Intel and Micron shares slide as chip sector selloff erases $1.3 trillion in value

Intel and Micron shares slide as chip sector selloff erases $1.3 trillion in value The semiconductor rout is spilling beyond chip stocks, raising questions about AI spending sustainability and risk appetite across crypto markets. Share Add us on Google by Editorial Team Jul.

24, 2026 The semiconductor sector is having a rough summer. Intel and Micron are leading a broad-based chip selloff that has carved roughly $1.3 trillion off the sector’s market value at its worst point, even as the rest of the tech landscape holds relatively steady.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index surged 92% heading into early June 2026. Now the bill is coming due. What triggered the rout The dominoes started falling around June 4, when Broadcom delivered an AI chip forecast that landed well below Wall Street’s expectations.

Advertisement Intel and Micron both dropped more than 7% in the immediate aftermath. By July, Intel shares had cratered more than 20% from their pre-selloff levels. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell as much as 10.

8%. Micron became the poster child for volatility in the memory chip space. The stock swung between 6% and 13% declines across multiple trading sessions from June into July, often dragging competitors like SK Hynix and Samsung along for the ride.

The AI capex question nobody wants to answer At the heart of the selloff sits a number: $650 billion. That’s the projected capital expenditure for AI-related infrastructure, representing a 67% year-over-year increase. Broadcom’s guidance threw cold water on that logic.

The market’s new question isn’t whether companies will spend $650 billion on AI infrastructure. It’s whether that spending will translate into returns fast enough to justify the chip sector’s stratospheric valuations. The more common framing among market observers is a “reset” in AI investment expectations rather than an outright end to the cycle.

Why crypto investors should care The chip selloff has coincided with broader risk-off sentiment that has shown up in Bitcoin and other digital assets. While no specific crypto tokens have been directly tied to semiconductor market volatility, when big money gets spooked in tech, it tends to pull back across the board. There’s also a more direct connection worth noting.

The same GPU chips that power AI training also underpin certain mining and computational networks in the crypto ecosystem. A repricing of AI hardware expectations could ripple into the economics of crypto mining operations and AI-adjacent blockchain projects. Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team.

For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy. TECHNOLOGY Intel and Micron shares slide as chip sector selloff erases $1.3 trillion in value The semiconductor rout is spilling beyond chip stocks, raising questions about AI spending sustainability and risk appetite across crypto markets.

by Editorial Team Jul. 24, 2026 Share Add us on Google The semiconductor sector is having a rough summer. Intel and Micron are leading a broad-based chip selloff that has carved roughly $1.

3 trillion off the sector’s market value at its worst point, even as the rest of the tech landscape holds relatively steady. The PHLX Semiconductor Index surged 92% heading into early June 2026. Now the bill is coming due.

What triggered the rout The dominoes started falling around June 4, when Broadcom delivered an AI chip forecast that landed well below Wall Street’s expectations. Advertisement Intel and Micron both dropped more than 7% in the immediate aftermath. By July, Intel shares had cratered more than 20% from their pre-selloff levels.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell as much as 10.8%. Micron became the poster child for volatility in the memory chip space.

The stock swung between 6% and 13% declines across multiple trading sessions from June into July, often dragging competitors like SK Hynix and Samsung along for the ride. The AI capex question nobody wants to answer At the heart of the selloff sits a number: $650 billion. That’s the projected capital expenditure for AI-related infrastructure, representing a 67% year-over-year increase.

Broadcom’s guidance threw cold water on that logic. The market’s new question isn’t whether companies will spend $650 billion on AI infrastructure. It’s whether that spending will translate into returns fast enough to justify the chip sector’s stratospheric valuations.

The more common framing among market observers is a “reset” in AI investment expectations rather than an outright end to the cycle. Why crypto investors should care The chip selloff has coincided with broader risk-off sentiment that has shown up in Bitcoin and other digital assets. While no specific crypto tokens have been directly tied to semiconductor market volatility, when big money gets spooked in tech, it tends to pull back across the board.

There’s also a more direct connection worth noting. The same GPU chips that power AI training also underpin cert