Yesterday it was announced that SoftBank $9984 (-8.87%) the robotics division of the Swiss industrial group ABB $ABBN (-0.59%) for 5.4 billion dollars. This represents the next step in SoftBank's AI strategy, physical AI. ABB thus joins the portfolio of robotics companies such as SoftBank Robotics, Skild AI and Agile Robots. It will be exciting to see in which direction the Group's robotics ambitions will develop.

https://www.manager-magazin.de/unternehmen/industrie/softbank-techninvestor-kauft-robotik-sparte-von-abb-fuer-5-4-milliarden-dollar-a-cd9df4f9-9c18-4615-821e-bfbcb593542d

I have already described here several times this year why I think that the SoftBank Group share $9984 (-8.87%) is a top pick when it comes to AI. Now the share price confirms this assumption with an increase of more than 150% since April.

What is the reason for the sharp rise? The answer is short and clear: AI. The reorientation towards everything to do with AI in order to "become the number 1 platform provider for AI" has caused the share price to explode.

So many new projects were announced in 2024/2025 that it was impossible to keep up. The 500 billion dollar Stargate project in the USA and the 40 billion dollar financing round for OpenAI were particularly prominent.

Added to this is a strategic investment of 2 billion dollars in Intel $INTC (-5.15%)the announcement by the portfolio company ARM $ARM (-10.82%) to switch from pure IP licensing to its own chip design, a JV with OpenAI for enterprise AI in Japan, a JV with TempusAI $TEM (-5.83%) for medical AI in Japan, a JV with Intel for the development of energy-efficient memory chips (Saimemory) an IPO of the portfolio company and No. 1 fintech in Japan PayPay in New York, the plan together with NVIDIA $NVDA (-6.14%) to convert the Japanese telecommunications network for AI workloads (AI-RAN), several data centers under construction (independent of Stargate)........ The list could go on and on, but I think the message is clear.

In my opinion, no company is so broadly positioned when it comes to AI. From energy (SoftBank Energy), to the chips used (ARM, Ampere, Graphcore), to the data center as a whole (Stargate, others), to the AI itself (OpenAI) and the AI applications (various). They are active along the entire value chain.

I was also skeptical at first about how to manage all of this at once, also in terms of the sheer amount of work involved, but the first results are becoming visible. SoftBank is building 2 data centers with a capacity of 1.5 GW with OpenAI as part of Stargate. The fact that they are only involved in part of the Stargate data centers and then only with OpenAI is very positive, as I consider the projects on this scale to be very realistic. In addition, there are no conflicts about the technology to be used and SoftBank can clearly favor its portfolio companies in everything.

It will also be interesting to see how the 40 billion financing round progresses. The second half should be invested by the end of the year. With an agreed valuation of 260 billion dollars (plus cash 300), SoftBank should hold around 10% of OpenAI after the financing round. Now that NVIDIA has announced that it will invest 100 billion in OpenAI, although it is still unclear when, how and at what valuation, this is likely to have a massive impact on the value of SoftBank's stake.

The two Vision Funds are also doing well and have recovered from the difficult years. They are now another positive influence on the company's profits. However, they are becoming less and less important as more and more staff are withdrawn from them to work on the AI projects. Fewer new positions are also being added and some older ones are being liquidated.

I am particularly interested in how SoftBank's chip design ambitions will develop over the next few years. Now already in possession of three chip designers (ARM, Ampere Computing and Graphcore), a partnership with Intel (Saimemory) and a strategic stake in the Japanese giga start-up Rapidus, the focus is becoming increasingly visible. How quickly will the restructuring of ARM take shape? Will individual portfolio companies be merged? Will Rapidus, with its impressive interim results, be a success?

These questions will continue to occupy me over the next few years and I will continue to keep a close eye on the milestones achieved so far. The 2030s could definitely be transformative for the SoftBank Group.

Hello dear getquin community, today we have a new expert opinion on the hype surrounding humanoid robots. The topic is developing rapidly from a futuristic vision to a tangible growth market. Comparable to the steam engine in the 19th century, humanoid robots could trigger the next industrial revolution. You can find all relevant shovel manufacturers and the value chain in my profile as a pinned post.

Tech heavyweights like $NVDA (-6.14%) Nvidia, $TSLA (-6.86%) Tesla and $AMZN (-5.92%) Amazon are driving the base forward with chips, simulation platforms and scalable infrastructures. At the same time, start-ups and investors are positioning themselves to occupy the emerging billion-euro market. $MSFT (-3.3%) Microsoft is using its cloud power via Azure and is a major investor in Figure AI. Figure (private) works with humanoid robots such as Figure 01 and 02 and is already working on pilot projects at $BMW (-2.64%) BMW. Neura Robotics (private) from Germany develops cognitive systems with multimodal sensors that enable genuine human-robot interaction. 1X (formerly Halodi, private) focuses on everyday assistance systems and is launching humanoid platforms in initial field tests. Unitree Robotics (private) wants to conquer the mass market with low-cost, production-ready robots from China. $9984 (-8.87%) As a global investor, SoftBank remains one of the strategic pacesetters in the background.

