Ahead of the upcoming NVIDIA GTC conference, edge AI and physical AI concept stocks rallied together today, with the STAR Market AI ETF (589520), which focuses on the domestic AI industry chain, seeing its underlying index rise as much as 5.14% before closing up 4.53%, strongly recovering its 5-day and 10-day moving averages and notching a third consecutive daily gain.
On the edge AI side, Bestechnic (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd. (ASX: 688608), a leader in smart audio and wearable SoCs, hit the 20% limit-up, while AIoT chip leader Espressif Systems surged over 16%. On the physical AI side, 3D vision sensor leader Orbbec-W climbed more than 15%, and machine vision hardware and software provider OPT Machine Vision rose over 13%, leading the gainers.
Why the rally happened
The surge is driven by the convergence of industry logic behind physical AI and edge AI, combined with earnings validation from domestic computing power leaders, as multiple industry data points and institutional views further confirm the growth potential of these sectors.
Physical AI takes center stage
NVIDIA's GTC conference will be held in Berlin, Germany from October 20-22 local time, with Jensen Huang delivering a keynote on October 21. The event focuses on accelerated computing, agentic AI, physical AI, and robotics. For the first time, the conference will feature "AI factories" as a core narrative, packaging training and inference clusters as deliverable computing infrastructure rather than selling GPUs individually. Guolian Minsheng Securities believes physical AI is poised to become a major direction for artificial intelligence development.
Edge AI gains momentum
According to Counterpoint, generative AI smartphone penetration is expected to reach 52% globally by 2027, with edge AI shifting from a premium selling point to a standard factory feature. Gartner data shows AI PC shipment share will jump from 15.6% in 2024 to approximately 54.7% in 2026, with AI PCs expected to become the norm by 2029. Guosheng Securities notes that edge AI is accelerating, and its maturation is expected to push the large model industry into a new phase of cloud-edge collaboration, forming a layered synergy where "the cloud sets the ceiling, industry sets the depth, and the edge sets the entry point." Hualong Securities points out that leaders like Hygon Information have reported strong earnings forecasts for the first three quarters of 2026, validating the prosperity of the computing power industry. With domestic substitution accelerating alongside favorable "AI+" policies, the firm favors investment opportunities in both AI computing power and AI applications, recommending attention to chip and server leaders with independent computing supply capabilities, as well as AI application leaders with industry know-how.
A gateway to domestic tech self-reliance
The STAR Market AI ETF (589520) and its feeder funds (Feeder A: 024560, Feeder C: 024561), which focus on the domestic AI industry chain, include 30 STAR Market-listed companies that provide foundational resources, technology, and application support for AI. Semiconductors account for 65% of the portfolio, AI applications make up 30%, and it also includes GPU concept stocks such as Hygon Information, VeriSilicon, Cambricon, Loongson Technology, and MetaX. With a 20% daily price limit, the ETF offers a low-threshold way to capture the breakout potential of the STAR Market. It is also a margin trading and securities lending target, making it an efficient tool for one-click exposure to domestic computing power.
Important information
Source: Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, as of October 20, 2026. Institutional views referenced from: Guosheng Securities report dated September 5, "Edge AI Terminal Catalysts Intensify, Industry Enters Accelerated Implementation Phase"; Guolian Minsheng Securities report dated June, "Physical AI: Data as Foundation, Models as Platform, Growth Poised to Accelerate"; Hualong Securities report dated October 19, "Domestic Computing Power Earnings Validate High Prosperity, Bullish on AI Agent Implementation." The fund manager assesses this fund's risk rating as R4-Medium-High Risk, suitable for aggressive (C4) and above investors. Suitability matching opinions should be based on the sales institution's assessment. ETF fee details: ETFs do not charge sales service fees; subscription and redemption agencies may charge commissions of no more than 0.5%, which includes fees collected by stock exchanges and registration institutions. On-exchange trading fees are subject to the actual charges of the securities company. Feeder fund fee rates are detailed in the fund legal documents. Risk warning: The STAR Market AI ETF passively tracks the SSE STAR Market AI Index, with a base date of December 30, 2022, published on July 25, 2024. Index constituent stocks are adjusted according to the index compilation rules, and historical backtest performance does not predict future index performance. Individual stocks and index constituents mentioned in this article are for demonstration purposes only. Individual stock descriptions do not constitute any form of investment advice and do not represent the holdings or trading activities of any fund managed by the manager. All information appearing in this article (including but not limited to individual stocks, comments, predictions, charts, indicators, theories, and any form of expression) is for reference only. Investors are responsible for their own investment decisions. Any views, analysis, and predictions in this article do not constitute investment advice of any kind to readers, nor does the article assume any responsibility for direct or indirect losses caused by the use of its content. Fund investment involves risks; past performance does not guarantee future results; the performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not constitute a guarantee of fund performance. Invest with caution. MACD golden cross signals have formed; these stocks are performing well!
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