Coming from an IT background, I have dived into the U.S. stock market seven years ago by managing portfolio of my family. Starting managing real money has been challenging for the first time, but long hours of mastering fundamental analysis of public companies paid off and now I feel very confident in my investment decisions. My hands-on experience shaped deep understanding of risk, reward and the delicate balance between these two variables. Driven by a desire to share my insights and contribute to the inv ...

It's been one of the most eventful CES (Consumer Electronics Show) events in years, thanks in part to the AI boom, which holds tremendous promise in 2026. ...

Core Insights - TSMC's unique business model as a pure-play foundry allows it to focus solely on manufacturing without competing with its customers, making it a preferred partner for major tech firms [1] - The company is increasingly viewed as a critical infrastructure provider in the digital economy, with its earnings growth outweighing geopolitical risks [2] - A revised price target from Goldman Sachs reflects heightened demand for AI infrastructure, indicating a shift in investor sentiment towards TSMC as a key player in hardware manufacturing [3] Company Performance - TSMC's stock has risen over 7% at the start of the New Year, reaching above $327, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.65 trillion, solidifying its status as the world's most valuable chip manufacturer [4] - The company has successfully accelerated the timeline for new manufacturing facilities in the U.S., enhancing its global supply chain and solidifying its role in AI hardware production [5] Market Position - TSMC holds over 90% of the global market share for advanced chips (nodes smaller than 7 nanometers), making it the primary choice for high-performance silicon [6] - A significant shift in revenue composition occurred in 2025, with High-Performance Computing (HPC) revenue surpassing smartphone revenue for the first time [7] Technological Advancements - TSMC's successful rollout of 2-nanometer technology marks a significant engineering advancement, with production yields exceeding expectations [8][10] - The company has addressed supply chain bottlenecks with its advanced packaging technology, CoWoS, which is essential for assembling complex AI processors [10] Pricing Power and Margins - TSMC has implemented a price increase of 3% to 10% on its advanced nodes for 2026, which customers have accepted due to the superior performance of its chips, helping maintain healthy gross margins above 59% [11] Geopolitical Strategy - TSMC is mitigating geopolitical risks through global diversification, including the Gigafab project in Arizona, which is on track to produce advanced chips ahead of schedule [12][13] - The expansion of manufacturing capacity in the U.S., Japan, and Germany reduces geographical concentration and enhances investor confidence [14] Investment Outlook - TSMC combines stability with growth potential, offering high margins, consistent cash flow, and a reliable dividend, making it a foundational holding for the AI era [15] - Upcoming earnings calls will provide insights into margin guidance, crucial for assessing the impact of recent price hikes on inflation and expansion costs [16] Capacity Expansion - TSMC is on track to reach a capacity of 130,000 wafers per month by the end of 2026, unlocking significant revenue previously held in backlog [17]

Group 1 - Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (NASDAQ:CRDO) is recognized as a must-buy AI stock, with BofA recently lowering its price target from $240 to $200 while maintaining a Buy rating [1][2] - The year 2026 is identified as a pivotal point in a long-term process (8-10 years) for upgrading IT systems to support faster AI tasks, driven by the demand for more powerful AI capabilities [2] - BofA analysts highlight that while there are challenges related to AI investment returns and hyperscaler cash flows, there are also positive factors such as advancements in large language models and the emergence of specialized AI factories that could increase demand for companies like Credo [3] Group 2 - Barclays also maintains a Buy rating on Credo with a price target of $220, citing optimism about the company's potential to capture market share as hyperscalers expand their AI factories and upgrade data centers [4] - Credo is a semiconductor company that specializes in high-speed connectivity solutions for data infrastructure, offering a range of optical and electrical interconnect products that facilitate efficient data transfer within AI data centers [5]

Group 1 - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is highlighted as a key investment opportunity in the AI sector, particularly in the server CPU market, supported by positive trends in the chip supply chain and AI market revitalization [1][2] - Micron Technology's optimistic outlook on server unit shipments, which are expected to grow in the high teens percentage year-on-year, aligns with AMD's growth strategy, indicating strong demand despite rising DRAM prices [2][3] - AMD's total addressable market (TAM) for server CPUs is projected to double to $60 billion by 2030, with the company aiming to increase its market share from 40% to 50% [3] Group 2 - Truist has adjusted its price target for AMD from $279 to $277 while maintaining a Buy rating, reflecting a broader review of semiconductor and AI stocks amid anticipated near-term challenges in the AI sector [4] - The lead analyst at Truist, William Stein, remains optimistic about AMD and other AI infrastructure semiconductor stocks, suggesting they are undervalued relative to their growth potential [4]

