Key Highlights

● Arm fell steeply on Friday, October 30, 2026, in the semiconductor selloff.

● Its U.S.-listed shares trade as American depositary receipts.

● A renewed court fight with Qualcomm returned to focus.

● The Nasdaq-100 ended at 28,384.85.

Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) fell steeply on Friday, October 30, 2026, as a selloff in semiconductors swept through the sector. The Cambridge, England-based designer of chip architectures, whose US-listed shares trade as American depositary receipts, was already sharply lower before the opening bell, and the slide continued during regular trading.

Arm mostly moved with its sector. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)'s weak fourth-quarter guidance and cash-burn warning after Thursday's close started the selling, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor index closed at 10,688.80 after a steep fall. The Nasdaq-100 ended at 28,384.85.

The Qualcomm angle

One company-specific thread drew attention. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), one of Arm's best-known licensees, was in a renewed court fight with Arm, according to market data, bringing the litigation between the two companies back into focus. Market data also cited a new multi-year Patent license under which Qualcomm pays Huawei as pressure on Qualcomm.

Qualcomm itself fell sharply, ranking among the S&P 500's worst decliners. It was hit by the chip rout and by Intel's view that the PC slowdown will last at least through the first half of 2027. Qualcomm reports fiscal fourth-quarter results on Wednesday, November 4.

Arm's designs are used across smartphones, PCs and data-center processors, so a weaker PC market and wobbling confidence in AI spending both touch its business.

Intel's warning

Intel's report was the day's central event. The company guided fourth-quarter Revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion, short of consensus near $17.3 billion, and guided adjusted Earnings to 25 cents a share. It cited a weak PC market tied to memory prices and availability, Manufacturing hurdles and a factory accident in Israel. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said: "Despite near-term headwinds across the PC industry, Demand for our CPUs remains robust."

The market was not persuaded. Intel had its steepest one-day drop on record, according to market data, and a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) analyst said the "agentic tide" in Data Center is "more than offset by PC/supply headwinds."

The damage spread widely. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) closed at $504.80 after a steep slide, Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) fell sharply, and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) closed at $204.64. Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) fell on doubts about AI Capital spending.

A market under strain

Wall Street had its worst day since June. The Nasdaq Composite fell 747.73 points to 25,437.00, its worst day since June 5, the S&P 500 lost 140.32 points to 7,580.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 572.25 points to 51,770.31. Technology was the S&P 500's worst sector, while energy, staples and utilities rose.

"A lot of them kind of got ahead of themselves. It's all earnings based and right now, they're not producing," a trading specialist said.

What to watch

Arm investors will watch for developments in the Qualcomm litigation and for Qualcomm's results on Wednesday, which could shed light on smartphone and PC demand. Commentary from PC makers on inventories will also matter after Intel's warning.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) report Monday, November 2, the midterm elections are Tuesday, November 3, and the October jobs report is due Friday, November 6. With markets pricing in a December Fed hike, the rate path remains part of the backdrop for high-valuation chip stocks. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said this week: "I also don't believe in prejudging meetings. A lot of things can happen."