BlockBeats News, July 17th - Prime Brokerage data shows that hedge funds are reducing their exposure to AI-related stocks, explaining why strong earnings reports and optimistic guidance have failed to prevent the decline in chip stocks.

According to The Wall Street Journal citing Goldman Sachs prime brokerage data, hedge funds' exposure to a basket of AI thematic stocks has dropped to the lowest level this year. This basket includes AI hardware and semiconductor stocks such as AMD, Micron, Nvidia, which had previously seen significant gains. Goldman's data indicates that the recent decline looks more like profit-taking and position adjustment rather than a sudden deterioration in fundamentals.

This round of deleveraging comes after a sharp rise in chip stocks. Despite TSMC's strong performance and ASML's guidance revision, semiconductor stocks were still sold off, with the PHLX Semiconductor Index falling over 4% on Thursday. Goldman's related strategic view suggests that some funds are considering shifting from crowded chip trades to this year's relatively underperforming hyperscalers, such as Meta, Alphabet, and Oracle.