AMD and Infineon: The AI boom creates dream profits
What volatility in the chip sector! Down 7% on average the day before yesterday – back up halfway yesterday! But is the sector correction already over, probably not? After all, technical analysts, in particular, doubt the sustainability of overheated prices, although fundamental models calculate significant medium-term upside potential. US chip designer AMD made a conspicuous push into the ultra-fast memory and AI solutions market with impressive momentum, increasing Q2 revenue by 50% year on year to USD 11.54 billion. Despite heavy investment, the Californian company steadily improved its financial firepower and posted a record free cash flow of USD 1.56 billion in Q2. While Wall Street celebrates the operating performance with Buy recommendations and analysts such as Bernstein Research set a price target of USD 650, the stock is characterised by volatile daily price jumps. Observers attribute all this to rising interest rates and macroeconomic disruption. War-induced supply chain problems could also affect the operating margin in the short term. However, with prices around USD 538, the consensus among LSEG analysts remains USD 626, about 16% higher. German semiconductor group Infineon is also benefiting from this exceptional boom, increasing its quarterly revenue by 13% to an impressive EUR 4.17 billion. With a strong segment result margin of 19.1% and a massive free cash flow turnaround to a positive EUR 599 million, the Munich-based company demonstrated an extremely robust operating position. By comparison, AMD, an aggressive chip designer, is fighting on the front line of the AI arms race, while Infineon acts more as a defensive beneficiary in the background. After all, the German company primarily supplies indispensable energy-efficiency infrastructure and power semiconductors essential to operating and cooling modern server facilities. The current share price correction to around EUR 50 pushes the 2027/28 P/E ratio down to an attractive 13.4. The stock has rarely been this cheap in the past 10 years.D-Wave Quantum: Initial deliveries attract considerable attention
The high-tech industry is in a crucial transition phase, as quantum systems move from pure research laboratories into physical, industrial practice. The establishment of local quantum hubs in Europe is also strengthening technological sovereignty in the global race for the computing power of the future. On the software side, new, platform-independent interfaces already enable the seamless integration of classical algorithms and quantum-based optimisation for industry. A valuable symbiosis is also emerging, in which artificial intelligence helps with error correction in sensitive quantum hardware, while the hardware in turn accelerates AI models. Canadian quantum pioneer D-Wave is attracting worldwide attention with the first physical deliveries of its latest-generation technology. Under the name VoltaB1, the company refers to its latest installation in Europe. It is an Advantage2 quantum computer that is now operating in Lombardy. The system was financed by Swiss Quantum Technology SA (SQT) and is intended to support the Italian Q-Alliance initiative. The initiative aims to build one of the world’s most powerful quantum hubs and an open, sustainable ecosystem in northern Italy. Under this agreement, SQT has secured half of the system’s capacity for 5 years and also holds an option to purchase it outright. The Advantage2 quantum computer has more than 4,400 qubits and is specifically designed for quantum and hybrid quantum applications. Customers can access the system located in Como through D-Wave’s “Leap quantum cloud service”. According to those responsible, this physical infrastructure marks a historic milestone, as European companies and research institutions previously had to rely on cloud servers in the US or elsewhere for this computing power. D-Wave’s move to install real systems on site shows the technology has moved from laboratories directly into commercial practice. 15 out of 18 analysts on the LSEG Refinitiv platform give it the thumbs up and expect, on average, a near-tripling from USD 11.8 to USD 34.5 over the next 12 months. Wow!Aqarios Quantum Technologies: Google makes quantum computing more practical
German-based start-up Aqarios Quantum Technologies has already secured initial partnerships with industry and is benefiting from technological leaps by tech giants. Google Quantum AI is generating excitement with its latest technological breakthrough. Its Willow processor demonstrated that the so-called “Magic State Cultivation” method can reduce existing errors in the generation of important quantum states by a factor of 40. The work, published in the scientific journal Science, addresses a bottleneck that has persisted for around two decades, as generating sufficiently precise “Magic States” can consume a large share of available computing capacity. If this resource requirement can be reduced further, more computing power could be available for real applications in the future, and the development of practical, fault-tolerant quantum computers could gain momentum. This development could decisively advance the commercialisation of quantum computing and also play into Aqarios Quantum’s hands. The Munich-based company does not develop quantum processors, but builds the important software that allows the new computing power to be harnessed for industrial applications. And this is the strategic starting point: the more powerful, reliable and cost-effective quantum computers become, the more attractive their integration into complex industrial optimisation processes becomes. At the most recent International Investment Forum (IIF), CEO Michael Lachner discussed future prospects.
Conclusion
Quantum computing is likely to make inroads into business operations considerably faster than the 15 to 20 years Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang still expected at the beginning of 2025. Surprised by the strong momentum, he fundamentally revised his stance as early as summer 2025, declaring that the sector had now reached an “inflection point” and that the technology was advancing much faster than anticipated. Progress at Google Quantum AI supports this thesis. For risk-tolerant investors, the quantum AI sector could soon open the next fundamental growth chapter beyond overheated tech stocks. Germany’s Aqarios Quantum Technologies is among the frontrunners and is valued at only a fraction of other industry players.Conflict of interest
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