What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after rising geopolitical tensions from the Iran war, threatened to disrupt critical supply chains.
The conflict raised alarms beyond oil prices, with a significant risk looming over the supply of essential gases, such as helium, which are vital for semiconductor manufacturing. Major chip fabricators, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Samsung Electronics, and SK hynix, were projected to face significant production challenges in the event of a supply constraint. Such disruptions would create cascading effects across the tech industry, impacting the production of everything from Apple's iPhones to Nvidia's advanced AI servers. The uncertainty has contributed to a broader market downturn, pushing the Nasdaq into a correction.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Memory Semiconductors company Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) fell 6.2%. Is now the time to buy Seagate? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) fell 3.8%. Is now the time to buy Applied Materials? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company KLA Corporation (NASDAQ: KLAC) fell 3.2%. Is now the time to buy KLA Corporation? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Lam Research (NASDAQ: LRCX) fell 4.8%. Is now the time to buy Lam Research? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
- Analog Semiconductors company MACOM (NASDAQ: MTSI) fell 7.4%. Is now the time to buy MACOM? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
Zooming In On MACOM (MTSI)
MACOM’s shares are very volatile and have had 22 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 3 days ago when the stock dropped 2% on the news that China initiated a trade barrier investigation against the United States, escalating trade tensions.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced it would begin two probes into U.S. trade practices, alleging they have disrupted global supply chains. The move was seen as a direct retaliation to tariff investigations started by the U.S. administration earlier in the month. One Chinese investigation will specifically examine U.S. policies that restrict the export of advanced technology products to China and limit bilateral investment in key sectors. This action raises concerns about further trade restrictions and potential impacts on U.S. tech companies that have significant business operations and sales in the Chinese market.
Adding to the concern, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East were projected to drive supply chain disruptions for key materials. The conflict reportedly tightened the global supply of helium, an essential element used in the manufacturing of semiconductor chips. This scarcity is driving up the price of helium, creating production challenges and increasing costs for chipmakers. The situation introduces another layer of uncertainty for the tech sector, as rising energy prices linked to the conflict stoked broader inflation concerns, potentially impacting consumer demand and business investment in technology.
MACOM is up 18% since the beginning of the year, but at $206.54 per share, it is still trading 20.1% below its 52-week high of $258.54 from March 2026. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of MACOM’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,617.
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