Goldman Sachs Connects $210 Billion Financing in One Day! AI 'Capital Relay' Boosts Confidence, Semiconductor Bull Market Narrative Strengthened

According to Zhihui Finance APP, as Wall Street financial giant Goldman Sachs secured a $210 billion financing deal, the U.S. semiconductor sector extended its rebound from last Friday and the market began trading on the theme of a "fund relay" — as three crucial AI financing news items were unveiled, concerns among Wall Street institutional investors regarding an AI compute infrastructure financing crisis have significantly eased.

The intense sell-offs last week in both U.S. semiconductor and broad tech stocks stemmed from persistent questioning by market participants: "Who will shoulder the massive costs — potentially in the trillions — needed for AI compute infrastructure?" On Monday, these three developments partially addressed Wall Street's concerns: Meta's equity financing, SpaceX's large-scale leasing of AI compute resources, and Anthropic's IPO fundraising, with all indicators suggesting that AI capital expenditures are set to continue receiving robust market support.

Goldman Sachs is turning the enormous financing needs of the AI compute industry into multifaceted income growth opportunities in underwriting, deal structure design, and asset management. Of the three transactions announced on October 26, Goldman co-led Meta's approximately $95 billion stock financing plan, served as the sole structuring agent for SpaceX's roughly $40 billion chip financing, and secured the lead bookrunner position for Anthropic's Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Estimates based on proposed participation sizes suggest that related transactions total at least $210 billion, which may bring tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for old-guard Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs. The significance behind these moves is that Goldman can simultaneously connect issuers, public market investors, and private capital, thus continuously anchoring financing business throughout the AI compute infrastructure construction cycle—actively participating in Meta's equity issuance, SpaceX's chip financing, and Anthropic's IPO. These amounts reflect transaction size and expectations, not Goldman's revenue, nor does it mean all funds have already been received.

The three latest updates in the AI compute industry chain answer the follow-on path for construction period funds: Meta advances equity financing; SpaceX supports chip procurement through equipment financing leases (Finance Lease); and Anthropic moves forward with its IPO, collectively diversifying funding sources for this unprecedented AI investment frenzy. This prompts the market to reassess the possibility of financing pressures slowing procurement of AI compute resources and delaying major orders for AI chips and other core AI infrastructure hardware—a mechanism in which "fund relay" supports the rebound of semiconductors.

Additionally, as the launches of Meta Muse and OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra ignited a new wave in AI agent technology, "AI FOMO trading" (where investors rush to buy or cover previously reduced positions in fear of missing out on gains in AI-related assets) has returned with force. From a basic AI compute infrastructure perspective, Muse and Astra are poised to further expand the use of AI agents. Their massive new AI inference workloads will simultaneously increase demand for model inference, tool execution, and state management, further intensifying competitive pressure on some software companies. According to forecasts from JPMorgan’s strategists, capital expenditures by hyperscale cloud providers are expected to hit $950 billion in 2026, $1.4 trillion in 2027, and $3 trillion by 2030.

For the eye of the storm in AI trading and tech stock sell-offs — namely the recently battered memory chip sector — market optimism and bullish sentiment remain strong. KeyBanc’s recent Asia research shows AI data centers are still absorbing vast quantities of AI compute resources such as memory, driving price increases through 2027. Their forecast sees HBM hybrid prices potentially rising by 80%—100% in Q1 2027; DRAM prices are predicted to rise 15%—20% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2026 (from a strong Q3 base), with another 10%—15% increase expected in Q1 2027. For NAND, a 20% QoQ increase is predicted in Q4 2026 (again on a strong Q3 base), with another 10%—15% increase in Q1 2027.

From an AI inference system architecture standpoint, complex AI tasks led by Meta Muse often entail longer contexts, multi-round model calls, tool execution, and result validation: Prefill processes the input, Decode continuously generates the output, and KV (key-value) Cache consumes more memory as context and concurrency scale out, requiring coordinated upgrades in compute throughput, memory bandwidth, and capacity. Therefore, as cutting-edge agents like Meta Muse further explode demand for AI compute, the core logic is that GPU, TPU/AI ASIC chips handle model computation, high-performance data center CPUs manage tool execution and task orchestration, with HBM, server DRAM, storage, high-speed network infrastructure, and data center optical interconnects jointly supporting high-efficiency data transfer and state management. In the end, the industry needs a complete and ever-larger set of AI compute server clusters to deliver sustainable services.

