Tom Lee says investors shouldn't be scared off by Samsung's troubles
Shares in Samsung Electronics have had another rough day on Wednesday. Fundstrat's Tom Lee says investors should be buying dips in semiconductor stocks.
A jittery summer stock market probably didn't need renewed Middle East tensions, but here we are. Even if investors manage to brush that off - again - worries over the artificial-intelligence trade are proving more sticky.
Korean gloom has been seeping into Wall Street lately, as fresh Samsung Electronics losses dragged the Kospi KR:180721 into a bear market on Wednesday. This is all in a week in which another hot Korean stock, SK Hynix $(SKHY)$, is due to list in the U.S.
Reflecting worries that have intensified for the hot chip sector SOX, the iShares Semiconductor exchange-traded fund SOXX is down nearly 14% this month, and the month has only barely gotten started.
The head of research at Fundstrat, Tom Lee, though, smells opportunity. In our call of the day, and says the firm is "near-term constructive" and "buying the dip."
Lee admits the wall of worry for investors is not getting smaller.
"The market reaction to Samsung results and the reports Amazon (AMZN) will not issue more debt after this recent sale raise concerns about AI visibility," he told clients in a video update.
However, making a case to buy as others flee, Lee focuses on Samsung (KR:005930), noting the stock has bounced back before after suffering heavy losses. (It didn't on Wednesday, sliding 6% after Tuesday's 7% retreat.)
Other reasons he's bullish for the rest of the year: an improving Institute for Supply Management index that historically signals accelerating earnings-per-share growth; possible upside to 2027 earnings; and falling oil, which could bring interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve into play.
He also expects fund managers will need to buy market dips after weak performances earlier this year.
Lee points to data showing that 76% of large-cap growth managers are underperforming their benchmarks by 10 basis points. The percentage of those outperforming by at least 10 basis points this year, at 23%, is the lowest since 2022, where typically 50% beat, he says.
The markets
U.S. stock futures (ES00) (NQ00) (YM00) are sinking amid intensifying U.S-Iran tensions, with oil prices (CL. 1) (BRN00) rising by 4%. The 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y is also climbing.
Key asset performance Last 5d 1m YTD 1y S&P 500 7503.85 0.06% 1.59% 9.62% 20.53% Nasdaq Composite 25,818.69 -1.51% 0.54% 11.09% 26.45% 10-year Treasury 4.579 9.40 2.00 40.70 23.90 Gold 4058.9 0.35% -0.86% -6.31% 22.16% Oil 74.59 9.55% -18.79% 29.93% 9.23% Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points
The buzz
President Donald Trump said the fragile cease-fire with Iran is "over," though talks will continue. The U.S. on Tuesday launched strikes on Iran and blocked oil sales, with Iran reportedly counterattacking. Weekly U.S. crude inventories are due for release at 10:30 a.m. Eastern.
The International Monetary Fund has said the Iran conflict will leave lingering excess inflation that won't disappear quickly.
The minutes of the Fed's June meeting - the first under Kevin Warsh's leadership - are coming at 2 p.m.
The Treasury will announce the results of a $39 billion 10-year note auction at 1 p.m.
Alibaba shares $(BABA)$ are jumping after in Hong Kong trading (HK:9988), the China tech giant's saw its best single share-price gain in 10 months.
Apple $(AAPL)$ has reportedly begun testing ChangXin Memory Technologies' memory chips, more than a week after reports surfaced that it was looking at China for cheaper options.
Germans don't love Budweiser. It won't take no for an answer.
The chart
Bank of America's own data, based on customer deposits, points to better job-market growth than either the Bureau of Labor Statistics or payrolls processor ADP is reporting. The bank notes that unemployment payments into Bank of America customer accounts softened in June.
Top tickers
These were the most searched tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m.:
Ticker Security name MU Micron NVDA Nvidia SPCX SpaceX TSLA Tesla TSM Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing AMD Advanced Micro Devices AMZN Amazon INTC Intel AAPL Apple GME GameStop
Selling like hot cakes: Taylor Swift's wedding trash.
-Barbara Kollmeyer
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July 08, 2026 09:10 ET (13:10 GMT)
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