The Asia tech sell-off widened sharply on Monday, pulling SoftBank Group down 6.1% and wiping out hundreds of billions in market value across the region’s biggest chip and AI-linked names, with Europe’s semiconductor stocks following closely behind.
| Company / Asset | Move |
|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics | -10.18% |
| SK Hynix | -7.68% |
| Tokyo Electron | -7.45% |
| SoftBank Group | -6.1% |
| VanEck SMH ETF (Friday) | -9%+ |
| Arm Holdings (Friday) | -13% |
The trigger was Broadcom. Its fiscal second-quarter revenue came in at $22.19 billion, a record and up 48% year-over-year, but it still fell short of the analyst consensus of $22.27 billion, according to TradingKey. A whisker below expectations. That was enough.
What Actually Spooked Investors in the Broadcom Report
The revenue miss mattered less than what Broadcom CEO Hock Tan chose not to say. Tan declined to raise the company’s full-year target of $100 billion in AI chip sales, despite the record quarterly print, according to CNBC’s earnings report. Tan confirmed six core custom chip customers including Anthropic, Google, Meta, and OpenAI, but with no guidance lift, the stock fell roughly 15% on the day.
Broadcom’s Q3 outlook, filed with the SEC, projects revenue of approximately $29.4 billion, an 84% year-over-year increase, with non-GAAP operating income expected near 67% of revenue, per the company’s 8-K filing. That forward number is strong. But markets priced in a guidance raise, not a hold, and the gap between expectation and reality cascaded across the sector.
Arm Holdings, the British chip designer that SoftBank controls, dropped nearly 13% on Friday. Micron fell more than 13%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which holds 26 securities and carries roughly $58.79 billion in net assets, shed over 9% in a single session.
The Asia Tech Sell-Off Hits Korea Hardest
South Korea bore the heaviest damage. Samsung Electronics fell 10.18% and SK Hynix dropped 7.68%. Together they account for more than 40% of the Kospi index, which plunged as much as 8% intraday before partially recovering. TSMC slipped 2.96%, and Foxconn fell 5.27%. Tokyo Electron lost 7.45%.
Europe tracked the same path. ASML, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, ASM International, and Besi each fell between 3% and 4.5% in early trading.
The broader context makes the declines harder to absorb. Samsung and SK Hynix each crossed a $1 trillion market valuation last month, riding optimism over AI memory demand. SoftBank had recently become Japan’s most valuable company. Both milestones now look fragile.
Rate Expectations Add Another Layer of Pressure
Rate risk is compounding the Asia tech sell-off. Strong U.S. labor data last week pushed several major banks to revise their Fed outlooks. Goldman Sachs moved its final two rate cuts to June and December 2027. J.P. Morgan went further, withdrawing its January cut call entirely and now forecasting a 25-basis-point rate hike in the third quarter of 2027. Barclays also pushed back its expectations, according to Reuters.
Higher-for-longer rates compress the long-duration valuations that AI-linked tech stocks depend on. It is not just a sentiment story. The math gets harder when the discount rate moves.
UOB estimated the tech-led rout erased roughly $1.8 trillion in S&P 500 market cap. The Nasdaq fell more than 4.5% last week alone.
One potential reset point is approaching. UOB flagged the Nasdaq debut of a space exploration and AI technology company on Friday, June 12, in what could rank as the largest IPO ever. If that listing draws strong demand, it would offer the first real read on whether institutional appetite for AI-linked names has actually broken or merely bent. Watch the order book.
