Art of Speculation
Chinese-Language AI Fundamentals & Macro, Concentrated Investing
Hardware is squeezing software as enterprises redirect budgets to scarce servers, GPUs and storage, favoring semiconductors over software. IBM's Q2 revenue of $17.2B missed its $17.9B target, and its CEO said clients moved software and IT consulting budgets to secure rising-priced hardware. Microsoft, ServiceNow and Salesforce face near-term pressure while Dell and Micron benefit. Aehr Test's beat and raised guidance counter claims the chip cycle is dead. x.comÂ
Software's catch-up rally is only beginning as money rotates from AI hardware into software and data platforms, a shift that took hold on May 29. IGV jumped over 6% to retake its 200-day average for the first time since January, while Nvidia was hit late in the day. Snowflake and Okta results showed AI raising data-processing demand rather than killing software revenue. The rotation continues while SPY holds 750; a break would change that, and a 3-5% S&P pullback is still expected from mid-June. x.com x.comÂ
Networking, power and compute look more durable than cyclical memory in the AI buildout. Lumentum's revenue compounded year after year across the 2010s and 2020s, unlike Micron's; AWS revenue also compounded. Lumentum, Nebius, Bloom Energy and Credo should heavily outperform SanDisk and Micron from here, though AI itself remains heavily doubted. x.com x.comÂ
AI infrastructure bottlenecks could give eight stocks as much as 18x upside. Nvidia supplies frontier-model GPUs; Broadcom and Marvell supply custom silicon and networking; TSMC makes advanced chips; Micron supplies sold-out HBM; Vertiv provides power and cooling; Palantir monetizes enterprise AI; Alphabet spans TPUs, research, cloud and apps. The list tracks where AI infrastructure spending is flowing. x.com x.comÂ
Semiconductors may be nearing peak AI-infrastructure euphoria as hyperscalers appear to have overspent on capex. Per a Bloomberg leak, Meta plans to sell excess AI capacity to third parties, entering cloud; one of the world's largest GPU buyers placing surplus capacity is a first warning. The same session showed a textbook rotation, with semis (SOXX) down 6.4% and cloud software (WCLD) up 3.6%. AI is here to stay, but innovation doesn't equal investment success. x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Enterprise data centers and AI racks are competing for limited parts, benefiting data-center OEMs, ODMs, CPU, memory and storage suppliers. Even a modest AI slowdown would not clear the shortages; customers will order ahead to secure allocation. Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Foxconn, Micron, SK hynix, Samsung, SanDisk, AMD and Intel are named beneficiaries. x.comÂ
AI security rules could shift frontier inference into monitored data centers, lifting demand for AMD and Nvidia chips and Micron and SanDisk memory. Agents attacked 400+ banks; US labs cut off abusive users, unlike downloaded open weights. Licensing is a forecast, and these four look undervalued at today's closes. Meta lists $356B in future leases and $455B in other commitments, mostly cloud capacity such as CoreWeave and Nebius plus equipment; those recipients are being sold off. x.com x.comÂ
Semiconductor hardware faces pressure as AI shifts from racing on capex to competing on capital efficiency. Meta selling surplus compute amid slower-than-expected agent progress raises doubts about returns on AI spending, while Anthropic is reportedly exploring custom chips with Samsung. Nvidia moving to revenue sharing and Meta renting out capacity squeeze resellers like CoreWeave. Makers with capacity but no pricing power will be hit first if demand growth slows. AI demand has not collapsed. … Show more
Microsoft's AI spending is producing faster growth with better economics: Azure accelerated to 48% on a $100B+ base while capex was $39.4B, below expectations. Management then guided Azure to 49-50% and said demand still exceeds supply, ending the debate over whether AI investment is paying off. Overweight, $625 target. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Dell should benefit from AI data-center construction because builders say almost every new facility runs on Dell or Super Micro servers. Sales rose 49% in the past year to $151B; Dell is 18% below its high and is an easy double from here. x.comÂ
Software stocks are becoming the next leadership group, as the functional layer of AI turns hardware investment into real-world outcomes. Software is now leading hyperscalers and crypto, a sign the market is correcting its mispricing of the AI timeline. Those outcomes are still in the first inning, and significant acceleration is expected. x.comÂ
AI suppliers' profits and signed demand distinguish this buildout from dotcom overcapacity. AI leaders rose 2.9x on 3.1x earnings growth versus 7.4x on 2.1x before 2000; cloud providers have $2.3T in signed backlog. Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta could repay debt with about six months' cash flow, unlike 2008's leveraged banks. Micron has multiyear take-or-pay deals and ASML has orders years ahead. Memory profits are cyclical; TSMC, ASML and GE Vernova remain favored in AI's early innings. … Show more
