Chip Stocks Plunge: Worst Drop Since April 2025

The semiconductor market endured its most severe downturn since April 2025 on Friday, with the sector's value plummeting by an estimated $1.4 trillion. This significant sell-off heavily impacted major industry players. Nvidia alone saw nearly $330 billion in market capitalization vanish, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Broadcom, and Micron each experienced losses exceeding $100 billion. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recorded a substantial 10.3% decrease, its worst performance since the aftermath of Liberation Day in April 2025. Similarly, the iShares Semiconductor ETF tracked this sharp decline. The broader State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF also suffered its worst day in recent memory. This concentrated sell-off appears to be an unwind of the market's most prominent AI trade, rather than a widespread market collapse, as evidenced by the more moderate decline in the S&P 500 compared to the Nasdaq 100. International markets also felt the pressure, with the iShares MSCI South Korea ETF falling 14.1%, reflecting stress in the memory and AI supply chain, particularly impacting Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.