Holiday Cheer Eluding Chips

While most chipmakers have wrapped up their quarterly earnings season, it's the holiday season that is already looming large for investors.

With the semiconductor industry's fortunes tied more than ever to consumer spending, the holidays will prove critical to maintaining the sector's momentum. But for many investors, what they saw in the recent spate of quarterly earnings reports didn't make for reassuring reading.

"There's certainly apprehension as we close out the year of some further slowing down within the industry," says Bill Gorman, vice president of equity research at PNC Advisors. ...