FestivusCap
Public Equities Commentary
Semiconductors offer an asymmetric short because slowing data-center builds and rationalized AI spending should slow order growth while the group sits at historic overbought levels. Signs of excess include a $200 billion company jumping 40% on its CEO calling it undervalued and a $1.5 trillion space IPO. Any waning in momentum could cause severe unraveling, and semis could correct 50% of the move since March, likely a buying opportunity. Conviction is high into September. x.com x.com
Semiconductors could capture scarce spot compute's value if its forward curve holds. Compute trades in deep contango, while chip stocks price in little of that value; near-term moves are unpredictable. That makes the sector very bullish. The earlier lab-funding risk looks less acute: Anthropic should hold nearly $200B cash after its IPO and is operating-cash-flow profitable. Even with 2029 capex cuts, chips look cheap if future buyers do not default. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com
Semiconductor earnings have outpaced prices, making the selloff look more like forced positioning than a broken growth case. Since January 2025, the SOX rose about 114% while reconstructed forward earnings rose about 198%; the estimate is approximate. Hedge funds sold global tech at a greater-than-three-standard-deviation pace in October 5-16, a pattern seen near earlier lows, though another sharp flush could come before a reversal. x.com
Tech and semiconductor bounces are mainly driven by less urgent hedge-fund selling rather than fresh buying. Per Goldman Sachs, tech is still being sold amid very low activity; there is no sign risk has been added yet. The unwind may be nearing its end, especially as hyperscalers stick to capex plans and Q3 semiconductor earnings look likely to be positive. Less crowded positioning and more normal multiples leave a healthier base for a longer-term rebuild. x.com
Semiconductors look relatively cheap against the S&P 500, while their earnings are growing much faster, barring an EPS reset. The selloff looks overdone, though that does not mean it reverses tomorrow. x.com
Financing announcements point to more accelerator demand, supporting semiconductors. About $200bn in announced Meta, Anthropic/Broadcom and SpaceX/Nvidia financing likely drives $400bn in XPU purchases. Data centers burn cash until lit, then cash flow 20-40% annually; AI spend rising from 0.1% to 0.5-1% of current payroll could balance the buildout if agents replace roles. Sustainable token demand is the bet, but smaller local models are the bigger risk, though not an immediate concern. x.com … Show more
Semiconductors may face deflationary telco-equipment economics as chip throughput improves and compute deployment eases. Nvidia's tokens per chip rise dramatically each year; three or four deflationary forces could converge. LLMs sell tokens as carriers sold minutes, leaving consumers the main beneficiaries after penetration. If that analogy holds, few bulls would like either business. App developers may benefit after the customer ramp, though LLM providers could build their own. x.com x.com … Show more
CoreWeave looks positioned to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of years of demand for GPU computing at scale. It should be one of the most important players in the AI infrastructure buildout, with Jensen Huang and Nvidia deeply tied to it. At $50 a share, its debt load is not a concern; the stock could look like one of the best buying opportunities by decade-end. x.com x.com
Semiconductor fundamentals have improved as SpaceX and Meta say spending will rise further, while rates have come down. Earlier caution rested on fears that megacaps could not sustain spending and rising rates would slow AI investment; neither worry has played out. Today's selling feels more like stops being hit and investors giving up. x.com x.com
Semiconductors' parabolic run is likely to end in a bear market, and record ETF inflows may be a contrarian warning. The sector's forward P/E was 12.8 at its 2022 low and 11.5 at its 2018 low, versus the 16.4 cited now in the quoted post. Past parabolic runs saw 43%-55% drawdowns; the previous record inflow came at a top. x.com x.com x.com
Positive big-tech commentary about compute over the next two weeks could support CoreWeave. The stock could still fall further; buying on a further decline would depend on the investment thesis remaining intact. x.com