Damnang
Semiconductor Engineer in Silicon Valley, AI Chip Investment Research
Anthropic's ARR concerns already look mostly priced in for semiconductor stocks. Unless the outlook is shockingly bad, it is unclear how much more damage it can do; July's semiconductor selloff was worse than this one has been so far. Unfair market punishment offers chances to gradually buy the strongest-conviction watchlist names that were previously too expensive. x.comÂ
Semiconductors could stay undersupplied for a long time as more capable AI per dollar creates more uses and drives compute demand. Micron and NVIDIA trade at low forward P/Es because investors fear peak cyclical earnings, yet current earnings show no slowdown. Shortages may worsen as AI adoption spreads, though the industry could remain cyclical; a reversal of the forced rollover trade is hoped for, not assured. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Each new AI wave is lifting demand across Micron's HBM, DRAM and storage products. Micron said training, inference, agentic AI and physical AI raise memory needs; the stock still trades at about 5x next-twelve-month earnings, leaving its growth story just getting started. x.comÂ
Semiconductor trade faces a capex growth ceiling even if AI delivers what bulls expect. Spending cannot compound at 70-100% a year indefinitely, and compute per dollar roughly doubles every two years, so the same budget buys more capacity later. Today's chip valuations also demand years of 20% AI earnings growth beyond 2028: roughly 10.9 extra years for AMD, 8.9 for ASML, 7 for Marvell and 6.4 for TSMC, versus 1.6 for Broadcom and 0.8 for Nvidia; Micron needs none under the chart's assumptions. … Show more
China's domestic market lets YMTC and CXMT threaten Micron, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix without entering US products. China receives 15-25% of smartphones and PCs and is on a path to at least 20-30% memory share over the next several years; current leaders are much too optimistic. History suggests at least a near-term semiconductor rally even if the AI trade has topped. It likely has not: agentic AI should give the trade room to run into 2027. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Micron is entering a multi-decade bull market. Per @TrendSpider, Micron sees a massive opportunity in physical AI and expects a sustained, substantial multi-decade memory demand cycle to begin in the latter part of this decade. x.comÂ
Semiconductor stocks' easy-money phase is over as the sector shifts from hype to show-me-the-money. The SOX index is down over 15% from its June peak, chip funds saw $11B of outflows in one week, the largest this century, short interest is at a three-year high and earnings growth is projected to slow by 2027. Memory and logic chips remain commodity-like. This is cyclical cooling, not a death knell; the AI build-out continues, but expect more turbulence and favor companies with defensive moats. … Show more
Micron's AI memory-chip sales and accelerating growth support its upside case. Its 3.3/5 WATCH rating reflects a business with 60% of sales from cloud and data-center chips, 64 cents of profit per sales dollar and 256% sales growth last year. At the Oct. 15 close of $878.84, it traded about 42% below estimated fair value of $1,512.34. The case needs strong sales growth and expanding margins and cash flow; slower growth or a price outrunning the business are warning signs. x.comÂ
Improving earnings and more attractive valuations favor AI infrastructure names Nvidia, Micron, Broadcom and TSMC. Goldman Sachs charts put memory stocks at about 4 times two-year forward earnings versus an 8 times median, and large fabless chip stocks at about 13 times versus 18 times. x.comÂ
Slowing AI capital spending keeps the semiconductor growth scare in play. Meta's cash flow is negative and Lam Research's capex is slowing, further evidence as the sector faces a growth-to-value rotation and a Fed pause next week. x.comÂ
The still-robust AI wave will inevitably drive physical AI forward, making Ouster's lidar, cameras and software stack increasingly critical. SK Hynix's strong earnings show that momentum is far from over; physical AI still has substantial runway and has not seen the hype of other AI trades. x.comÂ