AI’s Winner Circle Is Reaching Deeper Into the Stack

For TSMCTSM

, beating the market wasn’t enough… especially not when rivals lapped you. AI demand is spreading beyond advanced chip manufacturing into memory, custom chip design, and inferencing hardware, pulling capital into a wider cast of winners. The trade, it turns out, has outgrown its poster stock.

• Asian-listed Samsung and MediaTek have each surged more than 140% this year vs.TSM
  ’s 46% — the former crossing a $1T valuation on the back of an AI-driven memory crunch.
• Most active funds cap single-stock positions at 10%, yet TSMC now accounts for 40%+ of Taiwan’s Taiex — mechanically pushing new capital toward other AI names.

Further downstream: With Rayliant noting capital is “disproportionately going to other tech companies,” new winners are emerging. As AI moves into a new phase, demand is rising for CPUs, chip packaging, and cooling, with fund managers already adding names like ASE TechnologyASX

and Chroma ATE. Additionally, SK Hynix and Kioxia are both planning US-listed stocks — suggesting the trade is becoming increasingly accessible across the Pacific.