Astera Labs, AMD lead chip stocks lower ahead of Fed meet

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Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ALAB]) tumbled about 6% on Tuesday, leading chip stocks lower, while tech giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AMD]) fell around 5%.

On Monday, Wall Street’s major averages had finished [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4486581-sp500-nasdaq-dow-jones-outlook-stock-market] muted as investors shifted their focus to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s upcoming speech at the Jackson Hole symposium later this week. Markets are expected to be closely tuned to Powell’s remarks for any signal on the timing of potential rate cuts or if the central bank intends to maintain its cautious stance.

AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NVDA]) dipped about 2% on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4486934-bessent-says-us-stake-in-intel-crucial-for-security-nvidia-needs-license-to-export-b30a-to-china] the company will need to get a license for any new chip models exported to China.

Earlier this month, Nvidia and AMD, reportedly, agreed [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4482960-nvidia-amd-to-pay-15-of-china-ai-chip-sales-to-the-us---report#hasComeFromMpArticle] to hand over 15% of revenues from their Chinese AI chip sales to the U.S. government in exchange for export licenses. Nvidia, reportedly, would share 15% of revenue from sales of its H20 AI accelerator in China, while AMD is expected to contribute an identical share from its MI308 chip revenues. However, analysts [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4485293-nvidia-amds-china-ai-chip-sales-deal-with-us-a-bullish-sign-for-ai-related-tech-stocks-wedbush] have mixed [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4483232-nvidia-and-amds-china-ai-pay-to-play-makes-a-slippery-slope-bernstein] reactions over the deal.

Broadcom's (AVGO [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AVGO]) stock fell around 2%, while Qualcomm's (QCOM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/QCOM]) shares declined about 1% on Tuesday.

Bucking the trend was Intel (INTC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/INTC]), which saw its stock surge about 8% after it secured [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4486774-intel-scores-2b-investment-from-japans-softbank-shares-jump-after-hours] a $2B investment from Japan's SoftBank. Separately, Bessent said that the Trump Administration's plan to acquire a stake in Intel to help it develop a functioning foundry domestically is crucial for national security.

Shares of Marvell Technology (MRVL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MRVL]) fell about 3%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TSM]) declined around -2%, and Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LSCC]) dipped about -1%. Micron Technology (MU [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/MU]) was also in the red.

However, Texas Instruments (TXN [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/TXN]) jumped about 2%, while GlobalFoundries (GFS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/GFS]) and Analog Devices (ADI [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ADI]) each rose nearly 1%.

Meanwhile, chip equipment makers: Dutch company ASML (ASML [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ASML]), Applied Materials (AMAT [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/AMAT]), Lam Research (LRCX [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/LRCX]) and KLA (KLAC [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/KLAC]) were largely flat but in the green on Tuesday.

MORE ON TECH STOCKS

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* Astera's Quiet Push Into AI Racks [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4814124-asteras-quiet-push-into-ai-racks]
* Astera: The Second Half Will Likely Unlock A Major Revenue Ramp [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4812110-astera-second-half-unlock-major-revenue-ramp]
* Astera Labs soars 28% following Q2 revenue surge on AI data center demand [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4480290-astera-labs-soars-28-following-q2-revenue-surge-on-ai-data-center-demand]
* Astera Labs outlines AI Infrastructure 2.0 strategy and projects $203M–$210M Q3 revenue led by Scorpio and rack-scale connectivity [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4479453-astera-labs-outlines-ai-infrastructure-2_0-strategy-and-projects-203m-210m-q3-revenue-led-by]