Tech-heavy index is on a tear
After a long wait, tech stock investors have plenty to cheer about.
It took a whopping 167 days, but the Nasdaq-100 index last week surpassed its previous closing high from back in October 2025 while also racking up its longest daily positive streak since 1992.
That’s welcome news given that the Nasdaq-100 traded mostly sideways over the past five-and-a-half months. The 12.1% peak-to-trough decline since October may have been smaller than most of the index’s recent maximum drawdowns, but it was also one of the longest slumps for tech stocks since 2019 (see the chart).
Nasdaq-100 Drawdowns Over 10%
Bloomberg, calculations by Horizon, data as of 04/17/2026.
Like the overall market, the Nasdaq-100 is benefitting from signs that the Iran war may be nearing an end. But it’s also boosted by continued strong performance from many semiconductor companies and the view among some investors that software stocks may be attractive after selling off for much of the year.
As fighting in the Middle East transitions to diplomacy, investors can once again focus on tech companies’ underlying fundamentals—the main driver of growth for these stocks. Currently, investors are expecting an average earnings growth rate of 41% for the Nasdaq-100 over the next 12 months.
We’ll see whether the tech sector appears to be on track to deliver on such robust growth expectations starting next week, when five of the Magnificent Seven tech companies report their first-quarter earnings and offer insights about the road ahead.