Intel, Micron lead semis lower as investors take profits after hot start to 2023
Justin Sullivan

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Micron Technologies (NASDAQ:MU) were among the weakest semiconductor stocks on Wednesday as investors took some profits after the hot start in the sector to start the year.
Since the start of the year, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, or SOX, has gained roughly 500 points to trade at 3,079, a gain of roughly 20%. The widely watched VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) has gained 23% since the start of 2023.
Intel (INTC) shares fell nearly 2% after it was reported the company has demanded more subsidies from the German government to build a planned factory in the city of Magdelburg. 
Santa Clara, California-based Intel (INTC) reportedly asked for $10B, or $2.7B more than the $7.3B (â¬6.8B) that was already approved by the Germany government. The Pat Gelsinger-led company believes the subsidies are "necessary" and Intel's (INTC) added demands are believed to be due to higher energy costs and the use of more advanced technology inside the plant.
The news comes after Intel (INTC) priced $11B in debt across seven tranches on Tuesday.
Micron Technologies (MU) fell 2.5% after Citi said the average selling price of NAND is expected to bottom in the third-quarter of this year, perhaps marking a bottom.
"We expect NAND ASPâs decline below the marginal cost level to prompt NAND makers to reduce their NAND production, which would likely lead to NAND ASP recovery from 4Q23E," analyst Peter Lee wrote in a note.
Micron (MU) competes globally with South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) as the primary NAND and DRAM suppliers.
Also seeing notable losses on Wednesday were Qualcomm (QCOM), Broadcom (AVGO), Texas Instruments (TXN) and Analog Devices (ADI), all of which declined between 1.5% and 2%.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) bucked the trend, rising 0.5%, as investors continued to pour into names related to artificial intelligence following announcements this week from Microsoft (MSFT) and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL).
AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), which competes with both Intel (INTC) and Nvidia (NVDA), saw fractional losses.
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO) and Cirrus Logic (CRUS) also saw declines, one day after Skyworks soared thanks to a new $2B buyback program.
Earlier this month, it was reported that Intel (INTC) would cut the salaries of its employees, including senior leadership, as it struggles amid the broader semiconductor downturn.