Barclays: The Nvidia controversy and financing risks cannot hinder the long-term trend of AI; investors should still maintain exposure

Julian Lafarge, Chief Market Strategist at Barclays Private Bank, stated that despite the uncertainty surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's future, the uncertain returns on AI investments, and rising financing costs testing market confidence, investors should continue to participate in the AI market. Lafarge believes that AI is not a bubble but a technological revolution that will impact all industries, although its commercialization and infrastructure development cannot happen overnight.

Lafarge pointed out that Nvidia is referred to as the "central bank of AI trading," but even if the company changes its CEO, it does not mean that the entire AI industry chain's trading needs to be re-evaluated or renegotiated. He compared the potential leadership transition at Nvidia to previous management transitions at Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon, arguing that a successor taking over does not necessarily weaken corporate value.

However, Barclays lists interest rates and the financing environment as major risks that could disrupt the market. As the scale of AI infrastructure investment expands, the market's focus is shifting from whether the demand for computing power is real to whether the massive capital expenditures can generate sufficient returns. Data center construction also faces bottlenecks such as power access, equipment installation, and commercial operation cycles, while expectations of tightening Federal Reserve policies may also raise corporate financing costs and depress long-term cash flow valuations.

Lafarge emphasized that the trillions of dollars in AI investment commitments cannot quickly translate into actual computing power delivery, and there will be significant divergence in investment returns among companies. Tighter financing conditions may change the pace of industry investment and competitive landscape, but it does not mean that the long-term demand for AI infrastructure will disappear. Barclays still prefers to maintain exposure to AI investments until there are clear signs of a significant slowdown in industry growth momentum.