Two Days Before Today's Selloff, Data Put Global September Chip Sales Up 146.8% Year to Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 5, 2026 /CNW/ -- Equity Insider News Commentary - Semiconductor stocks are having a hard session. As of 10:34 a.m. ET, the PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX) stood at 9,419.27, down 8.27% from Wednesday's close of 10,268.65. Stocks dip sometimes, and perspective helps: based on daily closing prices, the index was still about 33.0% above where it finished 2025 (7,083.13) and about 31.0% above its level one year ago (7,190.27 on Nov. 5, 2025). Underneath the share prices sits a fresh stack of demand data, put on the record over the past three weeks by the industry's trade group, a major cloud provider and suppliers across the chip supply chain. Active Companies from around the markets with current developments this week include: Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq: LRCX), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TWSE: 2330) (NYSE: TSM), Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK), and Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB).

That said, the index remains about 35.6% below 14,634.72, its highest close of the past year, set on June 22. Here is what the industry and the companies themselves reported in their latest releases.

The industry tally kept climbing through September

On Nov. 3, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported global semiconductor sales of $517.7 billion during the third quarter of 2026, an increase of 24.1% compared to the second quarter. Global sales were $172.6 billion during the month of September 2026, an increase of 146.8% compared to September 2025 and 7.9% more than sales in August 2026. The monthly figures are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

SIA said worldwide sales increased by more than 20% quarter-to-quarter for the third consecutive quarter. Regionally, year-to-year sales in September were up in the Americas (191.7%), Asia Pacific/All Other (141.4%), China (124.9%), Europe (102.5%) and Japan (73.4%).

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A cloud customer keeps its spending plan in place

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) sits on the demand side of the chip story, and its third quarter release on Oct. 29 put numbers to it. AWS segment sales increased 39% year-over-year to $46.0 billion, which the company described as a $184 billion annualized revenue run rate, and AWS segment operating income was $17.8 billion, compared with $11.4 billion a year earlier. In its outlook, Amazon said it continues to expect 2026 cash capital expenditures to be approximately $220 billion. The company also said it made it even easier to adopt its custom AI accelerator, Trainium, with TorchNeuron.

"Our AWS investment in functionality and infrastructure is working, with over 39% year-over-year revenue growth in Q3 ($184 billion revenue run rate) and projected revenue growth rates of over 40% both in 2027 and in 2028," said Andy Jassy, President and CEO, Amazon. As of 10:34 a.m. ET, Amazon shares were down 3.16% on the day and about 11.6% above their 2025 closing price.

Equipment and foundry suppliers report their September quarters

Lam Research Corporation (Nasdaq: LRCX), which supplies wafer fabrication equipment, reported on Oct. 21 revenue of $8.22 billion for its September quarter, up from $6.72 billion in the June quarter. Systems revenue, which includes sales of new leading-edge equipment in deposition, etch, clean and other wafer fabrication markets, was about $5.73 billion, compared with about $3.55 billion in the same quarter of 2025. Deferred revenue increased to $2.66 billion from $2.43 billion, and Lam guided December quarter revenue to $8.60 billion, plus or minus $400 million.

"With AI driving higher semiconductor demand and greater device complexity, our focus on operational execution helped Lam deliver record revenue, profit, and earnings per share in the September quarter," said Tim Archer, Lam Research's President and Chief Executive Officer. Lam shares were down 10.78% as of 10:34 a.m. ET and about 15.4% above their 2025 close.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM), the foundry known as TSMC, reported on Oct. 15 third quarter revenue of US$46.72 billion, an increase of 41.2% year-over-year in U.S. dollar terms. Advanced technologies, defined as 7-nanometer and more advanced, accounted for 79% of total wafer revenue, and TSMC expects fourth quarter revenue between US$52.3 billion and US$54.3 billion. The company noted that its third quarter figures had not been approved by its Board of Directors.

"Moving into fourth quarter 2026, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies, including the steep ramp-up of our 2-nanometer technology," said Wendell Huang, Senior VP and Chief Financial Officer of TSMC. TSMC's New York-listed shares were down 7.53% as of 10:34 a.m. ET and about 20.4% above their 2025 close.

Memory and connectivity suppliers add their numbers

Sandisk Corporation (Nasdaq: SNDK) reported on Oct. 29 fiscal first quarter revenue of $11.0 billion, up 23% sequentially. Revenue from its Datacenter end market was $4,802 million, up 61% from the prior quarter and up from $269 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Sandisk expects fiscal second quarter revenue in the range of $12.2 billion to $12.6 billion, and announced an eight-for-one forward stock split effective November 19, 2026.

"We have started fiscal year 2027 with another quarter of strong performance, with robust and growing demand for our products driving outpaced growth in our data center business," said David Goeckeler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sandisk. Sandisk shares were down 16.94% as of 10:34 a.m. ET and about 263.0% above their 2025 close.

Astera Labs, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALAB), which provides semiconductor-based connectivity solutions for rack-scale AI infrastructure, reported on Nov. 3 record quarterly revenue of $584.9 million, up 49% from the prior quarter and up 154% year-over-year. Its Scorpio fabric switches became the company's largest product family, and Astera Labs guided fourth quarter revenue to a range of $730 million to $750 million.

"The expansion of our intelligent connectivity platform and new design wins position us to strongly grow our dollar content per accelerator and further increase our total market opportunity," said Jitendra Mohan, Astera Labs' Chief Executive Officer. Astera Labs shares were down 14.70% as of 10:34 a.m. ET and about 14.5% above their 2025 close.

A single session can move prices a long way, and today's move in chip stocks is real. So is the data the industry and its customers have put on the record in the past three weeks, from a cloud provider's capital spending plan to equipment, foundry, memory and connectivity results. For readers who want to learn how to weigh the news against the chart for themselves, the free Knowledge is Power guide and The Roadmap are available at equity-insider.com/.

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This article is independent news commentary. Equity Insider is wholly owned and operated by Market Equities Limited ("MEL"), a company incorporated under the laws of Ireland. MEL has not been paid by any company mentioned in this article. MEL and its owners, operators, directors, and affiliates do not currently own any shares of the companies mentioned in this article, but reserve the right to, and will, buy and sell shares of those companies at any time without further notice. Market data are as of 10:34 a.m. ET on Nov. 5, 2026, from publicly available price data, and comparisons to earlier levels are based on daily closing prices. Industry sales figures are from the Semiconductor Industry Association's Nov. 3, 2026 release, compiled by World Semiconductor Trade Statistics. Information is drawn from company news releases and filings, government and industry data, published reporting and third-party data believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. Investing in securities carries risk, including the loss of some or all of your investment. This document is governed by the laws of Ireland.

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