US Semiconductor Stocks Plunge as CPI Exceeds Expectations: CPU and Memory Giants Down 6-9%

US semiconductor stocks experienced a sharp decline on May 12, 2025, following the release of inflation data that exceeded expectations. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped up to 4.3% during the session.

Inflation data triggers broad sell-off

Qualcomm fell over 9.4%, while SanDisk dropped 8.7% and Intel declined 7.6%. Other major chipmakers including Micron, Western Digital, Seagate, Marvell, and Applied Materials also saw losses of up to 6%.

The sell-off was triggered by the US April Consumer Price Index, which came in at 3.8% year-on-year, above the expected 3.7%. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.8% year-on-year, also surpassing the forecast of 2.7%.

The broad market reaction underscores investor sensitivity to inflation data, as higher-than-expected readings may influence Federal Reserve policy. The declines affected companies across CPU, GPU, memory, and storage segments.