AEM Leads Singapore Chip Sell-Off as Alphabet’s Record Drop Hits Regional Stocks
AEM fell as much as 11% amid a regional chip sell-off, while its monthly decline and losses at peers point to pressure beyond one day’s trading.
Singapore’s semiconductor shares faced another test on Friday as a sharp fall in Alphabet added to a month of losses across the sector. AEM dropped more than 11 per cent in early trading before recovering some ground, while UMS Integration, Frencken and newly listed Mi Material also declined. The moves followed a weak session for US technology stocks, where disappointing results and spending concerns weighed on shares tied to artificial intelligence.
By 9.30 am, AEM had fallen more than 11 per cent to S$7.23. UMS Integration was down over 6 per cent at S$2.04, and Frencken had lost 4.7 per cent to S$2.02. AEM later narrowed its decline: at 11.45 am it stood at S$7.54, down 7.4 per cent.
Mi Material, which makes chip packaging materials, was down 9 per cent at S$1.63 in early trading. By 11.45 am it had fallen to S$1.54, a decline of 14.4 per cent. The stock had stayed at its S$1.80 initial public offering price during its first two trading days as OCBC bought shares on the open market to support the price.
The early share moves show how quickly weakness in large US technology companies can reach smaller semiconductor markets. But the Singapore declines also sit within a longer slide: month to date, AEM had fallen 24.8 per cent, UMS Integration 24 per cent and Frencken 22.5 per cent. That broader drawdown gives the day’s losses a different weight from a single-session reaction. Investors were already facing a weaker trend in these stocks before Alphabet’s results added fresh pressure.
US results deepen concerns over technology spending
Alphabet shares closed 12.6 per cent lower at US$283.82 on Thursday, their biggest one-day decline since the company listed in 2004. The immediate trigger was third-quarter revenue of US$127.6 billion, which came in below expectations. The result renewed concerns around the spending needed to build out artificial intelligence capabilities, a theme that had also been weighing on other technology names.
US stocks fell for a second session as investors moved away from artificial-intelligence-linked shares amid a run of disappointing results. Amazon.com dropped 7.3 per cent after reporting higher spending and slower growth in its online business. Intel also fell sharply after its sales forecast missed estimates.
Intel said fourth-quarter sales would be US$15 billion to US$16 billion. Analysts’ average estimate was US$17 billion, while some projections were above US$18 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gap between the company’s forecast and those expectations added to the pressure on technology shares. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index fell 2 per cent.
Alphabet’s revenue miss and concerns over artificial-intelligence spending formed the backdrop to Friday’s regional trading. For chip suppliers, the market reaction matters because a pullback in technology investment expectations can unsettle demand assumptions across the supply chain. The source figures establish the market reaction; they don’t, by themselves, show how much any one company’s future orders or revenue may change.
Regional declines extend beyond Singapore
In South Korea, home to major chip manufacturers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, the Kospi was down almost 5 per cent in mid-morning trading. The simultaneous weakness across markets suggests the selling was not confined to Singapore-listed names or to one company’s outlook. It reflects a broader reassessment of technology stocks after results and forecasts failed to meet market expectations.
There was also a separate company-specific development in the US chip sector. A Reuters report quoted a company statement saying that a deadly explosion at Intel’s Israel factory would erase roughly US$600 million in revenue over two quarters. That estimate adds a distinct operational factor to Intel’s weaker sales outlook; it does not explain the full decline in technology shares.
For shareholders in AEM, UMS Integration, Frencken and Mi Material, the relevant signals now include both the broader appetite for technology stocks and company-specific evidence about demand, spending and production. A sharp early fall followed by a partial recovery, as with AEM, captures trading volatility, while the month-to-date declines show that pressure had already accumulated. The next results and forecasts from chipmakers and their customers will help clarify whether the latest sell-off is mainly a reaction to near-term expectations or part of a more sustained change in the sector’s outlook.
