Fidelity International: expects the investment scope of AI themes in the second half of the year to broaden.

2024-05-27 15:51

Zhitongcaijing
Investors should pay attention to companies that do not depend on the rapid spread of AI applications, and consider generative AI as a long-term growth driver for profits.
Fidelity International Fund Manager Hyun Ho Sohn said that the overall technology sector is expected to outperform and beat the market in 2024, but the stock performance of various companies within the industry varies. Looking ahead to the rest of 2024, Fidelity expects the investment scope of the artificial intelligence theme to broaden due to numerous opportunities yet to be explored in the industry chain. The development of cloud computing is accelerating again, providing tailwinds for related hardware and software. Valuations of industries such as semiconductors, IT services, and communication equipment have become attractive. As investment spending increases, and the speed of generated AI applications by large enterprises is slower than expected, some artificial intelligence companies face operational risks.
Hyun Ho Sohn stated that large technology companies are performing significantly better than small tech stocks, semiconductor companies are seeing substantial returns, software and internet companies are also performing well, but hardware, communication equipment, and information technology (IT) service companies are under pressure. The trends among the seven tech giants are diverging, with some becoming leaders in the market, while some consumer brands are lagging behind.
Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) equipment remain substantial, with almost all large enterprises continuing to increase related capital spending plans, which directly benefit semiconductor companies. On the other hand, the uncertainty in the macroeconomic environment is affecting the profitability of some tech companies. Although there are signs of stabilization in electronic components and overall semiconductor orders, the recovery process is slow, and inventory levels in the communication equipment and electric vehicle industry chains remain higher than past averages. Since many companies are not in a rush to upgrade their information technology equipment, delaying related plans continuously affects the operational profits of many tech service companies and some software companies.
Fidelity International stated that companies beyond the seven tech giants, such as IT consultants, data centers, and cloud computing companies, are still long-term beneficiaries often overlooked in the AI era. Payment services and related networks are vital parts of the development of e-commerce and omnichannel retail, and companies with scale and technological advantages are expected to seize these long-term growth opportunities. Subscription-based video streaming platforms and music streaming platforms have not fully reflected their monetization abilities, but industry leaders are still in a favorable position and are expected to benefit from further industry integration.
Companies seen as winners in the AI era, such as semiconductor and related hardware companies, already have premium stock prices. From a risk-return perspective, these premiums may reduce their attractiveness to investors. The market expects the process of investing in AI infrastructure equipment on a large scale to not slow down and believes that although generated AI has long-term development potential, there are also risks involved.
Digital media, creative industries, and e-commerce sectors have traditionally quickly adopted new technologies, with these companies seeing initial success in the application of generated artificial intelligence. However, many large enterprises, especially those in regulated financial industries, are still in the conceptual validation stage.
Fidelity International believes that although the computational cost of AI has significantly decreased, it remains high for many industries. For example, training large language models requires data centers with high-end equipment, consuming a large amount of electricity, which could become a bottleneck for the development of generated AI due to the associated costs. Given the cyclical nature of capital spending, if the development of generated AI applications is hindered, the demand for AI-related infrastructure equipment may suffer.
It is worth noting that many beneficiaries of AI are still overlooked by the market, and investors should focus on companies that do not rely on the rapid proliferation of AI applications and see generated AI as a long-term profit growth driver, such as cloud computing companies. Regardless of which type of AI chip performs well or which type of semiconductor customer has a competitive advantage, semiconductor foundry companies are also expected to benefit from AI development. Additionally, AI consulting companies are set to profit by assisting various industries in applying AI.