SoftBank (SFTBY) Stock Slides 6.6% Amid Chip Sector Selloff

TLDRs: SoftBank shares fall 6. 6% as Asian chip sector reacts to Nvidia’s modest US drop. SK Hynix, Samsung, and TSMC also see sharp declines following Nvidia market reaction. AI server demand and GPU orders remain strong despite short-term selloff pressures. ABF substrate capacity and advanced packaging could shape 2025 semiconductor growth. 💥 Find the Next KnockoutStock! Get live prices, charts, and KO Scores from KnockoutStocks. com, the data-driven platform ranking every stock by quality and breakout potential. SoftBank Group Corp. (SFTBY) shares slid 6. 6% on Friday amid a broader selloff in Asian semiconductor stocks. The decline comes after Nvidia, the US-based chipmaker, reported strong third-quarter earnings and a bullish outlook but still saw its shares drop 3% in overnight trading. The selloff rippled across the region, affecting both large and smaller chip manufacturers. SoftBank, which owns the British semiconductor designer Arm, was among the hardest hit, falling $4. 05 to close at $56. 93. Other major Asian chip players also experienced steep losses. SK Hynix dropped nearly 10%, Samsung Electronics lost over 5%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) fell more than 4%, and Foxconn declined by 4%. Renesas Electronics, Tokyo Electron, and Lasertec also recorded notable declines. SoftBank Group Corp., SFTBY Nvidia’s Numbers Don’t Calm Markets Despite the drop in share prices, Nvidia’s quarterly results highlighted record growth in AI-related demand. The company reported Q3 data center revenue of $51. 2 billion, surpassing expectations. CEO Jensen Huang noted that “cloud GPUs are sold out” and highlighted AI chip orders totaling $500 billion for 2025-2026. The company shipped 13, 000 GPU samples in the quarter, including its new Blackwell DGX integrated AI server to OpenAI, while Oracle announced AI clusters scaling to over 131, 000 Blackwell GPUs. Industry benchmarks also favor Nvidia’s new hardware. The Blackwell GPU achieved a 2. 2x performance improvement over the previous Hopper generation in MLPerf machine learning tests. However, the market remains cautious, partly due to tight supply chains for ABF substrates and advanced packaging components required for AI hardware assembly. Supply Constraints and 2025 Outlook The selloff in SoftBank and other Asian chip stocks may partly reflect concerns over supply and packaging bottlenecks. ABF substrate capacity, the specialized layers used to route power and signals beneath chips, is projected to reach $11. 11 billion in 2025, growing at a 9. 4% CAGR. New entrants in China, such as Anhui Splendid Technology, Aoxin Semiconductor Technology, and Keruisi Semiconductor Technology, are challenging established leaders that currently hold 70% of the market. Advanced packaging and substrate supply timing could significantly influence the AI server surge expected in 2025. Analysts note that while the short-term market reaction is negative, long-term demand for AI infrastructure, including pretraining, post-training, and inference workloads, continues to grow. SoftBank and other suppliers with expansions already locked in could benefit from these trends. Investor Takeaways While SoftBank’s 6. 6% drop may appear concerning, the broader context suggests this is a market overreaction rather than a signal of declining demand. Nvidia’s AI-related guidance remains strong, and infrastructure investment for AI is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. For investors, current valuations in some Asian chip firms could offer a strategic entry point ahead of sustained 2025 growth. As AI continues to drive demand for high-performance chips, SoftBank’s Arm holdings and regional semiconductor suppliers remain central players in a market poised for expansion, despite short-term volatility.
https://coincentral.com/softbank-sftby-stock-slides-6-6-amid-chip-sector-selloff/

Taiwan set to avoid ‘punishing’ 300% tariffs on semiconductor exports, says report — new trade deal could spur $400 billion investment commitment from island nation

Taiwan National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen said that the U. S. is not pushing through with its threat of a 300% tariff on chips, at least for those coming from the island. According to the Financial Times, Taiwan is currently finalizing a trade deal with the U. S. while awaiting the results of the U. S. Department of Commerce’s Section 232 investigation. At the moment, U. S. President Donald Trump has applied a 20% tariff on Taiwanese goods, except for semiconductor imports. “They understand that punishing Taiwan is not in their interests,” Wu told the Financial Times. He also said that the island will help the United States with the development of its semiconductor industry, especially with building science parks. “Of course, there’s the recipes of how to make the chips, but it’s also about the science park management, attracting companies, integrating academic research with industry,” he adds. “No other country has done what we have done.” Taiwan currently has three science parks and ten technology industrial parks that make it easier for companies to focus on innovation instead of red tape. These parks serve as nodes for the island’s high-tech industries, facilitating collaboration for firms within these zones. Aside from that, they also have a fixed lease rate, so companies do not have to worry about skyrocketing rental prices just to stay inside these zones. This model has enabled Taiwan to produce some of the most advanced tech institutions in the world, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the crowning jewel of the island’s silicon shield and headquartered in Hsinchu Science Park, being one excellent example. Aside from helping the U. S. revive its chipmaking industry, an unnamed U. S. government official suggested that the new trade agreement would also result in a US$400 billion investment commitment from Taiwan. This will be much easier for the island, as TSMC is already investing $165 billion in Arizona to build new fabs and even an R&D center. Other Taiwanese companies, like GlobalWafers, are also spending billions of dollars to expand their presence within the United States. This move might seem like an erosion of the island’s leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, but it’s also taking steps to develop a second “silicon shield.” Taiwan has allocated US$3 billion to turn it into an “AI island” while the government is also focusing on building up other industries, like drones, robotics, and medical technology. More importantly, it has restricted the export of TSMC’s most advanced process technologies to help keep it secure at least in the near future.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/taiwan-set-to-avoid-punishing-300-percent-tariffs-on-semiconductor-exports-says-report-new-trade-deal-could-spur-usd400-billion-investment-commitment-from-island-nation