Goldman Sees Only Headwinds for Semiconductors

Semiconductor stocks are sliding after analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Stifel Nicolaus & Co. warned about a potential peak in makers of chips and the equipment used to produce them.

Supply and pricing issues that have plagued memory chip and other manufacturers may worsen into 2019, Goldman Sachs’ Mark Delaney said in a note to clients. The downturn, which comes after nine quarters of growth, will probably be less severe than past slowdowns, he said. In a separate note, Goldman analysts including Toshiya Hari cut semiconductor capital equipment stocks to neutral from attractive amid concern that excessive supply in dynamic random-access memory chips will crimp 2018-2019 capital spending.