Hello dear Getquin Community,

Over the past few days, I have been working intensively on the topic of cyber security and its fundamental importance in various sectors such as healthcare, technology, energy, armaments & defense, e-commerce, software, insurance, industry, utilities, commodities, banks, fintech, holdings, crypto and blockchain. I took a closer look at the big players, the hidden champions and the essential blade manufacturers in the industry. My aim was to gain as comprehensive a picture as possible of the different levels of this industry.

If I have overlooked any important aspects or have not categorized something correctly, I look forward to your comments and interesting additions @Tenbagger2024
@Multibagger
@Simpson
@Vegasrobaina . Together we can understand the topic even better and learn from each other.

Feel free to leave a 👍. I wish you every success with your investments 🚀

Contribution:

Cybersecurity is evolving from a marginal topic to the foundation of global markets. Whether healthcare, banking, utilities, armaments & defense, energy, industry or the digital infrastructure for artificial intelligence and blockchain, the need for protection mechanisms is increasing everywhere. While the big players such as $PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks, $CRWD (+0,69%) CrowdStrike or $ZS (+1,36%) Zscaler are in the spotlight, more and more specialized providers are emerging that are essential in their niches and often have disproportionately high growth potential. Hidden champions such as $SECT B (+1,21%) Sectra in the healthcare sector, $NCNO (-0,77%) nCino in the banking sector or $ESTC (+1,43%) Elastic in the data center show that cyber security has long been a diversified ecosystem. In addition, we must not overlook the blade manufacturers, i.e. the companies that provide the technological basis. These include chip manufacturers such as $NVDA (-3,33%) , $INTC (-1,19%) Intel or $AMD (-7,23%) AMD, data center operators such as $EQIX (+0,2%) Equin$DLR (+0,03%) Digital Realty as well as software and infrastructure providers such as $ESTC (+1,43%) Elastic, $DDOG (+2,57%) Datadog or $ANET (+0,36%) Arista Networks, without whose technology the security providers' solutions would not be scalable. The capital markets are reacting to this with valuation premiums, as the dependence on secure infrastructures is comparable to electrification in the 20th century. Investors are now faced with the question of whether to favor the established market leaders or invest in smaller companies that fly under the radar but could potentially be the real winners of tomorrow.

🔑Takeaway:

Cybersecurity is not an isolated trend, but a key investment factor across all industries from hospitals to data centers from payments to crypto platforms.

Healthcare

Big players:

$PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks (PANW), $FTNT (+2,62%) Fortinet (FTNT), $CHKP (+0,44%) Check Point (CHKP), $CRWD (+0,69%) CrowdStrike (CRWD), $S (+2,57%) SentinelOne (S), $CYBR (+0,27%) CyberArk (CYBR), $ZS (+1,36%) Zscaler (ZS), $NET (+1,08%) Cloudflare (NET), $AKAM (+0,42%) Akamai Tech. (AKAM)

- Core provider for firewalls, zero trust, endpoint and web security

Hidden champions:

$SECT B (+1,21%) Sectra (SECT-B.ST) - secure imaging & healthcare security

$VRNS (+0,38%) Varonis Systems (VRNS) - protection of sensitive patient data

Imprivata (private, partnerships with listed players) - identity management for clinics

Shovel manufacturer:

$NVDA (-3,33%) Nvidia (NVDA), $INTC (-1,19%) Intel (INTC), $AMD (-7,23%) AMD (AMD) - Chips & computing power for security appliances

$EQIX (+0,2%) Equinix (EQIX), $DLR (+0,03%) Digital Realty (DLR) - Data center infrastructure for clinical data

$ESTC (+1,43%) Elastic (ESTC), $DDOG (+2,57%) Datadog (DDOG) - basic software for monitoring & analytics

🔑 Takeaway Healthcare

Healthcare data is highly sensitive and clinics are at high risk of ransomware. In addition to large security providers, hidden champions such as Sectra and Varonis are gaining in importance as they secure directly at the interface between patient data and medical devices.

