Chip Rout Deepens: Micron Drops 9%, Samsung 13% — SkimNews
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- PHLX Semiconductor Index (^SOX) fell more than 5% on Tuesday, with Micron (MU) dropping 9.03%, SK Hynix (SKHY) falling 7.18%, and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) plunging 13.39%, while Sandisk also slid more than 5%.
- AI chip heavyweights declined broadly: Nvidia (NVDA) fell roughly 1% after a 5% Monday loss, AMD (AMD) dropped more than 8%, and Broadcom, Intel, Marvell, and Qualcomm all slid as the sell-off spread across the sector.
- Nvidia lost its position as the world's most valuable company to Apple after reports surfaced that it would backstop $250 billion in OpenAI funding tied to a major data center project, coming on the heels of Friday's $500 billion strategic collaboration with SK Group.
- Chip equipment makers ASML (-4.73%), Applied Materials, and Lam Research fell after a report from The Information said a Chinese state-backed company began mass-producing a key piece of chipmaking equipment, intensifying fears of Chinese competition.
- China's CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies) surged 470% in its Shanghai IPO debut on July 27, 2026, briefly surpassing megabank ICBC as mainland China's most valuable company and renewing investor concerns that its rapid expansion will pressure memory chip prices.
- Semiconductor stocks have now tumbled into bear-market territory, falling more than 20% from their June record highs as investors grow skeptical about whether billions of dollars in hyperscaler AI infrastructure spending will generate adequate returns.
Why it matters: Chip stocks have fallen more than 20% from June highs into bear-market territory, with Nvidia losing its title as the world's most valuable company to Apple. The sell-off is testing investor faith in massive AI infrastructure commitments — Nvidia's $250 billion OpenAI backstop and $500 billion SK Group collaboration — while CXMT's 470% IPO surge briefly made the Chinese state-backed memory maker China's most valuable company, signaling deepening price pressure from Chinese capacity.
Ask SkimNews
