A small number of European AI stocks have posted huge gains so far this year, as investors hunt for ways to ride a global spending boom in a continent often derided for its lack of large and successful technology companies.
The top four performers in the region-wide Stoxx Europe 600 index this year are chipmaker STMicroelectronics, which has more than doubled; semiconductor equipment manufacturers Aixtron and BE Semiconductor Industries, up 168 per cent and 87 per cent respectively; and Nokia, which is up nearly 100 per cent and provides hardware connecting cloud services and data centres.
The gains show US and Asian AI fervour has spread to Europe, say analysts, with investors keen to find the next AI winners in a market that for years has lagged far behind Wall Street’s tech-driven rally.