Technology, Data centers & AI, Telecommunications

Major players:

$ZS (+1,36%) Zscaler (ZS), $S (+2,57%) SentinelOne (S), $CHKP (+0,44%) Check Point (CHKP)

- Protection for cloud and AI environments

Hidden champions:

$ESTC (+1,43%) Elastic (ESTC) - Security Analytics

$ANET (+0,36%) Arista Networks (ANET)

- Network switches for data centers

Blade manufacturers:

$EQIX (+0,2%) Equinix (EQIX), $DLR (+0,03%) Digital Realty (DLR)

- Data center infrastructure

$NVDA (-3,33%) Nvidia (NVDA), $INTC (-1,19%) Intel (INTC), $MRVL (-1,39%) Marvell Tech. (MRVL)

- Chips & computing power for AI and security

Special players telecommunications

$AKAM (+0,42%) Akamai Tech. (AKAM) & Cloudflare (NET) - secure traffic and mobile data

$RDWR (+0%) Radware (RDWR) - DDoS protection for telcos

$CSCO (-2,53%) Cisco (CSCO) - network security for carriers

$CLAV Clavister Holding AB (CLAV) - through SD-WAN and carrier security

🔑 Takeaway Technology, Data Centers & AI

Data centers and AI platforms are the backbone of the digital economy. Zero Trust and cloud security from Zscaler or SentinelOne meet shovel manufacturers such as Equinix or Nvidia, who are indispensable with infrastructure and chips.

Energy

Major players:

$FTNT (+2,62%) Fortinet (FTNT, NASDAQ) - OT/ICS security for power grids and power plants

$PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks (PANW, NASDAQ) - Zero Trust & network protection for energy suppliers

$CHKP (+0,44%) Check Point (CHKP, NASDAQ) - Critical infrastructure protection, gas and oil industry

Hidden Champions:

Dragos (private, IPO candidate) - leader in OT security, specialized in energy infrastructures

$RDWR (+0%) Radware (RDWR, NASDAQ) - DDoS defense for energy networks

$NCC (-1,18%) NCC Group (NCC.L, London) - penetration tests & audits for utilities

$CLAV Clavister Holding AB (CLAV) - OT/ICS and infrastructure security

Shovel manufacturer:

$SBGSY (+0%) Schneider Electric (SBGSY, OTC) - OT/ICS hardware with security components

$ENR (-2,06%) Siemens Energy (ENR, Frankfurt) - Energy infrastructure with embedded security solutions

$AVGO (+8,33%) Broadcom (AVGO, NASDAQ) - Security chips for networks in energy environments

E-Commerce

Major players:

$NET (+1,08%) Cloudflare (NET, NYSE) - DDoS and API protection for online stores & payment platforms

$AKAM (+0,42%) Akamai (AKAM, NASDAQ) - Application security & bot management in e-commerce

$FFIV (-0,09%) F5 Networks (FFIV, NASDAQ) - API & payment security for digital platforms

Hidden Champions:

$RSKD (+0,77%) Riskified (RSKD, NYSE) - Fraud prevention in online retail

$VRNS (+0,38%) Varonis Systems (VRNS, NASDAQ) - Protection of customer data

$CYBR (+0,27%) CyberArk (CYBR, NASDAQ) - Identity & access protection for payment processes

Shovel manufacturer:

$V (-2,85%) Visa (V, NYSE) & $MA (-2,53%) Mastercard (MA, NYSE) - not classic cybersecurity, but operator of secure payment networks

$ESTC (+1,43%) (ESTC, NYSE) - fraud analytics for e-commerce platforms

$DDOG (+2,57%) Datadog (DDOG, NASDAQ) - monitoring & security analytics for retail infrastructure

🔑 Takeaway:

Energy is particularly vulnerable due to OT/ICS systems, which is where specialists like Dragos come in.

E-commerce needs fraud prevention in addition to traditional web security, which is why players such as Riskified are occupying a niche.

Armaments & Defense

Major players:

$NOC (-0,4%) Northrop Grumman (NOC, NYSE) - leader in cyberdefense for military & intelligence agencies, also developing offensive cyber capabilities

$BAESY (+2,5%) BAE Systems (BAESY, OTC) - strong cyber intelligence division, protects critical military and government networks

$RTX (-1,4%) Raytheon Technologies (RTX, NYSE) - defense company with growing cybersecurity portfolio for military communications & satellites

Hidden Champions:

$PLTR (-2,66%) Palantir Technologies (PLTR, NYSE) - Data and analytics platform with strong cybersecurity component, often for defense ministries

$CACI (+2,51%) CACI International (CACI, NYSE) - specializes in cyber intelligence, network protection and military IT services

$LDOS (-0,34%) Leidos Holdings (LDOS, NYSE) - IT and cybersecurity service provider for US defense and NATO

$CLAV Clavister Holding AB (CLAV) - used by government and military organizations

$ADVE Advenica (ADVE) - Specialized security, relevant for government agencies and national infrastructure

Shovel manufacturer:

$LHX (-0,47%) L3Harris Technologies (LHX, NYSE) - Provides communications and cyber hardware for military networks

$GD (-1,21%) General Dynamics (GD, NYSE) - with its IT division GDIT also a provider of cyber defense infrastructure

$KTOS (+0,88%) Kratos Defense (KTOS, NASDAQ) - specializes in drones, satellite systems and cyber hardening of defense communications

🔑 Takeaway:

In the defense sector, the boundaries between traditional defense and cybersecurity are blurring. Alongside the large defense contractors, hidden champions such as Palantir, CACI and Leidos are emerging to provide pure cyber and data expertise. Shovel manufacturers such as L3Harris and Kratos secure the technical infrastructure.

