Nvidia falls into correction territory, down 10% from its record close

Nvidia shares slumped on Monday, putting the AI chip darling officially in correction territory even as the rest of the Nasdaq Composite rose to a record.

The chipmaker and de facto artificial intelligence trade has rallied 166% this year amid ongoing excitement for the buzzy technology trend. However, shares have faced a sluggish stretch as of late.

The stock is down 4.5% in December and officially in correction territory, sitting about 11% off its closing high of $148.88 reached last month. The definition of what comprises a market correction can vary. Many generally regard it as a drop of 10% or more from an all-time high close.

The stock closed down 1.7%.

“You need Nvidia, and you need their chips for infrastructure,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist. “But I think what the market’s also saying is that there are other beneficiaries beyond that. There’s a rotation within the Magnificent Seven, which we’ve seen a couple times this year already.”

The recent underperformance in Nvidia could signal some profit-taking on Wall Street after another marquee year. The maker of graphics processing units underpinning large language models has benefited, as data center demand has swollen since ChatGPT’s late-2022 launch.

But there are some reasons for concern for the market leader and fundamental player among the three major averages. The market has continued powering to new highs as Nvidia underperforms. That could be a warning signal if the pattern continues, with Roth MKM noting that the $125 to $130 level marks a key test for the stock and the overall market.

As Nvidia struggles, other chipmaking stocks have fared well, with Broadcom powering to new highs Monday. The stock surged around 11% during Monday’s session, building on a 24% rally from Friday that pushed the stock above a $1 trillion market capitalization following a strong earnings report.

The Nasdaq Composite hit a record in trading Monday without Nvidia’s help.

“Broadcom’s comments last week probably drove momentum investors to start looking there for even faster growth,” said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners. “Momentum has been driving this stock. I don’t think momentum is going to kill it quite yet, but momentum does what momentum does, which is it seeks the higher flyer.”

Other semiconductor stocks also rallied Monday, with Micron Technology jumping about 6% ahead of its quarterly results this week. Marvell Technology and Lam Research gained 3% and 2%, respectively, while On Semiconductor and Taiwan Semiconductor added around 1% each.