AMD, Broadcom, Qualcomm among biggest chip gainers as sector ends week strong

Semiconductor stocks looked to end the week sharply higher, as interest rates settled down and investors moved back into tech stocks.

AMD (AMD) shares gained nearly 5% on Friday, despite no company specific news. More than 50M shares changed hands, compared to the average daily volume of 55M.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), which competes with AMD in the GPU space, rose nearly 3% as it was reported that a Chinese artificial intelligence startup bought enough Nvidia chips earlier this year to last 18 months, prior to the most recent export control curb.

Intel (INTC), which competes with both AMD and Nvidia, rose 3% in sympathy.

Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) tacked on 4% as it was reported that China’s delay in approving its deal to acquire VMware (VMW) is “clearly political” in nature.

On Friday, the White House said that President Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 15 as the two countries look to continue to improve relations.

Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) gained nearly 6% on back of signs of the improved relationship between the U.S. and China. Taiwan Semiconductor is one of the companies most often mentioned for being at risk of a possible invasion of Taiwan by China.

The company also reported strong October revenue figures as the company said sales rose 34.8% month-over-month and 15.% from the year-ago period.

Additionally, there was a fresh report that Japan plans to provide subsidies to the global chip foundry to expand in the country. Competitor GlobalFoundries (GFS) added 1.3% in sympathy.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) shares rose more than 3% after the San Diego-based chipmaker killed a deal with Iridium (IRDM) to bring satellite communications to Android smartphones.

Qualcomm likely ended the deal due to several factors, including costs, technology and the ability to monetize it, Wall Street analysts said on Friday.

Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) eked out a slight gain as Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on the British chip design firm, as well as Synopsys (SNPS) and Cadence Design Systems (CDNS).

The investment firm said artificial intelligence is increasingly playing a role for all three companies.

Also seeing strong gains on Friday were analog provides, including Texas Instruments (TXN), Analog Devices (ADI) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), along with smartphone linked names, including Skyworks Solutions (SWKS), Qorvo (QRVO) and Micron Technology (MU).

This story has been updated to include Taiwan Semiconductor’s monthly sales figures.