Goldman Sachs Prime Brokerage's latest crowding data shows that hedge funds haven't significantly withdrawn from AI trading, but their positioning is becoming more cautious. The long crowding for the broad AI theme remains high at 0.75, and for AI data centers at 0.74. Meanwhile, short crowding for both is rising rapidly, with Broad AI rising from -0.05 to 0.19, reaching the 99th percentile in the past six months, and AI data centers rising from -0.22 to 0.01, reaching the 87th percentile.
This indicates that recent fund flows are more akin to "maintaining long positions while adding protection," rather than simply withdrawing from AI. Particularly in the semiconductor sector, short crowding has also risen to the 99th percentile in the past six months, while existing long positions have only slightly decreased, indicating that funds are increasing their hedging against valuation, profit realization, and the uncertainty of AI capital expenditure.