Software & insurance

Big players:

$OKTA (+1,3%) Okta (OKTA), $CYBR (+0,27%) CyberArk (CYBR), $CRWD (+0,69%) CrowdStrike (CRWD)

- Identity, endpoint and cloud security

Hidden champions:

$VRNS (+0,38%) Varonis (VRNS) - Data security

SailPoint (private, formerly NYSE) - Identity Governance

$FROG (-0%) JFrog (FROG) - DevSecOps & Supply-Chain-Security

$CYBE (+0,53%) CyberCatch Holdings, Inc (CYBE) - Provides AI-based cybersecurity SaaS

$GEN (-0,79%) Gen Digital (GEN) - one of the largest consumer cybersecurity providers worldwide (Norton, Avast, LifeLock), strong in identity protection and data protection for consumers & small businesses

Shovel manufacturer:

$MSFT (-3,17%) (MSFT), $GOOG (+0,47%) Alphabet (GOOGL), $AMZN (-1,95%) Amazon (AMZN)

- Cloud security base

$FFIV (-0,09%) F5 Networks (FFIV) - API protection for SaaS & insurance platforms

🔑 Takeaway Software & Insurance

Data and identity protection take center stage. Major players such as Okta and CyberArk secure access, while hidden champions such as Varonis and JFrog provide specialist solutions. Cloud providers such as Microsoft and Amazon are both platform operators and security suppliers.

Industry, supply & raw materials

Major players:

$FTNT (+2,62%) Fortinet (FTNT), $CSCO (-2,53%) Cisco (CSCO), $PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

- Network protection for critical infrastructures

Hidden champions:

$RDWR (+0%) Radware (RDWR) - DDoS protection

$NCC (-1,18%) NCC Group (NCC.L) - OT-Security & Penetration Tests

$SECT B (+1,21%) Sectra (SECT-B.ST) - secure infrastructure in the OT/healthcare intersection

$CLAV Holding AB CLAV) - OT/ICS and infrastructure security

$ADVE Advenica (ADVE) - Specialized security, relevant for public authorities and national infrastructure

Shovel manufacturer:

$AVGO (+8,33%) Broadcom (AVGO) - Security chips

Juniper Networks (JNPR) - Network backbones

$ANET (+0,36%) Arista Networks (ANET) - high-end switches

🔑 Takeaway Industry, Supply & Raw Materials

OT/ICS systems in production, energy and raw materials are attractive targets. Fortinet and Palo Alto dominate, but hidden champions such as Radware and the NCC Group offer special expertise for attacks on industrial control systems.

Banks, Fintech & Holdings

Big players:

$CRWD (+0,69%) CrowdStrike (CRWD), $PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks (PANW), $ZS (+1,36%) Zscaler (ZS)

- Core protection for banks & digital platforms

Hidden champions:

$NCNO (-0,77%) nCino (NCNO) - Cloud Banking Security

$NCC (-1,18%) NCC Group (NCC.L) - Audits & Compliance

$CYBE (+0,53%) CyberCatch Holdings, Inc (CYBE) - Provides AI-based cybersecurity SaaS

$GEN (-0,79%) Gen Digital (GEN) - through fraud prevention and identity topics

Shovel Manufacturer:

$FFIV (-0,09%) F5 Networks (FFIV) - API security for payments

$AKAM (+0,42%) Akamai Tech. (AKAM) - Web & Payment Security

$ESTC (+1,43%) Elastic (ESTC) - Fraud Analytics

🔑 Takeaway Banks, Fintech & Holdings

High regulatory pressure makes cybersecurity a mandatory field. In addition to established providers, banks are relying on hidden champions such as nCino or Darktrace for cloud banking and anomaly detection. Shovel manufacturers such as F5 or Akamai secure payment APIs and banking portals.

