Industry Trends and Market Momentum
Semiconductor stocks continued to ride the AI wave as Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD), and Broadcom (AVGO) reached a combined valuation surge of over 1000% in three years (Benzinga). Analysts described the rally as the “Golden Triad” era of AI hardware leadership.
At the same time, SK Hynix announced a 62% jump in profit and sold out its entire 2026 memory chip lineup — a remarkable signal that AI infrastructure demand shows no sign of slowing (Bloomberg). The company said HBM (high-bandwidth memory) sales to AI platform leaders like Nvidia and AMD remain capacity-constrained even after major expansions.
Foxconn also approved a $1.37 billion investment for a supercomputing center to boost AI compute capacity, while Samsung and Google unveiled a $1,799 XR device that blends AI and immersive computing — demonstrating how semiconductors are powering the next wave of consumer and enterprise applications.
Nvidia’s GTC Conference Drives AI Confidence
Nvidia dominated the day’s headlines with a flood of announcements at its Washington GTC conference. CEO Jensen Huang unveiled plans to build seven AI supercomputers for the U.S. Department of Energy (Investing.com), showcased the NVQLink system to connect quantum computers with AI chips (Bloomberg), and announced a $1 billion equity investment in Nokia to advance AI networking and 6G platform research (Bloomberg).
In his keynote, Huang sought to dismiss AI bubble concerns, stating that new Blackwell and Rubin chips could drive half a trillion dollars in revenue through 2026 (Bloomberg). He also announced new partnerships with Palantir, Uber, and Eli Lilly to expand AI deployment across data analytics, autonomous driving, and healthcare (Yahoo Finance).
The market reaction was swift — Nvidia shares rose nearly 4%, pushing the stock above $200 and bringing its valuation close to a record $5 trillion mark (Yahoo Finance).
Corporate Moves and Partnerships
The day also featured a wave of mergers and alliances. Skyworks Solutions and Qorvo announced a merger to create a $22 billion RF chip giant, strengthening their hand in wireless connectivity for Apple and other OEMs (CNBC).
Meanwhile, Uber and Nvidia revealed a robotaxi collaboration targeting commercial deployment by 2027, showcasing how AI-driven autonomy is turning into a cross-industry megatrend (Forbes).
Blackstone and Saudi AI firm Humain also announced a $3 billion data-center deal to build AI infrastructure in the Middle East, further underlining global capital flows toward semiconductor-driven AI capacity (Bloomberg).
Earnings and Analyst Reactions
Teradyne reported lower profits but beat estimates (RTT News), while Seagate’s stock climbed on a strong AI-driven outlook for data storage (Yahoo Finance). Intel’s new CEO Lip-Bu Tan pledged to “fix years of bureaucracy and mismanagement,” reaffirming a focus on engineering discipline and foundry competitiveness (Benzinga).
Analysts continued to highlight that AI hardware leaders are growing revenues faster than valuations — a rare dynamic that reinforces the sector’s bullish bias and explains why SOXX keeps making new highs despite stretched multiples.