Stocks Waver as the AI Invoice Starts Changing Hands

Stock markets wavered this week despite favorable conditions (lower oil, easing Treasury yields, strong chip earnings), with the S&P 500 heading for a 1.5% weekly loss. The divergence reveals a critical market shift: AI infrastructure suppliers (memory, HBM, networking) are outperforming while hyperscalers and device makers funding the buildout are lagging. This suggests investors are questioning whether companies writing massive AI infrastructure checks will capture enough returns to justify the spending. Additionally, Chinese tech stocks face a liquidity crisis as foreign investors flee, with valuations compressing despite solid fundamentals.