The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, better known as SOX, cratered 10.26% on June 5, erasing over $1 trillion in market capitalization from chip stocks in a single trading session. It was the index’s worst day since March 2020, when pandemic panic was doing the damage.
SOX had surged nearly 70% year-to-date heading into June 5, riding a wave of artificial intelligence euphoria that sent semiconductor valuations into the stratosphere. Disappointing quarterly earnings, particularly from Broadcom, gave investors the excuse they’d been looking for to hit the sell button. Rising Treasury yields poured gasoline on the fire.
The carnage wasn’t contained to chips. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.18%, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.64%. But semiconductor stocks bore the brunt of the punishment by a wide margin.
The damage report
Marvell Technology led the bleeding, plunging 16.74%. Micron wasn’t far behind at 13.25%. ARM Holdings dropped 12.84%, Intel shed 11.28%, and AMD fell 10.86%.
