Wall Street steadied on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, clawing back a slice of the prior day’s brutal technology selloff as traders braced for Micron Technology’s quarterly results due after the closing bell — the report Wall Street is treating as the make-or-break event of the week. Shortly after the open, the S&P 500 gained 0.35%, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.62%, and the Russell 2000 rose 0.41%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.17%.

The rebound came after Tuesday’s drubbing, when the S&P 500 sank 1.44% to 7,365.46 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.21% to 25,587.04, with the Dow off 45.87 points to 51,666.84.

All eyes are on one company. Micron makes the memory chips inside phones, laptops and AI data centers, and the stock has been on a tear — it hit an all-time high Monday and ended Tuesday at $1,051.77 a share. It has gained more than 300% this year. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $20.83 a share on revenue of $35.75 billion. But the run cuts both ways: Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets, warned the stock could fall after the report, while Louis Navellier, chairman of Navellier & Associates, called it the grand finale to a stunning earnings season.

The pressure started overseas. A sell-off in memory giants SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics in South Korea, both down more than 12%, dragged the benchmark Kospi to a 10% loss earlier this week. On Wednesday the Kospi recovered 3.3%, helping limit losses across Asia. Stoking caution, SK Hynix is planning a nearly $30 billion U.S. listing, one of the largest of its kind, which would add more supply to the AI memory group.

There’s a shake-up coming to the most famous gauge in the market, too. Alphabet will replace Verizon in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P Global said Tuesday, further expanding big tech’s footprint in the blue-chip average.

Market movers

The morning’s standout was a name straight off the dinner menu. Wendy’s soared about 23% in premarket trading, driven by a new CFO appointment and a wave of retail-investor “meme” enthusiasm in heavily shorted shares. The burger chain said it named former Potbelly executive Steven Cirulis as chief financial officer and chief strategy officer, and the stock jumped on heavy volume.

Among other gainers, Sunrun climbed 19.1% and Churchill Downs rose 7%.

Housing offered a bright spot. KB Home added 3% after posting fiscal second-quarter revenue of $1.11 billion, topping the $1.10 billion analysts expected, per LSEG.

On the downside, Hertz Global Holdings tumbled 22%, Silgan Holdings fell 9.5%, and Cerebras Systems lost 9.1%. Cerebras slid after its first earnings report since its May IPO, in which it forecast a decline in core gross margin.

Analysts were active. IBM posted roughly 5% gains this week after an upgrade to overweight from neutral at JPMorgan Chase, with the analyst citing greater confidence in software acceleration in the second half. On Wednesday morning, UBS reiterated a Buy rating on Bloom Energy with a $322 price target, while KeyBanc analyst Bradley Thomas kept a Sector Weight rating on Best Buy.

Commodities and volatility

Falling energy prices kept easing pressure on households. Brent crude dropped another 3% Wednesday morning, with the August contract slipping below $75 a barrel. The slide tracked progress in U.S.–Iran talks; President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future.”

Gold cracked a key line. Gold futures dipped below $4,000 for the first time in seven months, last trading around $3,987.30 — the first time under that level since Nov. 18, 2025. Silver fell 5% as the dollar strengthened.

What’s ahead Wednesday

The calendar carries reports that hit households directly. May new-home sales are due, alongside the Federal Reserve’s annual bank stress-test results, with earnings later from Micron, Paychex and Jefferies Financial. The stress-test outcome matters for savers, since banks that pass often raise their dividends.

But the day belongs to one report. As TheStreet’s James “Rev Shark” DePorre put it, the morning’s bounce sets up Micron as the most important single event of the week and arguably the next month. A strong number could steady the chip trade that has whipsawed markets for days; a weak one could reignite the rout.

JBizNews Desk | New York
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