After the AI super bubble, which sectors can be重点布局? (Looking for the next 10-year big opportunity?)

Recently, many people have been discussing the current AI bubble, with some saying that the AI bubble burst might be similar to the internet bubble of 2000.

Alright, assuming there really is an AI bubble, my thought is, which sectors will recover first and lead the rally (can't we just pre-position in advance)? So I directly refer to the internet bubble of 2000.

In March 2000, the Nasdaq peaked (around 5048 points), and bottomed out in October 2002 (around 1139 points), a decline of about 78%, with many internet companies going bankrupt, and tech stocks generally plummeting over 80%. The S&P 500's peak-to-trough decline was about 49%. The overall recovery of the tech sector was very slow; it took Nasdaq about 15 years to return to its high.

Then I actually found a report on the industries that rose after the 2000 internet bubble burst: (Red Lotus Capital, written in November 2025).

1. The fastest recovery was in energy, +15%, as energy is a necessity, plus geopolitical influences (at that time, the Iraq war was ongoing), strikes in Venezuela, winter demand, U.S. strategic reserves, etc. The well-performing companies included ExxonMobil and Chevron, which I have mentioned before.

2. Consumer goods: 11.2%, no need to say much about consumer goods—daily expenses, which continue even in economic downturns, like Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and other companies.

3. Utilities: 8%—electricity, natural gas, also sectors with strong demand.

4. Materials/Commodities: Copper, iron ore, and coal surged because, in 2000, China joined the WTO, leading American companies into a major commodities cycle.

Representative companies:

Valero Energy rose 13 times;

Occidental Petroleum rose 5 times;

Freeport-McMoRan rose 8 times.

5. Real estate: After the bubble burst, the Fed maintained low interest rates, directly fueling a real estate bull market. The sectors that led the charge were real estate developers, building materials, and mortgage finance. The representative company NVR increased 10-fold. Homebuilders like Lennar (LEN) and D.R. Horton (DHI) saw gains of about +185% from 2001-2003. Related companies like Williams-Sonoma, Tractor Supply, etc., saw even larger increases.

6. Healthcare: At that time, institutional investors flocked to healthcare, along with rapid development in medical devices and biotech, e.g., Boston Scientific gained +445% from 2001-2003.

After 2005, another tech stock bull market emerged, but it was driven by new-generation tech companies like Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, and Google, rather than the old tech giants.

If we map history to today, there's an interesting phenomenon:

The first wave of the bull market was led by infrastructure sectors, such as optical modules, GPUs, data centers, and AI servers—similar to the early days of routers, fiber optic networks, and switches.

After the bubble bursts, which essential sectors will stand out and regain value? Possibly energy, healthcare, consumer goods, and real estate. But energy has already surged once, so I think the subsequent sectors might be downstream industries empowered by AI, especially those with significant innovation driven by AI!

For example, like Huang Renxun previously mentioned about AI in healthcare—healthcare is a necessity that won't die, and AI empowerment could lead to greater innovation and higher profits for some medical companies.

Currently, AI pharmaceuticals are among the most mature segments in the industry chain, with representative companies like RXRX, TEM, etc.

In AI medical devices, the future will definitely involve AI-assisted diagnosis and AI surgeries, with companies like ISRG and GEHC as representatives.

There are also AI robots and AI industrial automation, as companies need to cut costs and improve efficiency during economic downturns.

Right now, AI robots and AI healthcare are key areas that Wall Street capital is focusing on. If you have other ideas, let's share and plan ahead!