A global sell-off in semiconductor shares deepened on Tuesday following comments from Broadcom’s chief executive, Hock Tan, who described AI investing as resembling a casino. Shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell as much as 8.8 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively in Seoul, dragging South Korea’s Kospi index down 7 per cent. The two companies, which account for about half the benchmark, have shed roughly 15 per cent over the past five days.
Taiwan’s Taiex slipped 2.5 per cent, with TSMC dropping 2 per cent, while US rival Micron Technology fell nearly 4 per cent. Tan warned that many investors lack understanding of what they are investing in, setting extreme expectations only to discover the market behaves like a gamble. Ecaterina Bigos of BNP Paribas Asset Management attributed the sell-off to rising bond yields and growing concerns over returns on AI investments.
SoftBank Group shares fell over 8 per cent in Tokyo amid broader reassessment of AI valuations. Foreign investors have sold more than $150bn of South Korean stocks this year. Despite record earnings from Samsung, which saw operating profit surge nearly ninefold in Q3, investor skepticism remains high due to memories of past chip industry boom-bust cycles.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing