(Bloomberg) -- Semiconductor stocks are on pace to do something that hasn't happened yet in 2018 -- close lower.
After rising 6.6 percent over a five-day winning streak to start the year, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell as much as 1.1 percent Tuesday as Samsung Electronics Co. reported profit that missed analysts' estimates and fallout continued over security flaws present in most processors.
Memory maker Micron Technology Inc., which supplies both Intel Corp. and Samsung, was the worst performer in the chip index with a decline of more than 4 percent. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. tumbled 3.8 percent after Microsoft Corp. said it temporarily halted some patches to AMD chips. Intel slid 1.8 percent after Microsoft said a chip-flaw fix may significantly slow some servers.
In a potentially ominous sign, the chip index's 2018 gains are sputtering near the same level where an almost yearlong rally stalled out on Nov. 27.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net, Stephen Sweeney in New York at ssweeney39@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Arie Shapira at ashapira3@bloomberg.net, Catherine Larkin, Brendan Walsh
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
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