Key Highlights

● Amkor slipped Friday, with no company announcement or analyst action reported.

● It is one of the world's largest outsourced chip packaging and test providers.

● All 30 PHLX Semiconductor Index members declined as the chip losing streak lengthened.

● Taiwan Semiconductor's third-quarter revenue of $46.72 billion topped its guidance.

Moving with the group

Amkor Technology (NASDAQ:AMKR), one of the world's largest providers of outsourced semiconductor packaging and test services, slipped on Friday, according to market reports. The reports placed the S&P MidCap 400 member alongside Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ:KLIC) among falling chip stocks, and said Amkor moved with the sector.

No company announcement or analyst action on Amkor was reported during Friday's session. The company assembles and tests chips for semiconductor designers and manufacturers, a step that sits between wafer fabrication and the finished devices that go into phones, cars, computers and data-center hardware.

A long losing streak

Chip stocks extended a prolonged slide. The PHLX Semiconductor Index fell to 11,137.29, and all 30 of its constituents declined, according to market data. Several reports counted an eighth straight decline for the sector, while another described the streak as approaching a ninth session, so reports differed on its length. One reading said 57 stocks in a 60-stock semiconductor basket were falling during the session.

Kulicke and Soffa, which makes equipment used in chip assembly and packaging, fell. Intel tumbled, and Lam Research fell ahead of its earnings report next week. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) also declined.

What drove the selling

Several pressures converged on the sector. Market reports attributed part of the chip weakness to rising borrowing costs and to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's remarks emphasizing price stability. Memory makers fell on concerns about Chinese competition, specifically CXMT's progress in DRAM technology.

The bigger theme was artificial intelligence financing. Market commentary said investors moved from asking what AI can do to asking how it will be paid for, with debt-funded infrastructure companies hit hardest. Reports indicated that more than $1 trillion was erased from semiconductor and AI-related stocks over the week.

"The AI group is now splitting between companies that can fund the buildout themselves and those that have to borrow," one market commentator wrote. "That is a change in character, and it's another reason the leaders no longer look like a safe haven."

Market close

The Nasdaq Composite fell 572.99 points to 26,140.03, the S&P 500 lost 84.62 points to 7,659.44 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 175.28 points to 52,002.41. The Russell 2000 dropped 45.90 points to about 2,721. No closing level for the S&P MidCap 400 was available. Energy, utilities and consumer staples gained as money moved out of technology.

Amkor Meets Chip Earnings and TSMC Data

The Federal Reserve's decision on Oct 28 and the PCE inflation report on Oct 29 will shape the rate backdrop. Warsh offered no preview. "I don't prejudge meetings," he said at an IMF gathering in Bangkok.

Chip-sector earnings could test the selloff. Lam Research and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) report Wednesday, Oct 21, after the close, and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) reports Thursday, Oct 22. Intel follows on Oct 29. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (NYSE:TSM) reported third-quarter revenue of $46.72 billion, above its guidance, and kept its 2026 capital spending plan at $60 billion to $64 billion, a data point closely tied to demand across the chip supply chain.