Introduction

There are 6 stages involved in the production and distribution of semiconductor devices such as microprocessors, memory chips, and sensors, involving multiple companies, each with their own specialized contributions. Those six are:

1. EDA (electronic design automation) companies with sophisticated software that assist engineers in the custom design and development of complex chips;
2. equipment and material suppliers that provide essential equipment for manufacturing chips such as lithography machines, etching, test and packaging equipment, automation and inspection systems and production materials such as chemicals, gases, wafers and packaging;
3. factories (called foundries in semiconductor jargon) that concentrates all their efforts in the manufacturing of chips based on the designs provided by other semiconductor companies;
4. companies that outsource the fabrication (or fab) of chips to specialized foundries while designing and selling the chips;
5. companies that assemble chips into finished semiconductor components, tests for defects and do the very specialized packaging of the chips for shipping assembly.
6. In addition, there are IDMs (Integrated Semiconductor Manufacturers) that do all of the above elements themselves to control the entire production process.

The 6 semiconductor segments (portfolios) are presented below, in descending order, for the month of July highlighting those constituents in each portfolio that had stock price changes of 5% or more, and any pertinent news, analyses and commentary.

1. The Fabless Portfolio: down 0.3% in July
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: MPWR (+5.0%); NVDA (-5.3%); QCOM (-9.2%); AMD (-10.9%); 
   • Other Constituent Changes: AVGO (No Change); MRVL (-4.2%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Do More U.S. Restrictions on China Make AMD a Risky Bet?
     • Nvidia, AMD are among the chip stocks falling on China fears. Here’s why you shouldn’t panic
     • Should You Consider Adding Marvell Technology (MRVL) to Your Portfolio?
     • Nvidia and Broadcom (AVGO) Complete 10-for-1 Stock Splits. History Says They Will Do This Next
2. The Foundries Portfolio: down 2.4%
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: None
   • Other Constituents: TSM (-4.6%); UMC (-4.5%); TSEM (-3.4%); GFS (-0.9%) 
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • TSM: Is Now a Great Time to Buy the Stock?
     • Are Investors Undervaluing United Microelectronics (UMC) Right Now?
     • Is Now The Time To Look At Buying GFS?
     • Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) Reports 2024 Second Quarter Financial Results
3. The IDM Portfolio: down 2.5% in July
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: IFNNY (-5.2%); STM (-14.1%); MU (-16.5%)
   • Other Constituents: TXN (+4.8%); ADI (+1.4%); INTC (No Change); NXPI (-2.3%); MCHP (-3.0%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • MU: Buy The Dip On This Freefalling Chip Stock
     • Did STMicroelectronics N.V. Mislead Investors?
4. The Assembly, Test and Packaging Portfolio: down 5.7% in July
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: ASX (-12.2%); AMKR (-18.4%)
   • Other Constituents: None
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • ASE Technology (ASX) Reports Its Unaudited Consolidated Financial Results for the Second Quarter of 2024
     • Amkor Technology Reports Financial Results for the Second Quarter 2024
5. The Equipment and Material Suppliers Portfolio: down 8.2%
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: ASML (-8.4%); ENTG (-9.9%); AMAT (-10.6%); LRCX (-13.5%);
   • Other Constituents: KLAC (-0.2%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Entegris Reports Results for Second Quarter of 2024
     • Wall Street Analysts Think ASML Is a Good Investment: Is It?
     • Is Applied Materials Worth Betting on Now?
     • Is Lam Research (LRCX) a Buy?
6. The EDA Software Portfolio: down 8.5% in July
   • Constituents with +/- 5% Price Changes: SNPS (-6.2%); CDNS (-13.0%)
   • Other Constituents: None
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Cadence Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results
     • Synopsys Announces Earnings Release Date For Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2024
     • Here's Why We Think Synopsys Is Well Worth Watching

Summary

On average, the above 6 segments were down 5.4% in July but remain up 22.6% YTD.

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