By George Glover

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

That seems to be the main takeaway for investors early on Tuesday, as some of the best-performing stocks of 2026 cratered amid worries about a long and drawn-out conflict in the Middle East.

Flash-memory supplier Sandisk slumped 7.9% and memory-chip maker Micron Technology tumbled 6.4% ahead of the opening bell. As of Monday's close, they were up 161% and 45% respectively this year, rallying as the artificial-intelligence boom drives up memory demand.

Glass products maker Corning, semiconductor materials provider Qnity Electronics, hard disk-drive maker Western Digital, and test systems manufacturer Teradyne were also tanking in Tuesday's premarket. As of Monday's close, all four stocks were up by more than 50% for the year.

Wall Street was dumping its favorite tech names, or at least the ones that have run up the most this year, as the Middle East conflict escalated on its fourth day.

Israel struck targets in Tehran and Beirut, while Iran carried on firing at Israel and the Gulf states.

President Donald Trump appeared to hint at a prolonged conflict late Monday. He said in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. had "a virtually unlimited supply" of weapons. "Wars can be fought 'forever,' and very successfully, using just these supplies," the president added.

Futures tracking the S&P 500 fell 1.4% on Tuesday, while the VIX volatility index spiked by just under 5 points to hit its highest level since November.

All of that boded badly for high-flying names like Sandisk and Micron, as some of 2026's biggest winners became this selloff's big losers.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2026 07:41 ET (12:41 GMT)

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