Crypto & blockchain

Big players:

$PANW (+0,28%) Palo Alto Networks (PANW), $FTNT (+2,62%) Fortinet (FTNT), $CRWD (+0,69%) CrowdStrike (CRWD)

- Core protection for exchanges, wallets and blockchain infrastructure

Hidden champions:

$BBAI (+0,92%) BigBear.ai (BBAI) - Blockchain Fraud Detection

$RIOT (-0,62%) Riot Platforms (RIOT) - Mining with a focus on security

Shovel manufacturer:

$NVDA (-3,33%) Nvidia (NVDA), AMD (AMD) - Chips & Mining Hardware

$NET (+1,08%) Cloudflare (NET), $AKAM (+0,42%) Akamai Tech. (AKAM)

- Network protection for wallets & exchanges

🔑 Takeaway crypto & blockchain

Crypto ecosystems are heavily affected by attacks on exchanges, wallets and smart contracts. While traditional security players provide protection, niche providers such as BigBear.ai and Riskified are emerging that specialize specifically in fraud and blockchain risks.

Source: Own analysis, image material: schwarz-digits

Today I said goodbye to $SMH (+0,91%) today. Despite the volatility, the entry in April was worthwhile and brought a nice profit of +40%, and that with an ETF! It wasn't a long-time play anyway, as it was a sector ETF.

Part of it went into the $QDEV (+0,04%) together with my DCA, and later I will also get $TDIV (-0,72%) get another share.

This means that companies such as $AMD (-7,23%) , $MU (+4,95%) , $INTC (-1,19%) and others are completely out of my portfolio, 0% exposure.

My US share is now <60% and tech at 38%. The top 10 stocks make up less than 30% of the total weighting. This makes me almost as unconcentrated as the $IWDA (-0,6%) and better diversified than the $CSPX (-0,88%) .

New portfolio key figures:

P/E 30.0 (<30) 🟡

Forward P/E 21.6 (<25) 🟢

P/Β 13.0 (<5) 🔴

D/E 0.8 (<2) 🟢

EV/FCF 28 (<25) 🟡

ROE (5-Jahres-Durchschnitt) 50% (>15%) 🟢

EPS growth for the next 5 years 23% (>7%) 🟢

Sales growth (5-year average) 15% (>5%) 🟢

With this high ROE, I am also ok with a high P/E.

Top 10 positions now:

Alphabet $GOOG (+0,47%)

NVIDIA $NVDA (-3,33%)

Broadcom $AVGO (+8,33%)

Microsoft $MSFT (-3,17%)

Meta $META (-0,3%)

Apple $AAPL (-0,66%)

Roche $ROG (-0,48%)

Taiwan Semiconductor $TSM (+2,72%)

Mastercard $MA (-2,53%)

Visa $V (-2,85%)

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)

AdditionallyTop 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 (+1,38%) ARM (UK) - CPU-IP, energy-efficient processors

$SNPS (-2,02%) Synopsys (US) - EDA software, chip design

$CDNS (-0,85%) Cadence (US) - EDA & Simulation

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

$DSY (+0,6%) Dassault Systèmes (FR) - 3D Design & Digital Twin

$SIE (-1,85%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Software & Lifecycle Mgmt

$ADBE (+1,38%) Adobe (US) - Design, AR/UX

ANSYS (US) - multiphysical simulation - acquisition by Synopsis

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

$HXGBY (+8,09%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology & Simulation

$AWE (+0,71%) 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 (+1,67%) ASML (NL) - Lithography (EUV)

$AMAT (+1,95%) Applied Materials (US) - Semiconductor equipment

$8035 (+0,37%) Tokyo Electron (JP) - wafer fabrication

$KEYS (-0,01%) Keysight Technologies (US) - Metrology

$6857 (+1,64%) Advantest (JP) - Chip test systems

$TER (-0,57%) Teradyne (US) - test systems + cobots

$6954 (-0,72%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$CAT (+0,21%) 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 (+0,5%) Jabil (US) - contract manufacturing (EMS/ODM)

$KIT (+2,48%) Kitron (NO) - European EMS/ODM manufacturer

$AIXA (+1,72%) Aixtron (DE) - deposition equipment for compound semiconductors

$LRCX (+1,77%)
Lam Research (US) - Etch/deposition systems

$MKSI (+2,13%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

$ASM (+2,05%)
ASM International (NL) - Deposition systems

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

3. chip manufacturing (foundries)

$TSM (+2,72%) TSMC (TW) - leading foundry

$005930 Samsung Electronics (KR) - foundry + memory

$GFS (-0,84%) GlobalFoundries (US) - specialty chips

$INTC (-1,19%)
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 (-3,33%) Nvidia (US) - GPUs, AI chips

$INTC (-1,19%) Intel (US) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-7,23%) AMD (US) - CPUs, GPUs

