Shares of leading chip manufacturers, Nvidia and AMD, experienced a significant decline following Nvidia’s announcement of potential losses amounting to $5.5 billion. This is due to new US export restrictions on the supply of artificial intelligence chips to China.
This is reported by Finway
According to information provided by Nvidia on April 15, 2025, the stated losses are related to H20 chip inventories, procurement obligations, and reserve formations. On April 9, US authorities informed company representatives of the need to obtain licenses for exporting H20 chips and similar products to China, Hong Kong, and Macau. These measures aim to prevent the use of high-performance chips in Chinese supercomputers and artificial intelligence systems.
Impact on Stocks and the Market
The H20 chip is the most powerful product that Nvidia could export to China without restrictions. Reports indicate that the Chinese startup DeepSeek used it for training artificial intelligence models. The new requirements have complicated the export of such technologies, necessitating direct approval from the US government.
Previously, US President Donald Trump promised to lift restrictions after meeting with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. However, following this, the company revised its forecasts. Analysts note that Nvidia attempted to find common ground with the White House administration and announced a $500 billion investment in the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in the US.
Despite these efforts, investors reacted negatively. After the market closed on April 15, Nvidia shares fell by 5.5% to $106, while AMD shares dropped by 5.8% to $89.6, according to TradingView data. Since the beginning of the year, Nvidia shares have lost 17.5%, and AMD shares have declined by over 22%.
Prospects for the Semiconductor Market
Analysts link the decline in shares to the tightening of trade restrictions and threats of new tariffs, which increase uncertainty for the semiconductor sector. This creates additional pressure ahead of Nvidia’s report for the first quarter of the 2026 fiscal year.
“The new export restriction policy could have serious consequences for our business plans,” Nvidia stated.
It is worth noting that recently, Singapore authorities arrested several individuals on suspicion of smuggling Nvidia chips to China.