AI fatigue drives chip stocks to their longest losing streak since May 2025

Chip stocks are having a rough October. As of October 13, 2026, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) had fallen for five trading days in a row, its longest losing streak since May 2025. The culprit has a name: AI fatigue. Investors who spent most of the year funding the AI buildout are now asking a simple question. When does all this spending start paying for itself? A bad week, by the numbers The damage runs deeper than a single ETF. Of the 30 stocks in the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX), 22 now sit more than 20% below the record highs they set in May or June 2026. The trigger came on October 8. The Financial Times reported that OpenAI’s revenue run rate was approximately $50 billion. The market had been expecting something closer to $70 billion. A run rate is a snapshot of current revenue projected out over a full year. So the gap suggests OpenAI is earning meaningfully less right now than investors had baked into their models. The SOX fell about 3.4% that day. Individual names took harder hits: Intel dropped 5.3% Micron fell roughly 4.8% Broadcom slid 4.3% Nvidia lost about 3% The pain extended well beyond US megacaps. SK Hynix shares fell for seven straight sessions, shedding a...