STMicroelectronics Initiated at Neutral by Mizuho

By WSJ Staff

Asian semiconductor stocks tumbled on renewed fears of an artificial-intelligence bubble, tracking U.S. declines from Thursday. European chip shares fell too.

• Shares in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix-the two largest memory-chip makers- dropped more than 5%. The South Korean companies supply high-bandwidth memory products to Nvidia.
• Taiwanese heavyweights TSMC and contract electronics maker Foxconn Technology, formally known as Hon Hai, both fell more than 4%.
• In Japan, technology investment conglomerate SoftBank plunged more than 10%.
• Semiconductor Manufacturing International, China's biggest contract chip maker, lost more than 6% in Hong Kong.
• European chip stocks also fell. Shares of ASML dropped roughly 6% in the Netherlands, while STMicroelectronics, which supplies Apple and Tesla, lost less than 2% in Paris.

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Shares of European semiconductor companies fall after Thursday's surge, which was driven by Nvidia's strong performance and a renewed market optimism. Shares of ASM International are down 4.4%. German chip maker Infineon Technologies falls 3.8% and STMicroelectronics, which supplies Apple and Tesla, is down 2%. Meanwhile, BE Semiconductor Industries shares are trading 4.4% lower. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

European semiconductor companies exposed to auto and industrial markets have seen a decline in their inventories, JPM Global Equity Research's Sandeep Deshpande writes in a note. Inventory days--which measure the average number of days it takes to sell off the company's inventory--at auto-industrial-exposed chipmakers fell to 166 in third quarter from 179 in second quarter, but remain 46 days above the roughly 120-day that many companies see as the "new normal", he says. Third-quarter results also show the impact of elevated inventories, with several companies missing margin guidance, he adds. The analyst expects inventory and margin normalization only by late 2026, and says oversupply has created a buyer's market with shorter lead times. "Inventories at auto parts suppliers are still elevated and industrial customer inventories are also high," he says. JPM favors ASML Holding over auto-industrial exposed Infineon and STMicroelectronics, whose recoveries depend on solid market demand. ASML, Infineon and STMicroelectronics shares are down 0.7%, 3% and 2.5%, respectively. (najat.kantouar@wsj.com)

European indexes fall in early trade, lead by technology stocks as investors reevaluate their high valuations. Germany's DAX was the biggest faller, down 1.4%, followed by France's CAC 40, down 1.2%. London's FTSE 100 index loses 0.8%, while the STOXX 600 index drops 1.1%. On Monday, Palantir Technologies shares fell despite the company reporting record earnings as investors fretted over its valuation after a record rally on the stock. European chip stocks fall, lead by STMicroelectroics which is nearly 3% lower. BE Semiconductor shares fall 2.2%, while ASML is down 1.5%. At the opposite end of the scale, Philips shares rise 1.8% after the Dutch health-technology company said it expects full-year profit at the top end of guidance. (ian.walker@wsj.com.)