Micron, Intel and AMD gained more than 7% as investors returned to semiconductor stocks following a sharp July selloff.
The Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares ETF surged nearly 18% Tuesday as semiconductor stocks extended their recovery from a sharp July selloff.
SOXL traded around $137.61 as of 11:20 a.m. Eastern Time, up from Monday’s closing price of $116.71. The leveraged fund seeks to deliver 300% of the daily performance of the NYSE Semiconductor Index.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained about 4% Tuesday as technology and AI related stocks moved higher. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average also reached intraday records following strong earnings and forecasts from companies linked to AI infrastructure spending.
Micron Technology rose 7.5%, Intel gained 9.4% and Advanced Micro Devices advanced 7.1%. Nvidia traded about 1.7% higher.
Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Micron and raised its price target to $1,550, describing the recent decline in the stock as an enhanced buying opportunity. The firm cited Micron’s exposure to growing demand for memory used in AI and cloud infrastructure.
The semiconductor rally follows stronger than expected earnings and AI infrastructure forecasts from major technology companies including Microsoft and Amazon. The results supported expectations that spending on data centers and computing equipment will continue growing.
Morgan Stanley estimates that capital expenditures from the five largest hyperscalers will reach roughly $800 billion in 2026 and $1.2 trillion in 2027. A year earlier, the bank had projected about $450 billion of spending in each year.
Semiconductor stocks entered August following their steepest monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis. The PHLX Semiconductor Index had fallen more than 20% from its June high as investors questioned AI spending levels and reduced exposure to high momentum technology stocks.
SOXL resets its leverage daily, meaning it seeks three times the index’s performance for a single trading session rather than three times its cumulative return over longer periods.