$MRVL (-1,39%) Marvell (US) - Network Chips

$MU (+4,95%) Micron (US) - Memory

$DELL (-1,85%) 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 (-1,43%) Sony (JP) - image sensors

$6861 (-1,13%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors

$STM (+0,88%) STMicroelectronics (FR/IT) - Sensors, MCUs

$TDY Teledyne (US) - optical/infrared sensors

$CGNX (+0,92%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision

$HON (-0,54%) Honeywell (US) - sensor technology, security

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

$AMBA (+1,76%) Ambarella (US) - video & computer vision SoCs for real-time image recognition

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

$AMS (+1,46%)
-OSRAM (AT/DE) - optical sensors

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

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (+1,42%) Infineon (DE) - Power Electronics

$ON (+1,31%) onsemi (US) - Power & Sensors

$TXN (-0,63%) Texas Instruments (US) - Mixed-Signal Chips

$ADI (+0,27%) Analog Devices (US) - Signal Processing

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

$MP (-2,36%) MP Materials (US) - Magnets

$APH (-2,64%) Amphenol (US) - Connectors

$6481 (+0,86%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

$6324 (+3,69%)
Harmonic Drive (JP) - Precision gears & servo drives for robotics

$6594 (+4,71%)
Nidec (JP) - Electric motors

$6506 (+1,14%)
Yaskawa (JP) - Drives & Robotics

$SU (+0,39%)
Schneider Electric (FR) - Energy & control solutions

$ZIL2 (+0,11%)
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 (-0,6%) Qualcomm (US) - mobile communications, edge AI

$ANET (+0,36%) Arista Networks (US) - Networks

$CSCO (-2,53%) Cisco (US) - Networks, Security

$EQIX (+0,2%) 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 (+0,61%)
Ericsson (SE) - 5G/IoT infrastructure

$NOKIA (-1,35%)
Nokia (FI) - 5G/6G for industry

$HPE (+0,55%)
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 (+2,16%) CATL (CN) - Batteries

$6752 (+1,91%) Panasonic (JP) - Batteries

$373220 LG Energy (KR) - Batteries

$ALB (+1,38%) Albemarle (US) - Lithium

$LYC (-3,02%) Lynas (AU) - Rare earths

$UMICY (+0,63%) Umicore (BE) - Recycling

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

$ABBN (+0,56%) 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

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

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (-1,95%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud, AI

$MSFT (-3,17%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI

$GOOG (+0,47%) Alphabet Google Cloud (US) - Cloud, ML

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

$ORCL (+3,74%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP + Cloud

$IBM (-0,15%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid cloud + AI

$OVH (+0,58%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

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

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (-2,66%) Palantir (US) - Data integration

$DDOG (+2,57%) Datadog (US) - Monitoring

$SNOW (+0,91%) Snowflake (US) - Data Cloud

$ORCL (+3,74%) Oracle (US) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (-1,81%) SAP (DE) - ERP systems

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

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

$NVDA (-3,33%) NVIDIA Isaac (US) - robotics development - part of Nvidia

$INOD (+5,4%) Innodata (US) - data annotation & AI training data

$PATH (+1,98%)
UiPath (RO/US) - Robotic process automation

$AI (+0,38%)
C3.ai (US) - AI platform

$ESTC (+1,43%)
(NL/US) - Search & data analysis

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

11. end applications / robots

$ABB ABB (CH/SE) - Industrial Robots

$6954 (-0,72%) Fanuc (JP) - Industrial robots

$TSLA (+2,79%) Tesla Optimus (US) - humanoid robot

$9618 (+1,04%) JD.com (CN) - logistics robot

$AAPL (-0,66%) Apple (US) - Platform & UX

$700 (+1,37%) Tencent (CN) - Platform & AI

$9988 (+2,55%) Alibaba (CN) - logistics & platform

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

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

$TER (-0,57%) Universal Robots (DK) - cobots - belongs to the Teradyne Corporation

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

$ISRG (+2,65%) Intuitive Surgical (US) - surgical robotics

$GMED (+0%)
Globus Medical (US) - surgical robotics (ExcelsiusGPS platform)

$7012 (+0%) Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - industrial robots, automation

$CPNG (-0,09%) Coupang (KR) - Logistics end user

$IRBT (+2,97%)
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 (-0,55%)
Iluka Resources (AU) - Rare earths

