Artificial intelligence remained the dominant force on Wall Street this week, but retail, cybersecurity and takeover speculation also produced some of the market’s biggest moves.
U.S. stocks finished the final full trading week of August with modest gains despite a weaker session on Friday. The S&P 500 gained 0.49% for the week, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.85% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.53%. Investors spent much of the week focused on corporate earnings, artificial intelligence spending and the outlook for interest rates.
Artificial intelligence remained the dominant investment theme of the week, but investors appeared increasingly selective about which companies deserved the biggest rewards. Businesses that could point to immediate revenue growth from AI products or infrastructure generally performed better than those promising benefits several years into the future. That distinction is becoming more important as spending on data centers, chips, software and cybersecurity continues to rise and Wall Street looks for evidence that those enormous investments can translate into sustainable profits.
Friday brought some caution back into the market after Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized that the central bank remained focused on bringing inflation back toward its 2% target. The S&P 500 fell 0.25% Friday, while the Nasdaq declined 0.52% and the Dow slipped 0.02%. Expectations surrounding a possible September interest-rate increase remained an important factor for stocks heading into the Labor Day period.
Individual companies, however, produced far more dramatic moves.
Nvidia Keeps the AI Boom Going
Nvidia once again became one of the biggest stories on Wall Street after delivering results and forecasts that suggested demand for artificial intelligence computing remains exceptionally strong.
Nvidia remained at the center of the AI trade as strong demand for advanced computing hardware reinforced its position as one of the most important companies supplying the artificial intelligence industry. Its latest results suggested that spending by cloud providers, technology companies and AI developers remains exceptionally strong. Nvidia’s performance also continued to influence the broader semiconductor sector because investors often treat its results as a measure of the health of the entire AI infrastructure market.
The company said second-quarter revenue more than doubled from a year earlier to $96.22 billion. Its data-center business generated $89 billion in revenue, also more than double the previous year’s level.
Perhaps the most striking announcement was Nvidia’s forecast that revenue could grow approximately 70% during its next fiscal year. Wall Street analysts had previously been expecting growth closer to 44%.
Nvidia also forecast third-quarter revenue of approximately $108 billion, compared with an analyst consensus of about $104.2 billion. Shares initially dipped following the report before reversing course and rising nearly 5% in extended trading.
The numbers reinforced the idea that spending on AI infrastructure by large technology companies, cloud providers, governments and AI laboratories has not yet peaked.
Nvidia also said it plans to work with Amazon Web Services to deploy another 2 million Nvidia graphics processors across Amazon’s global infrastructure during 2027 and 2028.
Salesforce Jumps on AI Growth and Anthropic Partnership
Salesforce produced one of the week’s largest moves among major software companies.
Shares climbed about 14% in extended trading Wednesday after Salesforce increased its annual revenue and profit forecasts and announced an expanded partnership with Anthropic.
The companies introduced “Claudeforce,” which combines Salesforce products with Anthropic’s Claude AI models.
Salesforce offered evidence that established enterprise software companies may be able to turn artificial intelligence into an additional source of growth rather than simply face disruption from it. Its expanding AI products and partnerships are increasingly being integrated into tools already used by corporate customers. Investors responded positively because Salesforce is attempting to combine its enormous installed customer base with AI services that can automate sales, customer service and other business functions.
Salesforce reported quarterly revenue of $11.35 billion, an increase of 11% from a year earlier. The company now expects fiscal 2027 revenue of between $46.1 billion and $46.4 billion, slightly higher than its previous forecast.
Salesforce said momentum from Agentforce, Data 360 and Slack contributed to the improved outlook.
The response was significant because investors have spent much of 2026 debating whether artificial intelligence will strengthen established software companies or eventually replace parts of their businesses. Salesforce’s results provided evidence that AI could instead become an important new source of revenue for major enterprise software providers.
CrowdStrike Climbs More Than 10%
Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike also delivered strong results.
CrowdStrike shares rose more than 10% in extended trading after the company beat second-quarter earnings estimates and increased its annual revenue forecast.
Quarterly revenue reached $1.47 billion, exceeding analysts’ average estimate of $1.44 billion. Annual recurring revenue increased 25% from a year earlier to $5.84 billion. CrowdStrike also raised its full-year revenue forecast to between $5.991 billion and $6.01 billion.
CrowdStrike stood out as cybersecurity remained one of the areas where artificial intelligence could increase both opportunities and risks. Companies are using AI to improve threat detection and automate security operations, but attackers can also use increasingly capable AI tools to identify vulnerabilities and conduct more sophisticated attacks. That dynamic could keep cybersecurity spending elevated as businesses look for stronger protection against rapidly evolving digital threats.
Artificial intelligence is creating an unusual situation for cybersecurity companies. AI can improve security products, but increasingly capable AI systems can also be used to discover vulnerabilities and automate cyberattacks.
That could make cybersecurity one of the industries that benefits from AI investment even as other software sectors worry about disruption.
Gap Becomes One of Friday’s Biggest Winners
Not all of the week’s biggest moves involved artificial intelligence.
