AIM strategies outperform as AI rally narrows market

Algorithmic Investment Models reported that its Growth, Moderate and Conservative strategies outperformed their asset‑allocation benchmarks in the second quarter of 2026 while markets narrowed around an AI-driven rally in semiconductor names.

The firm said semiconductors and related high‑momentum, high‑beta stocks produced the strongest returns in Q2, concentrating market leadership in a small group of companies. Trading activity slowed compared with Q1 and AIM’s quantitative models largely held positions instead of chasing the hottest AI names. The Growth strategy saw the largest gains and remains ahead of its benchmark year to date. Moderate and Conservative strategies outperformed their allocation benchmarks but lagged the Growth strategy.

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.6 on Feb. 5, an upgrade that improved coding performance and added parallel “AI agent” workflows. AIM reported the update triggered a surge in corporate experimentation and cloud compute demand. In mid‑May Anthropic disclosed an annualized revenue run‑rate of about $47 billion and increased its contracted compute commitments roughly tenfold.

The sudden demand pressured AI hardware supply and pushed GPU rental prices higher. High‑bandwidth memory became a bottleneck. Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix raised unit prices and, based on their filings for the most recent reporting periods, saw combined profits of about $96 billion, a large increase versus earlier periods.

The five largest cloud providers spent roughly $150 billion on capital expenditures in the quarter, and external estimates put U.S. AI investment in 2026 at the high hundreds of billions. AIM noted that rising prices for memory and compute are taking up a growing share of that investment.

Volatility rose inside AI‑linked names through the quarter. Semiconductor stocks gained steadily in April and then showed larger daily swings, with several‑percent moves becoming common. AIM’s models removed some of the riskiest positions and reduced portfolio beta while keeping overall equity exposure above neutral. The firm maintained a modest energy allocation rather than exiting the sector entirely.

Energy and natural resources were the main headwinds. Renewed optimism about a fragile U.S.–Iran ceasefire weighed on oil prices at times, and energy equities underperformed. AIM kept a steady, modest exposure to energy because of its low or negative correlation with broad equities.

AIM reported that Japan and biotech were positive contributors across all strategies. Growth also benefited from indirect AI‑infrastructure exposure through clean energy stocks and selected China A‑shares. The firm flagged the concentration of market leadership in semiconductor and high‑beta names and said persistent volatility in that group could affect broader indices if it continues.