White-hot semiconductor stocks like Sandisk and Micron are now in meltdown mode

What goes up must come down — and that’s on prime display right now in one of the hottest trades of 2026.

What we are watching: On Monday, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index (^SOX) — aka the SOX — just had its biggest two-day downdraft since the lows in late March.

The bloodletting is happening across momentum names that have led the semi stock bubble this year. Micron (MU) and Sandisk (SNDK) have each tanked 14% over the past five sessions. Intel (INTC) is down by 17%. AMD (AMD) is off by 8%.

The trigger: Despite reporting blowout corporate earnings driven by an unprecedented AI memory supercycle and soaring demand for data center hardware, the chips sector has been hit by the reality of surging bond yields.

The 10-year US Treasury (^TNX) yield has jumped to a 12-month high of 4.61% amid rising inflation fears.

Rising yields are particularly toxic for momentum technology stocks because their sky-high valuations are based on the present value of their projected future cash flows. When safer, fixed-income yields spike, the discount rate applied to those distant corporate earnings rises significantly. In turn, that shrinks the stock’s trading multiple and prompts institutional investors to rotate money out of expensive, crowded tech plays into newly attractive, lower-risk debt instruments.

“While bond yields have been rising, the speed of the adjustment is important and could become a trigger for an equity correction,” Goldman Sachs strategist Peter Oppenheimer pointed out in a new note today. “Sharp bond yield moves have coincided with negative equity returns. The surge in government borrowing is an additional factor pushing up longer dated yields across bond markets.”

He added, “Political developments can rapidly undermine confidence in government funding as they compete to raise money in an environment where capital spending is rising in the private sector. A sharp increase in bond yields from current levels present an additional meaningful risk for equity investors.”

Bottom line: The fundamentals of semiconductor leaders remain strong because of the AI boom. But the market has shifted its focus to the valuation of these super-hot stocks rather than the top- and bottom-line fundamentals. Be careful stepping in on these stocks on the pullback — catching a falling knife isn’t exactly a great idea.

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.