The real dynamic lies with platform providers that interlink hardware, AI models and infrastructure. Whoever controls the ecosystem here has the potential for growth rates comparable to the smartphone era. Investors should therefore carefully differentiate between whether a company remains a specialist for niches or makes the leap to becoming a central hub in the physical AI agent market. It remains exciting to see which role will prevail in the long term and who has the strategically strongest starting position from an investor's perspective to actually make humanoid robots suitable for the mass market.

Source: Wallstreet Online - Nvidia and Figure: Can robot stocks trigger the next boom?

https://www.wallstreet-online.de/nachricht/19838403-nvidia-figure-roboter-aktien-naechsten-boom-lostreten

After my first post on humanoid robots received a lot of positive feedback, I went into more detail. I have subsequently added my favorites in each sector.

Extended analysis of the value chain including shovel manufacturers and potential hidden champions

New categorySecondary key sectors (sales, marketing, financing)

In additionTop 25 companies worldwide, as well as Top 10 Europe and Top 10 Asia

I have also added a video link for beginners. This will give you an idea of how far the development of humanoid robotics has already progressed.

https://www.stern.de/panorama/wissen/humanoider-roboter---wie-reagiert-er-auf-beleidigungen--35996156.html

Thank you for your attention and your support 🙏

🌐 1. value chain of humanoid robots (with hidden champions)

1. research & chip design

$ARM (-10.82%) ARM (UK) - CPU-IP, energy-efficient processors

$SNPS (-12.42%) Synopsys (US) - EDA software, chip design

$CDNS (-9.81%) Cadence (US) - EDA & Simulation

$PTC PTC (US) - Engineering Software, CAD/PLM

$DSY (-2.25%) Dassault Systèmes (FR) - 3D Design & Digital Twin

$SIE (-2.34%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Software & Lifecycle Mgmt

$ADBE (-3.29%) Adobe (US) - Design, AR/UX

ANSYS (US) - multiphysical simulation - acquisition by Synopsis

Altair (US) - CAE, simulation, digital twin - acquisition by Siemens

$HXGBY (-2.42%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology & Simulation

$AWE (-2.82%) Alphawave IP Group (UK) - High-speed chip IP for AI/robotics

1.Synopsis, 2.Siemens and 3.Adobe are my top 3 in this sector

2. manufacturing technology & equipment

$ASML (-5.06%) ASML (NL) - Lithography (EUV)

$AMAT (-6.65%) Applied Materials (US) - Semiconductor equipment

$8035 (-7.11%) Tokyo Electron (JP) - wafer fabrication

$KEYS (-7.24%) Keysight Technologies (US) - Metrology

$6857 (-6.61%) Advantest (JP) - Chip test systems

$TER (-9.45%) Teradyne (US) - test systems + cobots

$6954 (-1.33%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$CAT (-2.48%) Caterpillar (US) - autonomous machines

$KU2G KUKA (DE) - industrial robots

Comau (IT) - automation - not listed on the stock exchange

$ROK Rockwell Automation (US) - industrial automation

$JBL (-5.69%) Jabil (US) - contract manufacturing (EMS/ODM)

$KIT (+2.23%) Kitron (NO) - European EMS/ODM manufacturer

$AIXA (-7.29%) Aixtron (DE) - deposition equipment for compound semiconductors

$LRCX (-8.15%)
Lam Research (US) - Etch/deposition systems

$MKSI (-10.1%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

$ASM (-3.08%)
ASM International (NL) - Deposition systems

1.ASML, 2.Keysight Technologies, 3.Fanuc are my top 3 in this sector

3. chip manufacturing (foundries)

$TSM (-6.55%) TSMC (TW) - leading foundry

$SMSN Samsung Electronics (KR) - foundry + memory

$GFS (-7.55%) GlobalFoundries (US) - specialty chips

$INTC (-5.15%)
Intel Foundry Services (US) - new western foundry player

$981
SMIC (CN) - largest Chinese foundry

$UMC
UMC (TW) - Power/RF/Embedded chips

1.TSMC, 2.Intel, 3.Samsung Electronics are my top 3 in this sector

4. computing & control unit ("brain")

$NVDA (-6.14%) Nvidia (US) - GPUs, AI chips

$INTC (-5.15%) Intel (US) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-10.01%) AMD (US) - CPUs, GPUs

$MRVL (-5.93%) Marvell (US) - Network Chips

$MU (-6.96%) Micron (US) - Memory

$DELL (-4.8%) Dell Technologies (US) - Edge & Infrastructure

Graphcore (UK) - AI chips (IPU) - not a listed company

Cerebras (US) - Wafer-scale engine - not a listed company

SiPearl (FR) - European HPC chip - not a listed company

1.Nvidia, 2.Marvell, 3.Micron are my top 3 in this sector

5. sensors ("senses")

