Lam Research, KLA Corp., Nvidia lead chips lower as Biden meets virtually with industry
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Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX), KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) were among the biggest declining semiconductor stocks on Monday, as President Joe Biden was set to meet with industry CEOs and labor leaders to boost the U.S.'s competitiveness in the sector.
Biden, who contracted COVID-19 last week, was set to meet with the industry virtually, the White House said on Monday to discuss the $54B CHIPS Act to boost U.S. manufacturing. 
The administration did not say who would be attending the meeting, but did note that U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would attend.
Intel (INTC), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia (NVDA) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on if they were attending the meeting. 
Last week, the U.S. Senate voted 64-34 to advance legislation that some have called Chips-plus, which would give $54B in subsidies to encourage manufacturers to build foundries in the U.S., as well as a new, four-year 25% tax credit.
Following the procedural vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that the legislative body was "moving forward" on a bill to aid the chip industry.
The House of Representatives has passed its own bill to support the semiconductor industry, but last week House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed support for the legislation coming from the Senate, calling it "a major victory for American families and the American economy."
Lam Research (LRCX) shares fell 1.5% on Monday, while KLA Corp. (KLAC) and Nvidia (NVDA) were off more than 1% and 2%, respectively.
Most other semiconductor stocks were modestly lower, including declines for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron (MU), Qualcomm (QCOM), Broadcom (AVGO) and Texas Instruments (TXN).
Intel (INTC) bucked the trend, showing modest gains in mid-day trading.
On Monday, Morgan Stanley cut 2023 earnings estimates on Lam Research (LRCX), KLA Corp. (KLAC) and Applied Materials (AMAT), citing worries over cuts to semiconductor equipment spending.
"[Wafer fab equipment] forecasts remain difficult, with demand for equipment softening, but not enough to bring supply constraints to an end near term, and conditions generally becoming more challenging; we are trying to derisk our estimate by bringing down our [2023] assumption from $90 [billion] or so to about $83 [billion]," the analysts wrote.
Earlier this month, Bank of America said KLA Corp. (KLAC) would be among several semiconductor companies that would likely benefit if the U.S. government passes stimulus for the industry.