Sam Ro

Consensus estimates for 2026 EPS growth in Emerging Markets are +35%, a massive outlier. This is driven by the index's heavy weighting in semiconductors (21%, including TSMC, Samsung) and technology (32%). International stocks are also less exposed to the struggling software sector. The EM index has reinvented itself from a resources/energy proxy to a tech/semi leader. Combined with shareholder-friendly reforms in countries like Japan and Korea focusing on earnings growth and valuation, this creates a compelling fundamental and technical setup. LONG because EM offers exposure to the working AI/hardware theme through semis, benefits from a potential rotation to value/international diversification, and is supported by positive technical charts suggesting a continuation higher. A sharp downturn in global semiconductor demand or a reversal of the US dollar strength.