24 Ships Attacked in Strait of Hormuz in Two Weeks; Shifting AI Trade Logic Sparks Cross-Market Chip Selloff

Middle East shipping risk and the global repricing of AI capital expenditure form the two main threads of this group of financial developments: the number of ships attacked in the Strait of Hormuz has risen to the highest since the war began, leaving the just-improving Gulf oil output facing uncertainty; at the same time, capital's attitude toward AI is shifting from chasing growth to questioning returns, chip stocks are seeing cross-market selling, while Nvidia, Apple and Micron are still pushing forward with investment, new products and long-term agreements.

24 Ships Attacked in Strait of Hormuz in Two Weeks, Gulf Output Recovery Under Pressure

Through October 11, 24 ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz in two weeks, and six ships were attacked on October 11 alone, the highest number since the war began. The direct consequence is that shipowners are hesitant to take on Gulf shipping business, and lower willingness to carry will transmit along the chain of 'transport—exports—production' to oil-producing countries, pushing up the risk premium. The other side of this thread is that Saudi Arabia's daily oil production in September reached its highest level since the Iran war broke out, and Gulf oil output rebounded in September. But Iran has recently increased attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, endangering this recovery—rising output and shipping risk appearing at the same time mean the improvement on the supply side lacks stability, and changes in freight rates and insurance premiums may reflect tension earlier than production data. ^[1][2]

Jensen Huang's Europe Trip: More Than $2 Billion in Investments Announced in a Week, Pushing Open Source

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is carrying out a high-density visit schedule in Europe. On Tuesday, October 13, he said at an event in Paris that he would announce more than $2 billion in European investment plans over the coming week, adding to the $8 billion Nvidia has already invested in the continent over the past year, as its strategic layout in Europe continues to deepen. He also announced a new round of financing for French startups Doctolib, Genesis AI, Pigment and Entalpic, and after Paris he will go to London and Berlin. The four investee companies cover healthcare, business software, chemical materials and robotics; among them, Genesis AI focuses on robotics AI, closely matching Huang's judgment that physical AI will become Nvidia's next huge market. Facing increasingly strong public skepticism in Europe, he explicitly opposed slowing AI development and pushed the open-source model path, arguing it is cheaper and more adaptable, can be customized for different languages and sovereignty needs, and can help Europe narrow the gap with advanced AI in the United States. Nvidia is an important partner of France's Mistral AI, and Mistral's latest released model runs on 4,000 Grace Blackwell chips. ^[3]

Cross-Market Chip Selloff: AI Trade Shifts from Chasing Growth to Questioning Returns

On Tuesday, October 13, the AI chip selloff spread from South Korea and Japan to the United States, and the global semiconductor sector fell sharply. South Korea's KOSPI closed down 5.5%, Japan's memory chip maker Kioxia fell more than 10%, and Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix closed down more than 7% and 10%, respectively. During US trading, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 3% at one point, Micron Technology fell more than 6% at one point, and SanDisk, Seagate Technology and Western Digital hit daily lows with losses of at least nearly 6%; the decline eased by midday, and at the close the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index was down about 0.2%, Micron about 3.6%, Western Digital about 1.6%, Seagate Technology 0.8%, and SanDisk about 0.3%. Reuters analysis pointed out that this selloff was not driven by a single factor: rising interest rates, increased volatility in the bond market, climbing AI financing costs, and whether huge capital expenditure can translate into actual returns are all coming under stricter scrutiny. Last week, Nvidia-backed data center operator Firmus shelved a planned $5 billion IPO in Australia; Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Technology disclosed progress in R&D on a 4F² DRAM architecture, further triggering market concerns about the competitive landscape in the memory industry. Market participants also reminded that ChangXin still has a gap to close before large-scale mass production and is not yet enough to pose an immediate major threat to South Korean manufacturers in advanced areas such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM). BlackRock's research division on Monday downgraded its US equity outlook to 'neutral', citing potential market volatility from AI infrastructure construction, and turned more positive on short-term US Treasuries; the IMF also warned on Tuesday that the impact of an AI market correction could spread globally. ^[4]

