The Sci-Tech Innovation Index hits a new high; chip stocks drive the technology sector to a broad rally

Securities Times Reporter Mao Jun

This week, the A-shares overall showed strong upward momentum, with the Sci-Tech Innovation Board Index reaching a record high, the ChiNext Index hitting a nearly 11-year high, the Shenzhen Component Index surpassing a 5-year high, and the CSI 300, CSI 500, and other major indices reaching multi-year highs. The Shanghai Composite Index also approached previous highs, poised for a breakout, with daily trading volumes consistently exceeding 3 trillion yuan.

Leverage funds saw a significant net purchase of over 70.7 billion yuan this week, with the margin balance soaring to 2.77 trillion yuan, a record high. All first-level industries under Shenwan’s classification experienced net financing inflows this week, with the electronics sector gaining over 19.3 billion yuan, non-ferrous metals over 6.1 billion yuan, and the power equipment, communications, and machinery sectors each receiving more than 5 billion yuan in net inflows. Computer, non-bank financial, and basic chemical industries also saw inflows exceeding 3 billion yuan.

Technology stocks became the most dazzling sector this week. Chip concept stocks strengthened across the board driven by a global rally in chip shares, with sector indices hitting record highs for three consecutive days. Sub-sectors such as automotive chips, third-generation semiconductors, and advanced packaging also set new historical records.

As of the close on May 8, up to 69 chip concept stocks doubled in value this year, accounting for over 34% of all stocks that doubled this year. Among them, Litong Electronics (603629) surged over 528% year-to-date, Honghe Technology (603256) increased by 304%, and Kyushu One Track, Changguang Huaxin, Changfei Optical Fiber (601869), and Oulai New Materials all gained over 200% this year.

The explosion of artificial intelligence has driven a surge in chip demand, with storage chip prices continuing to rise since last year. Citibank forecasts that by 2026, the average selling price of DRAM will increase by 88%, and NAND flash memory by 74%. TrendForce’s latest survey also indicates that in Q2 2026, the contract prices for general-purpose DRAM are expected to increase by 58%–63% month-over-month, and NAND flash contract prices by 70%–75%.

The simultaneous rise in volume and price has led to a performance surge in related chip companies. For example, Shannong Chip Innovation achieved a net profit of 30k yuan in Q1 2026, a year-on-year increase of 7835%, with this quarter’s profit surpassing last year’s full-year net profit. Despite the stock price rising about sixfold over the past year, its dynamic P/E ratio has sharply fallen to around 15 times.

Demingli’s net profit in Q1 2026 increased by over 4943% year-over-year, Jiangbolong’s quarterly performance grew by 2644%, and Baiwei Storage’s quarterly earnings increased by 1567%, with all their dynamic P/E ratios dropping below 15.

After significant stock price increases, investors should also be cautious of profit-taking pressures. U.S. chip stocks have already experienced a sell-off. On May 7, U.S. time, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index opened lower and fell sharply by 2.72%, Applied Optoelectronics dropped over 11%, ARM declined over 10%, and Teradyne and MaxLinear fell more than 7%. SanDisk, Intel, and others declined by over 3%.

In the A-share market, according to Wind data, on May 8, the chip sector experienced net outflows of over 10 billion yuan from major funds. Haiming Information saw outflows of over 1.9 billion yuan, Zhaoyi Innovation (603986) over 1.5 billion yuan, and Tongfu Microelectronics (002156), SMIC, Sugon (603019), and Chipone all experienced net outflows exceeding 27.7k yuan.

This week, computing power concept stocks also continued to strengthen, with indices for the “East Data West Computing,” data centers, and computing power leasing sectors reaching record highs. Zhongjia Bochuang (000889) hit the daily limit four times on the 8th, Sanyou Xing (000818) hit the limit three times on the 6th, Hangjin Technology (000818) hit the limit three times on the 5th, and Runjian Shares (002929) and China Great Wall (000066) each hit the limit three times over four days.

On the news front, according to OpenRouter’s latest data, last week (April 27 to May 3), the total global AI large model calls reached 23.9 trillion tokens, an 8.6% increase from the previous week. Among them, China’s AI large model weekly calls rose to 7.942 trillion tokens, an 81.7% increase month-over-month.

The surge in demand has prompted Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Baidu Cloud, and others to announce recent price hikes for AI computing power, with the rental price of H100 GPUs increasing nearly 40% within half a year.

Additionally, sectors such as artificial intelligence, commercial aerospace, humanoid robots (300024), and optical communications have also continued to rise.

Looking ahead, Galaxy Securities pointed out that the current state of technology, AI, and optical communications is characterized by “high prosperity, high valuation, and high crowding,” requiring increasingly strong trading skills. In May, investors should focus more on segments with sustained earnings surprises rather than broad market rallies. The mid-term trend for high-end manufacturing remains unchanged, with the logic of defense and military industry, commercial aerospace, and the industrialization of robotics expected to continue, along with resilience in new energy, power equipment, and overseas expansion.

Zhongyuan Securities noted that as the annual and Q1 reports are finalized, the market will shift from expectations to actual performance, with funds increasingly concentrating on hard technology companies capable of delivering results. In mid-May, attention should be paid to macro data such as CPI and social financing; if data improve, cyclically sensitive sectors may be moderately favored. In late May, caution is advised regarding liquidity seasonal tightening at month-end, maintaining some defensive assets and flexibly responding to market shifts.

(Edited by: Dong Pingping)

【Disclaimer】This article only reflects the author’s personal views and is not related to Hexun.com. Hexun maintains neutrality regarding the statements and opinions in this article and does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the content. Readers should use it as a reference and bear all responsibilities themselves. Email: news_center@staff.hexun.com