Micron’s monster earnings from Wednesday couldn’t stop a broader tech sell-off Thursday. Apple cratered roughly 6% after raising prices on MacBooks and iPads by $100 to $300 per device, citing surging memory and storage costs (directly related to Micron’s insane revenue), wiping nearly $200 billion off its market value.

The divergence tells you where the power sits. Micron's record margins signal that memory suppliers have pricing leverage again, and customers are paying up in a supply-constrained environment. That's great for chipmakers. It's harder for the companies writing the checks. Apple's price hikes show the AI buildout's cost side is moving from internal spreadsheets to consumer product pages, and that puts pressure on demand assumptions across the entire tech hardware stack.

So on this Thursday, we're looking at why Micron's blowout quarter couldn't save the Magnificent Seven from hitting a two-month low, what Thursday's PCE inflation print means for the Fed's next move, and how Apple's predicament reflects broader margin pressure for hyperscalers caught between AI spending and rising input costs.

Today:

📰 Micron hits record margins but Apple's price hikes reveal the cost of AI infrastructure
🏘️ Housing affordability bill heads to President Trump's desk after chaotic day in Washington
📊 PCE inflation heated up in May, keeping rate hike debate alive
🤖 AI tech news: Anthropic's Claude gains on ChatGPT, Netris raises $15M from a16z
💼 Market movers: Michelin closing Alabama plant, Amazon pouring $13B into India

Let's get into it.

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Micron posted record earnings Wednesday with an 84.9% gross margin, the kind of number that makes investors check the ticker twice. The memory chipmaker beat on revenue, raised guidance, and expects margins to climb even higher to 86% next quarter. For a sector known for violent boom-bust cycles, those numbers signal one thing: suppliers have pricing power again, and they're using it.

Apple is on the other side of that equation. The company raised prices on MacBooks and iPads by $100 to $300 per device on Thursday, citing surging memory and storage costs. iPhone prices were left untouched for now. The stock cratered more than 6%, erasing nearly $200 billion in market value, while Micron added over $100 billion even after giving back part of its early surge.

The cost pressure isn't going away. Micron's record margins tell you that customers, Apple included, are still paying up for chips in a supply-constrained environment. Apple's price hikes show the AI buildout's cost side is moving from internal spreadsheets to consumer product pages, and that puts pressure on demand assumptions across the entire tech hardware stack.

The Magnificent Seven are down about 2% Thursday, hitting a two-month low after already shedding trillions in market value over the past month. Micron's earnings didn't create Apple's problem, they just made it harder to ignore. Memory pricing is sticky, AI infrastructure spend is real, and someone has to pay for it. Right now, that someone is Apple, and the market is repricing accordingly.

US stocks were mixed on Thursday as Micron's blowout earnings couldn't stop a broader tech sell-off, while fresh inflation data showed prices heating up again in May.

Qualcomm jumped about 7% after announcing a move beyond smartphones into data center products like chips and servers. The company set a target of $15 billion in new revenue from the AI boom.

The latest PCE inflation reading showed prices heated up again in May. Core inflation as measured by the Fed's preferred benchmark stood at 3.4%, its highest since October 2023. Price increases were fairly evenly distributed, with goods rising 0.4% and services up 0.5%. Energy jumped 6.5%, while transportation services accelerated 0.8%, both sensitive to lingering effects from the Iran war.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said inflation is still trending the wrong way though there have been a few bright spots. In a live CNBC interview, Goolsbee declined to speculate on where interest rates are headed but said the problem is clearly on the inflation side rather than the job market side. Markets are now pricing in a 50% chance of a rate hike by October, and about a 30% chance at the Fed's July meeting.

New York Fed President John Williams struck a more optimistic tone, saying he expects inflation readings to start trending lower. Williams cited three reasons: the waning impact from tariffs, hopes that the Iran war is nearing an end so energy prices will ease, and the expectation that shelter inflation will slow as rent increases moderate. He projects inflation will drop to 3.5% this year from its current 4.1% and continue on a glide path back to the Fed's 2% target by 2028.

Oil prices hovered near levels not seen since the Iran war as supply flowed back out through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude futures rose slightly to $75 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures were at around $71.

A sweeping housing affordability bill is headed for President Trump's desk after House Speaker Mike Johnson salvaged the bipartisan legislation following a chaotic day in the capital. President Trump had abruptly canceled plans to sign the measure on Wednesday, declaring it "of minor importance" as he held it hostage in an effort to pass a controversial voting bill. After meeting with Johnson on Thursday, the speaker said they're transmitting the housing bill to the White House and are now "exactly on the same page." The legislation passed 358-32 in the House and 85-5 in the Senate.

The US awarded $250 million to I-Pulse for semiconductor and geothermal technology development, according to Bloomberg, marking another major government investment in domestic chip manufacturing.

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