On Monday as investors eagerly awaited the upcoming earnings season and absorbed various research reports from Wall Street. ON Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ON), spearheaded the sector with gains exceeding 4%, while Intel(NASDAQ:INTC), surged more than 3%. News surfaced over the weekend that the CEOs of Intel and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), were scheduled to meet with lawmakers in Washington to discuss the Biden Administration’s restrictions on China.
In response to these developments, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), a prominent trade group, urged the Biden Administration to refrain from imposing further constraints on semiconductor sales to China. The SIA issued a statement expressing concerns that repeated and broad restrictions could potentially harm the competitiveness of the U.S. semiconductor industry, disrupt supply chains, create market uncertainty, and invite retaliatory actions from China. Notable members of the SIA include AMD, Broadcom, Intel, Nvidia, Wolfspeed, and several other firms.
AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), experienced a modest 1% increase in share value despite investment firm Citi initiating a negative 90-day catalyst watch on the semiconductor giant. An analyst from Citi, Christopher Danely, predicted a downside to estimates due to corrections in the data center, gaming, and embedded markets, which collectively account for 84% of AMD’s projected sales in 202.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), observed a slight increase of over 1% as Citi reaffirmed its buy rating and raised its estimates in response to growing demand for graphics processing units (GPUs).
Semiconductor equipment company Cohu, saw its shares rise by more than 4% on Monday. This surge came after investment firm B. Riley upgraded Cohu and adjusted its estimates for several other chip equipment companies, following a positive impression from a recent semiconductor conference. B. Riley raised its price targets for Axcelis Tech, Applied Materials, Camtek, FormFactor, Ichor Holdings, Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Lam Research, and Onto Innovation, citing various factors such as stabilizing demand within the sector.
Additionally, several other chip stocks experienced mid-day gains on Monday. NXP Semiconductors, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments, Skyworks Solutions, and Qorvo were among the companies that saw their stock prices rise.
As investors eagerly awaited the forthcoming earnings season, the positive performance of ON Semiconductor and Intel, along with the industry’s response to the Biden Administration’s curbs on China, contributed to an optimistic atmosphere within the semiconductor sector. The impact of Citi’s catalyst watch on AMD, the improved estimates for Nvidia, and the upgrades and adjusted price targets from B. Riley on chip equipment companies further added to the overall positive sentiment in the market.
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Author Faith Yakubu 
