Concerns about AI infrastructure funding rattled global semiconductor stocks, with South Korean memory makers among the hardest hit.
- Samsung plunged 8% as concerns over AI infrastructure financing weighed on global semiconductor stocks.
- Nvidia’s share of China’s data-center AI chip market fell to 34%, while Huawei captured 28% in the first half of 2026, according to IDC.
- Retail sentiment weakened across memory and chip stocks.
South Korean semiconductor stocks tumbled on Tuesday as investors reassessed the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending after Broadcom (AVGO) and Intel (INTC) executives warned of financing constraints.
Samsung Electronics shares fell 8%, while SK Hynix dropped 4% in Seoul on Tuesday. South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI was briefly halted as the sell-off intensified, while U.S. chip stocks continued to drop overnight ahead of Tuesday.
The Direxion Daily South Korea Bull 3X Shares (KORU) declined 11.4% in U.S. overnight trading ahead of Tuesday.
Speaking at the DBS Asia Future Forward Conference in Singapore on Monday, Tan highlighted the enormous financing requirements associated with building out AI infrastructure. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan echoed those concerns, pointing to rising borrowing costs and questions about the returns on investment from AI infrastructure spending.
The comments triggered selling across AI-linked stocks, although some X users argued that investors had misinterpreted Hock Tan’s remarks. “Broadcom CEO Hock Tan was actually incredibly bullish on AI demand and OpenAI. He was only criticizing the AI stock SELLERS,” Tae Kim, author of tech newsletter Key Context, posted on X.
Nvidia’s China AI Chip Share Falls As Huawei Gains Ground
Separately, Nvidia’s (NVDA) share of China’s data-center AI chip market fell to 34% in the first half of 2026, as U.S. export restrictions limited supply and domestic competitors gained ground, according to IDC data Reuters reported.
Nvidia shipped 678,000 AI accelerators in China between January and June, down 44% from a year earlier. Huawei shipped 572,000 units, up from more than 300,000 a year earlier, capturing 28% of the market and narrowing the gap with its U.S. rival.
Washington has restricted China’s access to Nvidia’s most powerful processors, while Beijing has promoted domestic alternatives and required Chinese companies to seek approval for importing compliant Nvidia chips.
Huawei, T-Head, Kunlunxin and Cambricon together accounted for 95% of the non-GPU segment, which government agencies, internet companies and telecommunications providers are adopting, according to the Reuters report.
Retail View On Chip Stocks
On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment for MU shifted to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ the previous day, while the sentiment for AMD shifted to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral.’ DRAM’s sentiment flipped to ‘bearish’ from ‘bullish.’ The sentiment remained ‘bearish’ for SNDK, INTC and SOXX.
The latest stock moves follow a volatile period for the sector. SanDisk plunged 6% on Monday, marking the second-largest decline in the Nasdaq-100, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) ended lower for a fifth consecutive session.
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