Shares of semiconductor giants ASML Holdings (NASDAQ: ASML), Micron Technology (NASDAQ: MU), and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) fell this week, down 14.8%, 12.1%, and 14.2%, respectively, as of the end of the trading day Thursday, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

There was a slew of semiconductor news this week, coming both from within and outside these companies. While not all of it was bad, given the outsized performance of the sector year to date, investors decided to take profits in a significant way as risks grew.

ASML held its second-quarter earnings this week. In the quarter, ASML's sales rose 18%, with earnings per share up 29%, with both figures beating analyst estimates. Bookings, a closely watched figure by analysts, came in at 5.57 billion Euros, up a strong 54% from a year ago.

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Source Fool.com