Big Tech stocks advanced on Wednesday, but not by enough to turn the tide on a brutal February.

A violent rotation away from tech stocks has resulted in carnage for the "Magnificent Seven" this year, with their advance on Wednesday helping to push the S&P 500 SPX back into positive territory this year to date - but only modestly.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF MAGS - an exchange-traded fund whose holdings include Apple $(AAPL)$, Microsoft $(MSFT)$, Google parent Alphabet $(GOOGL)$ $(GOOG)$, Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon.com (AMZN), Tesla $(TSLA)$ and Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META) - was down 6.7% in February through Wednesday, on pace for its worst monthly performance since last March, according to FactSet data.

This year's selloff in tech stocks had wiped out about $1.26 trillion of market value for the Magnificent Seven through Tuesday, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

A lack of leadership from Big Tech this year could hobble the S&P 500. For now, investors seem to be getting whiplash as they try to sort out the winners and losers of the artificial-intelligence boom.

"This market is what you'd call a confused sea," as investors rotate away from Big Tech in search of opportunities elsewhere in the U.S. stock market, said Jim Lebenthal, chief market strategist at Cerity Partners, in an interview Wednesday. "I think the market has overreacted. We're not, in our opinion, in a bubble situation in the buildout of AI infrastructure."

That means the recent selloff in tech has created investment opportunities, in Lebenthal's view - and on Wednesday, some investors appeared willing to buy the dip.

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF rose 0.7% Wednesday, exceeding the S&P 500's 0.6% rise, according to FactSet data.

Big Tech 'generals'

Big Tech stocks remain "the generals" of the stock market, with their heft capable of moving the needle for the S&P 500 daily, said Dave Mazza, CEO of Roundhill Investments and the portfolio manager behind the "MAGS" ETF.

Underscoring the influence of Big Tech, analysts at Piper Sandler noted in a report Tuesday that if the Magnificent Seven dropped 5%, the rest of the S&P 500 would need to gain 2.7% to stay flat.

PIPER SANDLER

On Wednesday, the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF was rebounding from recent selling pressure that saw it briefly dip below its 200-day moving average in intraday trading Tuesday. That's a key technical level that could signal more downside risks - but only if the fund closes below that level, which it hasn't done yet, Mazza noted.

The ETF is caught between a "rock and a hard place," said Mazza. But the fund's bounce on Wednesday was a favorable sign for the ETF in an otherwise rough February, he said.

FACTSET

Shares of the fund rose to $61.69 on Wednesday, remaining a bit above their 200-day moving average of $61.03, according to FactSet data. Should the ETF close below its 200-moving average in the future, selling pressure risks picking up, Mazza cautioned.

Meanwhile, investors have not had much appetite lately for the fund. They've pulled capital from the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF in February, bringing its outflows over the past month to more than $300 million, according to FactSet data through Tuesday. That's after attracting $1.3 billion over the past year.

Looking at the holdings of the ETF, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet have had the worst performances so far in February, with each down by double-digit percentages. Shares of Amazon have plunged more than 14% so far this month, while Meta and Alphabet each have slumped more than 10%, according to FactSet data, at last check.

Only Apple was up so far in February, although shares of the company remained down for the year to date.

Nvidia, which on Tuesday announced an expanded AI-infrastructure partnership with Meta, was the sole stock in the ETF that had risen in 2026 as of Wednesday afternoon - clinging to a 0.8% gain, after falling around 1.7% this month.

Next week, Nvidia will report its fourth-quarter earnings, with its results scheduled for release next Wednesday, Feb. 25, after the market's close.

Wednesday's rally in Big Tech stocks helped the S&P 500 edge back into positive territory this year to date, while its sectors finished the session mixed, according to FactSet data. The S&P 500 closed Wednesday up just 0.5% so far in 2026.

The U.S. stock market rose Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA up 0.3%, the S&P 500 advancing 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP gaining 0.8%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq bounced after sliding for five consecutive weeks - its longest losing streak since 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data.