$6758 (-5.66%) Sony (JP) - image sensors

$6861 (-1.03%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors

$STM (-5.65%) STMicroelectronics (FR/IT) - Sensors, MCUs

$TDY Teledyne (US) - optical/infrared sensors

$CGNX (-13.21%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision

$HON (-2.58%) Honeywell (US) - sensor technology, security

ANYbotics (CH) - autonomous sensor fusion - not a listed company

$AMBA (-13.21%) Ambarella (US) - video & computer vision SoCs for real-time image recognition

$OUST
Velodyne Lidar (US) - Lidar sensors - acquisition by Ouster

$AMS (-5.97%)
OSRAM (AT/DE) - optical sensors

1.Teledyne, 2.Keyence, 3.Ouster are my top 3 in this sector

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (-4.21%) Infineon (DE) - Power Electronics

$ON (-7.46%) onsemi (US) - Power & Sensors

$TXN (-4.45%) Texas Instruments (US) - Mixed-Signal Chips

$ADI (-6.83%) Analog Devices (US) - Signal Processing

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - Hydraulics/Pneumatics

$MP (+8.11%) MP Materials (US) - Magnets

$APH (-3.8%) Amphenol (US) - Connectors

$6481 (-1.59%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

$6324 (-6.99%)
Harmonic Drive (JP) - Precision gears & servo drives for robotics

$6594 (-2.91%)
Nidec (JP) - Electric motors

$6506 (-1.37%)
Yaskawa (JP) - Drives & Robotics

$SU (-2.76%)
Schneider Electric (FR) - Energy & control solutions

$ZIL2 (+5.96%)
ElringKlinger (DE) - Battery & fuel cell technology, lightweight construction

1.Parker-Hannifin, 2.MP Materials, 3.Infinion are my top 3 in this sector

7. communication & networking ("nerves")

$QCOM (-8.32%) Qualcomm (US) - mobile communications, edge AI

$ANET (-4.24%) Arista Networks (US) - Networks

$CSCO (-3.83%) Cisco (US) - Networks, Security

$EQIX (-1.43%) Equinix (US) - Data centers

NTT Docomo (JP) - 5G/6G carrier - not a listed company

$VZ Verizon (US) - Telecommunications

$SFTBY SoftBank (JP) - Carrier + Robotics

$ERIC B (-0.31%)
Ericsson (SE) - 5G/IoT infrastructure

$NOKIA (+1.08%)
Nokia (FI) - 5G/6G for industry

$HPE (-7.48%)
Juniper Networks (US) - Network technology - acquisition by HP

1.Arista Networks, 2.SoftBank, 3.Cisco are my top 3 in this sector

8. energy supply

$3750 (-10.56%) CATL (CN) - Batteries

$6752 (-3.59%) Panasonic (JP) - Batteries

$373220 LG Energy (KR) - Batteries

$ALB (-7.74%) Albemarle (US) - Lithium

$LYC (+3.13%) Lynas (AU) - Rare earths

$UMICY (-0.49%) Umicore (BE) - recycling

WiTricity (US) - inductive charging - not a listed company

$ABBN (-0.59%) Charging (CH) - charging infrastructure

$SLDP
Solid Power (US) - Solid state batteries

Northvolt (SE) - European batteries - not a listed company

$PLUG
Plug Power (US) - fuel cells

$KULR (-6.68%)
KULR Technology (US) - Thermal management & battery safety for mobile systems

1.Albemarle, 2.CATL, 3.Panasonic are my top 3 in this sector

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (-5.92%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud, AI

$MSFT (-3.3%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI

$GOOG (-3.33%) Alphabet Google Cloud (US) - Cloud, ML

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data center infrastructure (UPS, cooling, edge)

$ORCL (-3.03%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP + Cloud

$IBM (-4.51%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid cloud + AI

$OVH (-2.16%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

1.Alphabet, 2.Microsoft, 3.Oracle are my top 3 in this sector

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (-7.09%) Palantir (US) - Data integration

$DDOG (-5.26%) Datadog (US) - Monitoring

$SNOW (-4.44%) Snowflake (US) - Data Cloud

$ORCL (-3.03%) Oracle (US) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (-3.86%) SAP (DE) - ERP systems

$SPGI S&P Global (US) - financial/market data

ROS2 Foundation - robotics middleware - not listed on the stock exchange

$NVDA (-6.14%) NVIDIA Isaac (US) - robotics development - part of Nvidia

$INOD (-11.68%) Innodata (US) - data annotation & AI training data

$PATH (-10.71%)
UiPath (RO/US) - Robotic process automation

$AI (-7.18%)
C3.ai (US) - AI platform

$ESTC (-4.39%)
(NL/US) - Search & data analysis

1.S&P Global, 2.Palantir, 3.Datadog are my top 3 in this sector

11. end applications / robots

$ABBN (-0.59%) ABB (CH/SE) - Industrial Robots

$6954 (-1.33%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots

$TSLA (-6.86%) Tesla Optimus (US) - humanoid robot

$9618 (-5.5%) JD.com (CN) - logistics robot

$AAPL (-4.63%) Apple (US) - Platform & UX

$700 (-6.61%) Tencent (CN) - Platform & AI

$9988 (-8.32%) Alibaba (CN) - logistics & platform

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

$TER (-9.45%) Universal Robots (DK) - cobots - belongs to the Teradyne Corporation

