This article digs into Bank of America’s February Equity Strategy report to break down how active fund managers shifted their exposure to semiconductors. There’s a clear trend: managers leaned into compute-focused names like AMD, while analog chipmakers ran into some headwinds.
It also touches on ownership moves, relative weights, and what Wall Street’s thinking for Nvidia and other big players in the sector.
Key takeaways from Bank of America’s February Equity Strategy on semiconductors
Bank of America’s latest strategy shows a broad pullback in semiconductor sector exposure, even though a few stocks are getting fresh attention. Sector exposure dropped to a relative weighting of 0.84x—the lowest since June 2012—and down from 0.89x in January.
This split highlights a market that’s really two camps: compute-focused firms are getting more love, while traditional analog players are losing fans.
The data show fund managers are taking on more risk with growth-oriented, compute-centric names. At the same time, they’re cooling on many analog and memory manufacturers.
Some names stand out for big swings in ownership and relative weight, shaping how the sector feels right now.
AMD leads the charge among ownership gains
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) saw a huge jump in ownership, up 1,001 basis points quarter-over-quarter. Now, 35% of funds hold AMD.
That puts AMD as the third-most widely held semiconductor stock, just behind Nvidia (78% ownership) and Broadcom (74%). AMD doesn’t rank as high by relative weight versus the S&P 500—it’s 15th there.
- Ownership: 35% of funds
- Quarter-over-quarter change: +1,001 bps
- Position relative to peers: Nvidia 78%, Broadcom 74% in ownership; AMD 15th in relative weight versus the S&P 500
Analog and memory exposures retreat amid a bifurcated market
Several analog and memory names lost ground as AMD surged. The numbers show a net drift lower for analog stocks, with analog exposure down 51 basis points QoQ and 254 basis points YoY.
- Synopsys saw the biggest ownership drop, falling 406 bps to 26% of funds. Still, it’s the second-most-overweight semiconductor at 1.71x relative weight.
- KLA Corp. holds the top spot for most-overweight semiconductor stock at 1.79x relative weight.
- Lam Research ownership climbed 670 bps to 33%, making it the fourth-most widely held in the group.
- Teradyne dropped sharply in relative weight, down 28% QoQ to 0.30x from 0.47x in January 2026.
- Micron ownership rose to 25% from 18% as memory prices went up, but its relative weight slipped 5% QoQ to 1.24x. That’s the lowest in over a year, though it’s still the sector’s fifth-highest by exposure.
Outlook: Nvidia remains the stock with the most upside, while Nvidia’s peers face mixed sentiment
Wall Street analysts see Nvidia as having the most upside among the names mentioned. The average price target is $273.61, which means about 51.8% potential upside from where it trades now.
This just shows the market still prefers leading-edge, GPU-driven growth stories. Broader semiconductor stocks have pulled back in overall exposure, but Nvidia stands out.
If you’re tracking semiconductor trends, the February Bank of America data really hammer home a key point. The bifurcation between compute-focused champions and analog/memory suppliers isn’t just a blip.
Funds are repositioning, hinting that sector leadership could shift as demand changes. AMD and Nvidia seem to have the wind at their backs, while several traditional analog players are reworking their portfolios.
Here is the source article for this story: Fund Managers Cut Semiconductor Exposure to Lowest Level Since 2012, But AMD Ownership Surges