Nic Puckrin
Co-Founder & CEO of Coin Bureau
The S&P 500 rally is a concentration bet because earnings growth is coming from very few companies, while AI productivity gains are not spreading across the broader economy. Nvidia and Micron drive 34% of expected Q3 earnings growth, and ten companies account for two-thirds. Apollo's revenue-per-worker chart shows gains for the Magnificent Seven but little for the other 493 S&P 500 companies; most stocks that reflect the broader economy are down. x.com x.com x.com
The S&P 500 rally depends heavily on a few stocks, leaving the broader US market exposed if those leaders correct. Ten stocks accounted for about 70% of its gains since March 30; Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Micron, AMD and Alphabet are among the largest drivers. x.com
The S&P 500's elevated P/E masks concentration in just a few stocks, making index exposure less appealing than selective stock picking for risk and reward. Its P/E is well above the ten-year median; digging into individual constituents looks more sensible than buying all 500. x.com
S&P 500 earnings are keeping pace with prices, so this does not look like a bubble. Quarterly earnings are on track to grow 29.5%, more than twice the 10-year average of 12.6%, while the 18.7 forward P/E is just below its 19.1 decade average. x.com
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.com
Technology's faster earnings growth could let growth and tech ETFs beat the S&P 500 over the next decade. A 2010-indexed earnings comparison puts tech near 880 versus 230 for nontech by 2026, with pre-2018 data limitations; Nasdaq-100 earnings grew 10% annually over 20 years versus 4.5% for the S&P 500. Nasdaq-100, tech, chip, growth, momentum and AI ETFs, plus Micron and AMD, are preferred despite greater volatility, drawdowns and valuation risk. x.com x.com
Strong corporate profit margins may make the S&P 500 better value than traditional P/E ratios suggest, despite elevated stock prices. Per Bloomberg, its P/E-to-profitability ratio is at its lowest in nearly 14 years, last seen around 2012. Wall Street might be overlooking something important. x.com
Low PEG ratios and continuing AI demand make leading AI stocks attractive after rolling corrections. Nvidia is at 0.39x PEG, Amazon 0.64x, Broadcom 0.66x, Micron 0.73x, Oracle 0.59x and TSMC 0.41x. This usually signals at least a local bottom, possibly a major one; midterm-year seasonality helps into year-end. Nvidia, Broadcom and Amazon remain favorites; Micron and TSMC look buyable on dips. Low PEG can mislead if growth slows or estimates are wrong. x.com
AI skepticism leaves Nvidia, Broadcom and Micron looking cheap on forward earnings. Their forward P/E ratios are 14, 18 and 5, respectively; the market may eventually stop doubting AI. x.com
S&P 500 stocks look cheap relative to expected earnings as forecasts grow faster than share prices. Forward P/E has fallen below 19, its lowest since 2023 and slightly below its 10-year average, despite the index nearing all-time highs. Goldman Sachs' earnings beat, with net income up 29% year over year, suggests earnings support extends beyond AI. x.com
Rapid revenue growth against forward valuations makes Nvidia and Micron additional calculated risks after the selloff, alongside Meta, Broadcom, IREN, Vistra, Nokia and Oracle. Nvidia grew revenue 106% and guides Q3 to $108B, plus or minus 2%, at 17.5x forward earnings; Micron grew revenue 379% to $54.2B, guides $61.5B next quarter and trades at 5x. The other six retain their growth, contracted-demand or customer-order cases. x.com
