Bitget App
Trade smarter
Buy cryptoMarketsTradeFuturesEarnSquareMore
US technology sector surges 42% in two months, biggest rally in 24 years

US technology sector surges 42% in two months, biggest rally in 24 years

CryptobriefingCryptobriefing2026/06/02 21:33
By:Cryptobriefing

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has gained over 42% year-to-date as of late April 2026. At one point, the SOX posted a 47% gain in just 18 days, with some components climbing as much as 80% since March 30.

This is the largest rally in the US technology sector in 24 years.

The numbers behind the frenzy

The rally’s epicenter is artificial intelligence infrastructure. Hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet have been pouring capital into AI buildouts, and the companies making the silicon that powers those ambitions are reaping the rewards.

NVIDIA shares climbed 30% in a recent stretch. Micron’s stock has tripled in 2026. SK Hynix is up 260% and Samsung has gained 160% this year.

NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Micron, and Broadcom have all delivered outsized returns that far exceed gains in broader tech benchmarks. The rally has been wide enough across the semiconductor supply chain to push both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to repeated record highs throughout 2026.

Gartner is projecting that semiconductor industry revenue will reach $1.3 trillion in 2026. That would represent 64% year-over-year growth, the largest annual increase the chip industry has seen in two decades.

Three forces are converging to produce these numbers: massive AI capital expenditure from the world’s largest tech companies, persistent supply constraints that have kept pricing power firmly in manufacturers’ hands, and rising memory prices that have turned what was a cyclical trough into a windfall for DRAM and NAND producers.

Why AI spending changed the math

The AI spending cycle that began in earnest in 2023 has not slowed down. The major cloud providers are locked in what amounts to an arms race, each trying to secure enough compute capacity to serve enterprise AI demand that keeps outpacing forecasts.

Traditional PC and smartphone chip cycles used to dictate the rhythm of the industry. Now, data center GPUs, high-bandwidth memory, and custom AI accelerators are the growth engines.

What this means for investors

Tech and chip stocks have become such a large driver of overall market returns that being underweight the sector is effectively a bet against the index itself.

Gartner’s $1.3 trillion revenue projection for 2026 gives the rally a fundamental anchor. Companies like NVIDIA and Micron are posting actual revenue growth, not just promise-driven valuations.

Supply constraints have been a tailwind, keeping chip pricing elevated and margins fat. If those constraints ease, either through new fab capacity coming online or a softening in demand growth, margins could compress even as revenues continue to grow.

The memory segment deserves particular scrutiny. SK Hynix up 260% and Samsung up 160% in a single year reflects a memory upcycle of historic proportions. Memory cycles are notoriously violent in both directions. Investors who rode the 2017-2018 memory boom remember what the subsequent downturn felt like.

The continued prioritization of AI workloads by foundries like TSMC shapes the supply landscape for every chip-dependent industry, including the hardware that secures blockchain networks.

0
0

Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

Understand the market, then trade.
Bitget offers one-stop trading for cryptocurrencies, stocks, and gold.
Trade now!

You may also like

From a Technical Narrative to a Capital Narrative: The Next Main Battleground in the AI Construction Cycle

US hyperscale cloud providers have significantly raised their capital expenditure plans, both public and private credit markets are rapidly moving into AI infrastructure financing, and the financing structure is evolving quickly and extending deeper into the value chain—all of this has happened intensively within just a few months, with a speed, scope, and level of innovation that exceeds market expectations. Morgan Stanley believes that AI is evolving into a capital markets story, and understanding the flow of capital is becoming as important as understanding the technological innovation itself.

华尔街见闻2026/08/18 02:21

"Too crazy!" Korean retail investors "move from Seoul to Wall Street": buying SK Hynix ADRs and betting on triple leveraged ETFs

Data shows that South Korean retail investors had a net purchase of approximately $4.5 billion in US stocks in July. Among these, $840 million flowed into SK Hynix ADR, despite about a 10% premium. The triple-leveraged semiconductor ETF SOXL was the top favorite among South Korean investors, and leveraged products accounted for four of the top ten purchased assets. Analysts noted that South Korean retail investors are "switching arenas but not bets," continuing to focus on the AI theme. The prevalence of ADR premiums and leverage is seen as a sign of excessive speculation, which may exacerbate volatility in specific markets.

华尔街见闻2026/08/18 02:16

Tech Giants' Financing Booms Keep Breaking Records, 30-Year US Treasury Yield Hits Nearly 20-Year High! AI Supercycle Enters New Phase of "Capital Equals Computing Power"

The sales volume of US investment-grade bonds has reached a record high for the third consecutive month, maintaining the fastest issuance pace in the market, driven by corporate borrowing for artificial intelligence infrastructure spending. According to data compiled by institutions, high-grade bond supply in August reached $145.2 billion, surpassing the $136 billion total for the same period in 2020.

智通财经2026/08/18 01:36
Tech Giants' Financing Booms Keep Breaking Records, 30-Year US Treasury Yield Hits Nearly 20-Year High! AI Supercycle Enters New Phase of "Capital Equals Computing Power"