Wall Street had one of its worst days of the year yesterday, with chip and AI stocks at the center of the storm. Nvidia closed down 9.26% at $181.60, its lowest since April; by some estimates the chip giant lost about $450 billion in market value in a single session. Broadcom fell about 10.4%, and some reports had AMD and Micron down more than 13%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index reportedly lost more than 12%.
The broad indexes were hit hard too. Estimates of the drop differ: according to Fox Business, the Nasdaq Composite closed down 5.52%, its worst day since April 2025, and the Dow fell about 3.4%, while other reports cite a milder Nasdaq decline. Qualcomm, which issued disappointing profit guidance on Wednesday, reportedly fell about 9.5%.
The explanation in every report is the election. After Democrats won the midterms, investors are trying to gauge what it means for AI regulation and data center construction. This week also showed US voters rejecting nearly every local measure for new data centers. If data centers are harder to build, demand for the chips inside them may slow. The drop erased Tuesday's gains, when markets rose right after the vote.
Not everyone was hit. Amid the fall, some software companies that reported last night, including Israel's JFrog and Cloudflare, jumped after hours. For Israeli investors, Israeli chip stocks such as Nova, Camtek and Tower, which posted record results this week, are exposed to the same sentiment even as their businesses grow. Today will show whether this is a one-off correction or the start of a trend.
