Retail traders sold individual stocks for three straight days through Wednesday, the first such streak since March 2020. Chip names like Micron, Qualcomm, and Broadcom took the brunt as cash rotates toward the SpaceX IPO expected Friday.
Elon Musk's SpaceX hasn't started trading yet. It is already pulling cash out of the chip stocks retail traders spent the spring chasing.
The do-it-yourself crowd has been trimming semiconductor exposure and skipping dips elsewhere, according to Vanda Research. Non-professional traders sold individual stocks for three straight days through Wednesday, the first such streak since March 2020. Monday brought the largest retail cash pull from single names since November 2023.
The selling has clustered in chipmakers and recent AI winners. Micron Technology dropped 4.7% Wednesday. Qualcomm shed 6.9%. Broadcom fell 5.1%.
The swap carries some irony. Traders are dumping cash-generating chip names to fund a company that booked a $4.9 billion net loss on $18.7 billion in 2025 revenue, weighed down by its xAI unit.
Wall Street usually locks individual investors out of mega-debuts. SpaceX is reserving up to 30% of its offering for retail. Fidelity cut its account minimum to just $2,000 to widen access.
The scale is historic. SpaceX is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion, which would top Saudi Aramco's 2019 listing as the largest IPO ever. Polymarket traders think there is a 65% chance SpaceX closes above $2 trillion on day one, with a 25% chance of above $2.4 trillion.
Even crypto is catching the crossfire. Solana Foundation President Lily Liu noted recent Bitcoin weakness is likely driven by capital rotating out of crypto to chase high-growth mega-deals like SpaceX.
Nasdaq bent its rules to admit SpaceX to the Nasdaq-100 after just 15 trading days. That forces Invesco QQQ Trust and other passive funds to buy in within weeks. The S&P 500 declined to waive its profitability rule, delaying the larger wave of passive buying until 2027 at the earliest.
Among the stocks sold, Broadcom carries an Alpha Score of 58 out of 100, a moderate rating. Qualcomm scores 46 out of 100, mixed. Both are in the technology sector.
The IPO is expected Friday. Vanda's data over the next few sessions will show if chip stocks see the selling continue or reverse.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.