NEW YORK, Jan 24, 2026, 05:10 (EST) — Market closed
GlobalFoundries Inc (GFS) shares dropped 4.8% to close at $42.85 on Friday, capping a choppy week for chip stocks. The Nasdaq-listed contract chipmaker, which produces chips for other companies, fluctuated between $45.02 and $42.60 during the session, with roughly 4.3 million shares traded.
The slide arrives as investors brace for a critical period in tech and semiconductors, shaken by Intel’s gloomy forecast and renewed doubts over how fast AI investment will yield returns. Intel plunged 17% on Friday, with Janus Henderson portfolio manager Julian McManus calling it a “show-me” moment for richly priced stocks. 1
Markets are bracing for a Federal Reserve decision alongside a flood of earnings reports from major firms. The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. Meanwhile, heavy hitters like Apple, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and Tesla will report results, Reuters noted. With valuations already high, Chris Galipeau, senior market strategist at Franklin Templeton, warned, “the earnings bar had better be met.” 2
GlobalFoundries is gearing up for its next key event: the quarterly earnings report. It plans to unveil its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, followed by a conference call scheduled for Feb. 11 at 8:30 a.m. ET. 3
Earlier this month, GlobalFoundries struck a deal to acquire Synopsys’ ARC Processor IP Solutions business — these processor IP blocks are reusable chip designs customers license. CEO Tim Breen described the move as doubling down on their push into “Physical AI,” referring to chips for wearables and robotics. Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi praised GlobalFoundries as an “excellent future steward” of the unit. The companies expect the transaction to wrap up in the second half of 2026. 4
With GlobalFoundries set to report, investors are zeroing in on orders, pricing, and customer inventory levels. This comes after the stock’s steep climb midweek followed by a pullback on Friday. In this environment, guidance will carry more weight than the actual quarterly results.
Costs are jumping elsewhere in the chip supply chain. Reuters reported this week that memory-chip prices are soaring as AI data-center expansions soak up available supply. At the same time, research firms now predict global smartphone sales will drop by at least 2% this year, with the PC market expected to shrink 4.9% in 2026. Intel CFO David Zinsner cautioned that rising memory prices “could limit our revenue opportunity this year,” signaling that higher component costs might dampen consumer demand for devices. 5
If device makers cut back production targets or delay launches, the ripple effect hits the chip supply chain hard. Foundries feel the squeeze too, even though they focus on “essential” chips instead of the flashiest AI components.
Ahead of Monday’s open, eyes will be on the chip sector to see if it can rebound after Intel’s drop. Early earnings reports could shift the mood, resetting what investors expect from the group. Volatile trading tends to hit stocks hard when the message sounds like “wait until next quarter.”
