ECHIQUIER SPACE – What happened this summer?

How did the theme perform?

The summer was marked by heightened volatility across the space ecosystem. Following a significant correction in July, extending the pullback that began at the end of May (driven by continued profit-taking after the enthusiasm surrounding SpaceX’s IPO, and within a broader correction affecting momentum themes such as AI), the sector rebounded in early August on the back of strong earnings releases and attractive valuations. However, it experienced another correction at the end of August as U.S. interest rates moved higher amid inflation concerns and expectations of tighter monetary policies.

Performance within the space defense segment was mixed. U.S. companies were affected by uncertainty surrounding future military spending levels despite solid quarterly results. In Europe, accelerating earnings growth and improving profitability supported a rebound in defense stocks at the end of July. Overall, European names demonstrated relatively strong resilience throughout the summer.

📌 Key developments since June 28

• Rocket Lab’s acquisition of the Iridium constellation at the end of June (a positive catalyst).
• Positive news for satellite telecommunications operators, with access to additional spectrum capacity, reinforcing the investment case around the monetization of orbital assets.
• SpaceX’s first earnings release as a publicly listed company, featuring impressive growth (revenue of $7.8bn, up 92% year-on-year and approximately 14% above market expectations) and profitability (adjusted EBITDA of $3.5bn, corresponding to a 45.3% margin versus 29.5% expected). Quarterly net losses nearly halved year-on-year to $541m. The expiration of the first lock-up periods also occurred in early August.
• Overall, quarterly earnings releases were very strong, with only a few exceptions, confirming improving sector fundamentals and reigniting investor interest at the beginning of August.
• Particularly notable was Rocket Lab’s strong order intake in Q2 (over $1bn), both for its small launch vehicles and its medium-lift Neutron rocket currently under development.
• The publication of President Donald Trump’s memorandum in August, confirming support for space defense programs and the intention to accelerate the development of U.S. launch capabilities.
• The departure of L3Harris’ CEO.

What actions did the portfolio management team take?

Our tech team adopted an opportunistic approach toward pure-play companies such as SpaceX, Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Redwire, Intuitive Machines and Planet Labs by:

• Increasing positions during periods of market weakness.
• Favoring the most mature companies within the category in the absence of tangible signs of ecosystem stabilization.

🌍 Positioning and outlook

From a portfolio positioning perspective, the strategy is currently focused on sector leaders such as Rocket Lab, MDA Space and Planet Labs. This exposure is diversified through defense companies benefiting from the Golden Dome space program, while exposure to smaller companies and SpaceX, which are inherently more volatile, is managed tactically.

Looking ahead, we remain confident in the long-term prospects of the Space theme. We believe the summer correction was primarily technical and rate-driven, while sector fundamentals remain robust. Growth continues to be strong, several companies have now achieved profitability, order books keep expanding, and the sector’s news flow remains highly supportive across both launch and satellite infrastructure markets.

Furthermore, the theme offers tech-like growth characteristics (Sales growth of 35% based on current valuations¹), while being driven largely by industrial businesses operating within long development cycles. Whereas a software company can bring a product to market relatively quickly, developing a new launch vehicle can take nearly twenty years. This combination of strong structural growth and significant barriers to entry enhances the sector’s appeal for investors seeking both performance and diversification.

🔎 What we will be monitoring through year-end

• Additional Golden Dome contract awards.
• Progress on Starship (SpaceX): following the successful 13th test flight at the end of July and a 14th test flight expected in September, Starship is increasingly becoming a commercial reality, with a fully reusable vehicle capable of significantly increasing launch frequency.
• Neutron rocket testing by Rocket Lab, expected before year-end.
• Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 2, its second lunar mission under NASA’s program to land on the far side of the Moon, scheduled toward the end of the year. This represents a major technical achievement given the complexity of such missions.
• The rise of mega-constellations led by Starlink and Amazon, which could drive significant disruption and consolidation across the sector.
• Progress in space-based data centers, a development highly dependent on Starship, though other companies are also involved, including Planet Labs in partnership with Alphabet.

⚠️ Key risks

• Rising interest rates, which generally affect growth and innovation-driven companies, particularly smaller, pre-profitability businesses that are more sensitive to changes in financing conditions.

👉 While volatility may persist in the short term, the long-term investment case remains intact.

¹ 3-year Sales CAGR as of 31/08/2026. Source: La Financière de l’Échiquier, Bloomberg.

***

ECHIQUIER ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – What happened this summer?

Market backdrop

After several consecutive weeks of strong gains across cloud infrastructure stocks, the summer was marked by significant profit-taking beginning in early July. Concerns emerged regarding the future pace of hyperscaler investment, particularly following Meta’s announcements concerning the monetization of excess computing capacity.

This triggered profit-taking across semiconductors and technology hardware within a broader correction affecting momentum stocks that had reached peak valuations by the end of June. The retreat in leveraged ETFs, which frequently target these sectors, exacerbated selling pressure. Many retail investors also faced significant margin calls, particularly in Korea through ETFs linked to memory-chip producers.

Investors became increasingly concerned about competition from Chinese players, both in memory semiconductor manufacturing (CXMT/YMTC) and in advanced AI model deployment at potentially lower costs than Western competitors. Geopolitical risks also increased following renewed strikes involving Iran and tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, raising concerns over supply chain disruptions, particularly for helium supplies critical to semiconductor manufacturing.

Starting in late July, however, earnings results from major technology companies reassured investors about AI monetization. Cloud revenues accelerated, margins improved, and demand for computing capacity remained exceptionally strong. This fueled a strong rebound across physical cloud infrastructure providers, including semiconductor companies, technology equipment manufacturers, industrial firms and energy suppliers.