$ARR (+0%)
American Rare Earths (US/AU) - New supply chains

my number 1 in the sector is Albemarle

manufacturing technology

ASML - Applied Materials - Tokyo Electron

$LRCX (+1,77%)
Lam Research (US) - Plasma/etching processes

$ASM (+2,05%)
ASM International (NL) - ALD equipment

$MKSI (+2,13%)
MKS Instruments (US) - Plasma/vacuum technology

my number 1 in the sector is ASML

Quality assurance

Keysight - Advantest - Teradyne

$EMR (-0,97%)
National Instruments (US) - Measurement technology - from Emerson Electric adopted

$300567
ATE Test Systems (CN) - test systems

$FORM (+0,8%)
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 (+0,86%)
THK (JP) - Linear guides

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Sensors/Imaging

$TDY Teledyne

$BSL (-0,7%) 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 (+0,44%)
Hitachi Metals (JP) - Magnetic materials

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

$4063 (-0,47%)
Shin-Etsu Chemical (JP) - Specialty materials

my number 1 in the sector is MP Materials

Chip Design & Simulation

Synopsys - Cadence - ARM

$SIE (-1,85%)
Siemens EDA (DE/US)-Mentor Graphics-strategic business unit of Siemens AG

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

$CEVA (+1,04%)
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 (+8,09%)
Hexagon (SE) - Metrology

$SNPS (-2,02%)
ANSYS (US) - Simulation - takeover by Synopsys

my number 1 in the sector is Siemens

Networks & Data Centers

Arista - Cisco - Equinix

$HPE (+0,55%)
Juniper (US) - Networks - Acquisition of HPE

$DTE (-0,27%)
T-Systems (DE) - Industry cloud

$OVH (+0,58%)
OVHcloud (FR) - European cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Arista

Cloud infrastructure

AWS - Azure - Google Cloud

$ORCL (+3,74%)
Oracle Cloud (US) - ERP & databases

$IBM (-0,15%)
IBM Cloud (US) - Hybrid Cloud

$9988 (+2,55%)
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
Moody's (US) - Ratings

$MSCI (-0,94%)
MSCI (US) - Indices

$MORN
Morningstar (US) - Investment Research

my number 1 in the sector is S&P Global

Creative/Experience Infra

Adobe

$ADSK (+1,04%)
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 (-0,3%)
Meta (US) - AR/VR, Social Robotics

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

$9888 (+3,21%)
Baidu (CN) - AI & Cloud

my number 1 in the sector is Tencent

Infrastructure/Edge

Dell

$HPE (+0,55%)
HPE (US) - Edge Computing

$SMCI
Supermicro (US) - AI servers

$6702 (-1,5%)
Fujitsu (JP) - Edge & HPC

my number 1 in the sector is Dell

storage solutions

Micron

$000660
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$285A (+15,69%)
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 (-1,94%) Goldman Sachs (US) - investment bank; ECM/DCM, M&A, growth financing

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

$BLK (-1,37%) BlackRock (US) - asset manager; capital allocation, ETFs/index funds

$9984 (-1,17%) 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 (-1,85%) Siemens (DE) - Industrial Service, Lifecycle & Retrofit

$ABBN (+0,56%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics Service, Spare Parts, Field Support

$GEHC (+1,35%) 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 (-0,72%) 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 (+0,44%) WPP (UK) - global advertising group; branding/communications

$OMC Omnicom (US) - marketing/PR network

$PUB (-0,19%) Publicis (FR) - communications/advertising group

$META (-0,3%) Meta (US) - Digital Ads (Facebook/Instagram)

$GOOG (+0,47%) Google Ads (US) - search & display advertising

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

$AAPL (-0,66%) Apple (US) - Branding/UX; Acceptance & Platform Marketing

$WPP (+0,44%)
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 (-3,33%) Nvidia (US) - AI GPUs & Isaac platform, foundation for robotic AI

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

$ASML (+1,67%) ASML (NL) - EUV lithography, indispensable for chip production

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

$000660 SK Hynix (KR) - DRAM & NAND memory for AI

$MU (+4,95%) 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 (-1,13%) Keyence (JP) - Industrial sensors & vision systems

$CGNX (+0,92%) Cognex (US) - Machine Vision, precise image processing

my number 1 in the sector is Keyence

Actuators & motion (muscles of robots)

$IFX (+1,42%) Infineon (DE) - power electronics, motor control

$6594 (+4,71%) Nidec (JP) - World market leader for electric motors

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

$6481 (+0,86%) THK (JP) - Linear guides & actuators

my number 1 in the sector is Parker-Hannifin

Communication, cloud & infrastructure (nerves & data flow)

$QCOM (-0,6%) Qualcomm (US) - Mobile & Edge Chips

$AMZN (-1,95%) Amazon AWS (US) - Cloud & AI infrastructure

$MSFT (-3,17%) Microsoft Azure (US) - Cloud, AI services

$CSCO (-2,53%) 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 (+2,79%) Tesla (US) - humanoid robot Optimus

$ABBN (+0,56%) ABB (CH/SE) - Robotics & Automation

$6954 (-0,72%) Fanuc (JP) - industrial robots & CNC systems

$7012 (+0%) 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 (+1,67%)
ASML (NL)

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

$IFX (+1,42%) Infineon (DE)

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

$STM (+0,88%)
STMicroelectronics (FR/IT)

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

$SAP (-1,81%)
SAP (DE)

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

$SIE (-1,85%)
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.

