Chip Stocks Shed 10% as Investors Demand AI Justification
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- Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sank 10% last week — its worst weekly performance since April 2025 — as chip stocks led the broader tech rout
- Nasdaq 100 Index lost 4.1% last week while the broader S&P 500 slipped 1.6%, making information technology the worst-performing group in the S&P 500
- The AI-driven stock market rally that had pushed indexes to all-time highs just a month ago is now "clearly waning," per Bloomberg's AI takeaways
- Big Tech's biggest AI spenders face pressure to justify their expenditures to "beleaguered traders" described as having "itchy fingers hovering over their sell buttons"
Why it matters: The chip sector's 10% weekly drop — its worst since April 2025 — marks a concrete sentiment shift from the AI-fueled all-time highs of a month ago, forcing the heaviest AI capital spenders to defend their outlays to a market actively positioning for exits.
