On Oct. 10, 2008, the PHLX Semiconductor Index closed lower for an eighth straight session. Lehman Brothers had collapsed less than four weeks earlier, and chip stocks had lost 23.5% in those eight days.

It took 18 years for the index to repeat that streak.

The SOX, which tracks 30 of the largest U.S.-listed chip companies, fell every session from Oct. 7 to Oct. 16, according to TradingView data. It lost 15.7% over those eight days and closed Friday at 11,137.29.

Last week alone, the index dropped 11.4%, its worst week since April 2025.

On Monday, buyers came back.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose 2.8% in premarket trading, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 1%.

Is the bottom in?

Two Headlines Broke The Chip Rally

The selloff began on Oct. 8 and picked up speed the following week.

Two headlines did most of the damage.

On Oct. 10, China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, said it had made progress on a denser memory design called 4F².

The design packs more memory cells into the same area of silicon. CXMT said it plans to launch server memory built on it by the end of 2026.

Server memory is the most profitable corner of the memory market. As a result, investors feared that more Chinese supply could end the shortage that has pushed prices higher.

Two days later, Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) CEO Hock Tan told a conference in Singapore that capital, not wafers or memory, could become the industry's biggest constraint.

He also compared some AI investors to "casino gamblers."

Memory names took the hardest hit. Micron Technology Inc. (MU) fell 14.6% last week, SanDisk Corp. (SNDK) dropped 19% and SK Hynix Inc. (SKHY) lost a quarter of its value.

Cantor Says The Factory Floor Tells A Different Story

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse sees a gap between share prices and demand.

In a note published Monday after the SemiconWest trade show in San Francisco, Muse said chip-equipment makers are effectively "sold out."

Customers are giving them at least eight quarters of visibility.

In addition, ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) is receiving purchase orders that stretch into 2029 and 2030.

Muse models wafer fab equipment spending, the money chipmakers pay for the machines that make chips, at $215 billion in 2027, up 39%.

He said $225 billion is possible.

He also argued that Tan's remarks were misread.

In Muse's view, Tan was describing memory shortages easing, not an oversupply. Micron echoed that view at a dinner with Cantor, he said.

Micron told Cantor it expects supply to be even tighter in 2027 than in 2026, with constraints lasting through 2028.

What Muse heard across the show was that "we are short compute and equipment companies are being asked to expedite tool deliveries."

He added that management teams voiced frustration over the gap between valuations and fundamentals.

Cantor's best equipment ideas include ASML, Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT), Lam Research Corp. (LRCX), KLA Corp. (KLAC) and Teradyne Inc. (TER).

JPMorgan Stops Betting Against Intel

Intel Corp. (INTC) added another reason for the bounce.

JPMorgan analyst Harlan Sur raised the stock to Neutral from Underweight, with an $85 price target.

The target sits below Friday's $89.85 close. The upgrade is about valuation, not upside.

Intel fell about 36% from its June peak, compared with declines of 20% to 25% for peers, according to JPMorgan.

That makes its risk-reward profile "more balanced," Sur said.

He expects agentic AI, software that carries out tasks on its own and leans heavily on processors, to drive upward earnings revisions. A tight supply of leading-edge chips should help too.

JPMorgan's 2028 earnings estimate sits about 15% above consensus.

Intel rose 3.1% before the bell. It reports third-quarter results on Oct. 29.

Which Chip Stocks Are Bouncing Hardest?

The names that fell most last week led the premarket rebound.

Source: Premarket moves as of about 7:35 a.m. ET