$ZBRA and $AMBQ just crushed earnings while chip stocks imploded — retail is watching the scoreboard
While semiconductors had their worst day in months, a barcode company and a micro-chip startup reminded everyone that boring still beats busted
Ticker Ratings
| Ticker | Rating | Entry Price | Current | $ Gain | % Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ZBRA ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORP | buy | $241.86 | — | — | — |
| AMBQ Ambiq Micro, Inc. | buy | $67.57 | — | — | — |
| HIMS Hims & Hers Health, Inc. | hold | $24.66 | — | — | — |
| UAA Under Armour, Inc. | sell | $5.04 | — | — | — |
| GME GameStop Corp. | hold | $22.42 | — | — | — |
| QCOM QUALCOMM INC/DE | hold | $208.00 | — | — | — |
| AMD ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES INC | hold | $444.76 | — | — | — |
| INTC INTEL CORP | hold | $117.57 | — | — | — |
| MU MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | hold | $747.00 | — | — | — |
Let's set the scene: the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index drops ~3% (down as much as 6.8% intraday), $QCOM is having its worst day since March 2020, $AMD is pulling back from record highs, and $MU is off over 8%. The AI rally didn't die — it just badly needed a nap after a $440 billion, 6-week run-up that Bloomberg's own data flagged as dotcom-era extreme. Short sellers showed up to the party right on cue.
Meanwhile, in a parallel universe where fundamentals still matter, $ZBRA (Zebra Technologies) topped the S&P 500 two days running — up roughly 11-12% after beating Q1 expectations and raising full-year guidance. Its quiet cousin $AMBQ (Ambiq Micro) went absolutely feral, surging 45% to a record close on strong Q1 results and bullish Q2 guidance. Meanwhile $HIMS dropped 15% despite a revenue beat — because Wall Street saw soft Q2 EBITDA guidance and decided the pivot to brand-name therapies was a profitability problem, not an opportunity.
And then there's $UAA, which somehow managed to fall 17% by losing the Steph Curry partnership and missing revenue guidance in the same earnings report. Ryan Cohen's $GME tried to buy eBay for $56 billion and got rejected faster than a cover letter with Comic Sans — eBay called it 'neither credible nor attractive,' which is also what my first boss said about my pitch decks. The real earnings alpha this cycle? It's hiding in the boring aisle, right next to the barcode scanners.