Semiconductor stocks were largely higher to start the week, led by renewed strength in some of the sector’s biggest companies, including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD).
Nvidia shares rose nearly 3% in late morning trading, while AMD added 2.7%. Both stocks sold off last week despite continued momentum in artificial intelligence-related spending. Nvidia also said on Monday that it was accelerating robotics-related research and development with the unveiling of new open AI models and simulation libraries.
Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), which competes with both Nvidia and AMD, fell 2.5%, despite getting a price target hike from Deutsche Bank. Analyst Ross Seymore raised his price target to $30 from $23, citing the recent moves the company has made to strengthen its balance sheet, including Nvidia’s investment.
Semiconductor equipment makers rose after Deutsche Bank upgraded Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) to Buy from Hold and upped its price target to $150. Lam Research shares rose 2.8%, while KLA Corp. (KLAC) added on 1.3%. ASML (ASML) also saw upside on Monday.
Memory stocks continued to surge on Monday, as Western Digital (WDC), Seagate (STX) and Micron (MU) added between 4.5% and 9%, led by Western Digital. Morgan Stanley pointed to the strong hard-disk drive cycle, driven by AI, in raising its price targets on Western Digital and Seagate.
Also seeing gains were Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR), which got a price target hike at Needham, and Broadcom (AVGO) and Texas Instruments (TXN), both of which rose fractionally.
Conversely, Qualcomm (QCOM), Analog Devices (ADI), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) and Qorvo (QRVO) started off the week in the red.