Post-market briefing
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
What moved in a real portfolio, and why. This is an actual Holdings Daily briefing as delivered, not a summary of one. Every claim links to the article it came from, and the email is blocked from sending if it does not: how we source.
A demo portfolio of widely-held names, briefed on the real schedule. Not a subscriber's holdings.
Portfolio Snapshot
Equities
| Ticker | Price | Day % | YTD % | 52W Range Pos | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IONQ | $42.05 | +2.41% | -6.28% | 28% | ||
| NVDA | $213.05 | +2.19% | +14.24% | 68% | ||
| CRDO | $226.51 | +1.75% | +57.42% | 63% | ||
| MSFT | $491.71 | +0.90% | +1.67% | 70% | ||
| AMZN | $261.06 | -0.39% | +13.10% | 71% | ||
| AAPL | $309.90 | -0.14% | +13.99% | 71% | ||
| JPM | $356.69 | +0.08% | +10.70% | 89% |
Watchlist
| Ticker | Price | Day % | YTD % | 52W Range Pos | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRVL | $240.38 | +4.84% | +182.87% | 67% | ||
| ARM | $241.56 | +1.16% | +120.99% | 40% |
Market Overview
| Index | Price | Day % | YTD % |
|---|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 (SPY) | $765.91 | +0.32% | +12.32% |
| Nasdaq-100 (QQQ) | $710.72 | +0.62% | +15.69% |
| Dow Jones (DIA) | $535.27 | +0.30% | +11.38% |
Holdings Breakdown
IONQ closed at $42.05, up 2.41% on the session. IonQ's one-month surge has kept the company at the center of quantum computing coverage, but a Motley Fool piece published today points to FormFactor as a quieter beneficiary of the sector's growth, supplying cryogenic testing equipment to competing quantum chip developers. FormFactor posted record quarterly revenue and a strong free cash flow margin in Q2, though the article notes its recent gains are driven more by AI memory demand than quantum milestones specifically.
AAPL closed at $309.90, down 0.14% on the session. Apple today unveiled new M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips for the Mac Studio, explicitly targeting AI developers and on-device inference workloads. The launch illustrates Apple's broader posture of competing in AI through silicon and device integration rather than through the data-center capital outlays that have pressured margins at rivals.
MSFT closed at $491.71, up 0.90% on the session. Microsoft's sharp one-month surge has coincided with broader market attention on how AI software companies differ from chip makers in their exposure to cyclical demand swings, with analysts drawing contrasts between platform-layer software and semiconductor capital cycles. AI software names like Microsoft are being evaluated against chip peers on valuation and disruption risk, as investor rotation into the software layer of the AI stack has been a visible theme this summer.
NVDA closed at $213.05, up 2.19% on the session. Today's session was driven by news that NVIDIA has committed up to $105 billion in residual value guarantees backing OpenAI's data center leases in Ohio, a shift from direct equity participation to balance-sheet credit support. The guarantees are contingent, only activating upon an OpenAI lease default and terminating once OpenAI reaches a satisfactory credit rating. The move follows Jensen Huang's March signal that the prior equity round might be the last, reframing NVIDIA's OpenAI relationship around infrastructure enablement rather than ownership.
Also moved: CRDO +1.75%, AMZN -0.39%, JPM +0.08%.
Watchlist
Also moved: MRVL +4.84%, ARM +1.16%.
Bottom Line
Tuesday's session closed the portfolio in positive territory, with IONQ gaining +2.41% on company news leading the way alongside NVDA at +2.19%; AAPL's modest -0.14% dip was the lone drag, leaving the broader equity lineup in the green heading into Wednesday.
Yours would be your holdings.
This briefing covers a demo portfolio. Yours would cover the things you actually own: every position priced and sorted by the size of its move, the ones that mattered explained, every claim linked to its source.
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