By Daniel Sparks
Publication Date: 2026-10-20 03:23:00
Chip stocks just had a tough two weeks. The PHLX Semiconductor Index, a widely followed measure of chip stocks, slid for eight straight trading sessions from Oct. 7 through Friday, Oct. 16. In that span the index dropped around 16%. Going by daily closing prices, it hadn’t fallen so many days in a row since October 2008.
Nvidia (NVDA +1.38%) did better than the index but still slid about 10%, from a record close of $239.24 on Oct. 6 to $214.13. The sell-off came as worries over interest rate hikes, the financing behind artificial intelligence (AI) projects, and competition weighed on chip stocks worldwide.
The index bounced about 1.6% on Monday as of this writing. But after a fall like this, should investors buy Nvidia stock now or wait?
Image source: Getty Images.
Four gains, two losses
Since Nvidia‘s shares began trading in 1999, the chip index has fallen at least eight straight sessions six other times: in May and September 2002, May and June 2006, late December 2007 through early January 2008, and October 2008. (The May 2006 streak lasted nine sessions, so this one isn’t a record. It’s the longest in 18 years.)
To see what followed, I measured Nvidia’s share price from the last day of each streak to the same date a year later, using daily closing prices and leaving out dividends.
Nvidia stock was higher a year later in four of the six cases. After the September 2002 streak, shares rose 118%. After the October 2008 streak, they more than doubled. The two 2006 streaks…
