Chip Stocks Rally Premarket, Cathie Wood Trims AMD Holding

Semiconductor stocks including AMD, INTC, and AVGO rebounded in premarket trading on June 17 as positive analyst actions across the chip sector lifted sentiment. The session followed a broader rally driven by earnings beats and price-target raises for Jabil, Micron, and Applied Materials, creating a constructive backdrop for the group. Chip stocks had faced pressure in recent sessions and the premarket gains suggested investors were positioning for continued AI-infrastructure-driven demand.

Against that backdrop, Cathie Wood's ARK Invest continued its pattern of trimming exposure to AMD. ARK's ARKF fund sold 1,470 shares while ARKX offloaded 22,374 shares on June 17, a combined transaction valued at roughly $12 million based on AMD's closing price of approximately $507. The selling is part of a multi-week rotation in which Wood has been reducing AMD and adding to rival NVDA and other AI-inference plays. Despite the trimming, AMD remains ARK's second-largest holding on a consolidated basis, with the firm's position valued at more than $1 billion.

The dual narrative here, sector rally alongside a high-profile seller trimming positions, illustrates the tension in semiconductor valuations at current levels. Bulls point to the durable AI capex cycle supporting chip demand for multiple years; bears note that even a well-regarded ARK Invest is selectively reducing its largest positions, potentially signaling that some of the AI narrative is priced in for near-term catalysts. Investors should watch upcoming earnings from AMD and Intel for guidance on data-center GPU and CPU demand trends heading into the second half of 2026.