On July 8, 2026, Intel (INTC) suffered a heavy sell-off. By the close, its share price fell by $11.81, down 9.66%, to $110.39, setting a new nearly one-month low since June 10. Trading value on the day reached $15.294 billion, ranking fifth among U.S. stock exchanges by trading amount. Intel not only became the biggest decliner among the S&P 500 index constituents, but also performed only better than Astera Labs, which plunged 11.52%, among the components of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. This drop was not an isolated incident. On the same day, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.3% from its record high. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slumped 4.65%. Western Digital fell 7.86%, AMD fell 6.51%, Marvell Technology fell 7.45%, and Micron Technology fell 4.71%—a sell-off sweeping across the entire semiconductor sector was spreading. Why did Intel become the worst-hit stock in this sell-off? What exactly changed in fundamentals and the macro outlook? Why did Samsung’s earnings coming in above expectations instead trigger a 7-day chip-stock sell-off? On July 7, Samsung Electronics released its preliminary 2026 second-quarter results: sales of approximately 171 trillion Korean won, the same as…