Micron above $1T, SpaceX-Tesla merger talk electrify markets, but Dow misses out on 130th birthday bonus

Tuesday marked the 130th anniversary of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but the milestone day didn’t end well for the index – it was down 118 points (-0.23%) at the closing bell.

Meanwhile, the S&P surged 0.61% to a record close of 7,519.12. But it was the Nasdaq’s day for celebration, closing up 1.19%, driven by a continuation of a broad semiconductor rally with Idaho’s Micron Technology crossing a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time.

Pushing the DJIA’s anniversary further down the agenda for market chatter was renewed speculation around a potential merger between Elon Musk's two largest enterprises ahead of SpaceX's imminent public debut.

Micron shares surged roughly 20%, putting it on track to overtake Walmart as the 11th-largest US company by market value. The move was ignited by a significant upgrade from UBS, which tripled its price target on the stock from $535 to $1,625 a share, citing the emergence of long-term agreements with partially fixed pricing as a structural shift in how memory is sold into the AI supply chain.

SpaceX-Tesla?

Meanwhile, with SpaceX poised to begin trading on the Nasdaq in just over two weeks, after obtaining a private market valuation of $1.25 trillion, people familiar with internal discussions say Musk has talked with colleagues about the possibility of combining the two companies. Tesla has a $1.6 trillion market cap.

A current Tesla employee said many colleagues have long anticipated such a transaction and that it is openly discussed inside the company.

"Tesla has to run powerful AI systems inside a moving vehicle with tight limits on power, cooling, latency, reliability and cost," said Tomasz Tunguz, a venture capitalist at Theory Ventures and former engineer told CNBC. "SpaceX has to think about compute in orbit, where radiation, thermal cycling, launch mass, power generation and heat rejection all become existential design constraints."

Any combination of SpaceX and Tesla would likely face significant regulatory hurdles.

Dow celebrates

Despite its weaker close Tuesday, the final words in this article should go to the DJIA.

The Dow launched on May 26, 1896, with an initial reading of 40.94 and a roster of 12 industrial companies and has since evolved into a benchmark of 30 leading corporations spanning technology, healthcare, financials, energy and consumer discretionary.

The 130-year milestone comes just months after the index closed above 50,000 for the first time on February 6, 2026.

"The Dow is iconic because it represents far more than the stock market — it reflects the strength, resilience, and ingenuity of American business," said Cathy Clay, CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices. "For 130 years, it has served as a trusted barometer of markets leadership and an enduring symbol of progress for investors around the world."