The semiconductor sector appears to have begun trading the "fund relay" theme in its rebound

For the long-term bull market curve of U.S. equities, the semiconductor sector, with its significant market cap weighting, has evolved from Friday’s local stabilization to a broader corrective and rally narrative on Monday.

On October 23, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 0.44%, with Micron up 2.46%. On October 26, SOX climbed a further 2.82%, while the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 gained 0.83% and 1.09% respectively. Nvidia rose 2.39%, reflecting renewed bullish sentiment focused on the storage chip segment—the storm center of the AI compute theme. Storage chips led the semiconductor rebound, with SK Hynix ADR up over 4%, Micron up 2.98%, and SanDisk up 1.42%. Western Digital and Seagate, the world’s largest data center HDD vendors, rose 3.63% and 2.18% respectively. Many analysts cite Anthropic’s public IPO filing as a major sentiment booster. Nevertheless, SOX is down approximately 12.2% for October, so the present upturn primarily reflects a reassessment of the financing landscape for AI compute infrastructure and a repricing correcting prior excessive pessimism, as well as a market shift toward trading the "AI compute infrastructure fund relay" theme.

The key change in this round of AI compute infrastructure financing is that equity capital and equipment financing are coming together to support AI investments, thereby reducing the construction cycle’s dependence on corporate bonds alone.

Specifically, Meta (parent of Facebook and Instagram) has launched about $35 billion in underwritten offerings and plans an additional $60 billion at-the-market (ATM) equity issuance; SpaceX received about $40 billion in GPU financing lease commitments, which are expected to be settled by the end of 2026 and commence leasing with equipment delivery in early 2027. Anthropic has yet to determine its IPO size and pricing. Thus, if new equity capital is raised successfully, it will improve model companies’ ability to pay for compute; equipment financing helps operators spread early procurement costs, boosting the likelihood of order realization for chip vendors.

This wave of fund relay is happening amid persistent pressure in the credit market, acting as a super "booster shot" for equity and bond markets. At the epicenter of “AI compute sell-off storm” and “AI bubble bursting” narratives, CoreWeave (CRWV.US) saw its five-year credit default swap (CDS) at around 1,148 basis points as of the morning of October 26. Assuming a 40% recovery rate, this implies a roughly 62% cumulative five-year default probability — though this figure reflects market risk premium rather than an actual bankruptcy forecast. Media reported on October 22 that its 2031 bond yields about 15.76%. Softbank's five-year CDS hit 432 basis points on October 20, with its longest tenured U.S. dollar bond (issued in September) carrying a staggering 9.75% coupon—the highest in the company's history and among the largest ever for high-yield debt.

Even high-grade tech giants' credit yields are being repriced: on October 5, secondary market quotes put Microsoft’s 2060 bond, Alphabet’s 2075 bond, and Meta’s 2064 bond at about 6.36%, 6.84%, and 7.48%, respectively. These rates reflect the surge in benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields, along with global credit yield spikes and liquidity risk premiums—it does not represent the actual interest paid on the companies’ entire debt portfolios.

Stock performance also shows capital selective behavior. From October 19 to 23, Meta, Alphabet A shares, and Microsoft fell by about 9.40%, 5.98%, and 0.86% respectively; Nvidia dropped 1.48%, SOX fell 3.21%; through October 26, media reported CoreWeave was down over 30% for the month. Accordingly, Nvidia and SOX outperformed Meta and Alphabet that week, but Microsoft proved even more resilient, down just 0.86%, less than Nvidia. This highlights the stark divergence in the performance of popular AI-linked assets.

Goldman’s ability to pull off large deals indicates capital markets are still willing to fund select AI ventures, but financing ability is increasingly tied to client quality, asset backing, and cash flow foundations. For semiconductors, the most direct benefit is customers’ procurement budgets getting financial backing; for AI financing companies tied to compute infrastructure, investors will continue to evaluate whether incremental capital can deliver sufficient returns.

