U.S. stock futures hovered near record highs on Monday as investors weighed rising oil prices and uncertainty over a potential deal between the U.S. and Iran. Hans Albrecht said the current market rise is being driven by rising demand for AI infrastructure, expansion of inference workloads, and growing adoption of AI tools across the enterprise.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Hans Albrecht, equity fund manager at Option Pit, about the change in leadership within the Magnificent Seven, increasing competition in semiconductors, why inference demand is reshaping the AI market, and the increasing pressure AI is bringing to traditional software business models.
Important points
- Albrecht said investor enthusiasm for AI infrastructure and computing demand continues to support stock markets despite rising valuations.
- He argued that the market is becoming more selective in large-cap technology stocks, rewarding companies with exposure to broader AI ecosystems and infrastructure.
- Albrecht said AI inference workloads are becoming more of a long-term opportunity than the initial training phase, with increased demand on chips, memory and data center networks.
- He believes the semiconductor race extends beyond Nvidia as companies like Broadcom and Google gain traction in AI infrastructure.
- Albrecht warned that AI-driven automation could lower barriers to entry into software and creative industries, creating uncertainty for companies like Adobe.
Read the full story below.
Lindsey: Despite rising oil prices and the lack of a deal between the US and Iran, S&P futures hit an all-time high this morning. Our next guest says the market is being driven by increasing AI, limitless computing demand, and the expansion of AI into small and medium-sized businesses. Joining us this time is Hans Albrecht, equity fund manager at Option Pit. I would be happy if you could join us. good morning.
Hans: Good morning, Lindsay. Thank you for having me.
Lindsey: S&P futures hit an all-time high this morning. What do you think about these assessments? Do you think they are justified?
Hans: I think things are starting to bubble up a little bit. We’ve seen tremendous progress over the past month, and a lot of the heavy lifting has been done by technology, AI, and the Magnificent 7, or Magnificent 10.
I think it’s all based on the reality of this infinite computing demand. That’s a very real thing. This is different from the 1990s, when we built so much capacity and couldn’t use it. We currently don’t have enough capacity. Google said it could have done even better with its cloud numbers if it had the ability to offer more services. Human theory basically says the same thing.
A lot of really smart companies that are very close to AI are underestimating the demand there. I believe that will continue. Stocks do what stocks do. That story is true. We’ll have to see if things are a little overbought here, but I think they are.
Lindsey: What is your investment strategy for the Magnificent Seven? How much exposure do you currently have to Microsoft and Meta specifically? These are two big tech companies that are lagging behind at the moment.
Hans: Over the past year, I’ve been long on Apple, Google, and Amazon, and short on Meta and Microsoft. It’s not that these companies are bad, they just don’t have the full stack that investors want these days. Investors want AI exposure to span multiple sectors.
Without physical exposure, such as a strong chip business, you’re in trouble. Microsoft doesn’t have that. There’s one in the meta, but it’s not that important. Google has multiple businesses that benefit from YouTube, the cloud, and AI.
We are witnessing a very binary market. Investors are pretty ruthless these days. If you don’t know the whole story, you can’t benefit from that enthusiasm. Apple, Amazon, and Google have hit new all-time highs, but Meta and Microsoft are still well below their all-time highs.
Microsoft is a little too close to the realm where the coding and software-as-a-service businesses are under pressure. Meta is doing well, with a strong advertising business but no exposure to cloud businesses or similar infrastructure.
Lindsey: You also said it’s no longer an Nvidia world, it’s a Broadcom world. Why do you think so?
Hans: For years, Nvidia was the only talk in town because it dominated the AI training phase. About a year ago, we started realizing that reasoning is much more important.
Training teaches these AI models (ChatGPT, Anthropic products, and other large-scale language models). The reasoning is different. This is an ongoing stage where the system is constantly processing information and responding to users. Gears never stop turning.
This change is creating opportunities for other chip manufacturers exposed to inference workloads. Nvidia will still be a major competitor there, but it’s much more competitive than before.
It’s the same thing that happens with the Magnificent Seven. They all rose together, but now the market is starting to pick winners and losers. Nvidia is still a great company and probably not overvalued, but competition from companies like Google is increasing. Google’s TPUs are very popular and in high demand.
Lindsey: That was going to be my next question. What does this mean for Nvidia investors? Is it still a good stock to own?
Hans: I think it has a solid hold. However, I don’t think things are moving in the same direction as before. The last seven or eight months haven’t been very effective.
Broadcom benefits because it provides a key piece of the AI infrastructure puzzle. Memory is in short supply, increasing demand on the network systems that connect data centers. That’s an area where Broadcom has strength.
Qualcomm is also becoming important through AI at the edge, or AI in devices like phones, cars, and other connected products. In cars, for example, AI decisions need to be made instantaneously. You can’t send information to the cloud and wait for a response.
Lindsey: On the other hand, we also talked about some of your favorite stocks, like Apple. I’d also like to touch on the stocks you’re currently avoiding. It’s Adobe. why?
Hans: I’ve loved Apple for quite some time. Many people criticize Apple because it hasn’t spent hundreds of billions of dollars on AI. But I think Apple is in the right place at the right time.
As soon as consumers want an AI assistant in their pocket, Apple is in a very good position. That’s a big theme for me this year. Apple has high-margin products and a loyal customer base that embraces those features.
We also sell a lot of Macs. A few months ago I said they would sell out Macs, and that’s what they reported recently. Macs are very well-suited for agent AI and the kinds of applications that people are building today.
Adobe is the other side of the coin. AI is bringing richness to fields that once had high barriers to entry. Coding will become more accessible, changing the software-as-a-service business model that has been dominant for the past 20 years.
It’s an oversimplification to say that anyone can become a programmer overnight, but the word is on the wall. Investors cannot confidently predict 15 or 20 years of predictable cash flows from some software companies. Because we don’t know what those businesses will look like in a few years.
Markets don’t like uncertainty. That’s why investors are reacting so positively. It’s a very binary market.
Lindsey: There is already a lot of uncertainty in the market. You have to leave it there. Hans Albrecht, Equity Fund Manager at Option Pit. I’m glad to be with you this morning. thanks so much.
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript for May 11, 2026 Hans Albrecht’s interview is published with the help of AI. The original survey, interview questions, and added context were created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. Editors also reviewed this material prior to publication to ensure its accuracy and compliance with BNN Bloomberg’s editorial policies and standards.