Engineered Arts (UK) - humanoid robots - not a listed company

$ISRG (-4.16%) Intuitive Surgical (US) - surgical robotics

$GMED (-5.44%)
Globus Medical (US) - surgical robotics (ExcelsiusGPS platform)

$7012 (-7.11%) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots, automation

$CPNG (-4.08%) Coupang (KR) - Logistics end user

$IRBT (-7.91%)
iRobot (US) - consumer robotics (e.g. Roomba), non-humanoid, but navigation/sensor fusion

Boston Dynamics (US) - humanoid & mobile robots-no listed company

Hanson Robotics (HK) - humanoid robots (Sophia) - not a listed company

Agility Robotics (US) - humanoid robot "Digit" - not a listed company

1.Apple, 2.Tencent, 3.Alibaba are my top 3 in this sector

🛠 2. cross enablers (shovel manufacturers) - with hidden champions

Raw materials & battery materials

Albemarle - Lynas - Umicore

$SQM
SQM (CL) - Lithium

$ILU (-2.29%)
Iluka Resources (AU) - Rare earths

$ARR (+44.81%)
American Rare Earths (US/AU) - New supply chains

my number 1 in the sector is Albemarle

manufacturing technology

ASML - Applied Materials - Tokyo Electron

$LRCX (-8.15%)
Lam Research (US) - Plasma/etching processes

$ASM (-3.08%)
ASM International (NL) - ALD equipment

$MKSI (-10.1%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Quality assurance

Keysight - Advantest - Teradyne

$EMR (-4.69%)
National Instruments (US) - Measurement technology - from Emerson Electric adopted

$300567
ATE Test Systems (CN) - test systems

$FORM (-1.8%)
FormFactor (US) - Wafer probing

my number 1 in the sector is Keysight

Motion & Drive

Parker-Hannifin

Festo (DE) - Pneumatics, Soft Robotics - not a listed company

Bosch Rexroth (DE) - Drives, Controls - not a listed company

$6481 (-1.59%)
THK (JP) - Linear guides

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Sensors/Imaging

$TDY Teledyne

$BSL (-3.33%) Basler (DE) - Industrial cameras

FLIR (US) - Thermal imaging sensors - acquisition by Teledyne

ISRA Vision (DE) - Machine Vision - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Teledyne

Magnets & Materials

MP Materials

$6501 (-7.57%)
Hitachi Metals (JP) - Magnetic materials

VacuumSchmelze (DE) - Magnetic materials - not a listed company

$4063 (-3.42%)
Shin-Etsu Chemical (JP) - Specialty materials

my number 1 in the sector is MP Materials

Chip Design & Simulation

Synopsys - Cadence - ARM

$SIE (-2.34%)
Siemens EDA (DE/US)-Mentor Graphics-strategic business unit of Siemens AG

Imagination Tech (UK) - GPU-IP - not a listed company

$CEVA (-12.41%)
CEVA (IL) - Signal Processor IP

my number 1 in the sector is Synopsys

Engineering & Lifecycle

PTC - Dassault - Siemens

Altair (US) - Simulation - no longer a listed company

$HXGBY (-2.42%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology

$SNPS (-12.42%)
ANSYS (US) - Simulation - takeover by Synopsys

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Networks & Data Centers

Arista - Cisco - Equinix

$HPE (-7.48%)
Juniper (US) - Networks - Acquisition of HPE

$DTE (+0.17%)
T-Systems (DE) - Industry cloud

$OVH (-2.16%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Arista

Cloud infrastructure

AWS - Azure - Google Cloud

$ORCL (-3.03%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP & databases

$IBM (-4.51%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid Cloud

$9988 (-8.32%)
Alibaba Cloud (CN) - Asian Cloud

$VRT
Vertiv Holdings (US) - Cloud/Infra

my number 1 in the sector is Alphabet (Google)

finance/information infra

S&P Global

$MCO (-2.16%)
Moody's (US) - Ratings

$MSCI (-2.55%)
MSCI (US) - Indices

$MORN
Morningstar (US) - Investment Research

my number 1 in the sector is S&P Global

Creative/Experience Infra

Adobe

$ADSK (-3.77%)
Autodesk (US) - CAD & Design

$U
Unity (US) - 3D/AR simulation

Epic Games (US) - Unreal Engine - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Adobe

Platform & Ecosystem

Apple - Tencent - Alibaba

$META (-5.02%)
Meta (US) - AR/VR, Social Robotics

ByteDance (CN) - AI & platforms - not a listed company

$9888 (-8.29%)
Baidu (CN) - AI & Cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Tencent

