The hottest trade of 2026 is showing cracks.
Semiconductors, the year’s defining momentum bet, have reversed hard in two sessions with the sector benchmark — the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) — plunging 12.9%.
• What is going on now with SOXX shares?
The reading marks the sharpest two-day decline since March 2025.
SOXX is still up 82% year-to-date, one of the strongest runs anywhere in the market. It began the year near $308 and changed hands above $562 on Thursday.
At its June peak, the fund was higher by almost 115% on the year.
Then the momentum snapped, leaving several Wall Street’s price targets stranded well above where the group’s favorite stocks now trade.
The Overbought Signal Just Reset
The sell-off has flushed out an extreme overbought condition.
The 14-day relative strength index has dropped below 50 for the first time since late March, after holding in overbought territory for most of the past two months.
The weekly picture is the same. Weekly RSI has exited overbought after 12 straight weeks above the threshold, the longest such streak of the current cycle.
That is the kind of reset that tends to interest buyers rather than scare them — at least when the underlying trend is intact.
Not far below current levels lies the 50-day moving average, a technical support level the sector has consistently traded above since early April.
Here’s The Catch
Some of the sector’s favorite names are now the ones analysts rank as the cheapest.
Shares of Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) have fallen roughly 14% this week alone, unwinding part of a near-vertical rally that had made the stock one of the memory supercycle’s clearest winners.
Yet, Wall Street’s price targets have not followed the tape lower, indicating the pullback has been driven more by profit taking rather than a change in earnings fundamentals.
Against a price near $963, the median analyst target points to about 60% upside for Micron.
Micron carries the widest implied upside of the three. Against a price near $969, the median analyst target of $1,550 points to about 60% upside.
Cantor Fitzgerald lifted its target to $2,000 from $1,500 on June 29, holding an Overweight rating and setting the Street high. Barclays matched that $2,000 mark on June 25. Raymond James moved to $1,500 from $1,100, reiterating Outperform.
NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) fell 2.5% Thursday to about $193 and screens with roughly 52% upside to the median target. Benzinga tracks a consensus of $309.13 across 32 analysts.
Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) dropped 2.8% to about $359, leaving roughly 46% upside to the median target. Benzinga’s consensus sits at $500.78 across 28 analysts. JP Morgan set the recent high at $580, up from $500, on an Overweight rating, and Jefferies moved to $550.
| TICKER | LAST PRICE | MEDIAN PRICE TARGET | POTENTIAL UPSIDE | BENZINGA ANALYST RATINGS (MEAN) |
| Micron Technology | $968.56 | $1,550 | +60.03% | $1,311.43 |
| Nvidia Corp | $193.36 | $294 | +52.05% | $309.13 |
| Broadcom Inc. | $358.64 | $525.09 | +46.39% | $500.78 |
What’s Next?
The bull case on chipmakers argues that a group up almost 115% in six months is entitled to a two-day flush, and that the RSI reset simply clears the froth.
The bear case is simpler. A trade this crowded priced in perfection, and perfection is a fragile thing.
The question now is whether this is the pause that refreshes the supercycle — or the first crack in the year’s most crowded trade.
Read Also: Dow Jones Hits Record High as Chip Bloodbath Sinks Nasdaq 100: Stock Market Today
Photo: Shutterstock
