AI infrastructure spending, antitrust rulings, semiconductor lawsuits, electric vehicle deliveries, and a landmark space industry deal kept retail investors engaged throughout the first week of July.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) came under legal pressure after a federal judge allowed much of a lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram’s alleged addictive design to proceed in U.S. courts.
India’s government separately raised concerns about Meta introducing usernames on WhatsApp, citing potential cybercrime risks, and on Saturday ordered the company to remove all child sexual abuse material from its platforms including Instagram.
Despite the regulatory headwinds, Meta stock rose over 3% during the holiday-shortened week, and retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained firmly bullish toward the shares.
Meta is also planning to launch an AI cloud business that would rent computing power from its data centers to business customers, adding a new revenue stream from its expanding AI infrastructure investments.
The European Union’s highest court upheld a multibillion-euro antitrust penalty against Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), while Australian regulators filed a lawsuit against Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) over changes made to its Prime Video subscription model, with both Alphabet and Amazon each gaining roughly 1% over the week.
Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) drew attention after reports indicated the company would stop employees from using Anthropic’s Claude Code starting July 10 over alleged security concerns, redirecting them instead to its in-house AI coding tool called Qoder.
Alibaba also agreed to a $600 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve allegations of illegal pharmaceutical sales through Alibaba.com, encompassing forfeitures, penalties, and compliance measures.
Alibaba stock gained 0.6% on the week, though retail sentiment around the shares remained in bearish territory on Stocktwits.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU) faced significant selling pressure after a proposed class-action lawsuit accused the company, alongside Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, of coordinating DRAM memory chip production to keep prices artificially elevated.
Micron stock slumped 14% over the week even as retail sentiment toward the shares held in bullish territory, reflecting a disconnect between near-term price action and trader conviction.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) also drew semiconductor-related attention after reports emerged that the company was seeking regulatory approval to source memory chips from Chinese manufacturer CXMT, with Apple stock recording an impressive weekly gain of 9%.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter deliveries, with the company delivering 480,126 vehicles during the quarter, representing a 25% increase from the same period a year earlier and exceeding Wall Street estimates.
The majority of Tesla deliveries consisted of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, and the company posted its best monthly performance of 2026 in China, where June sales of Shanghai-built vehicles rose 24.4% year over year to 89,091 units.
Tesla also announced that production capacity for its legacy Model S and Model X lines has been updated to manufacture Optimus humanoid robots, though the stock still fell 4% on the week despite the strong delivery figures.
In the space sector, NASA selected Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ: FLY), Intuitive Machines (NASDAQ: LUNR), and Astrobotic to support future Moon science missions under its Moon Base program, continuing the agency’s reliance on private companies for lunar payload transport.
Rocket Lab (NASDAQ: RKLB) captured significant investor interest after announcing plans to acquire Iridium Communications in an $8 billion cash-and-stock deal designed to create a fully integrated space company combining rocket launches, satellite manufacturing, and global communications.
The acquisition would allow Rocket Lab to expand into satellite internet, direct-to-device communications, and navigation services by merging its existing capabilities with Iridium’s established global satellite network.
Rocket Lab stock gained over 2% during the week, though retail sentiment shifted to neutral from a previously bullish stance, suggesting some traders are reassessing the deal’s implications for the company’s valuation.
