CICC: Compared to optical modules, the valuation of cloud service providers and chip segments remains relatively low

Golden Ten Data reported on May 11 that a research report from China International Capital Corporation (CICC) stated that this year's AI market trend has shifted from the earlier "general rally" led by cloud providers and chips, to a phase of industrial chain diffusion and internal differentiation driven by "bottleneck segments" such as storage and optical modules. Storage (197%) and optical modules (103%) led the gains, while chips (23.5%) lagged behind, and cloud providers (3%) even underperformed the S&P 500 Index (8%). This indicates that the AI trend has not faded, but the market valuation focus has moved from simple capital expenditure expansion to a phase that is more sensitive to order certainty, profit realization, cash flow pressure, and investment returns. Compared with valuations already at high percentiles for semiconductor equipment, optical modules, and electricity & cooling, valuations for cloud providers and chips are still at relatively low percentiles (10% and 30% since 2023), and have not yet reached the generally high levels seen during the two valuation bubbles of July 2024 and October 2025.