Investment Rating - The industry is rated as "Leading" indicating expected performance above the benchmark index over the next 12 months [3]. Core Insights - Recent performance shows that US and Hong Kong tech stocks underperformed the market, while A-share tech stocks outperformed. The MSCI Information Technology Index slightly declined by 0.2%, lagging behind the MSCI Global Index which rose by 1.8% [3]. - AI capital expenditures from cloud service providers are expected to grow significantly, with a forecasted increase of 65% year-on-year to reach $619.4 billion in 2026, surpassing previous expectations of 33% growth [3][39]. - TSMC reported a 37% year-on-year revenue growth in January 2026, indicating a strong demand for AI infrastructure and a robust capital expenditure guidance of $52-56 billion for 2026 [3][25]. - The semiconductor manufacturing equipment imports in December 2025 decreased by 3% year-on-year, but the decline is narrowing, suggesting a stable demand for domestic semiconductor equipment [3][34]. Summary by Sections Market Performance - In the period from January 10 to February 9, 2026, the software sector saw a significant decline of 15.8%, while hardware and semiconductor stocks performed better [3]. - The A-share Wind Information Technology Index increased by 0.6%, contrasting with the 0.8% decline in the CSI 300 Index [3]. Semiconductor Market - The average spot price for DDR5 (16Gb) has slightly decreased to $33.61, while the contract price for DDR4 (8Gb) rose to $13.00 in January 2026 [3]. - NAND prices have stabilized after a significant increase over the previous months, with the average price for 1Tb QLC remaining flat in February 2026 [3][31]. Investment Recommendations - The report suggests investors focus on AI infrastructure and domestic substitution opportunities, while also being cautious of high valuations that may increase market volatility [3]. - Recommended stocks include Nvidia (NVDA US), Broadcom (AVGO US), and TSMC (TSM US), all rated as "Buy" with reasonable valuations [3][40].

Group 1 - Tsugami Machine Tool China (01651) saw a nearly 6% increase, reaching a historical high, with revenue of 81.58 billion yen in China, up 28.3% year-on-year, and segment profit of 22.534 billion yen, up 51.2% [1] - Zhizhu (02513) surged over 26%, with a 25.8% increase reported, following the launch of its flagship model GLM-5, which achieved state-of-the-art performance in coding and agent capabilities [1] - China Nuclear International (02302) rose over 7%, with a forecasted revenue of no less than 2.46 billion HKD for 2025, driven by increased uranium trading volume [1] Group 2 - Tianyu Semiconductor (02658) increased nearly 8% after announcing a strategic partnership with EYEQ Lab Inc., a leader in third-generation semiconductors in South Korea [2] - Harbin Electric (01133) rose 7.95% after announcing an expected net profit of 2.65 billion yuan for 2025, a year-on-year increase of approximately 57.2% [2] - Weichai Power (02338) increased over 5.6%, with Morgan Stanley raising the projected cumulative power gap for U.S. data centers from 44 GW to 47 GW for 2025-2028 [2] Group 3 - SOLV Energy (MWH.US) debuted on the U.S. stock market with a 22.68% increase, focusing on large-scale solar power and battery storage projects [4] - Gilead Sciences (GILD.US) rose 5.82%, with a reported revenue growth of 2.4% year-on-year and a significant net profit increase of approximately 16.73 times [4] - TSMC (TSM.US) increased by 3.37%, reporting a January revenue growth of 36.8% year-on-year, marking its strongest monthly revenue ever [5] Group 4 - Bilibili (BILI.US) rose 2.84% after announcing collaboration with the Spring Festival Gala, marking the first involvement of UP owners in the event [6] - Micron Technology (MU.US) surged 9.94% as the memory market experienced a rapid increase, with prices rising 80%-90% since the end of Q4 2025 [7] - Kingsoft Cloud (KC.US) increased by 9.98%, with Goldman Sachs predicting Xiaomi's investment in AI to reach approximately 10 billion yuan in 2026, benefiting Kingsoft Cloud [8]

