What Happened?
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after renewed enthusiasm for Alphabet reinvigorated the artificial intelligence trade, propelling a market rebound heading into the Thanksgiving holiday. The Nasdaq index jumped 2.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.6%, driven by a 5% rally in Alphabet following the announcement of its upgraded Gemini 3 AI model. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector, lifting shares of Broadcom, Micron, and Palantir significantly. The rally built on momentum from the previous trading session, sparked by the New York Fed president keeping the door open for a December interest rate cut.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Nova (NASDAQ:NVMI) jumped 6%. Is now the time to buy Nova? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Analog Semiconductors company MACOM (NASDAQ:MTSI) jumped 4.1%. Is now the time to buy MACOM? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) jumped 3.7%. Is now the time to buy KLA Corporation? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) jumped 6%. Is now the time to buy Lam Research? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Analog Semiconductors company Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) jumped 2.6%. Is now the time to buy Monolithic Power Systems? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Nova (NVMI)
Nova’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 33 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 4 days ago when the stock dropped 3.2% on the news that markets faded the Nvidia rally in the morning session, as investors remained uncertain about future rate cuts.
While the trading day began with significant enthusiasm, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 700 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%, momentum quickly evaporated as the session wore on. The primary catalyst for this sharp reversal was a stronger-than-expected jobs report, which reduced the implied odds of a December interest rate cut to less than 40%. This macroeconomic anxiety overshadowed stellar corporate performance. Nvidia initially surged 5% on blockbuster earnings and CEO Jensen Huang's bullish outlook on "off the charts" demand for Blackwell chips. However, the stock eventually turned negative, acting as a heavy weight that dragged the broader indices into the red. The sell-off partly reflects a deepening caution regarding high-flying tech valuations in a "higher-for-longer" rate environment.
Consequently, investors appeared to rotate capital away from volatile growth sectors and toward defensive staples, evidenced by Walmart's 6% gain following its own earnings beat. Ultimately, the market could not sustain the morning's euphoria, as traders prioritized rate realities over AI potential.
Nova is up 46.8% since the beginning of the year, but at $297.81 per share, it is still trading 15.3% below its 52-week high of $351.58 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Nova’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,676.
Do you want to know what moves the business you care about? Add them to your StockStory watchlist and every time a stock significantly moves, we provide you with a timely explanation straight to your inbox. It’s free for active Edge members and will only take you a second.