Global Semiconductor Stocks Crash as AI Spending Concerns Mount

A broad selloff of semiconductor and AI-related stocks began on July 14, 2026, triggered by a record one-day share price decline of more than 15% for SK Hynix. The downturn quickly spread to Samsung Electronics, causing a 9% drop in South Korea's KOSPI index and forcing the Korea Exchange to implement brief trading suspensions. The volatility extended to U.S. firms like Intel and Micron, as well as European companies including ASML and Infineon.

The decline intensified on July 16, with SK Hynix falling another 11% and Samsung Electronics dropping over 7%. This second wave of selling was fueled by investor profit-taking and a temporary moratorium on large-scale data center projects in New York ordered by Governor Kathy Hochul. Despite ASML raising its full-year revenue forecast to between 43 billion and 45 billion euros, markets continued to slide.

By July 17, the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index recorded its steepest weekly drop since March 2025, falling 11% and nearing a bear market. Additional pressure came from the unveiling of Moonshot's Kimi K3 model in China and reports that Alphabet Inc. delayed the release of Gemini 3.5 Pro. The crash eventually pushed the KOSPI into a confirmed bear market and the Nikkei into correction territory, with major players like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices seeing significant losses despite strong forecasts from TSMC.