Bank of America hosted 37 semiconductor management teams at its 2026 Tech Conference, where executives described strong demand across AI compute, networking and semiconductor capital equipment sectors. Across presentations, companies said order books looked healthy and visibility was high.
The bank's synthesis of the conference concluded that supply in these areas is rising quickly but remains insufficient to meet current demand levels. In particular, analog chipmakers reported a cyclical recovery that is broadening in tandem with growth tied to AI workloads.
Focus stocks and market context
Bank of America identified the following NASDAQ-listed companies as focus stocks with strong growth potential: NASDAQ:NVDA, NASDAQ:CRDO, NASDAQ:ADI, NASDAQ:TXN, NASDAQ:KLAC and NASDAQ:MCHP. The bank noted these names have underperformed the SOX index year-to-date despite the growth outlook discussed at the conference.
Software and cloud infrastructure
Within software, executives said AI is the primary growth driver across cloud infrastructure, software platforms and cybersecurity. Specific participants reported encouraging enterprise traction: CoreWeave and Nebius noted strong visibility and enterprise adoption, with both emphasizing capacity scaling and inference workloads.
Atlassian, Datadog and MongoDB each cited momentum in cross-selling and AI-driven consumption patterns. Salesforce characterized AI as a net expansion opportunity for its business, while ServiceNow pointed to sustained demand that is supported by early returns on investment.
Networking and data-center buildouts
Networking vendors described robust AI-driven demand at data centers, led by hyperscaler buildouts. Arista said customers continue to invest across multiple network architectures as they prioritize utilization. Executives reported that AI Ethernet deployments are transitioning from pilot phases into production environments.
Extreme Networks reported steady market share gains amid competitive disruptions involving Cisco and HPE/Juniper. Motorola highlighted sustained demand in public safety networks, noting strong order visibility and a growing software attachment rate.
IT hardware and storage
On the hardware side, Dell and HPE both described solid demand for traditional servers, driven by inference and agentic AI applications. Storage was singled out as an increasingly strategic element as AI raises data-storage requirements, a dynamic that supports hard-disk-drive manufacturers Seagate and Western Digital.
The report also observed that supply tightness for NAND flash memory, hard disk drives and CPUs continues to push prices higher across IT hardware. That pricing environment can pressure margins for some original equipment manufacturers while benefiting firms with scale and preferential supply access.
Market moves referenced in conference materials
The conference materials included a range of tickers and intraday moves reflecting the market's reaction to the news and company comments, underscoring active investor attention across the semiconductor and related ecosystems.