From the AI compute industry chain investment perspective, the recent SOX rally reflects the resonance of order confirmation, buyback support, and risk appetite recovery, also echoing surging revenue from Meta’s and SpaceX’s AI applications and continued AI compute investment, along with the positive industry backdrop for memory pricing highlighted by KeyBanc and TrendForce. Weak valuations for global semiconductor and broad tech stocks do not necessarily signal concurrent declines in AI demand; the leaders of the AI compute chain with robust fundamentals—such as Nvidia, the "superpower" of AI chips—are seeing the market re-evaluate their intrinsic value.

Nvidia, with a market value of approximately $5.2 trillion, remains a key bellwether for bulls and bears alike on Wall Street. Citi maintained its “Buy” rating and $315 target price after the October 22 GTC Berlin conference, citing the primary constraints on AI expansion as manufacturing and deployment speed. Morgan Stanley reinstated Nvidia as its "Top Pick" among semiconductors on October 2, with an "Overweight" rating and $300 target. Bank of America’s August report similarly listed Nvidia as its top pick with a $350 target price, while Jefferies reaffirmed "Buy" and $300 target in late August. These outlooks are premised on factors such as scaling up Rubin and Vera CPUs, broadening customer base, and Nvidia's ability to deliver ever-greater compute per watt and system value.

At Nvidia's closing price of $212.21 on October 22, $300, $315, and $350 represent potential upside of roughly 41.4%, 48.4%, and 64.9%, respectively. Based on around 24.1 billion shares outstanding, this would imply market caps of $7.23 trillion, $7.59 trillion, and $8.44 trillion. These targets reflect projections for future profit expansion, with realization paths centered around delivery of next-generation AI compute cluster super-platforms, customer compute launches, and sustained purchasing activity.

Unprecedented AI Financing Frenzy Drives Goldman to Participate in At Least $210 Billion of Deals in a Single Day

It's reported that during U.S. trading hours on Monday morning, all three blockbuster artificial intelligence deals featured a common name: Goldman Sachs.

The Wall Street bank co-headed Meta Platforms' $95 billion stock offering, was the sole structuring agent for a $40 billion SpaceX chip financing deal, and was appointed lead bookrunner for Anthropic’s major IPO—the size of which is expected to at least match SpaceX’s June public offering.

These deals—totaling at least $210 billion—will yield substantial earnings for Goldman, likely netting tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in associated fees.

Goldman's key role in the Anthropic IPO surprised some observers, as Morgan Stanley had previously led efforts to expand the AI company’s revolving credit facility. According to sources, Goldman’s relationship with Anthropic is managed by San Francisco-based bankers Nick Giovanni and Min Zheng, the latter also being a major banker for Nvidia.

A Goldman spokesperson declined to comment.

Wall Street has been aggressively vying to provide financing for the AI boom, including rapidly growing chip and data center needs as supporting infrastructure. Yet the deluge of debt and equity capital pouring into the sector, combined with the cash burn rate of cutting-edge AI labs, has fueled concerns about the sustainability of such financing flows.

These intensifying concerns are reflected in the bond and stock performance of companies like CoreWeave. Several new cloud firms' shares have tumbled in the past month. These companies provide computing power to enterprises developing and operating artificial intelligence models.

Though Wall Street banks have yet to specify exactly how much fee income they're generating directly from the AI boom, soaring capital demand has driven their investment banking business higher. In the first nine months of this year, the five largest firms collectively raked in about $19 billion in underwriting fees—equity capital markets revenue grew 48%, while debt underwriting income rose 13%.

Goldman has been proactively pursuing opportunities in this space, including serving as the sole bank in a recent collaboration. That deal, announced in August, pledged $500 billion in financing for Nvidia client chip transactions.

In the SpaceX deal announced Monday, Elon Musk’s company will acquire Nvidia chips via a leasing arrangement with Apollo Global Management. Goldman acted as structuring agent, with its asset management arm pledging fund capital. Another source said this transaction is separate from the Nvidia partnership and originated after SpaceX reached out to Goldman several months ago. The source requested anonymity due to the non-public nature of these discussions.

In June, Goldman led SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO as lead bookrunner, earning $100 million in fees. This achievement was built on years of client relationships cultivated by veteran bankers Dan Dees, Kim Posnett, David Ludwig, and Susie Scher.

Media reports earlier this month revealed that Goldman also earned several hundred million dollars more through performance fees tied to early investments for high-net-worth clients.

