Key Highlights

● Intuit closed at $354.90 on October 22 as software stocks rebounded.

● The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had its biggest one-day drop since June 23.

● Intuit makes TurboTax, QuickBooks, Credit Karma and Mailchimp.

● Initial jobless claims fell to 194,000, the fewest in about three months.

Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) jumped on Thursday, October 22, 2026, closing at $354.90 and ranking among the stronger gainers in the S&P 500 as a rebound in software stocks offered a rare bright spot on a day when chipmakers crumbled.

There was no company-specific news to explain the move. Intuit rose as part of a broad rotation within technology, away from AI hardware and semiconductor names and toward software companies that had been beaten down.

Chips crumbled

The contrast with the chip sector could hardly have been sharper. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index had its biggest one-day drop since June 23, after Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) warned that supply constraints would cap its growth. Lam tumbled, and fellow chip-equipment makers KLA (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) sank. Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell to close at $212.21 and was one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500, according to market reports.

The trigger for the selloff was a combination of heavy AI spending plans from Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), which showed negative free cash flow for the quarter, Lam's guidance and comments from Nvidia's chief executive on the financing of AI. In the words of Nvidia's chief executive, "The demand of the capital is much greater than the availability of the capital."

The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 694 points to 26,008.86, its steepest drop since June 5. The index lost about $1 trillion in market value. The S&P 500 fell 93.74 points to 7,663.43, its worst session since July.

Software rebounded

Software, however, found buyers. Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) surged, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) rose and application names such as HubSpot (NYSE:HUBS), monday.com (NASDAQ:MNDY) and Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) gained. Cybersecurity stocks including CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD), Okta (NASDAQ:OKTA), Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) and Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS) also climbed.

The shift reflected investors' search for parts of technology less exposed to the capital-spending debate. Software companies sell subscriptions and services to customers rather than pouring billions into data centers, which can make their earnings look steadier when AI infrastructure costs are under scrutiny.

What Intuit does

Intuit makes financial software for consumers and small businesses. Its products include TurboTax for tax preparation, QuickBooks accounting software, Credit Karma for personal finance and Mailchimp for email marketing. Much of its revenue comes from subscriptions and recurring fees, and the business is heavily focused on small businesses and individual taxpayers.

Intuit took part in Thursday's rebound alongside other software names, with no news of its own.

A broader rotation

Beyond technology, the market was broadly positive. About two of every three S&P 500 stocks rose, according to market reports, and the equal-weight S&P 500 gained. Consumer staples had their best day since April 2025 and hit a record, while health care also reached a record.

Treasuries rallied, with the 10-year yield falling back below a closely watched threshold for the first time since September 22, a backdrop that can support companies valued on future earnings. Initial jobless claims fell to 194,000, the fewest in about three months, a sign that the labor market remains firm.

Intuit's Small-Business Signals Take Over

Whether the software rebound lasts will depend partly on next week's big-tech reports: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) are due on October 28, the same day as the Federal Reserve's rate decision. Those results will show whether businesses are still spending on software. For Intuit, investors will be watching for signs of small-business health in economic data, including Friday's S&P Global purchasing managers' indexes.