Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Marvell lead semiconductor drop in first half to forget
jiefeng jiang/iStock via Getty Images

The stock market had a first half to forget, with the S&P 500 down more than 20% since the calendar turned to 2022. While there were some pockets of strength, such as energy, the technology sector, and in particular, semiconductors, was hit by a myriad of worries, including the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and interest rates, as well as concerns of a global recession that may wind up be self-fulfilling.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares fell more than 50% since the start of the year, as the company's deal to acquire Arm Holdings from Softbank (OTCPK:SFTBY) collapsed due to geopolitical pressure and antitrust concerns.
Both Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), which saw its shares fall 49% to start the year, have been besieged by worries on order cuts for their GPU processors. AMD (AMD) however, held its analyst day on June 9, which was seen as bullish.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), which competes with AMD (AMD) for server CPUs and PC CPUs, saw its shares fall 30%, as the company raised its spending plans at its investor day, but also noted that profit margins would decline this year and not rise again until 2025.
More recently, Intel (INTC) said that its expansion into Ohio could be in jeopardy if Congress did not pass the $52B CHIPS Act, which was passed in the Senate last year.
The downturn hit the entire sector, impacting companies such as Marvell (NASDAQ:MRVL), Qualcomm (QCOM) and Texas Instruments (TXN), which saw their shares fall 51%, 31% and 19%, respectively. 
Though the semiconductor industry itself is cyclical, areas that are especially cyclical, such as memory, were especially impacted, as memory chip maker Micron (MU) saw its shares fall 42%. 
The company, which just reported fiscal third-quarter earnings, said industry demand had weakened "recently," according to Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra and the company would take actions to moderate supply growth in fiscal 2023.
Semiconductor stocks that are tied to smartphones were also hit sharply, as Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO) and Broadcom (AVGO) fell 42%, 41% and 27%, respectively, as worries over a weak smartphone continue to persist.
Even semiconductor foundries and equipment makers, which benefited from the shortage seen in 2020 and 2021, saw huge drawdowns in the first half of the year.
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) shares fell 37% in the first-half, while GlobalFoundries (GFS) shares fell more than 40%.
At the beginning of the year, Taiwan Semi (TSM), the largest foundry on the planet, said it would spend between $40B and $44B to help with the chip shortage. While the company has not changed those plans publicly, it has become increasingly more cautious, recently downplaying a report of building a plant in Singapore and echoing Intel's (INTC) comments that it needs the CHIPS Act to pass.
Lastly, chip equipment makers such as Applied Materials (AMAT), Lam Research (LRCX) and KLA Corp. (KLAC) saw declines of 43%, 41% and 27%, respectively and may be in store for further declines, as companies start to cut orders for the rest of this year and 2023.
Last week, investment firm Morgan Stanley restarted coverage on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares, noting it is in a position to gain market share in both cloud servers and PCs.