What’s next for the AI trade?
The chart below is taken from the excellent paper that Kai Wu wrote back in early October 2025.
Back then, the whole world was busy bidding Mag-7 high-capex spenders and direct AI infrastructure beneficiaries such as Oracle (NYSE:).
Yet, the author was making the case for investing in AI beneficiaries instead.
The chart on the right shows which stock markets have the largest proportion of stocks that are considered AI early adopters and beneficiaries.
And it reveals a very important truth.
Countries such as Germany, Japan or Canada have a good proportion of companies that could be large beneficiaries from AI automating processes and reducing excessive labor burdens.
In a world where AI capex is becoming a ’’is it good or is it bad’’ debate for market participants and AI infrastructure companies (in some cases) going big with leverage to keep up with the necessary spending pace, the AI early adopters are starting to get rewarded.
Do you think this could be another impulse behind cyclical growth and value stocks outperforming Mag7 and traditional secular growth stocks?
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