Infrastructure/Edge

Dell

$HPE (-7.48%)
HPE (US) - Edge Computing

$SMCI
Supermicro (US) - AI servers

$6702 (-5.49%)
Fujitsu (JP) - Edge & HPC

my number 1 in the sector is Dell

storage solutions

Micron

$HY9H
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$285A (-4.8%)
Kioxia (JP) - NAND

$WDC
Western Digital (US) - Storage solutions

my number 1 in the sector is Micron

🏛 3. secondary key sectors with hidden champions

Financing & Capital

$GS (-2.43%) Goldman Sachs (US) - investment bank; ECM/DCM, M&A, growth financing

$MS Morgan Stanley (US) - investment bank; tech banking, capital markets

$BLK (-3.34%) BlackRock (US) - asset manager; capital allocation, ETFs/index funds

$9984 (-8.87%) SoftBank Vision Fund (JP) - mega VC; growth equity in robotics/AI

Sequoia Capital (US) - venture capital; early/growth in AI/robotics - this is a classic venture capital fund

DARPA (US) - government R&D funding (robotics/defense) - independent research and development agency

EU Horizon (EU) - research funding/grants for DeepTech - Innovative Europe pillar

China State Funds (CN) - state industry/technology fund

Lux Capital (US) - VC for DeepTech - Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance

DCVC (US) - Robotics & AI focus - investing exclusively via VC fund investments

Speedinvest (AT) - EU VC for robotics - access to investment only via fund investments

my number 1 in the sector is Softbank

Maintenance & Service

$SIE (-2.34%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Service, Lifecycle & Retrofit

$ABBN (-0.59%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics Service, Spare Parts, Field Support

$GEHC (-4.73%) GE Healthcare (US) - Medtech service incl. robotic systems

Uptake (US) - AI-based predictive maintenance - not a listed company

Augury (US/IL) - condition monitoring, condition diagnostics - not a listed company

$KU2 KUKA Service (DE) - Robotics maintenance

$6954 (-1.33%) Fanuc Service (JP) - global service network

Boston Dynamics AI Institute (US) - Robotics longevity - funded by Hyundai Motor Group

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Marketing & Advertising

$WPP (-4.43%) WPP (UK) - global advertising group; branding/communications

$OMC Omnicom (US) - marketing/PR network

$PUB (-1.04%) Publicis (FR) - communications/advertising group

$META (-5.02%) Meta (US) - Digital Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

$GOOG (-3.33%) Google Ads (US) - search & display advertising

TikTok / ByteDance (CN) - social ads & distribution - not a listed company

$AAPL (-4.63%) Apple (US) - Branding/UX; Acceptance & Platform Marketing

$WPP (-4.43%)
AKQA (UK/US) - Tech branding - Since 2012 majority owned by the WPP Groupbut continues to operate as an autonomous operating unit

R/GA (US) - Innovation marketing - not a listed company

Serviceplan (DE) - largest independent EU agency - not a listed company

my number 1 in the sector is Meta

Law, Regulation & Ethics

ISO (CH) - international standards, robotics standards

TÜV (DE) - certification & safety tests

UL (US) - safety/conformity testing

EU AI Act (EU) - legal framework for AI & robotics

UNESCO AI Ethics (UN) - global ethics guidelines

Fraunhofer IPA (DE) - Robotics safety standards

ANSI (US) - standards

IEC (CH) - Electrical engineering standards

Training & Talent

MIT (US) - Robotics/AI Research & Education

ETH Zurich (CH) - autonomous systems & robotics

Stanford (US) - AI/Robotics labs & spin-offs

Tsinghua University (CN) - Robotics/AI in Asia

CMU (US) - Robotics Institute

EPFL (CH) - Robotics research

TU Munich (DE) - humanoid robot "Roboy"

🌍 Top 25 companies for humanoid robotics

These companies are central to the development & production of humanoid robotsbecause without them, crucial parts of the chain would be missing:

Chips & computing power (brain of the robots)

$NVDA (-6.14%) Nvidia (US) - AI GPUs & Isaac platform, foundation for robotic AI

$2330 TSMC (TW) - world's most important foundry, produces the AI chips

$ASML (-5.06%) ASML (NL) - EUV lithography, indispensable for chip production

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - memory, logic, foundry

$HY9H SK Hynix (KR) - DRAM & NAND memory for AI

$MU (-6.96%) Micron (US) - Memory solutions for AI workloads

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Sensors & perception (senses of robots)

$SONY Sony (JP) - image sensors, market leader

$6861 (-1.03%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors & vision systems

$CGNX (-13.21%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision, precise image processing

my number 1 in the sector is Keyence

Actuators & motion (muscles of robots)

$IFX (-4.21%) Infineon (DE) - power electronics, motor control

$6594 (-2.91%) Nidec (JP) - World market leader for electric motors

$PH Parker-Hannifin (US) - hydraulics/pneumatics, motion technology

$6481 (-1.59%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Communication, cloud & infrastructure (nerves & data flow)

