Investor Sentiment Turning Cautious
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Our Equity Top Pick List
We have updated our Equity Top Pick List to reflect the events of the past quarter. The list includes those stocks, typically US and European ones, that we consider to be proper investment choices from a fundamental point of view. It can provide a starting point for building a sector-diversified equity exposure in portfolios, but can also be used as a watch list. Technical analysis should be used to time / determine the specific investment decision.
Could the momentum return in the semiconductors?
The semiconductor sector has had a challenging quarter, with its performance in recent months lagging behind improvements in underlying fundamentals, even as AI-driven demand remained exceptionally strong. The accelerating adoption of AI by enterprises and the proliferation of AI agents are significantly increasing the demand for computing capacity, which points to a further surge in cloud services and data center investments. Given current supply constraints, record-high backlogs, and higher-than-expected investment needs, we expect further upward revisions to earnings forecasts in the semiconductor industry. Nevertheless, the sector’s valuation appears favorable from a historical perspective, which, in our view, could result in a more attractive risk-return profile in the coming months.
Over 30 senior financial professionals, active in CEE markets and managing more than EUR 6.5 billion in assets under direct control, participated in our Institutional Investor Survey. Here, we highlight the most notable insights.
Investor positioning turns meaningfully more cautious across asset classes. Risk appetite has dropped sharply: the share of investors taking above-benchmark risk fell from 33% to 20%, while low-risk allocations doubled to 30%, pointing to a clear shift toward capital preservation amid geopolitical escalation.
CEE equity sentiment cools with BUX and CETOP both face a regional risk repricing. BUX optimism collapsed (bullish: 42% › 23%), while CETOP also re-rated lower as its prior valuation discount normalized back to pre-war levels. Rising geopolitical uncertainty — including declining expectations for a near-term Russia–Ukraine peace — is driving a more measured regional outlook.
FX visibility collapses, while HUF becomes both top potential outperformer and underperformer. EUR/HUF’s return to 390–395 and higher oil-driven vulnerability increased dispersion dramatically. HUF and PLN are now tied as expected outperformers (both 30%), but HUF is simultaneously viewed as the most likely underperformer — signaling exceptionally high uncertainty and volatility expectations.
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