Even with the NASDAQ 100 up slightly on the day, chip stocks remain under pressure Wednesday morning and afternoon. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC | INTC Price Prediction) stock is down 4% to $93.12 in midday trading, and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) stock is falling 4% to $465. Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) stock is dropping 5% to $361.73, while NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock is unchanged at $219.54.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) is slipping 1.22% to $562.59 as sector-specific selling overwhelms a broader tape that turned green. So, what’s going on here?
Why the Sector Is Selling Into Bond Yield Relief
The Treasury Department said it would increase buybacks of long-dated government debt “by at least double” for securities from the 10-year to 30-year sector. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 5 basis points to 4.65%, and the 30-year yield declined 8 basis points to 5.2% after hitting its highest level since 2007 earlier this week.
Falling long-end yields typically relieve pressure on high-multiple growth stocks. Chip stocks weakening into that relief points to AI-hardware-specific positioning across portfolios. President Trump also paused 50% tariffs on Canadian goods for three days, moving the start date to August 22, citing a deal subject to finalization of documents.
NVIDIA’s Two Supports
NVIDIA has two catalysts working in its favor that the rest of the sector lacks. The Financial Times reported that China allowed small shipments of NVIDIA’s H200 chips into the country, with ByteDance and Tencent each receiving about 10,000 H200 processors in recent weeks. China had curbed H200 imports to promote its domestic chipmakers, and regulators have started easing some restrictions.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) analyst Vivek Arya wrote that NVIDIA stock trades at a 40% to 50% discount to AI compute peers on an enterprise value-to-free-cash-flow basis, and at a 31% to 36% discount to the S&P 500. Arya called that a “compelling opportunity” and said the discount is “overstating the risks” tied to investments in companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.
NVIDIA will report earnings on August 26 after the close. That combination of a China thaw, an analyst valuation call, and a near-term earnings catalyst helps explain why NVIDIA stock is holding flat while peer chip stocks slide.
Peer Chip Names in the Selloff
Intel stock has climbed 162% year to date (YTD) through Tuesday’s close, so today’s pullback still leaves a large annual gain. Advanced Micro Devices stock is up 126% YTD through Tuesday’s close, and Broadcom stock is up 10% YTD through Tuesday’s close.
The parallel move across Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Broadcom looks like portfolio-level trimming of AI hardware exposure without any single-name event to explain it. Elevated year-to-date gains in Intel stock and Advanced Micro Devices stock give tactical traders a natural profit-taking window into the NVIDIA earnings report.
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF as Sector Proxy
The VanEck Semiconductor ETF is down 1% to $563.98 Wednesday, a mild headline move that masks sharper declines inside its top holdings. The fund has gained 58% YTD through Tuesday’s close and covers the full semiconductor value chain, from fabless designers to foundries and equipment names.
Concentration matters here. The ETF’s largest weights include Advanced Micro Devices at 10.3%, Broadcom at 9.6%, NVIDIA at 8.4%, and Intel at 8.1%, so parallel weakness in those four names drives most of the fund move. Sector-only vehicles amplify factor risk when one theme, like AI hardware, drives correlated selling across positions.
What to Watch
NVIDIA’s August 26 report is the next real catalyst for the group and can reset sector tone in either direction. Traders can watch for stabilization in Intel stock and Advanced Micro Devices stock into the Wednesday afternoon close.
The prediction markets currently give NVIDIA a 94.5% probability of beating quarterly earnings, which helps explain the flat tape today. Shareholders may want to check for a broadening of the selling into semiconductor equipment names, which would signal something bigger than AI-hardware profit-taking.
Position sizing matters into that earnings report. Investors should consider keeping their exposure across the semiconductor complex modest ahead of a catalyst this large, given the elevated year-to-date gains already in the tape.
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