A Reckoning for the Magnificent Seven Tests the Market

Even After a Rally This Past Week, the Magnificent Seven Are Off to Their Worst Start to a Year Since the 2022 Slide

- Krystal Hur

The Magnificent Seven drove the stock market's bull run. Now, their bruising losses pose a new test for markets.

For the past two years, the group of megastze tech companies—Alphabet, Amazon.com, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla—helped fuel a gangbusters rally that lifted stocks out of the 2022 bear market and toward dozens of all-time highs.

Investors powered their shares to eye-popping levels, heralding them for their fortresslike balance sheets and their lead in the artificial intelligence race.

Now, even after a rally this past week, the Magnificent Seven are off to their worst start to a year since the 2022 slide, according to Dow Jones Market Data. Each stock has fallen more than 6.5%, and they have collectively lost $2.5 trillion in market value.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven exchange-traded fund just posted its best four-day run ever, notching a 13% climb—that still left it down about 15% this year.

The stumble comes after the emergence of DeepSeek's AI model in January dented confidence in U.S. tech companies' AI leadership.

President Trump's global trade war has threatened the so-called "American exceptionalism" trade, which was rooted in strong U.S. growth prospects and cutting-edge technological advancements.

And some members of the group face their own challenges that are weighing on shares as well.

"From Magnificent to Maleficent, it's just become a massive challenge," said Matt Orton, head of market strategy at Raymond James Investment Management, referencing the villain in the "Sleeping Beauty" fairy tale.