Stocks

Investors Pivot to Hard Assets Amid AI Disruption Concerns

Analysts said capital is moving toward companies tied to physical assets and essential demand, such as energy and infrastructure.
Investors Pivot to Hard Assets Amid AI Disruption Concerns
Steel components at HCC, a company that uses parts to make combines, at a factory in Mendota, Ill., in this file photo. Vincent Alban/Reuters
Panos Mourdoukoutas
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Concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) could make traditional digital service models obsolete have accelerated a market rotation in 2026, with investors trimming exposure to enterprise software and other digital service firms and shifting into hard assets and low obsolescence stocks, including energy, materials, and industrial companies.

Some analysts say the shift reflects a broader market repricing that could reorder value across sectors and persist as structural economic challenges remain.

Panos Mourdoukoutas
Panos Mourdoukoutas
Author
Panos Mourdoukoutas is a professor of economics at Long Island University in New York City. He also teaches security analysis at Columbia University. He’s been published in professional journals and magazines, including Forbes, Investopedia, Barron's, IBT, and Journal of Financial Research. He’s also the author of many books, including “Business Strategy in a Semiglobal Economy” and “China's Challenge.”