The United States-Israel war on Iran has disrupted about one-third of global supplies of helium, which is critical for medical uses such as MRI scans, as well as in high-tech industries such as the semiconductor sector.
AppLovin surged to lead the sector after Morgan Stanley raised its price target, maintaining an Overweight rating. That call centers on AppLovin's AXON AI engine, which powers its mobile advertising platform and has been the engine behind a remarkable earnings run. In Q4 2025, AppLovin reported revenue of $1.66 billion, up 66% year over year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 84%. Investors sold off the stock despite the strong results, but recent defense of its valuation from Wall Street has led to a bounceback.
Investors know Amazon ( NASDAQ:AMZN | AMZN Price Prediction) for its dominance in e-commerce and cloud computing through AWS, and are likely familiar that it has pushed into chipmaking with its Trainium line that is designed for AI training and inference. Yet, their thoughts on its silicon efforts often don't go much beyond that and, in doing so, overlook the deeper significance it holds.
SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (NYSEARCA:XSD) offers equal-weight exposure to the semiconductor sector, a structure that amplifies both opportunity and risk. The fund has gained 43.15% over the past year as AI infrastructure spending supercharged demand for chips across the supply chain. The equal-weight structure - which gives smaller names the same influence as giants - has both amplified those gains and introduced drag from legacy players like Intel that have not kept pace with the AI cycle.