Core Viewpoint - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) is identified as a key investment opportunity in the AI sector, with expectations of significant revenue growth and profitability through 2026 [1][2]. Group 1: Revenue Growth Expectations - Morgan Stanley anticipates TSMC will guide for 2026 revenue growth in the mid-20% range, but projects actual growth closer to 30% year-over-year, surpassing the Street consensus of 22% [2]. - The higher growth forecast is attributed to strong demand for TSMC's AI and advanced-node products, which the analysts believe is underestimated by the market [2]. Group 2: Capital Expenditure and Valuation - The 30% revenue growth forecast is based on a projected capital expenditure of $49 billion for 2026 and ongoing expansion of 3-nanometer capacity [3]. - TSMC's stock remains attractive at a valuation of 16x or 13x the average EPS for 2026/2027, even after the price target increase [3]. Group 3: Company Overview - TSMC is recognized as the world's largest contract chipmaker, specializing in advanced semiconductors utilized in AI training and inference, including GPUs and custom accelerators [4].

Group 1 - NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is highlighted as a must-buy AI stock, with Truist raising its price target from $255 to $275 while maintaining a Buy rating [1] - Truist's analysis indicates that AI infrastructure semiconductor stocks are currently undervalued relative to their growth potential, despite challenges in AI infrastructure and funding [3] - The firm anticipates increased upward pressure on estimates for AI semiconductor stocks compared to diversified analog semiconductors as they approach 2026 [3] Group 2 - NVIDIA recently launched the Nemotron 3 family of open models, which includes three variants: Nano (30 billion parameters), Super (100 billion parameters), and Ultra (500 billion parameters) [4] - The Nemotron 3 models utilize a hybrid mixture-of-experts architecture, combining Mamba and Transformer technologies, resulting in a 4x increase in throughput for the Nano model compared to its predecessor [5] - NVIDIA specializes in designing GPUs and data center solutions that are essential for training and running large-scale AI models, supported by its CUDA software platform [6]

The market’s focus this week will be on US economic news. On Friday, Dec nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase by +70,000, and the Dec unemployment rate is expected to slip by -0.1 to 4.5%. Also, Dec average hourly earnings are expected to be up by 0.3% m/m and 3.6% y/y. In addition, Oct housing starts are expected to increase by 1.8% m/m to 1.33 million, and Oct building permits are expected to rise by 1.5% m/m to 1.35 million. Finally, the University of Michigan's Jan consumer sentiment index is expec ...

Yerevan, Armenia, Jan. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eleveight AI is thrilled to announce the deployment of NVIDIA B300 Blackwell GPUs at its AI-focused data center in Armenia, marking a significant milestone in the country’s AI infrastructure development. The B300 GPUs will support AI training and inference workloads, including generative AI, enterprise applications, and research-driven computing. The deployment follows a phased approach focused on infrastructure readiness, power stability, and operational ...

Group 1: Samsung Electronics - Samsung Electronics reported a record operating profit of 20 trillion KRW (approximately 96.5 billion RMB) for Q4 2025, marking a significant year-on-year increase of 208%, exceeding market expectations [2][4] - The company's Q4 sales rose by 23% year-on-year to 93 trillion KRW, continuing a trend of quarterly sales surpassing 80 trillion KRW for two consecutive quarters [2] - The surge in performance is attributed to supply constraints and increased demand driven by AI, leading to higher prices for traditional memory chips, with DRAM prices rising over 30% and NAND flash prices increasing by about 20% [2][3] Group 2: Market Trends and Predictions - Analysts predict that the price of DDR5 memory will continue to rise, with a forecasted increase of 40% in Q1 2026 and an additional 20% in Q2 2026 [2] - The shift towards AI-related chip production is causing a squeeze on traditional memory chip capacity, while demand for both traditional and high-end chips is surging due to AI model training and operation [3] - Samsung's advancements in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) are exceeding market expectations, with anticipated HBM4 shipments expected to double in 2026 [3][4] Group 3: TSMC Developments - TSMC is experiencing high demand for its 3nm process technology, which remains in short supply, leading to a temporary halt in new 3nm project launches [5][6] - TSMC's 2nm process is projected to achieve a wafer production capacity 1.5 times that of the 3nm process, with expectations to capture over 95% of the global AI accelerator market [6] - The company plans aggressive production targets, aiming for a monthly wafer capacity of 140,000 for the 2nm process by the end of 2026, driven by strong demand from AI data centers [6] Group 4: Financial Outlook - Morgan Stanley forecasts a 30% year-on-year revenue growth for TSMC in 2026, with continued growth of over 20% in 2027, primarily fueled by AI data center demand [6] - The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for AI revenue in data centers has been revised upward from 53% to 57%, with expectations that AI business will account for over 40% of TSMC's total revenue by 2029 [6]