Closing Bell: Stocks Decline, Oil Spikes, Earnings from Palo Alto and Dell Shine

U.S. stocks tumbled on Tuesday, kicking off September with worries about geopolitical tension, spiking oil prices, and rising yields that reflect global bond market pressure.

The S&P 500 (SPX) was down 0.71%, and the Dow Jones Industrials Average ($DJI) slipped 0.79%. Tech led the losses with the Nasdaq-100 (NDX) dumping 1.29%; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down 2.1%. The small-cap Russell 2000 (RUT) fell 1.23%.

U.S. oil futures spiked 5.7% to nearly $91 per barrel Tuesday after the U.S. military launched new attacks on "Islamic revolutionary Guard Corps" targets in Iran, according to a U.S. Central Command social media post.

Global bond yields continued their high velocity rally on Tuesday, with the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rising to 4.8%, levels not seen since January 2025. Japan’s 10-year JGB yield reached its highest level since August 1996, while Germany’s benchmark yield rose to a 2011 high.

Four things to watch from Tuesday's market action:

Cybersecurity's Here to Stay, Palo Alto Networks Earnings Seem to Say

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) shares were down 5% in regular trading and were flat to lower in after-market trading despite earnings and revenue that beat expectations. The cybersecurity company's earnings per share came in at $1.02 against estimates of $0.98, while sales of $3.41 billion beat market expectations of $3.35 billion. The firm also set the bar higher for fiscal 2027. It sees revenue in the range of $14.10 billion to $14.20 billion, which also beat estimates of $13.84 billion. Palo Alto Networks announced it acquired Console, an AI-native platform which enables agentic capabilities, for an undisclosed amount of money. See Will Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Earnings Continue Cybersecurity Surge?

Dell Continues to Surge Thanks to AI Buildout

After a 237% year-to-date rally to Tuesday's close, Dell Technologies (DELL) reversed the day's losses with after-hours gains thanks to an earnings report indicating it's benefitting from the AI buildout. The legacy tech firm posted a top- and bottom-line beat, with $7.04 per share in earnings, which is well above Wall Street estimates of $4.91. Sales of $46.97 billion beat expectations of $44.95 billion, up 58% from one year prior. Dell's chief operating officer, Jeff Clarke, added that its AI server business booked $60.9 billion in orders, $16.4 billion in revenue, and recorded a $95 billion backlog — all quarterly records for the company. For more on Dell margins and the stock's valuation, see Ca$htag$: DELL Earnings Need ‘Ramp Up’ in Cloud Solutions

Shares of Duolingo (DUOL) jumped more than 7% after Evercore ISI upgraded the stock to Outperform from In Line and doubled its price target to $210 from $105.

John Ternus officially took over as CEO of Apple (AAPL), succeeding Tim Cook after a 15-year run that saw the company's market value climb to $4.6 trillion. Apple shares rose 2.6% Tuesday.

For this week's economic and earnings calendars, see Week Ahead: Big Week for Economic Data and Tech Earnings

Angrej Singh, Justin Yavorski, and Tom White contributed to this article