This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
A broad group of semiconductor companies remain optimistic about supply and demand trends heading into 2026, according to a recent investor note from BNP Paribas Research, following meetings with chip executives in Silicon Valley.
BNP Paribas said it met with companies including Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT), Marvell Technology (MRVL), Western Digital (WDC), Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ:LITE), Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) and Credo Technology (NASDAQ:CRDO).
Executives across AI compute and infrastructure expressed confidence that demand in calendar year 2026 is likely to remain ahead of supply, supporting ongoing capacity ramps. Analysts said investor questions during the meetings focused on power availability, custom silicon competition and vendor financing.
Power constraints emerged as a common theme. Nvidia and AMD both noted tight electricity availability in parts of the U.S., though management teams suggested government efforts could ease the issue over time. The companies viewed power limits as a near-term challenge rather than a long-term blocker.
BNP Paribas also flagged growing attention on custom chips, such as Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) tensor processing units. Executives suggested these application-specific chips remain suited to narrow workloads and are unlikely to broadly displace GPUs across cloud platforms.