October 11 Market Report: Micron Plunges 4.8%
Micron and Nvidia essentially stood still.
According to U.S. market data from October 9, 2026, the daily price changes of large-cap semiconductor stocks clustered between -0.03% and -0.05%, leaving the market in a directionless, sideways pattern. Yet despite the modest surface-level movement, the magnitude of individual stock adjustments was considerable. Micron traded at $1,035.84, roughly 4.8% below the previous day's $1,088, while Nvidia slipped noticeably to $230.48 from the prior session.
Mega-Cap Stocks Mixed, Only Slightly
| Stock | Price | Change | Market Cap | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nvidia | $230.48 | -0.03% | $5.57T | 29.1 |
| Apple | $340.42 | +0.01% | $4.97T | 39.0 |
| Alphabet (GOOGL) | $348.29 | -0.01% | $4.26T | 17.5 |
| Microsoft | $522.61 | -0.01% | $3.88T | 29.1 |
| Amazon | $254.06 | -0.02% | $2.74T | 20.4 |
| TSMC | $457.99 | -0.03% | $2.38T | 33.3 |
| Micron | $1,035.84 | -0.05% | $1.17T | 13.9 |
| Intel | $107.08 | -0.05% | $0.57T | - |
The key feature of the day was that the major tech names' moves stayed confined to the third decimal place. Apple edged up 0.01% to hold a $4.97 trillion market cap, while financials such as Berkshire Hathaway (a $1.09 trillion company), JPMorgan, Visa, and Mastercard gained around 0.01%, keeping the indexes from sliding lower. Hardware and semiconductors, however, bore the brunt of the pressure. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 3.4% on the 8th and fell another 0.4% on the 9th, extending its weakness — a backdrop that aligned with the corrective mood in individual chip stocks.
Semiconductor Sector: Earnings Hopes Remain Intact Amid the Correction
As the table shows, valuations across the semiconductor sector vary widely. TSMC trades at a P/E of 33.3, Broadcom at 46.0, and ASML at 57.4 — all carrying growth premiums — while Micron, at a P/E of 13.9, is the cheapest in the sector. AMD at 158.3 and Palantir at 171.4 already have substantial short-term profit expectations priced in. Intel remains unprofitable and thus has no meaningful P/E, but its reported EPS growth rate of 9,865.5% shows that its turnaround momentum is still alive.
Clues on the demand side are visible at home as well. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said at the future site of the Gwangju Honam semiconductor cluster on the 9th that "semiconductor demand will grow at a considerably fast pace," expressing his intent to push forward additional sites in parallel, following the acceleration of the Yongin fabrication project by 12 years. Global supply chains entering a speed race reads as a structural medium-term tailwind for memory makers like Micron. That said, it is worth noting that this is already partially reflected in the market through the cheap-P/E thesis at 13.9 times earnings.
Market Impact and Investment Takeaways
From an index standpoint, the market stayed defensive. S&P 500 ETFs (SPY, VOO) and the Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQ) all hovered essentially flat at around -0.01%, meaning gains in financials, consumer, and energy names offset the tech pullback. Representative movers included ExxonMobil +0.03%, Chevron +0.03%, Walmart +0.02%, and Costco +0.01%. As James Allen put it, great achievements require great sacrifice — but the market today remains in a state of equilibrium where nothing significant has yet been put on the line.
The third-quarter earnings season, kicking off in earnest on October 12, along with the Fed's inflation data, looks set to determine direction. In particular, whether Nvidia — with EPS growth of 6,599.3% — and TSMC, at 4,430.2%, confirm sustained demand in their guidance is likely to be a watershed for the sector's re-rating. If earnings meet expectations, there is room for the valuation discount on low-P/E semiconductor stocks, led by Micron, to unwind — in other words, a normalization of valuations. Conversely, if signs of a slowdown in AI capital spending emerge, downward pressure is likely to weigh most heavily on names trading above 100 times earnings: AMD, Palantir, and Tesla (P/E 347.2). The sideways market is not a conclusion — it is a holding pattern.