Core Insights - Cathie Wood's Ark Invest holds a total of 208 stocks with a market value of approximately $15.1 billion as of Q4 2025, reflecting a decrease of $1.7 billion from the previous quarter [2] - The portfolio saw significant changes with 8 new positions, 110 increased positions, 77 decreased positions, and 8 positions completely sold off, leading to a high concentration in the top ten holdings, which account for 41.72% of the total portfolio [2] Summary by Sections Ark Invest Holdings - The largest holding remains Tesla, with a reduction of 18.81% in shares, amounting to approximately $1.31 billion [6] - Other top holdings such as Shopify and Roku also experienced significant reductions of 17.38% and 20.00% respectively [4] Performance of Key Stocks - Tesla's share count decreased by 671,000 shares, with a current market value of about $1.31 billion [6] - Coinbase, Circle, and BMNR, which were heavily invested in, saw declines of -32.99%, -40.19%, and -47.72% respectively, indicating a challenging environment for these stocks [6] Market Trends and Insights - Other prominent private equity firms like Jinglin and Dongfang Gangwan have also increased their positions in Google, reflecting a consensus on the potential of AI applications in 2026 [6]

Group 1 - The U.S. labor market showed strong performance in January, with 130,000 new jobs added, significantly exceeding the Dow Jones estimate of 55,000, and the unemployment rate dropped to 4.3%, the lowest since August 2025 [1] - Following the employment report, traders adjusted their expectations for the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts, pushing the anticipated timing from June to July, while the 10-year Treasury yield rose by 4 basis points to 4.18% [1] - The software sector faced selling pressure, with notable declines in stocks like Salesforce and ServiceNow, and the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) has retreated approximately 30% from its 52-week high [1] Group 2 - Despite the overall market decline, certain sectors benefited from positive economic data, particularly AI data center-related hardware companies, with Micron Technology rising over 6% after Deutsche Bank raised its target price and maintained a "buy" rating [1] - TSMC saw an increase of over 4%, while Apple’s stock rose by 2%, indicating strength in storage and precious metals sectors as well [1] - At market close, the three major indices experienced slight declines: the Dow Jones fell by 0.13% to 50,121.40 points, the Nasdaq dropped by 0.16% to 23,066.47 points, and the S&P 500 decreased by 0.01% to 6,941.45 points [2]

Core Insights - Intel's next-generation Nova Lake processors are set to utilize TSMC's N2 process technology, featuring a base configuration of 8 P-cores and 16 E-cores, with a die size significantly larger than AMD's competitors [1][6] - The standard Nova Lake chip's die size is approximately 55% larger than AMD's Zen 5 CCD and about 44% larger than Zen 6 CCD [1][6] Processor Configuration - Both desktop and mobile versions of Nova Lake will adopt the 8P+16E base configuration, with options for entry-level and mainstream markets featuring 4P+8E configurations by disabling some cores [2][7] - Nova Lake will incorporate P-cores based on the Coyote Cove architecture and E-cores based on the Arctic Wolf architecture, with each cluster of P-cores containing 4MB of L2 cache [2][8] Dual Chip Design - Intel plans to introduce a flagship model with dual compute chips totaling 52 cores, with a standard dual-chip version's die size around 220mm² and a bLLC large cache version nearing 300mm², offering up to 288MB of L3 cache and a total cache size of 320MB [3][8] - The thermal design power (TDP) for these models will increase to 175W [3][8] Packaging and Compatibility - Despite the increased die size, all SKUs will utilize the same packaging and LGA1954 socket [3][9] - The bLLC technology differs from AMD's X3D stacking technology, and while Intel has similar additional cache technologies, they are not applied in Nova Lake [5][9]

