Pre-Market Review: Chip Stocks Lead, AI-Related Stocks Generally Rise
On January 22, before the U.S. stock market opened, the semiconductor sector was overall strong, with several stocks related to AI computing power, storage, and equipment chain rising. In pre-market trading, Oracle increased by nearly 3%, Micron and AMD rose by more than 2%, and ASML and TSMC also moved up.
Market interpretations generally suggest that under the narrative of "AI infrastructure expansion," there is renewed willingness to allocate more funds to the hardware sector, with short-term buying more concentrated in storage, computing power, and advanced processes.
Catalyst: Jensen Huang Signals AI Construction Still in 'Heavy Asset Phase'
The core trigger for the boost in sentiment came from recent statements in Davos. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang emphasized in public that building global AI infrastructure still requires trillions in sustained investment, covering energy, cloud computing, and the electronics industry, describing it as one of the largest infrastructure building waves in human history.
This statement strengthened market expectations that "capital expenditure will not cool down quickly," indirectly enhancing the imagined space for supply and demand in chips, storage, and equipment.
Asia-Pacific Linkage: Equipment and Storage Chains Follow the Rise, Risk Appetite Recovers
In the Asian market, NVIDIA's supply chain-related stocks also showed significant linkage. The share price of Japanese semiconductor equipment chain company Disco once surged over 15%, reflecting investor enthusiasm to chase AI hardware demand.
In Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also recorded significant rises that day. Meanwhile, the recovery in market risk appetite is also related to a broader "risk-on" trading environment.
Next Market Focus: Earnings and Capital Expenditure Guidance Remain Key Variables
With short-term sentiment ignited, investors are more focused on two types of verification: first, the performance of key companies' earnings and orders, and second, whether large tech companies and chipmakers continue to raise their capital expenditure guidance. Discussions around AI demand and expansion pacing during Davos are still fermenting, affecting the market's pricing of cyclical sustainability, such as the chip industry's judgment on input intensity.
In a high-valuation context, if there are discrepancies in earnings statements about AI investment returns, the sector might diverge more quickly: Strong logic (HBM, advanced packaging, key equipment) will benefit more, while stocks lacking order visibility might experience greater volatility.
