Semiconductor Stocks Slide Together, With Only Nvidia Rising
In pre-market trading in New York on Monday (local time), rising oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields pressured major semiconductor stocks lower, with only Nvidia gaining on news of an expanded share buyback. In pre-market trading, Marvell Technology and AMD each fell 0.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) dropped about 1%.
After U.S. President Donald Trump rejected Iran's ceasefire proposal, Brent crude rose to $106 a barrel intraday, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded in the $94 range. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed above 5.2%, its highest level since 2007, while the 30-year yield topped 5.5%, the highest since 2004. Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar analyzed, "Oil prices are influencing interest rates, and rates are becoming the key driver moving every asset class."
Against this backdrop, Nvidia is rising alone amid the market slump. The company's decision to expand its share repurchase authorization by an additional $150 billion is supporting the stock. The remaining approved authorization now stands at $235 billion, to be executed through fiscal year 2028. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said, "Nvidia's growth is being driven by a once-in-a-generation platform shift to AI and accelerated computing."
On Monday, Nvidia also unveiled an AI agent security platform called the Open Agent Safety Platform. Its core tool, OpenShell, uses CPU hardware features to restrict AI agents' access permissions, while Sentry monitors agents and blocks them upon detecting abnormal behavior.
Market attention is now on Micron Technology's fiscal fourth-quarter results, due after the close on the 30th. Micron's own guidance calls for revenue of $50 billion plus or minus $1 billion and adjusted EPS of $31 plus or minus $1, while the market expects revenue of about $51 billion and adjusted EPS in the mid-$31 range. On Monday, Baird maintained its "outperform" rating on Micron while raising its price target from $1,280 to $1,520, citing surging agentic AI demand, slowing DRAM supply growth in 2027, and improved high-bandwidth memory profitability next year.