Group 1 - Xiaomi's legal department supports a car owner's rights after a road rage incident involving a Tesla driver, emphasizing the importance of protecting brand reputation and user rights [5][6][7] - ByteDance plans to produce 100,000 self-developed AI chips this year, with ambitions to increase production to 350,000, and is negotiating with Samsung for manufacturing [10][11] - Meizu's mobile phone business is reportedly facing dissolution, with indications of project halts and employee layoffs, although no large-scale layoffs have been confirmed yet [12][13] - Alibaba is increasing investments in Taobao's flash sales, with a focus on instant retail and a commitment to not worry about losses for the next three years [13][14] - TSMC reported a net profit of approximately 378.2 billion yuan for 2025, with plans for a capital budget of about 44.9 billion USD to expand production capacity [15][16] - Domestic AI models are rapidly evolving, with new releases from DeepSeek and Zhiyuan, indicating a competitive landscape in AI development [18][19] Group 2 - xAI, founded by Elon Musk, is experiencing significant personnel changes, with two co-founders leaving within 48 hours, raising concerns about the company's stability [40][41][42] - Amazon has received approval to deploy 4,500 satellites as part of its plan to compete with SpaceX, aiming to provide satellite internet services [42][43][44] - New regulations in the U.S. require that electric vehicle charging stations funded by federal money be 100% manufactured in the U.S., which may hinder the development of the charging network [45][46] - OpenAI is collaborating with Samsung and SK Hynix to establish data centers in South Korea, reflecting the growing demand for AI infrastructure [47] - BYD has surpassed Ford in global sales, achieving 4.6 million units sold, marking a significant milestone in the automotive industry [48]

Market Performance - The three major U.S. stock indices experienced slight declines, with the Dow Jones down 0.13% at 50,121.4 points, the S&P 500 unchanged at 6,941.47 points, and the Nasdaq down 0.16% at 23,066.47 points [1] - Popular tech stocks showed mixed results, with Google and Microsoft down over 2%, Amazon down over 1%, while Intel rose over 2%, and Nvidia, Apple, and Tesla had gains of less than 1% [1] - Chinese concept stocks also had mixed performance, with Century Internet up over 12%, Kingsoft Cloud up 10%, and TSMC up over 3%, while NetEase fell over 4% and iQIYI dropped over 2% [1] European Market - European stock indices closed mixed, with Germany's DAX down 0.53% at 24,856.15 points, France's CAC40 down 0.18% at 8,313.24 points, and the UK's FTSE 100 up 1.14% at 10,472.11 points [1] Commodity Markets - International precious metal futures generally rose, with COMEX gold futures up 1.53% at $5,107.80 per ounce and COMEX silver futures up 4.60% at $84.08 per ounce [1] - U.S. oil futures rose 1.45% to $64.89 per barrel, while Brent oil futures increased by 1.15% to $69.60 per barrel [1] - London base metals saw an overall increase, with LME nickel up 3.29% at $18,065.0 per ton, LME tin up 1.59% at $50,065.0 per ton, and LME copper up 1.00% at $13,239.0 per ton [1] Bond Markets - U.S. Treasury yields collectively rose, with the 2-year yield up 6.41 basis points at 3.512%, the 3-year yield up 5.87 basis points at 3.569%, and the 10-year yield up 2.77 basis points at 4.170% [1] - European bond yields collectively fell, with the UK 10-year yield down 3 basis points at 4.475%, France's 10-year yield down 2.6 basis points at 3.377%, and Germany's 10-year yield down 1.6 basis points at 2.790% [1]

There's been a bit more volatility in the stock market lately. As exciting as artificial intelligence (AI) is, there are burning questions surrounding topics such as colossal data center investments or which companies AI may disrupt over the coming years. Some AI stocks have even begun to pull back amid the uncertainty, but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM), or TSMC for short, continues to shine, up 65% over the past year. I don't blame anyone for considering selling the stock at its high. Af ...

