Stocks Have Their Best Quarter in 6 Years & ‘Supergirl’ is a Super Flop

The stock market just wrapped up its best quarter in six years, but the rally is narrower than it looks. AI has split the market in half, with semiconductor and memory stocks lapping the broader indexes while the Magnificent Seven stumble. Meanwhile, DC’s big bet on Supergirl flopped hard, a new study suggests AI adopters are hiring humans faster than their peers, and streaming services are about to face a new California law that could change how loud those ads get.

The Market’s First Half: AI’s Picks and Shovels Win

The first half of 2026 was a barnburner for stocks. The Nasdaq finished up 21% in the second quarter, its best since Q2 2020. The S&P 500 and Dow followed close behind, up 15% and 13% respectively. But the headline masks a dramatic rotation. For years, the Magnificent Seven—Microsoft, Google, Apple, Amazon, and Nvidia—powered the market. That has reversed. In the last month alone, Microsoft fell 20%, Nvidia 13%, and Apple and Amazon 8%. Instead, Wall Street is rewarding the companies selling the picks and shovels to the AI buildout. A key semiconductor index surged 81% in the quarter. Memory-focused names like Micron and Sandisk rose over 300% and 760% respectively. The top performing stocks of 2026 so far are almost all in the data center supply chain: Sandisk up 857%, Micron up 303%, Intel up 278%, Western Digital up 271%.