New York, February 7, 2026, 12:35 (EST) — Market is shut.
Semiconductor names in the U.S. surged Friday, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (.SOX) up 5.7% to close at 8,048.6. Nvidia (NVDA.O) popped 7.87% to $185.41, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O) tacked on 8.28% to finish at $208.44, and Broadcom (AVGO.O) ended up 7.22% at $332.92. Intel (INTC.O) moved up 4.87% to $50.59. 1
The shift is hitting now as investors scramble to reshuffle their AI bets, ditching software stocks rattled by worries that fresh tech could eat into their margins. On Thursday, the S&P 500 software and services index tumbled 4.6% and, according to Reuters, was on pace to lose roughly $1 trillion in market cap since Jan. 28. “Sell-everything mindset,” said Bailard’s Dave Harrison Smith. 2
Chip stocks are moving for a straightforward reason: the heavyweight cloud customers aren’t slowing down their spending, even as their own shares fluctuate. Amazon has flagged a 50% jump in capital expenditures for this year, targeting a hefty $200 billion tab. Analysts now estimate that Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Meta together will shell out more than $630 billion on capex. That’s funding for things like data centers, servers, and, crucially, chips. “The market just dislikes the substantial amount of money that keeps getting put into capex,” said Dave Wagner at Aptus Capital Advisors. 3
Chip sales have the data to back up the story now. The Semiconductor Industry Association expects worldwide sales to hit $1 trillion this year, after coming in at $791.7 billion for 2025—a 25.6% gain over the previous year. According to the group, advanced computing chips—including those made by Nvidia, AMD, and Intel—surged 39.9% to $301.9 billion in 2025. Memory chips weren’t far behind, posting a 34.8% increase to $223.1 billion. “Orders are completely full,” SIA CEO John Neuffer said. 4
After three consecutive sessions in the red, chip stocks finally caught a bid on Friday, snapping their losing streak with a sharp move higher. 5
Chip stocks kept powering higher, and that momentum helped drive the Dow Jones Industrial Average past the 50,000 mark — a level it’s never crossed before. Nvidia played a standout role in that climb. Reuters pointed out that Nvidia took Intel’s spot in the Dow late in 2024, as the index moved further toward stocks connected to artificial intelligence. 6
The sector’s action stayed choppy. Texas Instruments (TXN.O) dropped 1.1% Friday, but ON Semiconductor (ON.O) advanced 3.3%—this, as the broader chip index surged ahead. 7
Investors eye the same capital spending surge that’s been driving chip demand, questioning just how much longer markets will reward this approach. Reuters, in a separate report detailing Amazon’s $200 billion investment plans, noted that the sheer size of Big Tech’s outlays has brought back echoes of the dot-com boom, when companies piled into infrastructure and waited for returns. MoffettNathanson called the spending “materially greater than consensus expected.” 8
The AI trade is splintering, with a Reuters analysis pointing out that investors are getting choosier, splitting hardware suppliers—the “picks and shovels” powering the AI boom—from companies potentially in the line of fire. “Investors are differentiating between who enables AI and who may be disrupted,” said Charu Chanana, Saxo’s chief investment strategist. 9
Here’s the risk: chip stocks might surge when new spending gets announced, but just as easily, they can falter if those investments squeeze profits or are delayed. Amazon and Meta both felt the pinch last quarter—higher costs dented profit growth, according to Reuters. The takeaway: building out AI isn’t coming cheap. 10
U.S. markets take a break Saturday, but growth stocks won’t get much of a pause. The Labor Department has its January jobs numbers queued up for Feb. 11, with the January CPI data following on Feb. 13. One caveat: the department flagged that these release dates could shift if a government shutdown drags on. 11
Nvidia’s set to deliver its fourth-quarter numbers on Feb. 25, putting the spotlight on whether demand for AI chips is still as hot as recent trading suggests. 12
