Bank of America market survey: Most investors do not believe the AI bull market has topped out; the market will continue into the second half of the year

BlockBeats message: On July 16, the latest Bank of America (BofA) investor survey shows that market sentiment toward AI capital expenditures is becoming more complex. Most investors do not believe the AI spending boom has peaked yet, and they still expect this wave of spending to continue into the second half of this year; at the same time, concerns about hyperscaler spending too fast, debt pressure, and credit risk are rising.

The survey shows that investors are not generally betting on the end of the AI cycle. Instead, the market still believes large platforms such as Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta will continue to expand their investment in data centers, GPUs, and power infrastructure. But the issue is that the pace of capex growth is so fast that some investors are starting to worry about free cash flow, buyback capacity, and balance-sheet resilience.

BofA’s survey framework indicates that AI has shifted from a simple growth story into a matter of capital discipline. In the past two years, the market rewarded companies for making major investments in AI; now, investors are beginning to question the payback cycle of these investments, depreciation pressure, and whether cloud providers might be forced into overbuilding in competitive conditions.