The semiconductor trade that powered markets for the better part of two years just hit a wall. On June 23, the Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 2.2% while the S&P 500 dropped 1.4% to approximately 7,364, as investors staged a broad retreat from chip stocks amid mounting anxiety over the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending.
The chip wreck
Nvidia, the poster child of the AI boom, saw its shares slide more than 4%. Intel, AMD, and Marvell Technology all suffered losses exceeding 5.8%, dragging the broader semiconductor sector into a significant decline.
The catalyst was a collective realization that hyperscalers, the Microsofts, Googles, and Amazons of the world, have been piling on debt to fund AI infrastructure at a pace that may not be matched by revenue on the other side.
Earlier in June, Broadcom’s Q3 AI revenue guidance came in at $16 billion, undershooting the $17.2 billion analysts had expected. That miss alone triggered a staggering $1.3 trillion wipeout in semiconductor market value in a single trading session. The June 23 selloff was, in many ways, the aftershock of that earthquake.
