NVDA, INTC, MU, SNDK: Chip Stocks Rebound Despite Another Escalation In US-Iran Conflict

• INTC and AMD stocks rose over 2% in Tuesday’s premarket session, while NVDA gained nearly 1%.
• Memory chip stocks rallied sharply.
• The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. 

U.S. chip stocks rebounded in premarket trading on Tuesday, providing investors with some relief after Monday’s sharp sell-off, even as the U.S. and Iran continued to exchange attacks.

Intel and Advanced Micro Devices shares rose over 2%, while Nvidia gained nearly 1%. The closely watched memory stocks rose as well, with Micron climbing over 4% and SanDisk rising 2%.

Chip sector benchmark, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX), rose 1.8%, while the Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) rose 3%. South Korea’s Kospi, which includes Samsung and SK Hynix and has been a trigger for chip shares in recent days, ended 0.8% on Tuesday.

US-Iran Conflict Resumes

The move comes amid an escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict, leaving the ceasefire agreement and the timeline for formal talks hanging in the balance.

The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Tuesday morning, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates traveling through the strait, killing one mariner and wounding eight others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate against Iran.

Meanwhile, Trump told reporters Monday night that he thinks “a deal is possible. Sure, I do,” according to media reports. While the comment suggested the U.S. remained open to resuming peace talks, investors viewed the strikes and the subsequent messaging as another instance of TACO, the now well-known acronym for “Trump Always Chickens Out.”

Retail View On Chip Stocks

On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment was ‘bullish’ for NVDA, SNDK and SOXX, ‘neutral’ for INTC, MU and DRAM, and ‘bearish’ for AMD. “$SPY $QQQ $SOXX $AMD Just another TACO Tuesday,” a trader wrote.

Another posted last night: “Regarding the #chipwreck, it ain't an AI sell-off. People are de-risking in general. Possible rate hike, Iran, etc. It just makes good news to say AI is crashing. $VOO, $QQQ, $VGT, $SOXX and $DRAM are all showing dips in tandem.”

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