Gap shares surged as much as 24.1% Friday, reaching a four-month high after the retailer raised its profit outlook and appointed Michael Francis as CEO of Old Navy. Shares were still up approximately 15% during Friday trading when Reuters reported on the move.
Old Navy is Gap’s largest brand, but it has struggled in several women’s apparel categories.
Gap demonstrated that technology was not the only area capable of producing major market moves. Investors responded strongly to signs that the retailer’s turnaround strategy may be gaining traction and to management changes intended to improve performance at Old Navy. The reaction showed that traditional retailers can still attract significant investor attention when improving operations, stronger earnings expectations and leadership changes occur at the same time.
Francis joined Gap earlier this year and has decades of retail and marketing experience, including previous positions at Target and Walmart.
Investors appear to be betting that new leadership can accelerate Gap’s broader turnaround and improve performance at Old Navy.
The rally stood out during a week dominated by technology stocks because it demonstrated that traditional retailers can still produce some of Wall Street’s biggest moves when earnings expectations and management strategy change suddenly.
PayPal Plunges as Takeover Hopes Fade
PayPal moved sharply in the opposite direction Friday.
Shares fell about 12% following reports that a consortium involving private equity firm Advent International and payment company Stripe had abandoned a potential acquisition of PayPal.
The proposed transaction reportedly valued PayPal at approximately $53 billion, or $60.50 per share. Negotiations were said to have broken down over valuation disagreements and potential regulatory concerns.
PayPal faced a much different reaction as optimism surrounding a possible takeover faded. The decline illustrated how quickly a stock can lose momentum when investors have begun assigning value to an acquisition that ultimately fails to materialize. Beyond takeover speculation, PayPal continues to compete in a rapidly changing payments industry where consumers and merchants have an expanding number of digital payment options.
PayPal has been working through a broader turnaround while facing increasing competition from services including Apple Pay and Shop Pay.
The Friday selloff illustrates one of the risks surrounding stocks that rise partly on takeover speculation. Once investors begin pricing a possible acquisition into a company’s shares, the disappearance of a deal can remove that premium very quickly.
Marvell Falls Despite Strong AI Business
Marvell Technology provided another important lesson for investors this week: strong results are not always enough when expectations are extremely high.
Shares fell more than 8% Friday even though the semiconductor company reported solid results and increased its longer-term revenue forecasts.
The problem was largely related to expectations surrounding Marvell’s new custom AI-chip agreement with Google.
Marvell Technology showed how difficult it can be for an AI-related company to satisfy Wall Street when expectations have already risen dramatically. Investors remain optimistic about the company’s potential role in custom AI chips and data-center infrastructure, but they also want those opportunities to translate into revenue quickly. When significant benefits appear several years away, even strong growth forecasts may not be enough to support an already elevated valuation.
Investors had hoped the deal would produce a more immediate boost to Marvell’s forecasts. Instead, CEO Matt Murphy indicated that Google’s contribution would become substantially more important during fiscal 2029.
Marvell expects revenue to grow approximately 45% during fiscal 2027 and reach around $18 billion in fiscal 2028. Despite that growth, investors were looking for more after Marvell’s stock had nearly tripled during 2026.
The reaction shows how demanding the market has become toward companies associated with artificial intelligence. Nvidia can still surprise investors with enormous growth projections, but companies whose valuations already assume years of rapid AI growth have less room for disappointment.
Alibaba Raises Billions for AI
Alibaba also attracted attention this week after announcing a $10.2 billion share placement to help finance additional artificial intelligence investment.
The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares fell sharply after the announcement because the newly issued shares were offered at a discount, creating dilution for existing investors.
Alibaba’s decision to raise substantial new capital for artificial intelligence investment highlighted the enormous financial commitment being made by technology companies around the world. The strategy could strengthen Alibaba’s position in cloud computing and AI over the long term, but issuing additional shares can dilute existing shareholders and create short-term pressure on the stock. The move illustrates the balancing act facing technology companies that want to invest aggressively in AI while also convincing investors that those investments will eventually generate attractive returns.
The move nevertheless demonstrated how much capital major technology companies are willing to commit to AI infrastructure.
AI Remains Wall Street’s Biggest Theme
The clearest theme from this week’s standout stocks was the continuing influence of artificial intelligence.
Nvidia’s results strengthened the argument that global AI infrastructure spending still has considerable room to grow. Salesforce and CrowdStrike showed that enterprise software and cybersecurity companies can also benefit from AI adoption.
Marvell demonstrated the other side of the trade. When a stock has already risen dramatically on expectations of future AI revenue, even solid earnings may disappoint investors if the next wave of growth appears farther away than expected.
Outside technology, Gap’s surge showed investors remain willing to reward traditional companies when management changes and earnings forecasts improve. PayPal showed how quickly expectations can reverse when a potential acquisition disappears.
As September begins, investors will continue watching corporate earnings, employment figures, inflation and Federal Reserve policy. But the week’s biggest individual stock moves suggest that company-specific developments — particularly those involving artificial intelligence — remain powerful enough to overshadow broader market movements.