

Among his peers at the top of the corporate ladder, this development makes Cook's decision to step away now far from unique.

Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland reports:

Data from consultancy Russell Reynolds found that in the first quarter of 2026, there were 77 incoming CEOs named across the 13 indexes tracked by the firm, which includes the S&P 500, FTSE 100, and Germany’s DAX 40, among others.

This marked the highest first quarter total since at least 2018. In 2025, CEO departures hit a record high.

Cook will also leave Apple after 15 years at the helm. Russell Reynolds’ data found that the tenure of outgoing CEOs — specifically in the US — rose sharply within the last year, to 11.8 years from 8.3 years in 2025.

Read more here.

…

Intel (INTC) will report its first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday as AI continues to drive increasing demand for the company’s chips.

Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Howley takes a look at what’s to watch.

Intel missed out on the initial AI boom due to its lack of chips capable of running AI models, as well as those from Nvidia (NVDA).

And while Nvidia took full advantage of its AI chip lead, transforming itself into a nearly $5 trillion company, Intel is finally on the cusp of grabbing its own piece of the AI bonanza.

That’s because as AI agents, semi- or fully autonomous AI bots that can perform tasks on users’ behalf, continue to become more popular, central processing units (CPUs) like the ones Intel makes are becoming increasingly important to data center companies and hyperscalers.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Oil rose for a fourth day as the US and Iran remained locked in a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz after failing to meet for a fresh round of peace talks.

Brent (BZ=F) traded near $104 a barrel after jumping almost 13% in the last three sessions, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) was around $95. US President Donald Trump said the truce agreed April 7 would stay in place indefinitely while Washington waits for Iran to submit a new peace proposal, although Tehran says it has no plans to take part in negotiations imminently.

Global benchmark Brent jumped as much as 4.2% early in the session before quickly reversing on unconfirmed reports that there were explosions in Iran.

The war has rattled energy markets since it started at the end of February, with the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz causing a sharp drop in flows from major producers in the Persian Gulf. The US maintained a naval blockade on ships going to and from Iran’s ports to pile pressure on the Islamic Republic, in a move Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called a violation of the ceasefire.

Read more here.

Reuters reports:

ServiceNow (NOW) reported on Wednesday that delays in closing several large government deals in the Middle East hurt first-quarter subscription revenue ‌growth, sending its shares down 12% in extended trading.

The company said its ‌subscription revenue growth faced about a 75-basis-point headwind from delayed closures of several large on-premises deals in the ​region due to the ongoing conflict.

Chief Operating Officer Amit Zavery told Reuters that those deals are expected to close throughout the year. "We don't know when these conflicts will get sorted out, but we continue to work with these customers," he said.

ServiceNow, like its peers, is also ‌facing investor concerns that artificial ⁠intelligence tools could shift enterprise clients away from traditional software by automating some of the tasks previously done by their products.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) shares surged in late trading after the chipmaker gave a surprisingly strong forecast, helped by booming spending on data centers and industrial equipment.

Revenue will be $5 billion to $5.4 billion in the second quarter, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Analysts had estimated $4.85 billion on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A resurgence in demand for industrial components spanned all geographies and segments, Chief Executive Officer Haviv Ilan said on a conference call with analysts. The company’s revenue is still short of prior peaks, but that’s spurring optimism that the run-up can continue, he said.

Read more here.