Second Half Stock Market: Selection and Concentration are Essential

Experts stated that building a portfolio centered on three sectors within the broader trend, coupled with trading individual stocks that align with specific issues, would be an effective strategy.

Alongside this, continuous long-term supply contracts by memory chip companies have raised the possibility of a prolonged semiconductor cycle.

Analysts noted that in past expansion cycles, front-end related companies showed the strongest returns, and they anticipate enhanced pricing power due to increased global equipment demand.

The expert predicted that the returns from front-end equipment would undoubtedly be the strongest. This aligns with past trends where front-end related companies showed the highest returns during expansion cycles. With increasing global equipment demand, front-end equipment companies are in a favorable position to increase their pricing power.

Advice was given to tailor semiconductor investment strategies based on individual investors' experience and tendencies. For novice investors with less stock market experience, investing primarily in solid large-cap stocks was recommended. For experienced investors, investing in materials, parts, and equipment (SoBuJang), particularly equipment-related stocks, was suggested.

However, the rise of SoBuJang stocks is influenced by the stock performance of major semiconductor large-cap companies like Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. It was emphasized that SoBuJang stocks can only rise alongside Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix if their stock prices maintain an upward trend or at least remain within a defined range.

Specifically, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, expressed concerns about sourcing tens of thousands of robot parts excluding China, leading to expectations that domestic drive system and sensor parts manufacturers will benefit if Chinese components are excluded.

The forecast indicates that robot parts demand will surge as mass production and commercialization accelerate. Among domestic companies, those with strengths in drive system components such as actuators, reducers, and sensors are gaining attention. This could be a growth opportunity for the domestic robot parts industry amid global supply chain restructuring.

The data center investment cycle appears to be in its final year this year.

Although Nvidia is emphasizing new revenue models, it is expected to take time to numerically prove their effectiveness. The crucial factor will be whether big tech companies reduce their AI investments between the end of this year and the first half of next year.

Currently, merely mentioning increased AI investment during earnings announcements can cause stock prices to fall, and pressure to monetize is growing on management from boards and major shareholders.

It is expected to take at least 1-2 years for latecomers like Google and Amazon to significantly expand their market share in the AI chip market. Similar to the past popularization of electric vehicles, the AI market will only truly grow when more affordable and mainstream chips emerge. Nvidia's dominant top position is expected to remain for now, but a slowdown in growth is deemed inevitable.

Ultimately, the real growth of the AI market will begin when cheaper and more mainstream chips emerge. While Nvidia's dominant position is currently strong, analysis suggests that in the long term, it may face slower growth due to competition from latecomers and market changes.

This indicates that as the AI chip market matures, competition will intensify, and price competitiveness will become crucial.

It is advised to adjust portfolios after confirming the trend of slowing growth following the earnings announcement. This will serve as an important benchmark for setting the long-term investment direction for Nvidia and other AI-related companies.