Semiconductor Stocks Slide Ahead of NVIDIA Earnings: Intel Falls 5%, AMD Slides 4%, Taiwan Semiconductor Slips 3%

Semiconductor Stocks Slide Ahead of NVIDIA Earnings: Intel Falls 5%, AMD Slides 4%, Taiwan Semiconductor Slips 3% David Moadel Mon, August 24, 2026 at 4:43 PM GMT+2 5 min read NVDA INTC AMD TSM MU Quick Read Intel leads chip stocks lower, tumbling 5% while AMD drops 4% as traders trim exposure two sessions before Nvidia reports earnings Wednesday. Nvidia has beaten EPS estimates four straight quarters yet averages a negative 2% day-of move, leaving SOXX vulnerable regardless of Wednesday's headline result. Druckenmiller's Duquesne exited Intel, Micron, and Broadcom by June 30 while opening a new AMD position representing 0.

8% of reported assets. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today .

Chip stocks are leading a narrow de-risking Monday morning, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF ( NASDAQ:SOXX ) down 4% to $501. 17 while the iShares U. S.

Technology ETF ( NYSEARCA:IYW ) is down 2% to $243. 24. Semis are selling roughly twice as hard as broad technology, and that gap marks the session as sector-specific rather than a general tech pullback.

Thinkstock Intel ( NASDAQ:INTC ) stock is down 5% to $85. 98 and leads the group lower. Meanwhile, AMD ( NASDAQ:AMD ) stock is down 4% to $454.

36, while Taiwan Semiconductor ( NYSE:TSM ) stock is down 3% to $406. 40. No company-specific headline is driving Intel today, and positioning is being trimmed across the group two sessions before NVIDIA ( NASDAQ:NVDA ) reports its most consequential quarter of the year.

Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today . De-Risking Into a Sector Catalyst NVDA Price Target — 24/7 Wall St.

NVIDIA reports its second-quarter fiscal 2027 results on August 26 after the close, a company-confirmed date. Given NVIDIA's dominant weight in semiconductor benchmarks, the company's guidance sets the tone for the entire complex, and traders are trimming exposure ahead of the release. Options flow points the same way: NVIDIA's full-chain put-call ratio sits at 0.

61, with the earnings-week expiration running a heavier 0. 82. Intel stock is the most extended large-cap name in the group after an enormous year, and traders holding large gains often trim aggressively into high-variance catalysts.

Intel stock was up 144% year to date through Friday's close, which makes it the natural source of funds when investors reduce chip exposure. NVIDIA's own pattern reinforces the caution: the company has beaten Wall Street EPS estimates in four consecutive quarters, yet the average day-of price change across the last five reports was down 2%. The most recent quarter closed down 2% on release despite a 5.

4% EPS surprise, and guidance nuance around China Data Center compute and Blackwell cadence has driven the reaction function more than headline numbers (the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind that Blackwell buildout are the focus of a free report you can grab here). That history suggests a beat alone is unlikely to lift the entire complex. Story Continues Sector Concentration Magnifies the Move NVIDIA dominates chip-heavy portfolios, and that concentration is doing much of the work today.

In IYW, NVIDIA represents 16. 2% of net assets as of April 30, ranking as the largest disclosed position, with Broadcom ( NASDAQ:AVGO ) at 3. 8%, AMD at 3.

5%, Micron Technology ( NASDAQ:MU ) at 3% and Intel at 2. 6%. Chip-focused funds like the iShares Semiconductor ETF carry even higher effective NVIDIA exposure, which magnifies pre-earnings positioning shifts.

Reddit chatter reflects the caution as well. The iShares Semiconductor ETF sits in bearish sentiment territory at an average score of 32. 5, while NVIDIA discussion is neutral with 68 qualified mentions and 665 comments, and Invesco QQQ Trust ( NASDAQ:QQQ ) sentiment reads neutral at an average score of 48.

Investors are stepping back from chip beta rather than adding into a binary event. Ownership Shifts and Foundry Funding Separately, Stanley Druckenmiller's Duquesne Family Office disclosed in a Form 13F that positions in Intel, Micron and Broadcom, all opened in the first quarter, were gone as of June 30, and that it opened a position in AMD representing 0. 8% of reported assets.

Duquesne reported $5. 2 billion in U. S.

equity holdings at quarter end, disclosed on the standard 45-day lag. These are point-in-time snapshots that don't describe current positioning. On the competitive backdrop, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry intends to request an additional 150 billion yen ($941 million) for Rapidus in its fiscal 2027 budget, per Bloomberg.

Rapidus is a state-backed venture founded in 2022 targeting 2-nanometer production by 2027, competing with Taiwan Semiconductor, Samsung and Intel on the leading edge of the foundry roadmap. It's a pending budget request awaiting appropriation. What Investors Can Watch This Week NVDA Earnings Explorer — 24/7 Wall St.

NVIDIA's conference call Wednesday after the close is the sector's next major catalyst. Investors can watch for guidance on China Data Center compute revenue, which NVIDIA excluded from its prior Q2 FY2027 outlook of $91 billion, plus or minus 2%, and any update on total supply-related commitments last disclosed at $119 billion. A language change on China exposure could reprice the entire chip complex within minutes of the release.

Given how much of the sector's fate hinges on one report, position sizing matters more than direction here. Shareholders with concentrated chip exposure may want to check for whether their portfolios can absorb an outsized post-earnings gap in either direction, and trimming into strength ahead of a binary catalyst remains a reasonable risk-management stance. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing didn't make the cut.

Grab the names FREE today . Contact editorial@247wallst. com for any questions or corrections.