$000660
SK Hynix (KR) - Memory

$SONY
Sony (Japan)

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

$6861 (-1,13%)
Keyence (Japan)

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

$6954 (-0,72%)
Fanuc (Japan)

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

$6506 (+1,14%)
Yaskawa Electric (Japan)

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

$6594 (+4,71%)
Nidec (Japan)

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

$7012 (+0%)
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (JP) - Industrial robots

$9618 (+1,04%)
JD.com (China)

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

The hype is all about humanoid robots, but the constant winners are in the background.

I have divided the analysis into two perspectives. 1. the complete value chain of humanoid robots, which shows all the players from the chip to the finished robot, and 2. the blade manufacturers in the background, who always earn money as enablers, regardless of which manufacturer wins the race.

ASML, Applied Materials and Tokyo Electron dominate in manufacturing technology. Quality assurance comes from Keysight, Advantest and Teradyne. Chip design is supported by Synopsys, Cadence and ARM. Data streams are secured by Arista Networks, Cisco and Equinix. The computing basis is created in the cloud by Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet. Albemarle, Lynas and Umicore play a central role in raw materials and battery materials. These companies monetize their customers' investment waves, have high barriers to entry, service revenues and pricing power, but remain cyclical with risks from export rules, capex cuts and currency movements.

🌐 Value chain of humanoid robots Sector overview

1. research & chip design (IP / EDA)

$ARM (+1,38%)
ARM Holdings (ARM, UK/USA) - CPU architectures

$SNPS (-2,02%)
Synopsys (SNPS, USA) - Chip design software

$CDNS (-0,85%)
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS, USA) - EDA & Simulation

2. manufacturing technology & equipment

$ASML (+1,67%)
ASML (ASML, NL) - EUV lithography, key monopoly

$AMAT (+1,95%)
Applied Materials (AMAT, USA) - Process equipment

$8035 (+0,37%)
Tokyo Electron (8035.T, JP) - Wafer equipment

$KEYS (-0,01%)
Keysight Technologies (KEYS, USA) - Test & RF measurement technology

$6857 (+1,64%)
Advantest (6857.T, JP) - Semiconductor test systems

$TER (-0,57%)
Teradyne (TER, USA) - Test systems + robotics (Universal Robots)

3. chip production (Foundries)

$TSM (+2,72%)
TSMC (TSM, TW) - Largest contract manufacturer

$005930
Samsung Electronics (005930.KQ, KR) - Memory + Foundry

$GFS (-0,84%)
GlobalFoundries (GFS, USA) - Specialized production

4. computing & control unit ("brain")

$NVDA (-3,33%)
Nvidia (NVDA, USA) - GPUs, AI accelerators

$INTC (-1,19%)
Intel (INTC, USA) - CPUs, FPGAs

$AMD (-7,23%)
AMD (AMD, USA) - CPUs/GPUs

$MRVL (-1,39%)
Marvell Technology (MRVL, USA) - Network/data center chips

5. sensors ("senses")

$6758 (-1,43%)
Sony (6758.T, JP) - CMOS image sensors

$6861 (-1,13%)
Keyence (6861.T, JP) - Vision systems, sensors

$STM (+0,88%)
STMicroelectronics (STM, CH/FR) - MEMS sensors

6. actuators & power electronics ("muscles")

$IFX (+1,42%)
Infineon (IFX, DE) - Power semiconductors, SiC

$ON (+1,31%)
N Semiconductor (ON, USA) - SiC/Power Chips

$STM (+0,88%)
STMicroelectronics (STM, CH/FR) - Motor control & power

$TXN (-0,63%)
Texas Instruments (TXN, USA) - Motor control, power ICs

$ADI (+0,27%)
Analog Devices (ADI, USA) - Energy & BMS chips

7. communication & networking ("nerves")

