Nvidia, AMD, Dell sell-off in global tech rout on AI funding worries

Stocks tied to the artificial intelligence trade sank on Thursday, continuing a global sell-off.

Collectively, 20 of the most valuable global AI and semiconductor stocks have shed more than $1 trillion in value so far this week, as interest rate hikes, AI financing and intensifying competition weighed on sentiment.

Nvidia fell about 2% while AMD and Intel each lost about 4%. Dell Technologies sank 8%. Neoclouds also dropped, with CoreWeave sinking 3%, Nebius down 5% and IREN falling more than 8%. Micron was down about 5% earlier but turned positive around noon ET.

Shares in the neoclouds pared some of the earlier losses after comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang seemed to settle fears in the AI trade.

Huang told Bloomberg at an event in Stockholm, Sweden, that he didn't see a need for Nvidia to backstop CoreWeave and that, "Their cost of capital is actually decreasing."

A sell-off in global technology hardware stocks also deepened across Asia and Europe on Thursday.

South Korean chip giant SK Hynix plunged more than 10%, while rival Samsung Electronics fell 8.73%. Other South Korean chip-related stocks also came under pressure. LG Innotek sank 8.95%, Seoul Semiconductor shed 9.28% and Samsung SDI declined 6.26%.

In Japan, technology investment giant SoftBank Group tumbled 7.9%. Semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest plunged almost 14%, while chipmaking equipment supplier Tokyo Electron lost 6.45%. Renesas Electronics declined 8%. Taiwan's TSMC , the world's largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.81%.

Over in Europe, Dutch semiconductor giant ASML was last down 5.2%, Infineon Technologies shed 8.2% and ASM International was down 8.6%.

The declines come as investors grow increasingly concerned that higher borrowing costs could weigh on the massive capital spending required to build out AI infrastructure, putting pressure on technology companies that have benefited from the AI investment boom.

Concerns around global memory chip oversupply as early as 2029, as manufacturers ramp up production capacity to meet surging demand from artificial intelligence, also seem to be weighing down sentiment.

China's ChangXin Memory Technologies, or CXMT, said over the weekend that it had made a breakthrough on a new architecture that could boost memory density by packing more data into a smaller space, signaling intensifying competition in the memory space. Elon Musk in an X post said China would be making "a LOT of RAM in 2028."

Dan Ives, tech analyst at Yorkville Ives, said the latest sell-off in AI-related stocks reflects growing concerns over the cost of financing massive infrastructure projects as U.S. Treasury yields climb above 5%, but added that underlying demand for AI computing power remains robust.

"Higher yields raise the cost of financing these builds, and investors are right to focus on balance sheets and contract structure, but rates are a financing question, not a demand question," Ives said in a note.

The latest pullback presents a buying opportunity, Ives said, adding that the AI infrastructure boom remained in its early stages despite mounting concerns over funding costs.

"What would change our view is a demand signal, not a rate signal," he said, pointing to potential cuts in hyperscaler capital expenditure plans, canceled contracts or falling GPU rental prices as warning signs.