$QCOM (-8.32%) Qualcomm (US) - Mobile & Edge Chips

$AMZN (-5.92%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud & AI infrastructure

$MSFT (-3.3%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI services

$CSCO (-3.83%) Cisco (US) - Networks & Security

$VRT Vertiv Holdings (US) - Data Center Infrastructure

my number 1 in the sector is Microsoft

End Applications & Platforms (robots themselves)

$TSLA (-6.86%) Tesla (US) - humanoid robot Optimus

$ABBN (-0.59%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics & Automation

$6954 (-1.33%) Fanuc (JP) - industrial robots & CNC systems

$7012 (-7.11%) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots

PAL Robotics (ES) - humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo) - not a listed company

Neura Robotics (DE) - cognitive humanoid robots - not a listed company

Universal Robots (DK) - cobots

my number 1 in the sector is Tesla

🇪🇺 Top 10 European key companies for humanoid robotics

$ASML (-5.06%)
ASML (NL)

World market leader in EUV lithography - no modern chips for AI & robotics without ASML.

$IFX (-4.21%) Infineon (DE)

Leading in power electronics & motor control - crucial for actuators of humanoid robots.

$STM (-5.65%)
STMicroelectronics (FR/IT)

Sensors, microcontrollers & power chips - the basis for control & perception.

$SAP (-3.86%)
SAP (DE)

ERP & data platforms, important for integrating humanoid robots into industrial processes.

$SIE (-2.34%)
Siemens (DE)

Industrial software, automation, digital twin - key for engineering & lifecycle management.

$KU2 KUKA (EN)

Robotics pioneer, industrial robots & automation - know-how for humanoid motion mechanics.

PAL Robotics (ES) - not a listed company

Specialist for humanoid robots (TALOS, ARI, TIAGo), internationally used in research & service.

Neura Robotics (DE) - Not a listed company

Young high-tech company, develops cognitive humanoid robots with advanced AI (4NE-1).

Universal Robots (DK) - Not a listed company

Market leader for cobots - platform for safe human-robot collaboration.

Engineered Arts (UK) - not a listed company

Develops humanoid robots such as Amecaknown for realistic facial expressions & gestures - important for HRI (Human-Robot Interaction)

🌏 Top 10 Asian key companies for humanoid robotics

$2330
TSMC (Taiwan)

World's largest semiconductor foundry, produces high-end chips (e.g. Nvidia, AMD, Apple) - no AI hardware without TSMC.

$005930
Samsung Electronics (South Korea)

Foundry, memory, logic chips, image sensors - extremely broadly positioned in robotics components.

$HY9H
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$SONY
Sony (Japan)

Market leader in CMOS image sensors, essential for robotic vision & perception.

$6861 (-1.03%)
Keyence (Japan)

Sensor technology & machine vision for industrial automation, widely used in robotics.

$6954 (-1.33%)
Fanuc (Japan)

Industrial robots & CNC systems, one of the most important manufacturers of robotics hardware worldwide.

$6506 (-1.37%)
Yaskawa Electric (Japan)

Drives, motion control & robot arms - relevant for humanoid motion control.

$6594 (-2.91%)
Nidec (Japan)

World market leader for electric motors (from mini motors to high-performance drives).

$7012 (-7.11%)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - Industrial robots

$9618 (-5.5%)
JD.com (China)

Driver for robotics in e-commerce & logistics, invests in humanoid robotics applications

$RKLB (-6.93%)
$9984 (-8.87%)
$CADLR (-1.42%)
$MTRS (-0.82%)

Yesterday I was at Rocket Lab $RKLB (-6.93%) and SoftBank $9984 (-8.87%) took profits, with Rocket Lab even over 1000%to further diversify my portfolio.

The strategy remains the same, namely to invest in future-oriented individual stocks with a lot of upside and stable finances, but the Rocket Lab share in the portfolio is growing and growing, so I have decided to reallocate a little.

Two new stocks from Scandinavia have been added.

1) Cadeler
$CADLR (-1.42%)

Cadeler is a world-leading Danish company specializing in the installation of offshore wind turbines. The offshore wind power market is expected to grow to approx. 70-250 billion dollars by 2035 (depending on estimates). Cadeler is ideally positioned to benefit from this trend. They maintain long-term customer relationships with companies such as Ørsted, Equinor or Siemens Gamesa. The barrier to entry is generally regarded as high (moat).

Turnover (2025e)approx. € 500 million (of which 10-20% is usually recurring)

Profit (2025e)approx. 150 mio €

Order backlog (current)approx. 2.5 billion €

Market capitalization (current)1.6 billion €

P/E ratio (current): approx. 17

P/E ratio 2029 (forecast)approx. 3-4

Cadeler will benefit from the global trend towards decarbonization and political initiatives in this area, and many countries are only just getting started. My AI analysis of the company has shown that we will probably 2035 we are likely to have a profit of around €1.4 billion which, with a P/E ratio of 18.6 (Danish average), this implies a market capitalization of around € 26 billion. would mean. With a more conservative P/E ratio of 12 it would be around 17 billion €. In the first scenario, an investment would therefore be around 16x and in the second scenario 11x in the second scenario. The company therefore fits well into my investment strategy, high potential with comparatively low risk.

