AI chips, inflation and key tech stock movers

US stock futures were slightly softer on Friday, Apr. 10, 2026, with E-mini S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) contracts down about 0.1% as investors weighed hotter inflation signals against easing borrowing costs.

Expectations for March US consumer prices point to year-on-year CPI around 3.3%, a monthly gain near 0.9%, and core inflation of about 2.7%, keeping price pressures above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

A separate gauge, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure for February, showed core inflation at 3%, with readings stuck near that level for three months, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will hold rates steady.

Thirty‑year US mortgage rates have eased to 6.37%, providing some relief for homebuyers, while housing data and upcoming central bank commentary remain in focus for rate expectations.

Oil prices surged on Thursday as uncertainty around a ceasefire related to the US and Israel’s military campaign against Iran became clearer, though equity markets reversed losses after Israel agreed to negotiations with Lebanon.

The Iran conflict and earlier tariff-related price pressures are seen complicating the inflation outlook, contributing to expectations of a cautious Fed that traders now see keeping rates on hold through year-end, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors are also watching preliminary April readings from the University of Michigan’s sentiment survey, alongside data on factory orders, durable goods, and real wages.

Analysts continue to highlight semiconductors as central to the AI investment cycle. Bank of America’s (BAC) Vivek Arya raised his 2026 global semiconductor revenue outlook to $1.3 trillion, driven by firms including Nvidia (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO) and Marvell (MRVL) and by AI and data center demand.

Gartner issued a similar forecast, also pointing to about $1.3 trillion of semiconductor revenue in 2026 and calling it a third consecutive year of double‑digit growth, underpinned by AI processing, data center networking, power components and memory price inflation.

Gartner expects global semiconductor revenue to rise from $805 billion to $1.3 trillion in 2026 and $1.6 trillion in 2027, with around 30% of 2026 revenue tied to AI semiconductors and roughly half of industry revenue coming from memory.

The consultancy noted that DRAM and NAND flash prices have already climbed sharply and are expected to continue rising, with little pricing relief projected until late 2027, creating concerns about “memflation” crowding out non‑AI demand.

Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy used his 2025 annual letter to shareholders to outline Amazon Web Services’ (AMZN) strategy in AI chips, positioning its Trainium processors as a cost‑effective alternative to Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs.

Jassy wrote that Amazon’s second‑generation Trainium2 chip delivers about 30% better price‑performance than comparable GPUs and is largely sold out, while Trainium3, which began shipping at the start of 2026, offers a further 30%–40% improvement and is nearly fully subscribed.

He added that a significant portion of the upcoming Trainium4 generation, still about 18 months from broad availability, has already been reserved, and said virtually all AI had previously run on Nvidia chips but a “new shift has started.”

Across its custom chips business, including Graviton CPUs, Trainium and Nitro networking cards, Amazon reported an annual revenue run rate above $20 billion, and Jassy said that on a stand‑alone basis the unit would be running at roughly $50 billion if it sold chips to AWS and third parties in line with industry peers.

Micron Technology (MU) has been a focal point in the AI hardware rally. One model from 24/7 Wall St. assigns the stock a price target of $318.89 versus a current price of $377.76, implying about 15.58% downside with a stated 90% confidence level.

The company’s fiscal Q1 2026 non‑GAAP earnings per share were $4.78, above a $3.94 estimate, on revenue of $13.643 billion, which beat expectations by 5.91% and grew 56.65% year over year.

Guidance for Q2 FY2026 calls for revenue of $18.70 billion and non‑GAAP EPS of $8.42, with Micron’s (MU) Cloud Memory Business Unit generating $5.284 billion of Q1 revenue at a 66% gross margin and 55% operating margin.

The same analysis notes that high‑bandwidth memory order books reportedly extend into 2027 and describes Micron as the only US‑based memory manufacturer, with a bull‑case one‑year target of $495.07 and an analyst consensus target of $525.48, alongside a bear‑case target of $240.33.

Arista Networks shares have surged, rising 15.7% from last Friday through Thursday’s close after Rosenblatt analyst Mike Genovese upgraded the stock to buy from hold and raised his price target to $180 from $165.

Genovese’s target implied nearly 43% upside from Arista’s $126.25 close on Monday and was based on confidence in the company’s new XPO liquid‑cooled optics module designed for AI networking, as well as partnerships with Anthropic and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google.

He projected that Arista could grow revenue by 40% year over year in 2026 and 2027. The shares trade at 53.1 times trailing earnings, above their five‑year average P/E of 41.2.

Elsewhere in Friday’s early action, top gainers included Bloom Energy, Nebius Group (NBIS) and Sandisk, each up around 9%, while Texas Pacific Land, Snowflake (SNOW) and Zscaler were among the notable decliners following company‑specific developments.