What Happened?
A number of stocks fell in the morning session after investors reassessed stretched valuations following a period of strong gains.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell as much as 1.6%, with the S&P 500 also declining. The pullback was exemplified by AI firm Palantir Technologies, which dropped over 7% despite reporting better-than-expected sales. This negative reaction to positive news suggests investors are concerned about extreme valuations and are engaging in "long liquidation"—selling positions to lock in profits after a significant rally. Adding serious weight to this caution, leadership at both Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley highlighted the possibility of a correction in the equity markets over the next couple of years. Despite the euphoria driven by AI optimism and the promise of future rate cuts, these banks viewed this cooling-off period not as a disaster, but as a necessary and healthy feature of a long-term bull market.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks.
Among others, the following stocks were impacted:
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Amtech (NASDAQ: ASYS) fell 5.5%. Is now the time to buy Amtech? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Analog Semiconductors company Impinj (NASDAQ: PI) fell 3.6%. Is now the time to buy Impinj? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Nova (NASDAQ: NVMI) fell 3.9%. Is now the time to buy Nova? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Analog Semiconductors company Himax (NASDAQ: HIMX) fell 4.7%. Is now the time to buy Himax? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
- Semiconductor Manufacturing company Kulicke and Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) fell 3.7%. Is now the time to buy Kulicke and Soffa? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free for active Edge members.
Zooming In On Amtech (ASYS)
Amtech’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 44 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 22 days ago when the stock gained 3.8% on the news that investor fears eased as President Trump softened his tone regarding trade relations with China.
Following a sharp selloff late last week fueled by threats of an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods, the president's more conciliatory weekend message that "it will all be fine" sparked a broad market rally. The semiconductor sector, which is particularly sensitive to international trade policies due to its global supply chains, was among the biggest beneficiaries of the improved sentiment. Chipmakers had posted significant declines during the previous week amid escalating tariff concerns. The reversal in tone helped these stocks recover a substantial portion of their recent losses as investors bought back into the sector, relieved that trade tensions might not escalate further.
Amtech is up 30% since the beginning of the year, but at $7.28 per share, it is still trading 30.3% below its 52-week high of $10.44 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of Amtech’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,403.
P.S. In tech investing, "Gorillas" are the rare companies that dominate their markets—like Microsoft and Apple did decades ago. Today, the next Gorilla is emerging in AI-powered enterprise software. Access the ticker here in our special report.
