Navitas Semiconductor (NVTS 18.23%) stock got hit with a sharp sell-off in Friday's daily trading. The chip company's share price closed out the day down 18.2% in a session that saw the S&P 500 decline 2.6% and the Nasdaq Composite sink 4.8%.
The broader stock market got hit with a wave of powerful selling action today as investors reacted to fears that the Federal Reserve is on course to hike interest rates. Despite a huge pullback today, Navitas stock is still up 251% across 2026's trading.
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Navitas sank in response to macroeconomic concerns
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published its May jobs report this morning, and the market had a staunchly negative reaction to the print. While investors could be forgiven for thinking that today's big market sell-off was caused by weaker-than-expected jobs numbers, employment growth for May actually came in significantly stronger than anticipated. The May jobs report showed that the U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May -- breezing past economists' forecast for 80,000 nonfarm payroll additions in the period. Stronger-than-expected payroll growth can be viewed as a positive in some respects, but there's a big catch.
NASDAQ: NVTS
Key Data Points
Growth investors are worried the Federal Reserve will raise rates
Even though the BLS's May jobs report suggests that economic activity was more robust than expected last month, the data is spurring fears among investors. Inflation has been accelerating recently, and that has raised concerns that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates.
If the economy is continuing to add new jobs at a relatively healthy pace, that makes it far more likely that the Fed will prioritize attacking inflation by raising interest rates. Higher rates pose a significant risk to the near-term bull cases for growth-dependent artificial intelligence stocks, and Navitas and other names in the category could continue to face pressures if it becomes clear that the Fed is adopting more hawkish positioning.
