$3.2B Chip ETF Inflows Follow Microsoft AI Earnings and Kospi Record
MSFT•Microsoft's forecast-beating earnings helped spur an AI-driven tech rally that lifted South Korea’s Kospi to a fresh record and fueled semiconductor ETF inflows totaling $3.2 billion since January 2025. Hyperscalers including Microsoft have guided $600–720 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, a 36–70% year-over-year increase with 75% earmarked for AI infrastructure.
1. Tech rally and record Kospi
Global tech earnings, led by Microsoft’s forecast-beating results, reawakened investor appetite for AI names, propelling Seoul’s Kospi index to a new all-time high. Chip giants SK hynix and Samsung also contributed to the record surge as traders rotated back into semiconductor and AI stocks.
2. Semiconductor ETF inflows surge
Retail investors poured $3.2 billion into semiconductor exchange-traded funds since January 2025, with April alone seeing $5.5 billion split between the VanEck Semiconductor ETF and the iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index climbed nearly 38.7% over the same period, underscoring strong demand for chip exposure.
3. Hyperscaler AI capex guidance
Major cloud and tech firms, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Oracle, have guided a combined $600–720 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, marking a 36–70% increase year-over-year. Approximately 75% of this spending is earmarked for AI infrastructure, driving demand for high-bandwidth memory and data-center upgrades.
