Don't put all your eggs in one basket, even if it screams AI!
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DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET, EVEN IF IT SCREAMS AI!
The fanfare around the potential of artificial intelligence has made the U.S. technology sector dizzyingly expensive, leaving alternatives in emerging markets well positioned to propel that momentum further.
Much of the optimism around AI has been U.S. centric and revolving around names like Nvidia NVDA.O and Microsoft MSFT.O. But those firms that play a crucial role in the AI supply chain, particularly in emerging Asia, have been left out.
"Asian tech in particular is an area that's poised for growth that we think is attractive," Chris Jackson, senior vice president at UBS Wealth Management told Reuters in an interview although he notes that a near term overhang for emerging markets is the Fed delay in cutting rates.
Similarly, analysts at Pictet Asset Management classify attractive opportunities in South Korea, Taiwan and China that fall under various parts of the graphic processing unit (GPU) supply chain.
U.S. chip designers like U.S. market-darling Nvidia NVDA.O have most of their chips produced, packaged and embedded into servers by Taiwan-based companies, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd 2330.TW standing at the top of that list.
And as the AI market broadens, companies that manufacture cheaper chips for Nvidia's U.S. competitors are expected to benefit, given that the AI poster-child's products are expensive and in limited supply, according to Pictet.
Alternatives to the chip industry leader's GPUs are Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) powered servers, namely those production by Taiwan's Alchip Technologies 3661.TW and Wiwynn Corp 6669.TW. ASIC chips offer cost savings of around 10-20 per cent and delivery times are shorter.
The next phase of the boom is expected to be in the AI-enhanced smartphone and computer hardware segments that could benefit Asia-based hardware firms such as South Korea's Samsung Electronics 005930.KS.
In its report Pictet cited an estimate for a compounded annual growth rate of around 80% through to 2027 in unit sales of AI enabled phones from analysts at Counterpoint Research and KB Securities.
In terms of valuation, TSMC, Samsung and Wiwynn are trading between 13.8x and 19.9x times their forward earnings compared with valuations of around 27.5x for the S&P 500's information technology sector's .SPLRCT and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX, according to LSEG data.
"The upshot to all this is that investors have several options through which to capitalise on the advance of AI. Emerging Asian tech companies are among the most promising," said Chi Ho Wong, senior investment analyst at Pictet Asset Management in a research note.
(Johann M Cherian)
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EM chipmakers trade cheaper than Nvidia https://tmsnrt.rs/44tATvh
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