The physical-layer robotics chokepoints cratered in the second-day chip rout (Teradyne −13.6%, Allegro −12.2%, Allient −11.9%), while simulation-software name PTC (+4.0%) held as capital rotated to the "brains."

PTC (PTC) led the robot basket, up 4.0% to $124.55 — a rotation win, not a catalyst. PTC anchors the simulation-and-design-software chokepoint (CAD, PLM and digital twins), the layer where robots and factory lines are engineered before any metal is cut. On a session when a weak June payrolls print (+57k) pushed money out of high-beta hardware and toward steadier software and defensive names — carrying the Dow to a record — the "brains" of the automation stack outperformed the "bearings." PTC reports fiscal Q3 on July 29.

The laggard was Teradyne (TER), down 13.6% to $369.09, the basket's worst, as the automated-test-equipment chokepoint sat squarely in the semiconductor selloff (the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 6.7%). Teradyne is a platforms-and-integrators linchpin — the ATE every chip destined for a robot must pass through, plus its Universal Robots cobot arm — and it fell with the chip complex on profit-taking after Q2's run, not on company news. The physical sensing and actuation chokepoints went with it: Allegro (ALGM) −12.2% on magnetic position sensing, Allient (ALNT) −11.9% on motors and actuators, and edge-AI vision name Ambarella (AMBA) −11.3%.

The pain was broad across the hardware layer. Tesla (TSLA) −7.5%, whose Optimus program straddles the actuator and sensing chokepoints; EnerSys (ENS) −6.3% on the batteries-and-power node; Yaskawa's US line (YASKY) −5.3%; Symbotic (SYM) −4.9%; Cognex (CGNX) −4.9% on machine vision; Regal Rexnord (RRX) −4.8%; and simulation peer Synopsys (SNPS) −3.8%. The precision-gear chokepoint was the exception, decoupling overseas: Harmonic Drive and Nidec both rose in their own Tokyo sessions — Harmonic Drive up 8.7% Friday — as the strain-wave-reducer bottleneck shrugged off the US tape. Hyundai's Seoul line (005380.KS) added 2.1%.

Earnings dominate the near calendar: Teradyne on July 28, PTC July 29, Tesla's Q2 on July 22 with fresh Optimus commentary, Allegro July 30, Cognex August 5, and Symbotic August 6. Further out, Tesla's Optimus V3 reveal and Fremont production start are targeted for late summer, and NVIDIA's fiscal-Q2 print on August 26 will frame the humanoid-compute roadmap.