AI valuation cools off, and the chip sector enters a “de-bubbling” phase

International oil prices falling should have eased corporate cost pressure and created a more favorable macro environment for tech stocks, but on the day, the market’s focus was completely taken over by worries about the AI industry chain. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index briefly plunged by more than 5%, while SanDisk fell by about 11%. AI hardware segments such as memory, equipment, and optical communications all came under collective pressure, with money quickly withdrawing from high-valuation growth stocks.
This round of pullback does not mean the AI story is over; it means the market has started reassessing the return on AI investment. Over the past year, capital kept pushing up the valuations of concepts like compute power, GPUs, HBM, and storage. Now investors are paying more attention to companies’ actual profitability. When the market begins to question whether future capital expenditures can continue to sustain high-speed growth, the high-valuation segment is naturally the first to be hit.
For long-term investors, this is more like a valuation correction than a reversal of industry trends. AI applications are still expanding rapidly, and advanced chips remain indispensable for large models, intelligent devices, robotics, and enterprise digitalization. Short-term stock price volatility may continue, but industry demand has not disappeared.
Going forward, the market’s attention will shift back to earnings performance, order growth, and capital expenditure guidance. Leading companies that truly have technological barriers, stable cash flow, and deep customer resources are more likely to complete the repair first, while high-valuation companies lacking performance support may continue to face pressure.
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