HALO, which stands for heavy assets, low obsolescence, is the trade of the year. Global investors have been bidding up makers of everything, from cars to PCs, betting that many may benefit from the trillion-dollar artificial intelligence boom.But worries are heightening that this trade is more a fad than a trend. A parabolic rally in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has drawn comparisons to 1999, before the dot-com bubble burst. Further, there’s evidence that the biggest winners from this AI stock boom are aided by momentum chasers. The pick-and-shovel theme might just be a nice story that investors tell themselves to justify risk-taking.Bloomberg OpinionSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
There’s a trillion-dollar question for memory chipmakers
HALO is the trade of the year as investors buy everything from cars to PCs. But worries are mounting that this is all more fad than a trend.
TL;DRAI
Investors are backing memory chipmakers and hardware makers via HALO trade on trillion-dollar AI expectations, but the Semiconductor Index rally mirrors pre-dot-com 1999 bubble. If momentum-driven rather than structural, capex and chipmaker assumptions face downside risk.
124 words~1 min read
