U.S. stocks opened higher on moderate risk-on activity led by AI-related storage companies such as Micron and Western Digital, even as PayPal fell about 10% on weak earnings guidance.
US stocks opened in the green, with the Dow up 0.45%, the S&P 500 up 0.57%, and the Nasdaq up 0.76%, reflecting a moderate risk-on trend across blue-chip, large-cap growth, and tech stocks.
The move comes after a tumultuous few weeks in which investors traded between stronger-than-expected inflation and strong earnings from large tech companies, with major indexes near recent highs but individual stocks becoming more disparate.
Index rises due to risk-on open
The early range favored cyclical and tech-related sectors, with storage, semiconductors and some AI beneficiaries outperforming, while some consumer and fintech stocks fell on stock-specific news.
Storage inventory expands AI-driven operations
Storage Concepts stocks continued their recent outperformance, led by Micron Technology, which rose about 6% in early trading, followed by SanDisk, which rose about 3%, and Western Digital, which rose about 3.5%.
Memory and storage names saw similar spikes in early April, with Micron up 10% intraday, SanDisk nearly 10% and Western Digital more than 8%. This is because the market is increasingly treating them as AI infrastructure rather than purely cyclical PC components.
Analysts cited by TradingKey and other news outlets argue that long-term demand from AI servers, hyperscale data centers, and high-bandwidth memory is prompting investors to reassess storage companies, a case reinforced with each unexpectedly strong earnings report or guidance update.
PayPal plunges 10% after earnings
Against this backdrop, PayPal started off sharply lower, dropping around 10% after announcing market-beating quarterly results and guidance.
The company’s latest earnings outlook for 2026 shows flat to low-single-digit adjusted profit growth, well below Wall Street expectations of about 8%, while recent quarterly sales and EPS also missed consensus, Reuters reported.
Amid skepticism about Branded Checkout’s ability to reaccelerate growth and fend off competition from Apple Pay and other digital wallets, the stock has already been under pressure this year, hitting a 52-week low of around $39.95 in February, about 49% below a year ago.
A recent crypto.news analysis notes that while PayPal has announced cost cuts, stock buybacks and a new CEO, investors are still focused on sales momentum. Today’s 10% slide suggests these concerns are far from resolved.
