Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) concept stocks have rotated rapidly, with strong performance in games, media, communications, online education, memory chips and other directions, while semiconductors, mixed reality and other sectors have adjusted.
AI is expected to become the main line of investment in the A-share market throughout the year and even in the next few years, and this judgment seems to have become a market consensus. In this regard, some private equity institutions said that AI is expected to become the main force leading the year, but it does not mean that relevant sectors can "laugh to the end", and the rapid rise in the valuation level of some industries has caused market concerns.
AI concept stocks are hot
On June 9, the Shanghai Composite Index edged higher, and a number of popular artificial intelligence sectors such as online games, culture and media, metaverse, cloud computing, virtual reality, 5G and 6G were warmly welcomed by the main funds.
According to the statistics of flush data, in terms of individual stocks, including Puyuan Information, Palmqu Technology, Glacier Network, Sanqi Interactive Entertainment, Dongwei Semiconductor, Cape Cloud, Changguang Huaxin, Kingsoft Office, Reader Media, Zhewen Film and other computer, game, chip, media stocks have soared sharply. These rising stocks are just the tip of the iceberg in the AI concept stock boom.
In terms of ETFs, ETFs with industry themes such as gaming, cloud computing, media, communications, big data, and 5G are on the rise. Specifically, on June 9, Cathay CSI Animation Game ETF and Huaxia CSI Animation Game ETF both rose nearly 6.5%, while Huatai Berry CSI Animation Game ETF also rose by more than 6%. These three gaming ETFs not only led the market during the day, but also gained more than 100% so far this year.
The revival of this round of AI concept stocks began in mid-May, while the highlight of the last round of AI market stopped in early April. During this period, all segments of AI showed different degrees of adjustment, semiconductors, memory chips and other sectors adjusted by a large margin, and games, media, communications and other sectors weakened slightly. The communication equipment sector can be called one of the "pioneers" of this round of AI market, rising about 17% in the past month.
Yuan Huaming, general manager of Hua Hui Wealth Investment, said that since the beginning of this year, the communication industry has operated steadily, the prosperity has continued to improve, and the fundamental performance has been relatively outstanding, and the current valuation level of the sector is attractive, with the conditions and space for improvement. At the same time, with the additional computing power and data center construction requirements brought by AI, the long-term demand in the communication industry driven by this cannot be underestimated. In addition, the concept of "medium special valuation" and AI has brought double heat to the communication sector, which has an obvious catalytic effect on individual stocks in the sector.
Bao Xiaohui, chairman of Changli Asset, said that with the emergence of the AI sector, it has brought different degrees of benefits to data transmission, optical modules, optical communication and other aspects. At present, the most important demand driver of AI for the communication industry is reflected in optical communication. Compared with traditional data centers, AI data centers have a greater demand for the number of switches and optical modules, and the change of the network architecture of computing power centers has driven the development of high-speed optical communication facilities.
Valuations in some sectors have raised concerns
Recently, the gaming and media sectors are the two pillars of the rise of the AI market.
As some individual stocks in the gaming and media sectors continue to hit new highs, industry valuations have risen too fast, causing investor concerns. According to the statistics of flush data, as of June 11, the valuation of individual stocks in the game sector is high, and the media sector is not far behind, and the dynamic P/E ratio of the industry as a whole has reached 122 times.
Liu Yan, chairman of Anjue Assets, said that at present, the valuation of enterprises in the game and media sector is generally too high, mainly due to the rapid development of the game media sector and investors' optimism about its prospects, the valuation of the sector has been at a relatively high level, resulting in investors facing higher costs when investing in the industry, but also increasing investment risks. In addition, due to the fierce competition in the game market, the performance of game companies fluctuates greatly, and this volatility may also have a certain negative impact on the stock price.
"The upward logic of this round of the game sector is clear, mainly due to the promotion of AI technology." Bao Xiaohui believes that the game industry is particularly vulnerable to the influence of policies, and policy changes may have different impacts on the business and stock price of game companies, and will also put pressure on the performance of game companies.
In Liu Yan's view, although the advancement of artificial intelligence skills has greatly reduced the production cost and cycle of games, it is a big change for the game industry. However, new game models in the game market are constantly emerging, and old games are always facing the pressure of constant updating, driving game companies to continuously invest in R&D and marketing expenses to maintain a competitive advantage, so that the company's R&D and other expenses are always maintained at a high level.
Debate about future market opportunities
Although the hot spots in various sectors of the AI industry have accelerated their switching, this has limited impact on companies or industries that are truly supported by performance, and it has become the consensus of institutions that the market will usher in more outlets and investment opportunities.
Recently, as "brain-computer interface" has once again become the focus of the industry, this latest outlet is expected to usher in commercialization. Yuan Huaming said that the demand for brain-computer interface will first drive the innovative development of signal transmission and receiving equipment, related data analysis and storage equipment and supporting software for brain and machine interaction. With the bright application prospects, the semiconductor chips, operating systems, application development platforms and related application development adapted to brain-computer interaction will gradually accelerate. Medical rehabilitation and dangerous industrial production may be the early application direction of brain-computer interface, and the disruptive products or services brought by brain-computer interface will give birth to new business ecology and opportunities.
In addition, in the AI era, memory chips are the key factor that determines AI computing power. Liu Yan believes that the semiconductor and chip sectors are an important foundation for the development of artificial intelligence technology, especially driven by the recent hot concept of AI, orders and actual performance have been greatly improved, and have great development prospects, so it has very high investment potential and value. However, the semiconductor and chip industries are susceptible to factors such as tight supply chains and capacity expansion bottlenecks, and the market is volatile, and investors need to carefully assess risks.
Liu Yan said that from the macroeconomic environment, industry development trends, company performance and other perspectives, as well as combined with the current overall market situation, the application scope of artificial intelligence technology is still expanding and deepening, especially in the fields of games, office, medical care, finance, manufacturing and other fields, so in the medium and long term, the application concept stocks under the AI framework still have greater investment opportunities.