Markets are noisy. Headlines scream about the rise and fall of software, yet underneath the chaos, real momentum is quietly building. The hype around generative AI has triggered fear: can traditional software survive? Investors are pricing in risk, sometimes aggressively, even for companies with entrenched platforms.

But history shows that lasting growth rarely comes from the most talked-about names—it comes from what actually powers the ecosystem. Semiconductors, data-center infrastructure, and energy technologies are quietly absorbing capital, scaling, and proving indispensable. These companies may not dominate the headlines, but they sit at the heart of AI’s expanding footprint.

👉 In the final section, we reveal exactly which sectors and companies are positioned to benefit regardless of the software narrative—and why that clarity matters more than chasing every headline.

Let’s embark on this transformative journey together and position your portfolio for success in this evolving market landscape!

Be sure to read through to the end to catch all the valuable insights this newsletter delivers to your inbox today.

$VRT ( ▼ 0.13% ) stock is currently at $234.53 as of today, and its chart shows solid growth over the past five years, with a 984.28% increase. That means it went from around $21.63 to its current price, giving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 61.08%. The stock hit a 52-week high of $255.54, which highlights its recent strength.

If you start putting $500 into VRT each month now with dollar-cost averaging—buying shares no matter the price to even out costs over time—and the stock keeps up this same historical growth rate for the next five years, here's what it could look like. You would invest a total of $30,000 across 60 months.

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Under this projection, the share price might reach about $2,543 by early 2031. Your monthly buys would build up to around 49.7 shares, putting your total investment value at roughly $126,364.

Remember, this is based on past trends, and no one can predict the market for sure. Growth like this might not last if things change in the industry or economy.

If this plays out, would you reinvest the gains or use them for something big?

There’s a strange tension in the market right now. Indexes hover near highs, yet many of the most familiar technology names feel like they’re quietly unraveling. That emotional mismatch—strong headlines paired with weak price action—is exactly what creates confusion for busy investors who don’t have the time to constantly recalibrate.

For years, software felt untouchable. Since Marc Andreessen famously said “software is eating the world,” investors were rewarded for owning SaaS businesses with high margins, recurring revenue, and massive scalability. That framework worked for more than a decade.

But markets don’t care about history. They care about what changes next.

The emergence of generative AI tools—especially platforms from OpenAI $OPENAI ( 0.0% ) and Anthropic $ANTHROPIC ( 0.0% )—has triggered a fundamental fear: if powerful, low-cost AI can replicate or replace parts of embedded software, how durable are those business models?

That fear is now being priced in—sometimes aggressively.

This doesn’t mean software is “dead.” It means the market is reassessing what deserves a premium and what no longer does. And that reassessment rarely happens cleanly.

Not all software faces the same risk.

Companies with massive installed bases and deep operational entrenchment—such as Salesforce $CRM ( ▲ 1.9% ), Adobe $ADBE ( ▲ 1.04% ), and Palo Alto Networks $PANW ( ▼ 6.82% )—aren’t easily displaced. Large organizations don’t rip out mission-critical systems overnight. Switching costs, compliance risk, and operational friction act as real barriers.

But here’s the nuance the market is grappling with:
survival does not guarantee premium valuation.

When investors once paid high multiples for “inevitable growth,” they were pricing in scarcity and defensibility. AI challenges that perception, especially for software with weaker moats or lower switching costs.

That’s why platforms like Roblox $RBLX ( ▲ 0.1% ) and Doximity $DOCS ( ▲ 3.54% ) are being scrutinized more harshly. If developers or professionals can replicate functionality using AI-enabled tools, the value of being the “middle layer” erodes.

The takeaway isn’t to abandon software entirely. It’s to recognize that the market is no longer rewarding software simply for existing. Durability, pricing power, and irreplaceability now matter more than growth narratives.

The WSJ just reported the highest price ever paid for modern art at auction.

While equities, gold, bitcoin hover near highs, the art market is showing signs of early recovery after one of the longest downturns since the 1990s.

Here’s where it gets interesting→

Each investing environment is unique, but after the dot com crash, contemporary and post-war art grew ~24% a year for a decade, and after 2008, it grew ~11% annually for 12 years.*

Overall, the segment has outpaced the S&P by 15 percent with near-zero correlation from 1995 to 2025.

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Masterworks has sold 25 works with net annualized returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8%.

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_{*Per Masterworks data. Investing involves risk. Past performance not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd}

While debate swirls around software, capital is moving decisively elsewhere.

AI doesn’t run on ideas. It runs on electricity, silicon, and physical infrastructure.

That’s why momentum has rotated toward the semiconductor and data-center supply chain—particularly companies that don’t make headlines but make the ecosystem work.

Take Onto Innovation. Its business isn’t flashy, but it’s indispensable. Onto provides advanced inspection and metrology tools that ensure chips can withstand the heat and stress of data-center workloads. As AI demand scales, failure rates matter more—and quality control becomes mission-critical.

Then there’s Amkor Technology $AMKR ( ▼ 0.21% ), which operates in outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing. As chip complexity rises, packaging is no longer an afterthought—it’s a bottleneck. Amkor benefits directly from higher volumes and more sophisticated designs without needing to win the chip-design race itself.

What these companies share is not hype, but positioning. They sit in the flow of capital expenditures driven by AI, regardless of which software model ultimately wins.

That’s where sustained momentum often hides.

There’s another limiting factor in the AI buildout that’s becoming impossible to overlook: energy.

Data centers are power-hungry, and global demand is accelerating faster than grid capacity can comfortably support. That’s where energy-adjacent technology re-enters the picture.

Enphase represents a different kind of opportunity. Traditionally associated with residential solar, Enphase is now intersecting with broader energy-efficiency and distributed power trends. As data centers explore hybrid energy solutions—including partial solar generation—reliable power electronics become increasingly valuable.

The key distinction here is valuation discipline.

Contrast Enphase with Bloom Energy $BE ( ▲ 8.22% ). Bloom commands a far richer valuation relative to revenue, leaving little margin for error. Enphase, by comparison, operates at a more grounded multiple, offering exposure to energy demand growth without requiring perfection.

This isn’t about betting on one energy source. It’s about recognizing that AI scalability depends on power availability—and companies enabling that transition gain strategic relevance.

This market isn’t broken. It’s rotating.

Software is being repriced as AI reshapes expectations. Infrastructure is being repriced as AI turns into real capital spending. Energy is being repriced as constraints become visible.

For overwhelmed investors, the mistake isn’t missing the next trend—it’s reacting emotionally to every headline. The signal lies in where money is flowing consistently, not where debates are loudest.

Semiconductors tied to testing, packaging, and reliability.
Energy technologies that support scalable compute.
Businesses benefiting from AI whether software narratives survive or not.

None of this requires perfect timing. It requires clarity.

Markets reward what’s essential long before they reward what’s exciting. And right now, the essentials—chips, power, and infrastructure—are where the real momentum is quietly building.

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