Tumbling AI stocks signal another day of turmoil for tech companies

Tech stocks sold off on Friday amid mounting concerns over the rising cost of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

SoftBank Group, which plunged more than 12%, led losses across the region after the Nasdaq Composite fell for a fourth straight session overnight. The tech-heavy index dropped 0.46% as a 6% plunge in Apple overshadowed Micron‘s stronger-than-expected earnings. 

The Japanese conglomerate could remain under pressure after its chip designer Arm Holdings fell 3.2% overnight, underperforming the broader semiconductor sector even as AI-related stocks rebounded sharply.

Andrew Jackson, an equity strategist at Ortus Advisors, said investor enthusiasm for SoftBank may also be capped by reports that OpenAI could delay its initial public offering until next year as it struggles to secure demand at a $1 trillion valuation.

Qualcomm‘s new AI data center chip deal with Meta is ultimately positive for Arm through royalty payments, Jackson added. However, Arm also faces growing competition as Qualcomm expands more aggressively into the central processing unit market.

The weakness also spilled into Asia’s semiconductor sector. South Korea’s SK Hynix fell more than 8%, while Samsung Electronics lost around 9%. Technology-focused investment holding company SK Square was down around 9.43%, while LG Electronics was 3.5% lower. 

Japan’s Advantest declined nearly 10%, while Tokyo Electron was down 3.21%. Taiwan’s TSMC fell 2.09%, while Hon Hai was 3.5% lower.

The selloff extended across Greater China’s technology sector. Hong Kong-listed Tencent fell around 2%, while Alibaba dropped more than 6%, Baidu lost over 4% and Xiaomi slid 3.7% in the final hour of trade. Chip stocks were among the hardest hit, with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp tumbling more than 6.9%.

In Europe, key chip stocks were also down as the market opened. ASML was down 0.83%, Infineon fell 2.96%, ASM International dropped 3.67%, ST Microelectronics shed 2.95% and Be Semiconductor was won 3.25%.

Overnight on Wall Street, Apple led declines after announcing price increases for its MacBook and iPad products, citing higher component costs, including chips.

This has fueled concerns that soaring semiconductor prices could eventually squeeze the margins of major technology companies.

Microsoft fell 3.5% after raising prices on Xbox consoles, while Alphabet and Meta Platforms also declined.