U.S. stock markets ended the week lower, with the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continuing to dominate investor concerns and underpin volatility across several sectors.
Beyond the clear gains in energy-related equities, this week’s notable stock moves were driven by distinct company-specific developments: a new compression algorithm affecting memory demand assumptions, a jury finding against major social-media platforms, an IPO-followed-by-short thesis, Arm’s entry into silicon production, and proposed stablecoin rules rattling crypto-related names.
Memory sector
Major memory-equipment and chip names saw heavy selling after Google introduced TurboQuant, a compression algorithm that could reduce memory requirements for artificial intelligence applications. The news pressured shares of prominent memory firms.
Micron experienced a steep weekly loss of over 18% despite a modest intraday uptick of 1.1% as of 13:29 ET on Friday. Sandisk plunged more than 20% over the same seven-day span, although SNDK was up 1.5% in the current session. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya weighed in on the pullback, writing that the sell-off is creating a buying opportunity: "We continue to believe demand for AI memory remains strong."
Energy names - oil stocks rally
Energy shares rallied again as the conflict in the Middle East continued to lift oil prices and risk premia. Comments from U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Washington may be exploring an off-ramp, with a reported extension of a White House deadline relating to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz until April 6. That announcement did not end the upward pressure on oil markets, however, as Iranian rejections and reports of potential additional U.S. ground troop deployments kept prices and energy stocks elevated.
Performance among large oil companies was notable: Exxon rose 6.7% over the last week, Chevron gained 5.1%, BP climbed about 2%, ConocoPhillips advanced 6.1%, and Occidental Petroleum surged 9.7% in the same period.
Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms shares fell sharply over the past five trading days, dropping more than 13% in total. The stock plunged around 8% on Thursday and fell another 4.5% in Friday’s trading. The move followed a Los Angeles jury verdict that found Meta and Google negligent in designing social media platforms harmful to young people - a legal development that appears to have contributed materially to the share-price decline.
Fundrise Innovation Fund and VCX
VCX initially surged after its IPO last week and extended gains into the early part of this week. Momentum reversed after the company was highlighted as a short by Citron Research. The short-seller’s commentary included the statement: "$VCX is trading at $400+. Its assets are worth $19. SIMPLE MATH." Citron also asserted that the sponsor was fined by the SEC for paying over 200 influencers to promote products without disclosure over a five-year period.
Arm Holdings
Arm shares jumped more than 16% in Wednesday’s session following an announcement that the company will, for the first time, produce silicon products. Although the stock has retreated over the ensuing sessions, it remained roughly 5.6% higher on the week.
Needham analysts described Arm’s strategic moves positively in a note after the announcement, saying that the company’s push into silicon via META epitomizes the aggressive "move fast and break things" approach. The firm raised Arm’s rating from Hold to Buy and said: "A series of [Arm’s] high-stake bets, i.e., raising royalty rates, going into subsystems, and making its own silicon, are working." Needham added that these initiatives could disrupt the industry but are transforming Arm for the better.
Circle Internet Group and crypto-related names
Circle Internet Group shares plunged 17% on Tuesday, with additional declines on Thursday and Friday leaving the stock down roughly 28.9% over the last week. The sell-off followed reports of proposed stablecoin legislation that could limit certain yield offerings tied to stablecoins.
Coinbase also experienced significant weakness, falling more than 9% on Tuesday and registering a near 20% drop over the same period. Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette attributed the negative reaction in CRCL shares to rising expectations that the White House might favor a compromise more supportive of the crypto industry - a compromise that would have allowed holding-based interest or rewards payments. Faucette maintained an Equalweight rating and a $80 price target on Circle, and noted that Circle’s core potential lies in nascent monetization pathways such as AI-agent stablecoin usage, collateral management and tokenized trading, and cross-border payments.
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Stocks across several sectors were moved this week by a mix of geopolitical headlines, product and strategic announcements, legal rulings, and proposed regulation. The result was broad dispersion in returns - with energy names rallying sharply amid heightened geopolitical risk and several technology and crypto-related stocks enduring pronounced sell-offs tied to industry-specific developments.