Chipmaking stocks kicked off 2026 with strong gains as investors continued to pour money into the artificial intelligence-driven semiconductor sector following another year of outsized returns.
Shares of Micron Technology and Dutch chip equipment maker ASML jumped about 10% and 9%, respectively. Lam Research and Intel rose more than 6% each, while Marvell Technology gained around 5%.
Advanced Micro Devices climbed roughly 4%, while Nvidia added about 1%. In 2025, AMD surged 77% and Nvidia advanced 39%, underscoring the sector’s momentum.
Semiconductor stocks were lifted in 2025 by heavy AI-related spending, particularly from hyperscalers such as Amazon and Google, which have invested aggressively to meet relentless data center demand.
The rally extended to the VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which rose about 4% to build on a nearly 49% gain in 2025. The ETF has now posted gains for three consecutive years, despite growing investor concerns about AI valuations and the risk of a bubble in the sector.