Goldman also advised Alphabet, the parent of Google, on its over $80 billion stock issuance—one of the largest equity financings ever. Key bankers Posnett and Yasmin Kuperholz, who worked on that deal, also drove the newly announced Meta transaction.

Last year, Goldman established its Capital Solutions division, led by Pete Lyon and Mahesh Saireddy, to coordinate the firm’s asset management, investment banking, and trading divisions on large-scale financing structures for corporate clients.

“We believe we are at the very center of this investment supercycle,” Goldman President John Waldron said in May this year.

Anthropic's Operational Improvement Meets Historic Memory Chip Undervaluation: Two Key Supports for Semiconductor Recovery

Anthropic’s IPO filing provides more telling operational metrics than its “$80.7 billion net loss” headline: H1 revenues were $16.286 billion, with operating loss narrowing to $693 million; of the $8.0748 billion net loss, $7.2388 billion was due to fair value changes in convertible notes and other financing tools. Thus, the enormous net loss does not equate to cash burn. Over the same period, compute and infrastructure expenditures were $894.5 million—about 55% of revenue—falling further to around 48% in Q2, suggesting revenue is expanding faster than this primary cost item.

Anthropic boasts over 1,900 clients each contributing at least $1 million in annual revenue, with about 900% net revenue retention—indicating rapid expansion in enterprise usage; the latter figure means the same cohort accounted for roughly ninefold revenue growth, not that every customer spent nine times as much individually.

It’s the combination of operational improvement and equity financing that forms the core mechanism by which IPOs support the compute industry chain. Anthropic has disclosed about $1.612 billion in Broadcom equipment leases, up to $1.205 billion in Nvidia compute (via SpaceX AI), and $446 million for Nscale services—each with different terms and contracts. If new IPO funds are raised, they’ll enhance Anthropic’s ability to meet future payment arrangements, thus supporting the full range of AI compute demand: GPU/TPU/ASIC accelerators, memory/storage chips, network infrastructure, data center optical interconnects, CPUs, and cutting-edge 2.5D/3D packaging and testing. Meanwhile, the final IPO valuation will still reflect long-term compute obligations, security responsibilities, and governance arrangements. The public filing only means the fundraising window is being tested—it is not yet complete.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s memory giants—SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics—provide another bullish basis: their stocks now price in a scenario far more pessimistic than current profit forecasts warrant.

Goldman recently lowered its 12-month target for the KOSPI index, the Korean stock benchmark, from 12,000 to 9,000 points, using more conservative valuation assumptions, and noting that current semiconductor valuations in Korea imply a 65% plunge in profits by 2027—widely deemed overly pessimistic. At around 4x forward P/E for KOSPI, with ex-memory sectors at roughly 7.6x, this reflects a heavy discount on earnings sustainability. Even with the target cut to 9,000, the October 26 close of 5,469.47 implies about 64.5% potential upside. Should AI procurement persist and profits not collapse as priced in, there is a fundamental basis for valuation recovery.

Funding behavior is setting the conditions for this recovery. Goldman’s tracking data shows that, over the past two weeks, tech stocks saw $20 billion in net selling, with Nasdaq 100 volatility premium versus S&P 500 rising to its 98th percentile in the past five years—evidence of highly concentrated defensive positioning. On the other hand, from October 1-23, Korean retail investors net bought about KRW 315.4 billion (about $244 million) in leveraged products targeting Samsung and SK Hynix; from October 1-22, Koreans bought about $3.548 billion of SOXL (the 3x leveraged long ETF on SOX, ticker "SOXL"), commanding about 73.9% of their net U.S. stock purchases over the period. These flows show rebound expectations are building, though the leverage involved means volatility could remain intense.

The most convincing combination for a semiconductor rally—perhaps even a new super bull market—would be positive implementation of AI infrastructure financing, accelerating application revenue growth, and realization of supplier profits. Goldman's financing role, Anthropic’s operational turnaround, and Korea’s memory sector undervaluation provide support on three fronts: capital supply, end-user monetization, and asset pricing. If tech giants’ earnings further confirm order conversion and improved cash flow, the market will have grounds to scale back bets on an abrupt halt to compute procurement, allowing the rebound to extend from mere position recovery to a fundamentally driven revaluation.