Infrastructure stocks outperformed, 115% surge

AI-linked companies now account for nearly 45% of the S&P 500’s market capitalization, according to Goldman Sachs, putting one theme at the center of U.S. equities. (finance.yahoo.com) That shift has been driven less by software vendors than by the companies selling the physical inputs for artificial intelligence: semiconductors, servers, networking gear and data-center capacity. Goldman said investors have been rewarding the infrastructure layer while treating the rest of tech more selectively. (goldmansachs.com) (finance.yahoo.com) The move was visible again on April 24, when the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 3.2% to an all-time high and stretched its streak of daily gains to 18 sessions. Reuters reported the index is up more than 47% in 2026. (finance.yahoo.com) Intel helped fuel that latest leg higher after issuing an unexpectedly strong revenue forecast, and Reuters said the upbeat guidance reinforced confidence that the artificial-intelligence buildout is still feeding chip demand. AMD also rose sharply in the same session. (finance.yahoo.com) (thestreet.com) The split inside tech has become clearer as hyperscalers keep lifting capital-spending plans for computing clusters, chips and data centers. Goldman Sachs Research said Wall Street’s consensus estimate for 2026 capital spending by large AI hyperscalers has climbed to $527 billion from $465 billion at the start of the third-quarter earnings season. (goldmansachs.com) Goldman said those spending revisions have not lifted every AI-adjacent stock equally. Its research described investors as “more selective,” with companies closest to the infrastructure buildout capturing a larger share of the market’s gains. (goldmansachs.com) The same concentration is showing up in credit. Market commentary circulating this week cited AI-linked debt at about $1.4 trillion, equal to 15.4% of the U.S. investment-grade bond market, after nearly doubling since 2020. (finance.yahoo.com) (watcher.guru) Goldman’s own broader outlook says the next phase of the buildout will depend on whether investors keep financing that spending and whether supply bottlenecks ease fast enough. Its analysts said investor appetite and supply constraints, more than balance-sheet capacity, are the main limits on how far hyperscaler capital expenditure can keep rising. (goldmansachs.com) For now, the market is still paying most for the companies pouring concrete, wiring networks and shipping chips. The closer a business sits to the AI buildout, the more it has been carrying the index. (goldmansachs.com) (finance.yahoo.com)