Intel earnings drop and factory blast drag down major chip stocks

Chip stocks fell sharply after Intel released weak earnings reports. Intel blames the drop on problems in the personal computer market and a recent blast at its factory. Other big chip companies like AMD and Broadcom also saw their share prices drop in after-hours trades. Worries about the wider chip industry grew even more after Alphabet reported poor earnings. Even with these recent troubles, the main semiconductor index has done very well over the course of the year.

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Share prices in the technology sector often move together based on earnings reports from industry giants like Intel and Alphabet. When major players face supply issues or weak demand, investors tend to sell off shares across the entire market. However, a single bad quarter does not always erase the strong growth these companies build up over a full year.