Asia tech stocks drop after Broadcom rattles AI trade and drags Wall Street names lower

Asian tech shares on Friday tracked losses in U.S. chip stocks after a downbeat earnings report from Broadcom sparked a rotation out of artificial intelligence-linked names into more defensive sectors.

The weakness was pronounced in South Korea’s chip-heavy market. Samsung Electronics fell nearly 7%, while SK Hynix dropped more than 8%. Other tech-related names also came under pressure, with Samsung SDI down over 7%, LG Display falling 7.4%, LG Innotek losing 6.1%, and Seoul Semiconductor sliding more than 6%.

Japanese technology stocks also fell. Tokyo Electron and Advantest dropped over 6% and 5% respectively. Murata Manufacturing, manufacturer of electronic components, fell 4.8%. Fanuc, manufacturer of industrial robotics,  lost 4.1%. 

In Taiwan, Apple supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry declined 1.7%, contract manufacturer Pegatron was down 2.6% and iPhone camera lens maker Largan Precision lost more than 4%. 

Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC, however, bucked the broader trend to edge 0.4% higher. 

The broader decline followed a sell-off in U.S. semiconductor stocks overnight after Broadcom tumbled more than 12% following a fiscal second-quarter revenue miss. The weakness spread across the sector, dragging the VanEck Semiconductor ETF down more than 1%, while Arm Holdings lost over 4% and Micron Technology slid nearly 8%.

“After such massive gains a ‘correction’ for recent winners was (and still is) sorely needed for a reset,” Andrew Jackson, equity strategist at Ortus Advisors, said on Friday.