Chip Stocks Soar: Here’s the Bullish Tech Behind Today’s Rally

Semiconductors are flexing their market muscle again—and this surge isn't just about traditional fundamentals. While Wall Street analysts scramble to justify the move, three stealth catalysts are pumping silicon valuations into the stratosphere.

AI's insatiable appetite

Next-gen AI models now demand 3x more processing power than 2024's benchmarks. Chipmakers are the only spoon-feeding this compute hunger.

Supply chain chess

Geopolitical tensions forced manufacturers to diversify—turns out redundancy has a price premium. Who knew?

The crypto wildcard

Bitcoin's resurgence has mining rigs guzzling high-end chips. Because nothing boosts tech valuations like cryptocurrency's volatility circus.

So while the suits debate P/E ratios, the smart money's already positioned. Just remember—every chip cycle has its correction. (Usually right after the retail investors pile in.)

Key Takeaways

• The benchmark index for chip stocks was rising Monday, outpacing the broader market.
• Micron Technology shares jumped after the company raised its guidance.
• Nvidia and AMD announced a revenue-sharing agreement with the U.S. government, while Intel's CEO is reportedly due to meet with President Trump.

Chip stocks are rising to start the week. The reasons range from upbeat indications about demand to hopes of peace with Washington.

Micron Technology (MU) shares ROSE 3% Monday after the firm raised its guidance for fiscal fourth quarter ending August 28. The chipmaker boosted non-GAAP revenue expectations to $11.2 billion from $10.7 billion, and projected diluted earnings per share of $2.85 from $2.50. It cited "improved pricing" in DRAM; artificial intelligence has been fueling demand for that product, which provides temporary, high-speed memory that lets computers access information quickly.

"As you see some compelling user applications leveraging AI rolling out over the next year, and then accelerating from there over the next two, three years, you'll see some significant upgrades happening," Sumit Sadana, Micron's chief business officer, said Monday morning at a Keybanc conference. Micron also pledged $200 billion to US-based manufacturing as well as research and development over the next 20-plus years.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index was up around 1% Monday, while the S&P 500 was recently about flat. Intel (INTC) was rising even more than Micron, recently up about 5%, as investors appear to believe CEO Lip-Bu Tan will make nice with President Donald Trump, who took to social media last week to call for the CEO's resignation, denting the company's stock.

Trump took issue with Tan's business dealings with China, which TRUMP said was "highly conflicted." Tan is reportedly set to meet with the president today.

Meanwhile, Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) reportedly agreed to give the U.S. government 15% of revenues derived from their China chip sales as a condition of their being granted export licenses for the Chinese market, which they received last week. AMD's shares were up more than 2.5% in recent trading, while Nvidia's were edging higher. The latter company's quarterly results are due later this month.