Goldman Sachs: AI Reshapes the Market, “HALO” Concept Stocks Become the New Trend

Goldman Sachs stated that in an era marked by artificial intelligence disrupting markets, rising real yields, and a fragmented geopolitical landscape, investors are flocking to stocks with the “HALO effect” (heavy assets, low obsolescence rates).

Goldman Sachs strategists, including Guillaume Jaisson, wrote in a report: “The market is rewarding assets that have capacity, networks, infrastructure, and engineering barriers—these are costly to replicate and less affected by technological iteration and obsolescence.”

The capital-intensive stock portfolio compiled by Goldman Sachs has outperformed the asset-light portfolio by 35% since 2025, with asset intensity becoming a key driver of valuation and returns.

Goldman Sachs noted that fiscal expansion, rising replacement costs, regionalization and reshoring of industries, and a manufacturing rebound all benefit capital-intensive sectors.

“Funds continue to flow into value strategies, and at the same time, investors are looking to diversify away from crowded US tech stocks, which is further driving capital toward capital-intensive assets—yet the long-term allocation to these assets remains far from excessive.”

The market widely expects that earnings per share (EPS) growth for capital-intensive companies will accelerate and their return on equity (ROE) will continue to improve, while ROE for asset-light stocks is expected to remain stable.

Editor: Liu Mingliang