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The A-share technology sector has experienced a robust rebound, driving trading activity to unprecedented levels and sparking concerns regarding market overcrowding. While the trading volume and market capitalization of large-cap technology stocks have both surpassed historical highs, a recent analysis by UBS Securities suggests the current concentration of institutional holdings remains significantly below previous peaks. As of the first quarter of 2026, the overweight allocation of public funds to the large-tech sector, encompassing electronics, communications, computers, and defense, stood at 9.9%. This figure represents a decline from the 11.6% recorded in the third quarter of 2025 and remains well below the historical peak of 14.1% observed in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Furthermore, this level is substantially lower than the consumer sector's historical highest overweight ratio of 18.7%. Data compiled by Woofun AI shows that the current cycle of technology-driven growth, initiated by policy shifts in September 2024, has persisted for less than two years, whereas historical patterns indicate it typically takes approximately three years for public fund overweight ratios to traverse from cyclical lows to peaks.
The fundamental backdrop for the market is strengthening, with A-share earnings recovery accelerating to provide robust support for the upward trajectory. UBS projects the overall earnings growth rate for A-shares to climb from 3.9% in 2025 to 11% in 2026. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, earnings for the non-financial sector surged 11.8% year-on-year, while both gross profit margins and net profit margins reached their highest levels since 2023. This fundamental improvement is underpinned by continuous capital inflows from diverse channels, an expanding scale of industry-themed ETFs, and a resurgence in private fund issuance, all of which significantly bolster micro-liquidity. The macroeconomic environment further supports this trend, with the Producer Price Index (PPI) rising 2.8% year-on-year in April and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increasing 1.2%. UBS analysis suggests that rising inflation will directly drive faster revenue growth given the high correlation between non-financial A-share revenue and nominal GDP trends.
Recent market dynamics have been heavily influenced by geopolitical developments, specifically the ceasefire between the United States and Iran on April 8, which catalyzed a marked improvement in risk appetite. Following this event, the Sci-Tech 50 Index and the GEM Index appreciated by 35.5% and 30.4% respectively, outperforming the Wind All-A Index by 11.0% and the CSI 300 Index by 9.8% over the same period. As of June 2, 2026, the weekly trading volume of the large-tech sector accounted for 45.5% of total A-share trading volume, while its market value represented 28.6% of the total market value, both metrics hitting historical highs. Despite these surface-level indicators of congestion, UBS argues that relying solely on trading activity and short-term price gains to judge overcrowding is insufficient. Woofun AI notes that the overweight ratio of public funds serves as a more precise metric for assessing institutional position concentration, revealing that current levels are not only below historical tech peaks but also lag significantly behind consumer sector concentrations seen in 2010 and 2012.
Historical analysis of five major style shifts in the A-share market since 2014 reveals that each transition typically spans about three years, driven by the natural limits of fund holding concentration and the inability of single-sector fundamentals to sustain excess returns indefinitely. As excess returns narrow, redemption pressures tend to emerge, affecting stock prices and triggering trend reversals.
However, specific sub-sector allocation signals warrant close attention. The overweight ratio for the electronics sector has reached 6.6%, surpassing the previous high of 5.4% recorded in the third quarter of 2020. Similarly, the communications sector has hit new highs since 2010 for three consecutive quarters, reaching an overweight ratio of 4.0%. These specific indicators suggest that while the broader sector may not be overcrowded, certain niches are approaching critical concentration levels that require monitoring.
Bottom-up data further corroborates the accelerating earnings trend across various industries. In the first four months of the year, profits for industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 18.2% year-on-year.
Notably, the computer, communications, and electronic equipment manufacturing industries saw profits surge by a staggering 107.7% year-on-year. The non-ferrous metal mining, mining, and coal washing industries also posted significant gains of 94.9%, 26.0%, and 21.0% respectively. Earnings expectations have been revised upward substantially, with the IT, raw materials, real estate, and energy industries seeing expected growth rates increased by more than 20 percentage points over the past six months. This revision pattern mirrors trends observed during previous earnings-upward cycles in 2017, 2019, and 2021.
Additionally, the expanding proportion of overseas business serves as a medium-term driver for profit margin expansion, with overseas revenue for non-financial A-shares rising from 9.5% in 2010 to 18.7% in 2025.
From a tactical asset allocation perspective, UBS maintains a baseline 'slow bull' scenario, favoring growth and cyclical styles while acknowledging the supportive role of ample liquidity for small-cap stocks. The firm expects the relative performance between small-cap and large-cap styles to become more balanced in the second half of 2026 compared to the previous year, aided by the expanding scale of industry-themed ETFs providing capital support to leading companies. Sector-specific recommendations include overweighting electronics, driven by semiconductor inventory recovery and AI innovation; communications, fueled by AI computing power demand and industrial internet adoption; and machinery, benefiting from domestic capital expenditure recovery and substitution trends. Non-ferrous metals are favored due to rising copper and aluminum prices alongside recovering lithium demand, while chemicals and electrical equipment are supported by anti-involution policies and growing electricity demand from AI data centers. Woofun AI analysis suggests that the continued implementation of supportive policies will further enhance industry profit margins in the medium term, reinforcing the bullish outlook for these targeted sectors.