Samsung Results Spur Stock Rotation to Less-Loved Sectors | Insight with Haslinda Amin 07/07/2026

Summary

Samsung's explosive 19-fold profit surge triggers an 8% sell-off as investors rotate out of richly-valued AI memory stocks. Former Japanese currency chief Tatsuo Yamasaki argues the yen is 20% undervalued and should strengthen to 130 per dollar, while Saxo's Charu Chanana expects further yen weakness and advises fading the AI rerating phase in favor of high-efficiency AI plays. India gains traction as a diversification play as oil and dollar headwinds ease. The AI trade becomes more selective, with money shifting from memory builders into software, nuclear, and Indian banks/industrials.

• Samsung Q2 operating profit jumps 19-fold to $58 billion, beating estimates, yet shares fall 8% on profit-taking and rotation out of AI champions.
• Ray Wang argues AI memory demand is far from peaking with 18–24 month backlogs, pricing power intact, and calls the sell-off a buying opportunity for Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
• He also sees second-derivative AI opportunities in software, nuclear/SMR, photonics, robotics, and the energy stock Arklow.
• Tatsuo Yamasaki says the yen is substantially undervalued, should appreciate to around 130 as BOJ hikes and rate differentials narrow, and that intervention can be effective.
• Charu Chanana counters that the yen will remain under pressure due to a wide yield gap and slow BOJ normalization, keeping carry trades attractive.
• She believes the easy AI rerating phase is over and memory stocks face sustainability risks; she shifts toward high-efficiency AI companies and advises fading memory builders.
• She recommends diversifying into Indian banks and industrials, citing structural domestic demand, easing dollar strength, and lower oil as tailwinds, though warns India’s IT sector has missed the AI train.
• Indian equities and government bonds attract record foreign inflows as global funds look for low-volatility alternatives to crowded AI trades.