Micron shares fall, pushing chip stocks lower

Kai Pfaffenbach | Reuters

A booth of Micron Technology at an industrial fair in Frankfurt, Germany, July 14, 2015.

Shares of Micron Technology fell on Friday, dragging the broader chips sector lower.

The iShares PHLX Semiconductor exchange-traded fund (SOXX) slipped 0.2 percent, with Micron falling about 4 percent to lead the decliners. Shares of chip makers Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia — last year’s best-performing S&P 500 component — also traded lower.

Semiconductors have been underperforming lately. In the past month, the SOXX ETF has fallen about 5 percent, helping to drag down the overall tech sector lower.

Tech stocks have been the best performers this year, rising more than 16 percent. But the space has been under pressure lately given its high valuation.

Micron had traded higher in the premarket Friday on the back of better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday.

Kevin Cassidy, semiconductor equities analyst at Stifel, told CNBC in an email that Micron’s stock decline is a combination of selling on the news and concern that the Chinese may disrupt the semiconductor market.

He added that Friday is the last trading day of the quarter, and Micron has been a big gainer this year, which could be adding to the stock’s volatility. Micron has risen more than 37 percent this year.

Micron shares in 2017