$3.7T Chip Rout Intensifies as Intel Leads Decline

Semiconductor stocks plummeted Monday despite the broader market recovering. The chip sector shed more than $400 billion in a single session, extending cumulative losses to $3.7 trillion since October 6. Intel led the decline, sliding another 9% after its worst day since 1974 on October 30, when a disappointing forecast cut nearly 29% from the stock. Intel now trades below half its September value. Major memory and storage vendors—Micron, Seagate, Western Digital, and SanDisk—each dropped 6% to 8%, while Marvell fell more sharply amid a $115 billion acquisition agreement for Lumentum.

Weakness spread across the semiconductor complex. Nvidia declined roughly 16% since October 6 despite outperforming most peers. Cybersecurity stocks including Fortinet and CrowdStrike fell with the sector, while SpaceX bucked the trend and broader software stocks showed mixed results.

Market analysts offered conflicting views. Adam Johnson of the Bullseye Brief contended the sell-off already priced in the worst outcomes. John Chambers, Cisco’s former CEO, predicted further divergence with “major train wrecks” ahead and expressed confidence in Nvidia. Historically, chip stocks have climbed in all eight midterm cycles since 1994 from the October close through the following June, though they fell approximately 11% initially in both 2002 and 2018.