Semiconductor Stocks Shed 20% in October as Intel Warning Triggers Sector-Wide Selloff

Eleven semiconductor stocks lost more than 20% of their market value in October, with Intel (INTC) falling 45% after its fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $15 billion to $16 billion came in below Wall Street's roughly $17 billion estimate. Intel shares dropped nearly 29% on Friday, erasing about $140 billion in market capitalization and pulling the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) down 16.5% for the month, including a 7.6% single-day decline. Intel attributed part of the weakness to PC chip sales expected to fall more than 20% quarter over quarter. Memory makers shifting capacity toward high-bandwidth chips for AI servers have tightened general DRAM supply and raised prices, lifting laptop production costs and prompting PC makers to cut processor orders. BofA analyst Vivek Arya downgraded Intel to Neutral from Buy and cut his target to $100 from $145, while Cantor Fitzgerald's C.J. Muse lowered his target to $90, citing memory, wafer and substrate shortages. Despite the October rout, 10 of the 11 decliners remain above their year-start levels, and Intel is still up 74% year to date.