2) Munters Group $MTRS (-0.82%) (Edit: sold in the meantime)

The Munters Group is a Swedish company that specializes in air treatment and drying solutionsespecially for air conditioning, dehumidification and industrial air technology - with a focus on data centers, pharmaceuticals, food and industrial plants. The data center business in particular is currently booming. The battery factory business has recently experienced problems due to weak demand, which is also reflected in the share price, but this is only a short-term problem.

The company is a technological leader in the field of dehumidification and energy recovery. They are also ahead of the competition when it comes to sustainability. In addition, they always rely on a very local production structurewhich largely frees them from trade policy risks. Competitors such as Daikin Industries $6367 (-3.05%) or Carrier $CARR (-3.05%) are more broadly based and less specialized, which is why they do not pose a major threat either. It is also difficult for customers to switch suppliers.

Turnover (2025e)approx. € 1.3 billion (of which 20-30% is usually recurring)

Profit (2025e)approx. 60 million €

Order backlog (current):

Market capitalization (current)2.2 billion €

P/E ratio (current): approx. 31

P/E ratio 2029 (forecast)approx. 10-11

The Munters Group is benefiting from several trends such as the data center boom, electrification and sustainability. This development is only just beginning. My AI analysis has shown that the profit in 2035 will be around € 300 million. in 2035. With a constant P/E ratio, that would correspond to a valuation of € 9.3 billion would correspond. If one assumes a lower P/E ratio of around 20 it would be 6 billion €. So in the first scenario 4x and in the second 2,7x. The Munters Group therefore represents a rather conservative addition in my growth-oriented portfolio. They will definitely perform well, but for the really big multiples you need other stocks.

What do you think of the two new additions? I think it's particularly nice that there are two European companies are 🇪🇺🇪🇺

$NVDA (-6.14%)
$ARM (-10.82%)
$9984 (-8.87%)

Anyone who thought that NVIDIA would continue to cuddle up in its wedding bed with ARM while secretly displacing AMD GPUs must have missed the clattering in the RISC-V workshop. Because what has been quietly announced here is nothing less than a seismic tremor in the foundations of the AI infrastructure: CUDA is now running on RISC-V processors. This is not just a technical curiosity, but a strategic broadside against the architecture duopolists x86 and ARM. And exactly where it hurts the most, in the heart of the AI power centers: data centers, edge computing and AI accelerator solutions.

What happened?

RISC-V happily announces that NVIDIA's CUDA, the undisputed control center for GPU-based AI computing, now runs on RISC-V-based host processors. Anyone who thinks this is a clumsy port for hobbyists is very much mistaken: this is an official NVIDIA free pass for the open source architecture, coupled with the license for integration into professional AI workloads. In technical terms, this means that RISC-V can function as a system processor in CUDA-based AI setups in future. The GPU part remains with NVIDIA, but the control? From now on, it can do without Intel, AMD or ARM.

What's behind this?

License-free ISA = more margin, more control

RISC-V is free - and in a world where ARM wanted to be taken over by NVIDIA (and failed), that's a poisoned offer: complete freedom without license fees. Perfect for start-ups, China and anyone who is fed up with Western-priced license models.

Scalability without ballast

The modular structure of RISC-V allows you to build exactly what you need - no more and no less. No unnecessary silicon ballast, no incompatible license clutter.

Entry ticket to new markets

Edge AI, dedicated AI SoCs, scientific data centers - wherever ARM or x86 are used today, there could be a RISC-V variant with CUDA support tomorrow. With the Wormhole n150/n300, Tenstorrent, for example, shows what happens when you put a RISC-V kit in Jim Keller's hands.

Why this is explosive

For Intel & AMD: You lose the last bastion - control via the host CPU. The GPU belongs to NVIDIA anyway. Now they are also losing the processor share in the AI market.

For ARM: The long-held narrative of the "energy-efficient future of servers" is being dented. If even NVIDIA, once almost the owner of ARM, is now embracing RISC-V, you can imagine how much trust there still is in SoftBank & Co.

For China: Jackpot. RISC-V is open, free, developer-friendly - and now also CUDA-compatible. Who still needs Western CPUs when their own SoC will soon be fully AI-capable?

NVIDIA: The laughing third

You could almost applaud: NVIDIA is securing control of the software ecosystem (CUDA) while strategically emancipating itself from hardware partners. The host processor? Interchangeable. The GPU? Stays green. It's brilliantly opportunistic - and a quiet but effective form of platform cannibalization.

What remains critical?

RISC-V is open, but not finished. Toolchains, debugging, compilers, OS support - all this is still lagging behind the industrialized ARM/x86 world. Furthermore, as long as CUDA runs on NVIDIA hardware, the golden cage remains - except that the grids are now made of RISC-V.