Apple Bets on Smart Home: $299 HomeView and a Full Accessory Lineup

On Tuesday, October 13, US Eastern Time, Apple launched its first smart home display, HomeView, while updating Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini, and teamed up with LG Electronics and Schneider Electric to launch the Apple Home Collection accessory series covering cameras, thermostats, smart doorbells and door locks. The $299 HomeView is the core new product, featuring a 7-inch square touchscreen, support for desktop placement and wall mounting, and the A18 chip; it can provide personalized interfaces for up to six family users through facial recognition, integrating Siri AI, calendar, music playback and smart home control into one device. The product opened for preorders the same day and will ship on November 13; because Siri AI is not yet available in iOS in the European Union, the product is temporarily not sold in the EU. The accessory series will ship gradually starting in December, priced at about $199 to $399. The hardware upgrades come with price increases: the new generation Apple TV 4K starts at $299, up from $199, and the second-generation HomePod mini rises to $149 from $129. Bloomberg pointed out that cost pressure from tight supply of memory chips and other components is one background factor. On the launch day, Apple shares rose more than 2% early in the session but narrowed gains to less than 0.1% at the close; analysts are generally optimistic about the growth space from expanding the home business, but believe the foldable iPhone Duo, which opens preorders this Friday, is the bigger growth opportunity. ^[5]

Micron's $3,000 Target Price: Can Long-Term Agreements End the 'Pig Cycle'?

Micron Technology has become one of the most surprising stars in the AI industry: its share price has risen from more than $200 to more than $1,000 this year, and Wall Street analyst Gil Luria gave an even bolder $3,000 target price. On the earnings side, Micron's fiscal 2026 revenue reached $133.19 billion, net profit about $84.97 billion, and comprehensive gross margin as high as 81%, compared with a loss of about $5.8 billion in fiscal 2023—moving from huge losses to astonishing profits in three years. The root of market disagreement is that the memory industry has long been dominated by the cobweb model of 'price rises—manufacturers expand capacity—prices fall'. As of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, Micron had signed 26 strategic customer agreements using a 'take-or-pay' structure, with most agreements setting upper and lower price limits; as of September 3, the company's remaining performance obligations were about $134 billion, and it had received about $13 billion in customer contract deposits, but these deposits are not revenue or profit. On capital allocation, Micron announced in October 2026 that it would raise its share repurchase authorization to $35.16 billion, while it actually spent only $650 million on stock repurchases in fiscal 2026. Under its valuation logic, assuming earnings per share of $150, a 7x P/E corresponds to $1,050, 12x to $1,800, and 20x to $3,000—the same profit can produce a valuation nearly two times apart depending on different market judgments about sustainability. ^[6]

Common Trend: The 'Certainty' on the Supply Side Is Being Repriced

Putting these threads together, markets and industrial capital are doing two things at the same time: pricing uncertainty and paying for certainty. On the energy side, Gulf output is recovering but the number of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz has hit a new high since the war began, making shipping willingness a key variable for supply stability; on the technology side, the cross-market chip selloff, Firmus shelving a $5 billion IPO, BlackRock downgrading its US equity outlook to 'neutral', and the IMF's warning about spillover from an AI correction all point to a renewed scrutiny of capital costs and investment returns. Industrial capital's response direction is also clear: Nvidia is expanding AI coverage with more than $2 billion in European investment and an open-source path, Apple is pushing Siri AI into home scenarios with HomeView and its accessory series, and Micron is trying to turn cyclical swings into predictable cash flow through long-term supply agreements and price ranges. Three lines are worth watching next: whether shipping risk continues to suppress Gulf exports and output recovery; how the memory competitive landscape and corporate financing costs affect valuations across the AI hardware supply chain; and how the rollout progress of Siri AI in the EU constrains the reach of Apple's smart home hardware. ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]}