Arrakis Global
Global Thematic Fund Manager
The optics trade, including Marvell, Ciena and Nokia, looks like fluff with no meat on the bone for investors to latch onto, and the same goes for CPU names like Arm and neoclouds like Nebius. Multiples are sky high and price action is terrible, with many names down about 35%. x.comÂ
Nokia's expected 2028 earnings do not make the stock particularly attractive at today's multiple. Even assuming EUR3.5bn of operating profit and a 17x multiple, the implied value is about $12.40, leaving the thesis dependent on multiple expansion. Datacenter and optical progress is good, but more growth in satellite communications and subsea would strengthen the case. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Heavy AI-related borrowing with little to show for it is pressuring Oracle, IREN and Nebius shares. These stocks are beginning to trend lower. x.comÂ
AI, networks and power give these 12 stocks some of the decade's biggest tailwinds. Micron is one of three big HBM makers; Samsara connects fleets; IonQ builds quantum computers; Ciena supplies optics; GE Vernova and Eaton serve power demand; Dell ships AI servers. Netflix, the largest paid streamer, adds ads; Coupang, Korea's largest e-commerce platform, delivers same-day; Airbnb, the largest short-term rental marketplace, adds services; Arm enters data centers; CrowdStrike secures enterprises. … Show more
Financing strain threatens smaller AI-related plays. Elon Musk says debt markets have nearly closed to firms without substantial non-AI-data-center revenue. Neoclouds, energy, HVAC, electronics and builders will be a much smaller field in a year; its 'guppy' plays can be shorted here toward zero. CoreWeave, IREN and Vertiv look troubled, perhaps Nebius; Ouster, Applied Digital, Ultra Clean, Cipher Digital, WhiteFiber, TeraWulf and IPG Photonics too. x.com x.comÂ
Marvell is a loser from the AI-lab slowdown, because it can't earn premium margins if Nvidia and Broadcom also see a pause. Lab leaders including Elon Musk, Dario Amodei and Sam Altman have pivoted to warning that AI could kill you, which, with AI already polling badly, will make it much harder for AI to attract investment. x.comÂ
The strongest neoclouds could gain market share and pricing power if weaker rivals fail, slowing new capacity growth while demand holds up. Elice's weak IPO reflects poor sentiment, not Nebius's fundamentals; if it is driving Nebius's selloff, the reaction is ridiculous. Hold the best operators building AI compute infrastructure. x.comÂ
Marvell's risk/reward is no longer favorable after the stock ran three to four times from the $70s in March, when it was the most obviously undervalued chip stock. Jensen Huang's call for a $1T company is partly driven by his dislike of Broadcom's Hock Tan, and the Celestial AI angle is overhyped relative to the value it adds. A bounce is likely from here, but there is no case for adding exposure at the current price. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Nokia does not deserve the roughly 50x multiples of optical pure plays like Ciena and Coherent, because it still carries large, shrinking legacy businesses in wireless, PON and routing. This rebuts Citron Research's case that comparisons with those peers make Nokia a $20 stock. x.comÂ
Low forward earnings multiples across eleven stocks cannot persist indefinitely. Nvidia trades near 17.5x, its lowest in over a decade; Oracle near 15x, its lowest in six years. Uber is at 17x, Broadcom 19x, Vistra 15x, AppLovin 14.5x, TSMC 19x, Forgent Power Solutions 18x, Nokia 19.5x, American Express 17x and Western Digital 14x. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Marvell looks too expensive at 17x price to sales when peers in its space trade around 10x. @DGretta_Author argues its revenue relative to its market cap leaves the stock further to drop. x.comÂ
