Pullback in tech stocks spells anxiety for some, opportunity for others

Netflix and Amazon fell 8.3 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, on Wednesday. Netflix was up slightly in Thursday’s premarket, while Amazon was down nearly 1 percent.

But rising rates weren’t the only thing weighing on Zaccarelli.

“I’ve also spent most of the year thinking we’d get a trade deal with China, but over the last month or so I’ve become increasingly pessimistic,” he said. “The Trump administration has gotten hard with its language, and it’s clear they’re not meeting with the Chinese.”

Trade tensions between the U.S. and China appear to have soured further over the past couple months, threatening to aggravate a slowdown in the Chinese economy.

President Donald Trump imposed additional 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports in September, with provisions for those duties to rise to 25 percent at the end of the year if the trade conflict remains unsolved.

A deterioration in talks between Washington and Beijing have hit the tech sector especially hard given China’s growing importance in the semiconductor market. Slowing in semiconductor equipment and chips is sometimes seen as a canary in the coal mine for global growth and tech.

Micron, Qualcomm and Intel are among companies with the most revenue exposure to China, according to Strategas. Once some of the hottest trades on the Street, those stocks fell 1.5 percent, 4.8 percent and 3.7 percent Wednesday; chipmaker Nvidia shed 7.4 percent.

The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) sank 4.5 percent and notched its fifth straight day of losses. As of Wednesday’s close, Micron and Nvidia were down 35 percent and 16 percent from their respective 52-week highs.

—CNBC’s
Patti Domm
and
Tae Kim
contributed reporting.