TFHK Commentary: How Should We Understand the Current Correction in AI Hardware?
The market is always right. Changes in stock prices inevitably reflect the new variables the market is currently pricing in. Even as long-term bulls on the AI industry, we need to understand the core concerns driving this correction in AI semiconductor stocks.
The current market bears a striking resemblance to last autumn and winter. Following OpenAI’s large fundraising round, industry conditions were very strong, yet stocks continued to trade sideways. Market participants spent every day debating CapEx, ROI, valuations, and financing—much like they are doing now.
The conclusions from this quarter’s earnings reports remain overwhelmingly positive. GCP grew by 80%, the ROI of cloud investment was validated, Intel delivered a significant beat, and ASML, TSMC, and Intel raised their order or CapEx outlooks. Presumably, these companies also saw extremely strong downstream forecasts, giving even the most conservative players in the supply chain the confidence to make aggressive bets. Had this information emerged in May or June, semiconductor stocks would almost certainly have surged.
Now, however, every earnings release has instead become an opportunity for bears to reassess valuations and the long-term investment thesis. What we may be seeing is that the AI market is no longer in the “AI Summer” of May and June. The same positive developments now provide less support to share prices. Take GCP’s 80% growth as an example. Previously, the market’s first reaction would have been: “AI demand has exceeded expectations—the catalyst has arrived.” Now, the first response is: “So what? What about 2028? Can OpenAI become profitable? For how many more years can GPU prices keep rising? Margins are rising again, financing costs are increasing, and the entire CapEx thesis needs to be repriced.” In essence, the market has shifted from trading the growth of AI CapEx to trading its sustainability and ROI.
Market sentiment, as we perceive it, has already become extremely bearish. Even long-term bulls are beginning to question whether AI semiconductor stocks can continue to rise, and we are hearing almost no calls for new highs. When the market shifts from looking for further upside to searching for additional downside risks, it usually means that pessimistic expectations have already been largely priced in.
Nevertheless, we have no doubts about the fundamentals. We also believe that, ultimately, facts determine stock prices. So what would send these stocks higher again? Under the framework outlined above, additional capital-spending plans alone will no longer be enough to convince the bears. What is needed is validation of a new demand curve. The most powerful and direct catalyst would be the emergence of a blockbuster product. If “Coding 1.0” proved that AI can improve developer productivity, then “Coding 2.0” must demonstrate that AI agents can genuinely replace part of the software development process. Once new productivity use cases are validated, the market’s concerns about AI ROI may be redefined, and AI infrastructure spending will once again be viewed as “productivity investment” rather than a “cost.”
외국인들은 이해 못 하는 한중일 특징
🇰🇷 한국 : 자본주의지만 누구보다 사회주의를 좋아함
- 뼛속까지 치열한 무한경쟁 사회지만, 국민 정서 기저에는 '평등주의'가 아주 강하게 깔려 있음
- '결과의 평등'을 아주 중요시하여 누군가 부당한 특혜를 받는 것에 극도로 예민함
🇨🇳 중국 : 사회주의지만 누구보다 자본주의를 좋아함
- 그 어떤 나라보다 돈을 중요시하는 '천민자본주의'의 끝판왕
- "수단과 방법을 가리지 않고 나도 돈을 벌어 부자가 되겠다"는 지극히 자본주의적인 마인드가 팽배함
- 반칙에 분노하기보다는 "억울하면 너도 반칙해!"라는 주의
🇯🇵 일본 : 집단주의지만 누구보다 개인주의를 좋아함
- 일본사회의 핵심인 '메이와쿠(민폐)' 문화는 결국 "남에게 피해를 주지 않을 테니, 너도 내 선을 넘지 말고 간섭하지 마라"는 뜻
- 남의 사생활을 묻지 않고 혼밥, 혼술 문화가 가장 먼저 발달함
- 철저한 개인주의가 '집단주의라는 안전한 울타리' 안에서 완벽하게 작동함
To avoid a life of "pointless sacrifice" for ungrateful women and a deathbed full of regret, I advise men to fiercely protect their autonomy by rejecting these societal expectations.
Women resent men who accept these standards anyway.
最适合投资人的 5 本:
《芯片战争》:看全球竞争格局。
《张忠谋自传》下册:看商业模式与台积电。
Only the Paranoid Survive:看行业拐点与战略转型。
Focus: The ASML Way:看设备瓶颈与极致供应链。
The Nvidia Way:看 AI 时代的新王朝。
最适合写半导体深度文章的 5 本:
《芯片简史》
The Idea Factory
Makers of the Microchip
The Intel Trinity
《芯片的较量:日美半导体风云》
最适合补技术底层的 5 本:
Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
Semiconductor Physics and Devices
Inside the Machine
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach
Efficient Processing of Deep Neural Networks