Micron makes memory. Not the fancy logic chips Taiwan Semiconductor cranks out. Memory’s a commodity. Like sand. Lots of it. No real magic. Which usually means thin margins. But something’s shifted. Demand’s gone vertical.
They’ve delivered a quarterly report that isn’t actively offensive, and are forecasting growth. Bullish, they’re calling it. I’m calling it… a temporary reprieve. But hey, I’m a portfolio manager, so I’m contractually obligated to look for the upside. And there is… a sliver.
The question, of course, is whether this represents a pause for breath, or the inevitable plateau before a rather unpleasant descent. Wall Street, ever optimistic, anticipates revenue growth of 63% for the fiscal year 2026. A perfectly respectable figure, certainly, but one wonders if the market has already priced in this bounty. The shares, one observes, have not exactly mirrored this exuberance.
Goldman Sachs, in a display of uncharacteristic clarity, predicts a surge in demand – 165% by 2030. A substantial figure, though one suspects the projections will be revised upwards, as is so often the case. Data centers, these temples of the digital age, require sustenance. And that sustenance, regrettably, is not found in algorithms, but in kilowatt-hours. The irony is almost… touching.
The inclination towards stocks that offer a regular distribution of profits, whilst never quite so fashionable as the pursuit of exponential growth, possesses a certain quiet respectability. These portfolios, weighted as they are towards companies of solid constitution, are now, it seems, receiving the attention they have long deserved. A yield of three or four percent, whilst not likely to inspire breathless pronouncements, provides a degree of security that is, in the current climate, most welcome.
Indeed, to speak of improvement is, perhaps, a touch generous. Consider, if you will, that this recent prosperity is measured against a time when Boeing’s coffers were depleted by a sum exceeding twenty-four billion dollars. A state of affairs, I venture, that even the most optimistic shareholder would deem undesirable. We recall, with a shudder, the specter of ill-fated flights and designs found wanting – a misfortune that stirred anxieties amongst those who entrust their lives to these mechanical birds.
They sold 598,044 shares, if you’re keeping track. I wasn’t. I was more preoccupied with the fact that the barista mispronounced my name again. Priorities, you know? But apparently, this move dropped Centessa’s weighting in Tanager’s portfolio from 1.5% to a flat 0%. It’s like Centessa was a guest at a party, and someone quietly removed their name tag. Efficient, but a little cold.
The conventional wisdom directs attention toward the more visible constellations—Nvidia, Broadcom, TSMC, Micron—each a luminous body in the digital firmament. But the true architecture of power often resides in the supporting structures, the hidden conduits that channel the flow. Marvell, it appears, is constructing such a conduit, specializing in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). These are not the general-purpose engines of computation, but bespoke instruments, crafted for a singular purpose: accelerating the processes of machine learning. Consider them the specialized lenses through which the digital eye perceives the world.
Ford, that venerable house, doth favor the direct approach. A dividend, you see, is a most visible demonstration of prosperity, a regular dole to appease the shareholders. They offer a yield of some consequence, exceeding that paltry sum dispensed by the broader market. ‘Tis as if to say, “Here, take this token of our success, and be content!” A modest ratio of price to earnings, coupled with this stream of income, doth suggest a company content with steady, if unspectacular, advancement. And, a most intriguing detail: the Ford family, those scions of industry, hold shares that grant them not only dividends but also a voice in the company’s direction. A convenient arrangement, wouldn’t you agree? One might suspect their enthusiasm for these payouts is… substantial.
The matter, initially, appears straightforward. Both XLK and FTEC seek to replicate the performance of certain indices – benchmarks, as they are called – that attempt to quantify the collective value of these technological entities. XLK, a creation of the SPDR consortium, focuses on a more constrained subset of the S&P 500, while FTEC, from the house of Fidelity, aspires to a more comprehensive representation, drawing from the broader MSCI index. The illusion of completeness, of course, is always the most seductive.