Morning Bid: Asia tech blows its own AI bubble
#Asian markets #AI bubble #Nvidia earnings #Semiconductor stocks #Tech volatility #Kospi record #Nikkei gains #AI equipment
📌 Key Takeaways
- Asian markets surge as investors embrace AI volatility
- South Korea, Taiwan, Japan benefit from AI equipment manufacturing
- Nvidia earnings report expected to significantly influence markets
- Trump announces AI power plant requirement without implementation details
📖 Full Retelling
Asian share markets surged on February 25, 2026, as investors embraced the volatility in AI-related stocks, with South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan leading gains due to their critical role in manufacturing AI equipment. The Kospi reached a fresh record with nearly 5% weekly gains and 44% year-to-date returns, while Taiwan's markets rose 5% for the week and 22% for the year. Japan's Nikkei gained 15% on the year, supported by analysts calling for a re-rating of Japanese companies on better earnings and governance. Investors are increasingly accepting that Wall Street's schizophrenic approach to AI technology will lead to wild mood swings, with Nvidia's upcoming earnings report expected to significantly influence market direction.
The semiconductor giant is forecasted to report profits rising 62% in the quarter ending January, with revenue jumping 68%, and investors are hoping for a beat of at least $2 billion in both Q4 and Q1 guidance. Nvidia has outpaced sales forecasts for 13 straight quarters, making the size of the beat particularly important. Options imply a potential share move of +/-4.8% on the results, which would equal $226 billion in value given Nvidia's massive $4.7 trillion market cap that exceeds the annual GDP of Japan or India.
Meanwhile, President Trump's State of the Union address briefly touched on AI, announcing a 'rate-payer protection pledge' that requires major technology companies to build their own power plants for data centers, though implementation details remain unclear. Oil prices dipped slightly when Trump expressed a preference to settle nuclear issues with Iran diplomatically, despite the significant U.S. military build-up in the region. Markets generally reacted minimally to the State of the Union address, as is typical, with attention now shifting to Nvidia's earnings report and upcoming economic indicators from Germany, France, and the euro zone.
🏷️ Themes
AI Market, Asian Tech, Semiconductor Industry
📚 Related People & Topics
AI bubble
Ongoing theorised stock market bubble
The AI bubble is a theorised stock market bubble growing amidst the AI boom, a period of rapid increase in investment in artificial intelligence (AI) that is affecting the broader economy. Speculation about a bubble largely originates from concerns that leading AI tech firms are involved in a circul...
Entity Intersection Graph
Connections for AI bubble:
🏢
Nvidia
1 shared
Original Source
try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry AMD stock surges 14% on Meta AI partnership deal Bitcoin slips, wipes out 50% from October record high at session low Wall Street ends higher on tech rebound ahead of State of the Union address Software stocks rebound as Anthropic partnerships ease AI disruption fears (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Morning Bid: Asia tech blows its own AI bubble By Reuters Economy Published 02/25/2026, 12:33 AM Updated 02/25/2026, 12:36 AM Morning Bid: Asia tech blows its own AI bubble 0 JP225 2.35% NVDA 0.68% CL 0.56% KS11 1.70% TWII 0.50% Feb 25 - A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. Asian share markets are all in the green following on from the rebound in U.S. stocks, with investors accepting that Wall Street is schizophrenic on AI right now and wild mood swings are inevitable. The dollar is down modestly, Treasury yields a shade higher and oil up 0.6% or so. South Korea, Taiwan and Japan are just happy they make the equipment AI runs on, so sky-high capex is all earnings to them. The Kospi is already up almost 5% this week at a fresh record, bringing its gains for 2026 to 44%. Taiwan’s gains are 5% and almost 22%, respectively. Eat your heart out, Nasdaq! The Nikkei is up 15% on the year so far and getting a lot of good press from analysts calling for a re-rating of Japan Inc on better earnings and governance. Deutsche notes Japanese investors hold $2.25 trillion in foreign shares and even a modest shift to domestic stocks would be a potential bonanza for the Nikkei and the yen. Much now depends on AI-diva Nvidia , which reports later today, and how far it can beat expectations. Going by LSEG data, forecasts are for profits to rise 62% in the quarter to end January, and revenue to jump 68%. First-quarter revenue guidance is for a rise of about 64% to $72 billion. Nvidia has outpaced sales forecasts for 13 straight quarters, so it’s the size of the beat that matters, with $2 billion on...
Read full article at source