The first real break with the architectural monopoly

What we are seeing here is not a technical gimmick, but a strategic bang. With CUDA, RISC-V gains access to one of the most important AI ecosystems in the world. ARM and x86 are losing their exclusivity in the most lucrative technology field of the decade. And NVIDIA? Taking the opportunity to finally become the center of the AI world - regardless of the processor substructure.

Source: RISK_V via X

https://www.igorslab.de/cuda-auf-risc-v-nvidias-stiller-dolchstoss-gegen-das-x86-arm-kartell/

Mainly because of $RKLB, (-6.93%)
$9984 (-8.87%) and $8035 (-7.11%)

Masayoshi Son, CEO of the SoftBank Group

$9984 (-8.87%)announced plans to develop the company into a leading platform provider for "artificial superintelligence" within the next decade.

At the annual shareholders' meeting, he compared this goal to the dominance of Microsoft $MSFT (-3.3%), Amazon $AMZN (-5.92%) and Google $GOOGL (-3.4%) and referred to the "winner takes all" dynamic.

He defined artificial superintelligence as a technology that outperforms human capabilities by a factor of 10,000.

By 2025, SoftBank had invested massively in AI, including the acquisition of US chip designer Ampere for USD 6.5 billion and up to USD 40 billion in funding for OpenAI.

(...)

SoftBank's cyclical bets follow a historic boom-bust pattern:

Son's new "all-in" stance on OpenAI (32 billion US dollar investment) mirrors his previous high-risk tech bets that have shaped SoftBank's history.

This reflects a consistent pattern of massive, concentrated investments - from $100 million in Yahoo in 1996, to $20 million in Alibaba in 2000 (whose value grew to $130 billion), to the $100 billion Vision Fund in 2017.

(...)

This approach with high risk and high returnas critics have called it, has changed the risk capital landscape with inflated valuations and pressure on competitors to match the same level of funding.

(...)

SoftBank's strategic positioning mirrors previous battles over technology platforms.

Son's ambition to be the "organizer of the industry" in artificial superintelligence is reminiscent of the platform dominance strategies that spawned trillion-dollar companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Google.

SoftBank is strategically expanding its AI base through talent acquisition and infrastructure investmentsincluding the acquisition of semiconductor designer Ampere for $6.5 billion and a $40 billion commitment to OpenAI.

The company's approach leverages its historical strength in hardware through Arm Holdings to create an integrated AI ecosystem that includes chips, infrastructure and applications.

SoftBank's funding pattern typically encourages market consolidation, providing capital on a scale that forces smaller competitors to merge or exit - a strategy that fundamentally changes the competitive dynamics in target sectors.

This platform strategy is in line with Son's long-term vision, which he has been articulating since at least 2017: a future with one trillion connected devices by 2035, allowing SoftBank to capitalize on the massive data streams powering advanced AI systems.

⬇️⬇️⬇️

https://www.techinasia.com/news/softbank-aims-to-lead-in-artificial-super-intelligence

The share price has also been rising again for some time, as investors are generally becoming more optimistic. Nevertheless, it is still massively undervalued in my opinion. In addition to the crucial AI platform strategy (for which they themselves are creating demand with Stargate (USA, UAE, UK...), so theoretically benefit twice over), there are of course many other interesting investments and initiatives (Wayve, Grab $GRAB (-5.45%)Coupang $CPNG (-4.08%), 21 Capital, Helion, PayPay Expansion.....). Overall, I believe in the company's vision and see many indications that it could succeed :)

SoftBank $9984 (-8.87%) now wants to take over the entire $40 billion financing round itself 🤝🏼

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/07/softbank-set-to-invest-40-billion-in-openai-at-260-billion-valuation-sources-say.html

OpenAI and SoftBank $9984 (-8.87%) establish the joint venture "SB Open AI Japan". This new company will be a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group and the shares will be split 50/50. Existing and new products from OpenAI, including the AI assistant "Operator" and the new "Deep Research" function, will be bundled in Japan under the name "Crystal Intelligence" exclusively marketed in Japan.

SoftBank will invest 3 billion $in the rights to OpenAI's technology, among other things, and will also employ 1000 new specialists for the joint project. At an event in Tokyo Sam Altman and Masayoshi Son presented the project. The guests in the room represented around half of the market capitalization of the entire Japanese stock market. They are the ones to whom the AI products are to be sold, resulting in an enormous increase in productivity and thus economic revival economic revival. The two CEOs then met with the Japanese Prime Minister Prime Minister Shigeru Ishibawho promised his full support.

This news is just one more of many promising developments with regard to the SoftBank Group. The company has the potential to become a leader in the global AI industry and one of its biggest beneficiaries. Many announcements must now be followed by many actions, but even if only half of the plans are implemented, and I think there will be more, the share currently appears massively undervalued. It is impressive how much a single company can influence an entire country. I wish we had a company in Germany that would drive innovation forward so aggressively. In any case, the next few years will be very exciting!

https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/softbank-openai-set-up-ai-japan-joint-venture-2025-02-03/