The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) fell 2% Monday, breaking its longest winning streak on record after “The Big Short” investor Michael Burry disclosed fresh short bets on chipmakers.
Monday’s chip selloff snapped an unprecedented 18-day rally and arrived without a sector-specific fundamental catalyst — but with a high-profile bear newly on the tape and seven SOXX constituents reporting earnings this week.
Burry Bets Chips ‘Return To Earth’ — SOXX Snaps Longest Rally Ever On 18-Day Streak
On Friday after the close, Burry disclosed via Substack that he had purchased January 2027 puts on SOXX, alongside puts on the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) and Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA).
“I purchased a decent number of SOXX January 2027 puts struck at $330. This is a new position for me,” he wrote.
The $330 strike implies a roughly 27% drawdown from Monday’s close by January 2027.
He paired the disclosure with a direct call to action for chip longs, telling readers that if they were holding semiconductor positions, the time to sell was now.
According to Burry, the SOXX advance was driven by technical factors rather than fundamental support, with the index trading over 40% above its 200-day moving average.
The trade is paired with new longs in Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) and MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI), framing it as a hardware-to-software rotation rather than an outright market short.
Heading into Monday, SOXX was historically extended. The 14-day RSI closed Friday near 85 — the highest reading since January 2011 — and the ETF had risen 18 sessions in a row, the longest streak in its history.
| Metric | Reading | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Win streak | 18 sessions | Longest in SOXX history |
| 12-month return | +150% | vs. S&P 500 +29.6%, Nasdaq 100 +40.5% |
| Month-to-date | +37% | On pace for best month ever |
| 14-day RSI (Fri) | ~85 | Highest since January 2011 |
| Distance vs. 200-day MA | +43% | Per Burry’s Substack disclosure |
Chart: Burry Calls Time On Chip Rally: SOXX Snaps 18-Day Streak On Fresh $330 Put Disclosure
Last Week’s Winners Hit Hardest
The contribution table told a textbook profit-taking story on Monday. The biggest detractors from SOXX’s 2% drop were precisely last week’s leadership names — equipment makers and high-beta mid-caps — while AI mega-caps held up.
| Company | Weight in SOXX | 1D Return | Contribution (bps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL) | 6.45% | -4.14% | -27 |
| Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) | 7.24% | -3.52% | -26 |
| Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) | 3.99% | -5.58% | -23 |
| Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) | 5.15% | -3.82% | -20 |
| Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ:CRDO) | 1.97% | -8.33% | -18 |
| Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) | 4.43% | -3.63% | -16 |
| Astera Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALAB) | 1.77% | -8.28% | -16 |
High-beta names Astera Labs and Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS) -9.4% led on a percentage basis — classic behavior when the most crowded leveraged longs are unwound first. NVIDIA Corp. and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) bucked the move higher, suggesting the rotation hit equipment makers and second-tier AI infrastructure plays rather than the bellwethers themselves.
Why The Timing Matters: An Earnings Gauntlet
The selloff lands right before the heaviest week of semiconductor reporting this cycle. Seven SOXX constituents print between Monday and Thursday.
| Company | Date | EPS Est | EPS YoY (Est) | Rev Est | Rev YoY (Est) | MTD | YTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rambus Inc. | Mon Apr 27 (AMC) | $0.64 | +7.86% | $179.94M | +7.96% | +67.70% | +57.01% |
| Teradyne, Inc. | Tue Apr 28 (AMC) | $2.11 | +181.75% | $1.21B | +77.20% | +33.14% | +103.92% |
| NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) | Tue Apr 28 (AMC) | $2.98 | +12.87% | $3.15B | +11.28% | +18.55% | +7.51% |
| KLA Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) | Wed Apr 29 (AMC) | $9.15 | +8.84% | $3.37B | +10.15% | +27.42% | +54.41% |
| QUALCOMM Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) | Wed Apr 29 (AMC) | $2.56 | -10.31% | $10.58B | -2.36% | +15.82% | -12.80% |
| Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. | Thu Apr 30 (AMC) | $4.90 | +21.32% | $782.12M | +22.67% | +43.73% | +73.38% |
| Entegris, Inc. | Thu Apr 30 (BMO) | $0.75 | +11.20% | $805.75M | +4.21% | +31.56% | +83.08% |
This image was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
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