The semiconductor sector in the US stock market experiences mixed fortunes: Intel has been on a 9-day winning streak, while Qualcomm suffers a sharp decline of over 7%, giving back the gains from the "bull market".

Recently, the semiconductor sector of the US stock market has experienced a "two-faced" situation.

On Thursday, September 7th, Intel's stock price closed higher, marking the ninth consecutive trading day of gains, the longest streak since December 4th, 2020. Over the past nine trading days, Intel's stock price has accumulated a 17.2% increase.

Intel closed up 3.2% on Thursday, nearing the day's high of $38.18, the highest closing price since July 28th, 2022. According to Dow Jones data, the stock closed at $39.71 at that time.

Thursday's closing price also marked the best nine-day gain for the stock since June 16th, with a 21.8% increase. However, shortly after June 16th, Intel became the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones index for two consecutive days.

On Wednesday, Intel's CFO, David Zinsner, stated that the company's data center business is rapidly growing due to the market's continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.

On Thursday, Zinsner continued to express optimism:

Currently, our third-quarter performance is above the midpoint of our guidance, and we feel good about the third quarter. Overall, as we look at the current environment, it is clear that we have experienced a strong downturn-prosperity cycle.

In July, Intel projected third-quarter revenue to reach $13.9 billion, higher than the market's expectation of $13.3 billion.

Zinsner emphasized that he believes Intel is on track to achieve its ambitious goal of thoroughly reforming the company and restoring it to the forefront of the industry it once dominated:

We have been undergoing a transformation for two and a half years. Everything is developing as we expected. The market does not need to doubt our ability to achieve this goal.

Another factor contributing to Intel's continuous rise is the recent agreement between Intel and TSMC, two chip giants, to collaborate on foundry capabilities and undertake more work in the same field. Previously, Intel attempted to acquire TSMC and integrate these capabilities into its operations, but the deal ultimately fell through. Now, Intel will provide its new production facility in New Mexico not only as a foundry but also for the production of 300mm products. Meanwhile, TSMC will invest $300 million in cash to "…purchase and own equipment and other fixed assets" to expand its business in New Mexico.

In a report released on Wednesday, Christopher Danely of Citigroup reiterated a hold rating on Intel with a target price of $34, lower than the company's current stock price.

In stark contrast to Intel's glory, Qualcomm suffered a decline of over 7% on Thursday. According to an analysis report by Guo Mingchi, an analyst at Tianfeng International Securities, it is expected that Qualcomm's shipments of SoC to Chinese smartphone brands will decrease by at least 50-60 million units in 2024 compared to 2023, due to Huawei's adoption of the new Kirin processor. It is also expected to decrease year by year. In order to maintain its market share in China, Qualcomm may start a price war as early as the fourth quarter of 2023, which will have a negative impact on profits. Qualcomm's other two potential risks are the expected share of Exynos2400 in Samsung phones and Apple's plan to use its own data chips starting from 2025.

On Thursday, the overall performance of the semiconductor sector in the U.S. stock market was poor. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell by nearly 2.0%. AMKR, a chip stock, fell by 16.32%. Seagate Technology dropped by 10.94%, SiTime dropped by 7.35%, Qorvo dropped by 7.08%, Teradyne TER fell by 5.58%, Cirrus fell by 4.7%, ASML fell by more than 4.2%, Applied Materials fell by more than 3.2%, AMD fell by more than 2.4%, and NVIDIA fell by more than 1.7%.