Semiconductor stocks climb after Apple eases fears of iPhone slump

Chipmaker stocks jumped late Tuesday after Apple reported steady iPhone sales, easing fears of a significant decline.

Skyworks Solutions climbed 3 percent in after-hours trading, following gains of 4.77 percent during Tuesday’s session.

The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) climbed 0.8 percent. Micron Technology shares rose more than 1 percent, shares of Cirrus Logic gained nearly 3 percent, and Broadcom climbed 2 percent.

Apple said it sold 52.2 million iPhones in the quarter ended March, up from 51 million a year ago. The figure for the latest quarter did miss expectations of 53 million, according to FactSet consensus estimates.

However, some analysts have feared worse.

Last week, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi cut his fiscal-year earnings-per-share estimate for Apple based on his team’s analysis of supply chain companies that “increasingly point[ed] to weakness.”