Core Viewpoint - The article highlights two top AI stocks for investment: Alphabet and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, emphasizing their strong growth potential and market positions in the AI sector [2]. Group 1: Alphabet - Alphabet is valued at approximately $4 trillion, having tripled in value over the past five years, driven by solid growth and recent advancements in AI [4]. - The company has diverse revenue streams, including Google Search, YouTube, Gemini chatbot, and Waymo, which are all enhanced by AI technologies [5]. - In 2025, Alphabet reported revenues of $402.8 billion and a net income of $132.2 billion, indicating strong fundamentals and making it a favorable long-term investment at 30 times its trailing earnings [6]. Group 2: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing - Taiwan Semiconductor is a leading chip manufacturer for AI technologies, benefiting from the demand for advanced AI chips from major tech companies [7]. - The company reported a 35% year-over-year profit increase in its most recent quarter and projects around 30% growth for the current year, indicating robust business health [8]. - With a market cap of $1.8 trillion and trading at approximately 33 times its trailing earnings, Taiwan Semiconductor is well-positioned for future growth, especially with its investments in expanding operations in the U.S. [9].

Summary of Semiconductor Industry Conference Call Industry Overview - The conference call focused on the global semiconductor industry, specifically discussing the WSTS report for December 2025, which tracks sales, units, and average selling prices (ASPs) across the semiconductor sector [2][27]. Key Financial Metrics - **2025 Semiconductor Sales**: Grew by 26% year-over-year, reaching approximately $792 billion, following a 20% increase in 2024 [3][28]. - **December 2025 Sales Growth**: Total semiconductor sales increased by 41.3% year-over-year, with memory sales growing by 67.6% year-over-year [3][29]. - **Monthly Sales Performance**: December sales rose by 4.8% month-over-month, significantly above the historical average of 2.2% [4][38]. Product Category Performance - **Logic Sales**: Increased by 40% year-over-year, leading the growth among product categories [28][32]. - **Memory Sales**: Grew by 35% year-over-year, with a notable 67.6% increase in December alone [3][29]. - **Analog Standard Linear**: Sales rose by 17%, while Discretes and Microcontroller Units (MCUs) saw declines of 1% each [28][32]. - **Monthly Performance by Product Group**: - Discretes: 18.3% growth vs. typical 14.5% - Optoelectronics: 14.2% vs. typical -0.1% - Logic: 3.7% vs. typical -1.1% - MCU: 13.8% vs. typical 11.6% [5][40]. Geographic Sales Insights - **Year-over-Year Sales Growth by Region**: - Americas: Up 32.5% - Europe: Up 23.3% - China: Up 40.3% - Asia Pacific/All Other: Up 77.6% - Japan: Down 11.3% [45]. - **Month-over-Month Sales Growth**: - Americas: Up 10.5% - China: Up 5.8% - Europe: Up 4.7% - Japan: Flattish at -0.7% - Asia Pacific/All Other: Down 1.2% [46]. Unit Shipments and ASPs - **Total Unit Shipments**: Increased by 9.6% month-over-month, with ASPs down by 4.4% [52]. - **Year-over-Year Shipment Growth**: Increased by 4.1%, with notable increases in Discretes, Optoelectronics, and Logic [53]. - **ASP Changes**: - ASPs increased for Discretes (6.3%), Optoelectronics (7.3%), and NAND (11.5%). - ASPs decreased for Sensors & Actuators (-4.6%) and Logic (-3.6%) [55][56]. Investment Implications - **ADI (Analog Devices)**: Rated Market-Perform with a target price of $270.00, executing well but shares considered expensive [11]. - **AMD (Advanced Micro Devices)**: Rated Market-Perform with a target price of $235.00, driven by high AI expectations and a new deal with OpenAI [11]. - **AVGO (Broadcom)**: Rated Outperform with a target price of $475.00, benefiting from a strong AI trajectory [11]. - **NVDA (NVIDIA)**: Rated Outperform with a target price of $275.00, with significant opportunities in the datacenter market [13]. - **QCOM (Qualcomm)**: Rated Outperform with a target price of $175.00, despite memory headwinds, shares are considered cheap [14]. Additional Insights - The semiconductor industry is experiencing robust growth driven by various product categories, particularly logic and memory, with significant regional disparities in performance. - The overall market sentiment remains positive, with several companies positioned for growth amid ongoing technological advancements and demand for semiconductors.