JPMorgan warned that AI stocks are hard to replicate the rebound in July, and leverage risks are rising

J.P. Morgan strategist Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou pointed out that the AI stock sell-off in October may be difficult to replicate the rapid rebound seen in July. Compared to before, the current market's willingness to buy on dips has weakened, short positions are insufficient to provide potential short-covering buying, corporate buyback funds are also decreasing, and at the same time, leveraged exposure in ETFs is being rebuilt, which may further amplify market volatility. J.P. Morgan believes that, based on investor positioning and capital flows, AI infrastructure stocks do not yet appear to be in an oversold state.

This round of sell-off has spread from South Korean memory chip stocks to the U.S. semiconductor sector. SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics have both seen their stock prices drop by nearly one-third over the past month, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has fallen 10% over the last five trading days. Additionally, the combined $40 billion stock buyback plan previously announced by the two companies was completed ahead of schedule in mid-October, which may have caused the market to lose some of the buying support brought by corporate buybacks.

Meanwhile, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned that if the U.S. halts data center construction, the economy could fall into recession. He stated that a significant portion of U.S. economic growth is related to capital expenditures in AI infrastructure. As market concerns deepen regarding the return on AI investments and corporate profitability, price adjustments in the AI supply chain could also impact data center construction, energy infrastructure, and related employment sectors.