Micron, Broadcom and ASML Shares Fall as Chip Stock Sell-Off Spreads Worldwide

TLDR

• Tech stocks fell Tuesday as a chip sell-off spread from Wall Street to Asia and Europe.
• SK Hynix dropped more than 10%, Samsung lost 7.4% and SoftBank sank 8.5%.
• China’s CXMT reported progress on a new memory chip design.
• Intel and Broadcom CEOs warned that access to capital could slow the AI boom.
• Bank earnings and U.S. inflation data are next on the calendar.

---

Technology stocks fell on Tuesday as a sell-off in chip shares spread from Wall Street to Asia and Europe. The drop followed worries about artificial intelligence financing and rising competition.

Micron was down about 3% in U.S. premarket trading. Broadcom was also under pressure.

Micron Technology, Inc., MU

On Monday, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.44%. Micron slid 3.9% that day as investors weighed competition from China.

European chip stocks also sank in early trade. ASML, a chip equipment maker, was down 3.3%.

STMicroelectronics and Infineon both fell 5%. BE Semiconductor and ASM International were about 4% lower at the open.

Asia Leads the Declines

SK Hynix, a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips used in AI, fell more than 10%. Samsung Electronics lost 7.4%. Both hit their lowest levels since August.

South Korea’s KOSPI index fell 6%. Declines in memory stocks weighed on the index.

In Japan, SoftBank Group sank 8.5%. The company has major exposure to the global AI industry.

Tokyo Electron dropped 7.2% and Advantest declined 2.9%. Lasertec fell over 5%, Disco lost 4.7% and Renesas Electronics shed 5.9%.

CXMT News and Executive Warnings

Over the weekend, China’s ChangXin Memory Technologies, known as CXMT, reported progress on a new chip design. It is meant to pack more data into a smaller space. CXMT shares were down over 2%.

South Korea’s 🇰🇷 KOSPI fell 7.4% intraday, with Samsung Electronics down 7.7% and SK Hynix down 8.8%.

Reports of advances at China’s CXMT fueled concerns about memory-chip competition and pricing power, while Broadcom CEO Hock Tan’s cautious comments on AI investment added to… https://t.co/dovqQcRtyW pic.twitter.com/uD1koYKziG

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) October 13, 2026

Vey-Sern Ling of UBP said investors are looking for reasons to take profits on AI stocks that have done well this year. He said Chinese memory makers still face technology hurdles, especially with advanced memory such as HBM.

Phillip Wool of Rayliant Global Advisors said the market reaction looked bigger than the immediate threat. He noted that CXMT has not shown large-scale production and still trails Samsung and SK Hynix in market share.

The chief executives of Intel and Broadcom have warned that access to capital could become a headwind for the AI boom. They said demand for computing infrastructure still outpaces supply.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan compared investors speculating on AI to “a casino” on Monday. He said many investors do not know what they are investing in, according to Bloomberg.

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Tuesday. Dow futures rose 0.5%, S&P 500 futures were slightly lower and Nasdaq-100 futures fell 0.6%.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup report earnings on Tuesday morning. U.S. inflation data is due later this week.