At the end of August, Nvidia’s and Marvell’s results further validated the long-term AI infrastructure growth story, although investors remain attentive to valuation and financing concerns.

Meanwhile, software companies attracted renewed investor interest. Data management and cybersecurity software providers had already been outperforming since April, benefiting from accelerating AI monetization and rising cybersecurity demand. Since late July, attention has expanded toward application software companies, supported by depressed valuations and reassuring earnings reports.

From mid-August onward, rising bond yields nevertheless triggered profit-taking among growth-oriented technology and industrial stocks, while software companies benefited from concerns surrounding data center financing costs

🔎 Key developments this summer

• Nvidia significantly increased its 2027 growth forecasts.
• Alchip and Marvell benefited from Amazon’s Trainium programs.
• Mediatek became a more significant supplier to Google.
• Lumentum achieved its ambitious sales target one quarter ahead of schedule.

Fund behaviour

The strategy experienced a significant correction in July, mainly driven by profit-taking among the year’s strongest performers, particularly semiconductors, physical cloud infrastructure companies and high-beta stocks.

However, the fund rebounded strongly after July 30, as evidence emerged that massive AI investments were translating into accelerating revenues and improved profitability for major cloud providers.

🔎 Main performance contributors

👉 AI-related semiconductors (Nvidia, Micron)

👉 Cloud providers (Microsoft, Amazon)

👉 Networking and optical equipment companies (Arista Networks, Lumentum)

👉 Progressive improvement in software stocks from August onward (Shopify, Cloudflare, Snowflake, Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks)

Portfolio activity and outlook

The July correction across the AI infrastructure ecosystem provided an opportunity to progressively strengthen several high-conviction positions in semiconductors, technology equipment and cloud infrastructure, considering their strong fundamentals.

Exposure to the most volatile stocks was reduced.

Following earnings releases at the end of July, positions directly linked to the AI investment cycle were increased, as Alphabet, Microsoft and TSMC all confirmed the strength of demand.

During August, profits were taken on semiconductor positions that had significantly outperformed, while exposure to software companies was gradually increased to benefit from improving business momentum and market sentiment.

⚠️ To be watched

• The upcoming IPO of Anthropic.

💡 Key takeaway

The summer unfolded in two distinct phases but ultimately reinforced the fund’s investment thesis: the AI investment cycle remains exceptionally robust. Our tech team used periods of market weakness to selectively increase exposure to key beneficiaries of AI infrastructure deployment while gradually expanding exposure to software companies. The next phase of AI monetization, driven by AI agents and physical AI applications in robotics, should provide important future growth catalysts.

***

ECHIQUIER ROBOTS & HUMANOIDS – What happened this summer?

Market backdrop

The robotics sector experienced significant profit-taking in July as part of a broader correction affecting momentum-driven themes including AI, technology, space and defense. Concerns over tighter monetary policies, inflationary pressures and rising bond yields also weighed on valuations.

Markets subsequently rebounded from late July through mid-August, supported by strong earnings reports from technology and industrial companies. However, rising bond yields later in the period once again pressured growth-stock valuations, particularly those requiring substantial investment financing, including data center-related businesses.

Fund behaviour

The fund declined in July due to profit-taking in humanoid robotics (both manufacturers and component suppliers) and among U.S. autonomous-driving companies such as Aeva and Tesla.

At the same time, Chinese companies such as Horizon Robotics and BYD performed strongly, as did Hexagon in Europe, which plans to deploy at least 1,000 humanoid robots within the factories of its partner Schaeffler.

Technology stocks also weakened, with profit-taking in Samsung, Teradyne and AMD following strong prior performance. Surgical robotics companies were negatively affected by slower growth in the United States, while space-related companies continued to experience fading post-SpaceX IPO enthusiasm.

Equity markets rebounded from late July through mid-August as investors were reassured by strong corporate earnings. However, rising inflation concerns and higher bond yields subsequently weighed on growth companies and businesses dependent on investment financing, particularly those linked to new data center projects. Meanwhile, Japanese exporters were negatively impacted by policy interventions aimed at limiting yen depreciation.

Throughout August, AI ecosystem suppliers such as AMD, Teradyne, STMicroelectronics and Regal Rexnord declined. Nvidia, however, rose 9%² after increasing its 2027 growth forecasts. Humanoid robot manufacturers including Rainbow Robotics and UBTech rebounded following strong results, while other industrial robotics companies experienced profit-taking.

LG Energy benefited from accelerating energy-storage battery demand, while Deere reported strong earnings. Tesla gained 17%² ahead of the Cybercab unveiling and expectations of potential approval for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software in Europe.

Portfolio positioning and outlook

The robotics theme is supported by several powerful long-term trends: labor shortages linked to demographic aging, the need for higher productivity, and the explosive growth in data volumes fueling artificial intelligence adoption.

The robotics market is expected to grow exponentially over the coming decades, with particularly attractive opportunities across humanoid robots, autonomous vehicles, service robots and industrial automation.

The fund is positioned across this entire value chain, focusing not only on robot manufacturers but also on suppliers of critical components such as semiconductors, sensors, software and control systems, which should benefit from powerful multiplier effects.

Industrial robotics should continue to benefit from healthy order activity. Finally, the democratization of humanoid robots and embedded AI applications represents, in our view, a new long-term investment cycle whose first beneficiaries are already emerging within the portfolio.

² Source: Bloomberg, La Financière de l’Échiquier.