Market Update: NVDA, TSLA, PLTR Shed AI Gains as Investors Pile Into Defensive Stocks

Published: April 4, 2025 by Omor IE

Key Points

Stocks are sliding down substantially and extending their losses.
The Nasdaq has almost wiped out its 2024 gains, and many indexes have entered a bear market.
This is a broad-based decline, but AI stocks and tariff-prone companies have been hit hard.

The stock market is shedding earlier gains, and AI darlings have been among the hardest hit. Tariff-prone companies have been obvious losers of this trade war, but the broader market is falling significantly due to the scale of the tariffs announced yesterday.

Not only that, China’s retaliatory measures included export restrictions alongside tariffs. China dominates rare earth materials that are needed for high-tech manufacturing, and this is going to string tech companies in the long run if it is not reversed. The Nasdaq Composite has fallen below its 2021 peak levels and seems to be eviscerating all of its 2024 gains. Growth and tech investors are running for the exit and have been piling into more defensive picks.

Here’s a market update as of 11:00 A.M (ET) today.

The S&P 500 is down 223.22 points, or 4.14%.
The Nasdaq Composite is down 766.7 points, or 4.63%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1,409.93 points, or 3.48%.

Wall Street Sours on Market Darlings

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is down 7.9%. The stock has cratered below $100.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) is down almost 10% due to China’s retaliatory tariffs and rumors of Elon Musk no longer being involved with the government.
Palantir (NASDAQ: PLTR) is down 12.2%. The company has had explosive gains in the past few years and reached triple-digit valuations not seen since the dot-com era. It is now in freefall.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is down 5.23%. The company sells a lot in China, but investors fear it will see a decline in sales in China and other countries post-tarifs.
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) is down 7% due to fears surrounding the banking sector.

Notable Losers Today

Tariff-prone stocks are the biggest losers today.

New Fortress Energy (NASDAQ: NFE) is down 22.6% due to tariff-related market fears.
Sandisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is down 19.6%. Again, due to trade tensions.
Golden Ocean Group (NASDAQ: GOGL) is down 17%. This is a shipping company, so investors are worried that a decrease in shipping volume is inevitable with these tariffs.
Civitas Resources (NYSE: CIVI) is down 17% due to recession risks driving energy prices lower.
NuScale Power (NYSE: SMR) is down 16% as Wall Street sours on AI-related bets.

Notable Gainers Today

Much like yesterday, there are very few big-name gainers today. Many defensive stocks have gained moderately due to buying pressure from investors rotating gains from growth stocks into these “safer” picks. Apart from that, here are the stocks that have gained considerably:

Regencell Bioscience (NASDAQ: RGC) is up 26% as it is recovering from a 60% selloff in late March.
PAMT Corp (NASDAQ: PAMT) is up 23% as its new Dutch auction buyback offers shareholders a big premium.
USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ: USAR) is up 22%. China imposed restrictions on rare earth exports to the U.S., so domestic rare earth companies seeing a bump is a natural consequence of that.
Alumis (NASDAQ: ALMS) is up 15%, as insider buying has caused shareholder optimism. This is a biotech company.
Critical Metals (NASDAQ: CRML) is up 12% for reasons similar to USAR’s.