1. Chip stocks retreat.

"If you look at the technical indicators, the SOX was at its most overbought level in the last three years so there's definitely an element of expectations getting stretched, market positioning getting stretched, and valuations getting stretched."
"It doesn't appear to be closely tied to the fundamentals of the AI story, but rather to the heavy concentration and strong inflows into global tech over the past few months."

2. AI dominance means securing energy dominance.

China leads in both production and deployment of batteries, HVDC systems, and solar installations, creating a virtuous cycle of demand that strengthens its grid power electronics supply chain.

3. Korea is now bigger for the Luxury sector than the Middle East.

South Koreans are the highest per-capita spenders on personal luxury goods in the world, with average yearly per-capita spend multiple times higher than Chinese and American consumers.

4. European carmakers have continued to see their market share in Europe decline.

5. Apple is the only trillion-dollar tech company without a major foothold in AI.

Growing its potential market will require more devices with enough DRAM to power AI experiences. And memory costs won’t be going down anytime soon. Deutsche Bank analyst Melissa Weathers said the shortage of DRAM “could persist well into 2028 and potentially beyond”.
Market research firm TrendForce says prices for the type of DRAM—dynamic random-access memory—used in high-end smartphones will surge as much as 83% in the current quarter compared with three months ago.

6. VNET upgraded to “toppick” at Morgan Stanley.

VNET is the largest carrier-neutral internet data center services provider in China.

VNET announced a total of 510MW of new wholesale order wins from its key Chinese Internet customers. Higher earnings visibility bodes well for the valuation.

Potential South-East Asia expansion likely to enhance revenue stream. The company is looking for potential projects in SE Asia (e.g., Malaysia, Thailand) with potential partnership with local vendors.

Strong delivery in the current year should help VNET achieve 2026 EBITDA growth of 23%.

Base case is $16, bull case $25, bear case $7.8.

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