$QCOM (-0,6%)
Qualcomm (QCOM, USA) - 5G/SoCs

$AVGO (+8,33%)
Broadcom (AVGO, USA) - Network & radio chips

$SWKS (+0,17%)
Skyworks Solutions (SWKS, USA) - RF components

8. energy supply

$300750
CATL (300750.SZ, CN) - Batteries

$6752 (+1,91%)
Panasonic (6752.T, JP) - Batteries for automotive/robotics

$373220
LG Energy Solution (373220.KQ, KR) - Batteries

9. cloud & infrastructure

$AMZN (-1,95%)
Amazon (AMZN, USA) - AWS

$MSFT (-3,17%)
Microsoft (MSFT, USA) - Azure

$GOOG (+0,47%)
Alphabet (GOOGL, USA) - Google Cloud

$EQIX (+0,2%)
Equinix (EQIX, USA) - Data center operator

$ANET (+0,36%)
Arista Networks (ANET, USA) - Network infrastructure

$CSCO (-2,53%)
Cisco Systems (CSCO, USA) - Edge & Data Center Networks

10. software & data platforms

$PLTR (-2,66%)
Palantir (PLTR, USA) - Data integration, decision software

$DDOG (+2,57%)
Datadog (DDOG, USA) - Cloud monitoring / observability

$SNOW (+0,91%)
Snowflake (SNOW, USA) - Cloud-native data platform

$ORCL (+3,74%)
Oracle (ORCL, USA) - Databases, ERP

$SAP (-1,81%)
SAP (SAP, DE) - ERP/cloud systems

$PATH (+1,98%)
UiPath (PATH, USA) - Automation software (RPA)

$AI (+0,38%)
C3.ai (AI, USA) - Enterprise AI platform

11. end applications / robots

$ABB
ABB (ABB, CH) - Industrial robots

$6954 (-0,72%)
Fanuc (6954.T, JP) - Industrial robots, CNC

$TSLA (+2,79%)
Tesla (TSLA, USA) - Optimus" humanoid robot

$9618 (+1,04%)
JD.com (JD, CN) - E-commerce & automated logistics

🛠️ Shovel manufacturer for humanoid robots

🔹 Hardtech (physical "shovels")

These companies provide the material basis: manufacturing machines, raw materials, semiconductor base.

Semiconductor Equipment & Manufacturing

$ASML (+1,67%)
ASML (ASML, NL) - EUV lithography (monopoly).

$AMAT (+1,95%)
Applied Materials (AMAT, USA) - Wafer equipment.

$8035 (+0,37%)
Tokyo Electron (8035.T, JP) - Process equipment.

Test systems (hardware-side)

$6857 (+1,64%)
Advantest (6857.T, JP) - Semiconductor test.

$TER (-0,57%)
Teradyne (TER, USA) - Test systems + industrial robots.

Materials & raw materials

$ALB (+1,38%)
Albemarle (ALB, USA) - Lithium (batteries).

$LYC (-3,02%)
Lynas Rare Earths (LYC.AX, AUS) - Rare earths for magnets.

$UMICY (+0,63%)
Umicore (UMI.BR, BE) - Cathode materials, recycling.

🔹 Soft/infra (digital "shovels")

These companies supply the infrastructure & toolswithout which development, training and operation would be impossible.

Design Software & IP

$SNPS (-2,02%)
Synopsys (SNPS, USA) - EDA software.

$CDNS (-0,85%)
Cadence Design Systems (CDNS, USA) - Chip design & simulation.

$ARM (+1,38%)
ARM Holdings (ARM, UK/USA) - CPU architectures (license model).

Test & Measurement (software/signal level)

$KEYS (-0,01%)
Keysight Technologies (KEYS, USA) - Electronics & RF test systems.

Network & data center backbone

$ANET (+0,36%)
Arista Networks (ANET, USA) - High-speed networks.

$CSCO (-2,53%)
Cisco Systems (CSCO, USA) - Data center/edge networks.

$EQIX (+0,2%)
Equinix (EQIX, USA) - Data centers (colocation).

Cloud infrastructure

$AMZN (-1,95%)
Amazon (AMZN, USA) - AWS (cloud, AI training).

$MSFT (-3,17%)
Microsoft (MSFT, USA) - Azure.

$GOOG (+0,47%)
Alphabet (GOOGL, USA) - Google Cloud.

Takeaway: Investing in the infrastructure stack allows you to participate in the robotics trend regardless of the subsequent product winner and reduces the individual product risk, but you have to live with cycles. In your opinion, which stage of the chain offers the best risk/return combination and fits into a disciplined portfolio?

Source: Own analysis based on publicly available company information and IR materials of the companies mentioned.

Image material: Techa Tungateja/iStockphoto

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