Samsung's Record Q2 Profit Sparks Global Chip Rout; Nasdaq Drops Over 1%
- Samsung Electronics posted a record preliminary Q2 operating profit of ~89.4 trillion won (~$58B), up ~19x year-over-year, but shares fell as much as 10% intraday in Seoul and ~7% at close as investors locked in gains after a 150% YTD rally; the KOSPI slid nearly 5%, briefly entering bear-market territory (Reuters, Bloomberg).
- The sell-off spread to U.S. chip names: Intel and Applied Materials fell roughly 10%, AMD dropped ~8%, and Micron slid on memory-cycle concerns, pushing the Nasdaq down more than 1% and dragging the S&P 500 off records (Bloomberg, MarketWatch).
- Analysts cited "AI-valuation fatigue," with even strong results unable to sustain the trade; Goldman Sachs separately raised its AMD price target to $640 citing agentic-AI CPU demand, highlighting the bifurcated chip tape.