The S&P 500 index has risen by 18.3% over the past six months, reaching 7,818.93 points by Tuesday's close. In contrast, the Goldman Sachs index that excludes AI-linked companies, known as SPXXAI, grew by only 6.7% to 3,123.24 points in the same period. This creates a performance gap of 11.6 percentage points between the two benchmarks.
Goldman Sachs introduced the ex-AI index in February to help clients hedge their exposure to artificial intelligence. At the time of its launch, the index excluded approximately 45% of the stocks within the S&P 500. Currently, the ex-AI index remains 6.4% below its 52-week high of 3,337.19, while the broader S&P 500 is only 0.3% below its own peak.
Recent market growth has been driven by chip manufacturers, with AMD, Marvell, Synopsys, and Cadence Design Systems each recording gains of 20% or more over roughly 20 trading days. Meanwhile, analysts suggest that power producers and nuclear energy companies could represent the next phase of AI-related investment, following a recent power supply agreement between Alphabet and Constellation Energy.
