- Battered chip stocks rebounded on Thursday following strong earnings from Microsoft and Lam Research.
- Memory stocks Micron and Sandisk jumped as Samsung warned of a memory crunch into 2028.
- Chip stocks have been a major beneficiary of the AI data center and infrastructure buildout.
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Chip stocks rocketed on Thursday after strong tech earnings from Microsoft and Lam Research sparked a widespread rally, fueling double-digit gains for hard-hit semiconductor companies
Lam Research shares popped 18% and headed for their best day since 1999. The company posted strong earnings and guidance on artificial intelligence-driven demand. Microsoft popped 15% after signaling strong growth in its Azure business and lifting capital expenditures on robust demand. Shares headed for their best day since 2008
Memory stocks also surged as Samsung warned the memory crunch could last into 2028. Micron and Sandisk rallied 18% and 26%, respectively. The stocks sold off in recent sessions on underwhelming results from South Korea’s SK Hynix
Chip stocks have been one of the largest beneficiaries of the AI boom as companies invest in memory and central processing units to fuel the infrastructure buildout
However, concerns that the spending frenzy is nearing its peak led to a selloff in recent sessions, and a more than $1 trillion wipeout in market value earlier this week
Elsewhere, Arm Holdings gained 7% on strong demand for its first in-house chip, known as AGI CPU, as it looks to compete on physical silicon with technology giants. CEO Rene Haas said that demand for the product has surpassed $2 billion across fiscal 2027 and 2028
“The demand for the product is great, and more importantly, I think it underpins the fact that the market for CPUs, for agentic workloads and around inference is just key, and we’re just seeing that grow,” he told CNBC on Thursday
The iShares Semiconductor ETF popped 8%. Applied Materials and Advanced Micro Devices surged 15% and 13%, respectively, while Intel jumped 11%. Marvell Technology gained 13% and Nvidia rose nearly 3%
