An Introduction

There are hundreds of AI-related stocks trading on various exchanges around the world and that number has been reduced to 31 pure-play stocks trading on Canadian or American exchanges in 7 categories and put into portfolios which are tracked on a weekly basis. What follows is a summary of these 7 portfolios' performances so far in August and in the full month of July.

The 6 Stages Involved in the Production & Distribution of Semiconductors

There are 6 stages involved in the production and distribution of semiconductor devices such as microprocessors, memory chips, and sensors involving multiple companies, each with their own specialized contributions, and the 27 pure-play stocks in each of these stages are presented below.

1. electronic design automation (EDA) companies with sophisticated software that assist engineers in the custom design and development of complex chips;
2. equipment and material suppliers that provide essential equipment for manufacturing chips such as lithography machines, etching, test and packaging equipment, automation and inspection systems and production materials such as chemicals, gases, wafers and packaging;
3. factories (called foundries in semiconductor jargon) that concentrates all their efforts in the manufacturing of chips based on the designs provided by other semiconductor companies;
4. companies that outsource the fabrication (or fab) of chips to specialized foundries while designing and selling the chips;
5. companies that assemble chips into finished semiconductor components, tests for defects and do the very specialized packaging of the chips for shipping assembly.
6. In addition, there are Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) that do all of the above elements themselves to control the entire production process.

The 6 semiconductor segments (portfolios) are presented below, in descending order so far in August (i.e. MTD as of last Friday) and in July highlighting those pure-play constituents in each portfolio that had stock prices that are UP MTD, DOWN <10%; DOWN >10% MTD; DOWN >15%; DOWN >20% and DOWN even more MTD, and any pertinent news, analyses and commentary.

1. The Foundries Portfolio: DOWN 3.3% MTD; DOWN 2.4% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: TSM (+0.8%), UMC (+0.8%);
     • DOWN <10% MTD: TSEM (-7.1%);
     • DOWN >10% MTD: GFS (-14.4%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Chipmaker GlobalFoundries (GFS) Gives Mixed Outlook
2. The Assembly, Test and Packaging Portfolio: DOWN 3.8% MTD; DOWN 17.0% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: None;
     • DOWN <10% MTD: AMKR (-2.8%), ASX (-7.1%)
3. The EDA Software Portfolio: DOWN 3.8% MTD; DOWN 8.5% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: CDNS (+0.9%);
     • DOWN <10% MTD: SNPS (-6.0%)
4. The Fabless Portfolio: DOWN 6.4% MTD; DOWN 0.3% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: None;
     • DOWN <10% MTD: MPWR, AMD, AVGO, QCOM, MRVL;
     • DOWN >10% MTD: NVDA (-10.5%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Nvidia Presents 'Tremendous Opportunity' After Recent Losses, Analysts Say
5. The Equipment and Material Suppliers Portfolio: DOWN 10.0% MTD; DOWN 8.2% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: None;
     • DOWN <10% MTD; KLAC, ASML, AMAT;
     • DOWN >10%: ENTG (-12.1%), LRCX (-12.3%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • Entegris (ENTG) Posts Better-Than-Expected Sales In Q2 But Quarterly Guidance Underwhelms
     • Lam Research Corporation (LRCX) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know
6. The IDM Portfolio: DOWN 15.0% MTD; DOWN 2.5% in July
   • Constituents:
     • UP MTD: None;
     • DOWN <10% MTD; IFNNY, TXN, NXPI, ADI;
     • DOWN >10% MTD: STM (-13.1%), MCHP (-14.3%);
     • DOWN >15% MTD: MU (-15.2%);
     • DOWN >20% MTD: INTC (-35.9%)
   • Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
     • STMicroelectronics (STM) shares extend fall after Morgan Stanley downgrade
     • Analysts Downgrading Microchip Technology Incorporated (MCHP) Outlook - Here's Why
     • Micron (MU) Plunges: Should You Buy the Dip?
     • Down 60% YTD; Is Intel (INTC) Stock a Bargain Buy?

Pure-Play Quantum Computing Stocks

Building a quantum computer is extremely expensive, complex and massive, and needs to be kept in stable laboratory conditions, and cooled to nearly absolute zero (-459 degrees Fahrenheit) and, as such, are primarily confined to very few small, innovative companies developing and leveraging quantum computing.

There are only 4 pure-play quantum computing companies (companies that are also involved in the research and development of quantum computing but are also involved in other aspects of AI technology, such as Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), IBM, Intel (INTC), Honeywell Int'l (HON), and Baidu (BIDU), are not included in the Pure-Play Quantum Computing Stocks Portfolio). The 4 constituents are presented below as to their performances so far in August (i.e. MTD as of last Friday), in July and any news, analyses and/or commentary, where available.

The Pure-Play Quantum Computing Stocks Portfolio

• Constituents:
  • UP MTD: None;
  • DOWN <10% MTD: None;
  • DOWN >10% MTD: IONQ (-12.6%), QUBT (-13.2%);
  • DOWN >15% MTD: QBTS (-16.0%);
  • DOWN >20% MTD: RGTI (-23.3%)
• Pertinent news, analyses and commentary:
  • IonQ Announces Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results
  • Quantum Computing (QUBT) Releases Mid-Year Business Update
  • D-Wave (QBTS) Reports Second Quarter 2024 Results
  • Rigetti Computing (RGTI) Reports Second Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Summary

The above 31 constituents are DOWN 8.9%, on average, so far in August, and were DOWN 5.4% in July. For the record the NASDAQ was DOWN 4.4% as of last Friday, in comparison.

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