Catenaa, Friday, April 24, 2026- US chip stocks soared to record highs on Friday, with Intel’s unexpectedly strong revenue forecast fueling fresh optimism that the AI boom driving this year’s rally in the semiconductor sector is showing no signs of slowing down.
The foremost stock index for chip makers, the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index, rose 2.5% to an all-time high and was on track to extend its record-breaking streak of single-day gains to 18. The index has gained more than 42% so far this year.
Chip stocks have emerged as some of the biggest gainers of the spending spree by tech giants on scaling up their AI infrastructure.
The semiconductors sub-industry alone is expected to record first-quarter earnings growth of 104.9% – much higher than the broader S&P 500 information technology sector whose earnings growth is seen at 46.2%, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data.
Intel surged 22.3% to surpass its dotcom-era peak in 2000 following a robust revenue outlook that signaled strong demand for central processors (CPUs), with rivals AMD and Arm also climbing 11.8% and 8.1%, respectively.
Nvidia, now the world’s most valuable company, rose 1.2%. Much of last year’s rally in chip stocks was driven by Nvidia, whose gains were fueled by strong demand for its flagship graphics processing units (GPUs).
US tech stocks also seemed to shrug off a preview of a new AI model from Chinese startup DeepSeek, whose low-cost AI model rocked Wall Street last year.
The Philadelphia chips index was last trading at around 26.6 times its 12-month forward earnings estimates, compared to around 20.7 for the S&P 500.
Analog chipmaker Texas Instruments also forecast second-quarter revenue and profit above estimates on Wednesday, sending its shares to a record high. It was down 2.4% on Friday.
Bloomberg Intelligence estimates suggest semiconductor sector revenue could grow about 57% in 2026, roughly double the pace expected for the broader technology sector and well ahead of the 9.3% growth projected for the S&P 500.
Market participants increasingly see this spending cycle as durable, with strategists noting that continued investment in AI systems could support both earnings growth and valuations across the semiconductor space for some time.
At the center of the trade is Nvidia, which has climbed more than 1,200% over the past five years and now carries a market capitalization of nearly $5 trillion, positioning it as a central force in both the sector and the broader market narrative.
