After the AI hype cools down, what truly supports the popular US stocks?

Over the past two years, AI has undoubtedly been the hottest topic in global capital markets. From large language models to data center construction, and then to enterprise-level AI applications, tech companies have continued to expand capital investment, also driving a new round of growth.

However, after entering the second half of 2026, the focus of market discussions began to shift. Recently, the global semiconductor sector has experienced a clear correction. Even though some companies reported better-than-expected earnings, the market remains cautious. This is not because AI development has slowed, but because investors are re-evaluating the profitability of the industry in the coming years and whether current valuations have fully priced in growth expectations.

For investors, this means the market has moved from "believing AI will change the future" to gradually entering the stage of "verifying whether AI can continue to create value."

This change has also brought corporate fundamentals back to the core of market attention.

From Concept-Driven to Earnings-Driven: What Has Changed in the Market

Looking back at past tech cycles, it can be seen that whenever a new technology develops rapidly, the market tends to trade on future expectations first.

The same goes for AI. Over the past two years, whenever a company announced increased AI investment, it often received positive market feedback. However, as more and more companies entered the AI赛道, capital markets began to ask new questions: When will these investments truly translate into revenue? Can profit margins continue to improve? Can high growth be sustained in the coming years?

The recent performance of the semiconductor sector reflects this change. Market optimism for AI chip demand remains, but higher demands are being placed on the future growth rate and profitability realization ability of the supply chain, leading to periodic adjustments for some chip companies. Meanwhile, investors are turning their attention to the upcoming earnings season, hoping to determine through the latest results whether AI investments have entered the commercialization realization phase.

In other words, the market has not denied AI, but is repricing AI.

Companies that can truly secure sustained funding in the future will not only need to have leading technology but also need to establish a stable business model and the ability to continuously generate cash flow.

Why Popular U.S. Stocks Still Have Long-Term Appeal

Although the market style has changed, leading companies with true competitive advantages still maintain high attention.

Nvidia remains a key player in AI infrastructure, with its high-performance GPUs continuing to play a critical role in data center construction. Microsoft continues to deepen the integration of Copilot with the Azure cloud platform, aiming to turn AI capabilities into real productivity for enterprise customers. Amazon is constantly improving its AWS AI service system, further expanding the enterprise cloud computing market, while Meta continues to apply AI to multiple scenarios such as ad recommendation, content generation, and smart assistants to improve platform operational efficiency.

The consumer tech sector is also worth noting. Apple is pushing forward the combination of AI with its terminal hardware ecosystem, hoping to drive a product upgrade cycle through intelligent experiences. Compared to relying solely on a single new technology, a well-established ecosystem and a massive user base remain important sources of its long-term competitive advantage.

Digital finance is also an important direction that has grown rapidly in recent years. Coinbase continues to expand custody, payment, and on-chain infrastructure services, while Robinhood is constantly enriching stock, digital asset, and wealth management services. The development logic of these companies is no longer limited to trading businesses but revolves around continuously expanding product capabilities within the digital finance ecosystem.

It can be seen that what the market truly cares about is not which company has the AI concept, but who can continuously improve profitability through technological innovation and maintain long-term competitive advantage.

In the Earnings Era, What Should Investors Focus On More

When the market enters the earnings verification stage, investors' focus also begins to shift.

• Whether the company has a sustainable source of revenue growth. Technological innovation is important, but only companies that can generate stable revenue can continue to gain market recognition.
• The efficiency of capital investment. In recent years, large tech companies have continuously increased AI-related spending. In the future, the market will pay more attention to whether these investments can bring higher profit margins, rather than just expanding scale.
• The importance of the industry ecosystem is also becoming increasingly prominent. AI is no longer just chips or models but covers multiple areas such as computing power, cloud computing, software services, terminal devices, and digital finance. Therefore, companies with a complete ecosystem layout are more likely to maintain leadership in long-term competition.

For investors who follow global capital markets long-term, what is truly worth tracking is not necessarily the stock with the largest short-term gains, but the industry leaders that can continuously expand market share, improve profitability, and maintain innovation investment.

How Gate Stock Token Zone Connects Global Hot Assets

As Real World Assets (RWA) continue to develop, stock tokens are gradually becoming an important bridge between traditional capital markets and digital asset markets. Stock tokens map popular stocks onto the digital asset ecosystem through blockchain technology, allowing users to more conveniently follow the development dynamics of globally renowned companies and further enriching the asset categories of the digital asset market.

Currently, the Gate Stock Token Zone covers multiple globally popular companies such as Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Google, spanning hot tracks like AI, cloud computing, consumer tech, and digital finance.

For users who focus on long-term trends in global markets, this not only helps them continuously track the development of popular companies but also allows them to more easily observe changes in different industries. As the market gradually shifts from concept-driven to earnings-driven, stock tokens also provide a more flexible way to focus on high-quality global assets. In the future, as more real-world assets are tokenized on-chain, stock tokens are expected to further enrich the digital asset ecosystem and promote a tighter connection between traditional financial markets and the Web3 world.

Summary

The biggest change in the market recently is not the disappearance of AI hype, but the upgrade of investment logic.

As the industry enters a new development stage, investors are beginning to pay more attention to corporate profitability, business models, and long-term competitive advantages. AI, cloud computing, consumer tech, and digital finance remain important growth directions for global capital markets, but what will truly gain sustained market recognition are companies that can consistently deliver earnings and continuously create value.

For users who follow global hot assets long-term, understanding industry trends is more important than chasing short-term hotspots. As the stock token market continues to develop, the Gate Stock Token Zone is also providing users with a new way to more conveniently connect to popular global U.S. stocks, helping users continuously track the development opportunities of leading global companies.

FAQs

Q1: Why have chip stocks recently experienced an adjustment?

Recently, the market has begun to reassess the future growth pace of the AI supply chain, leading to periodic pullbacks in some chip stocks. This reflects more an adjustment in valuations and earnings expectations, rather than a change in the long-term trend of AI.

Q2: Is AI still the main market theme?

As it stands, AI remains an important development direction for the global tech industry. However, the market has increasingly focused on commercial implementation and profit realization capabilities.

Q3: Which popular U.S. stocks are worth continuous attention currently?

Companies that continue to receive market attention include Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Coinbase, Robinhood, etc., representing directions such as AI, cloud computing, consumer tech, and digital finance.

Q4: What is a stock token?

A stock token is a digital asset based on blockchain technology that reflects the value performance of a stock. It is also one of the important application scenarios for the digitization of Real World Assets (RWA).

Q5: What are the features of the Gate Stock Token Zone?

The Gate Stock Token Zone covers assets related to multiple globally popular companies, helping users continuously focus on hot tracks like AI, consumer tech, cloud computing, and digital finance, and connect to global capital markets through the digital asset ecosystem.