May 18: Last Week's Thematic Reads
If you missed out on this week's signals, we've got you covered
Aging Population, Artificial Intelligence
From listening devices that detect falls to “patient sitter” systems in hospitals and robots helping with exercise in care homes, Singapore is looking to artificial intelligence to help manage the health of its elderly population. By 2030, a quarter of Singaporeans will be 65 or older — in 2010, the figure was one in 10 — and it’s estimated that around 6,000 nurses and care staff will need to be hired annually to meet Singapore’s health workforce targets. Read more here
Healthcare centers across the globe are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence solutions, propelling the AI healthcare industry to unprecedented levels. New market reports indicate the industry worth $14.92 billion in 2024 is set to boom to $110.61 billion by 2030 at a mind-boggling annual growth rate of 38.6%. Read more here
Artificial Intelligence
… more than 1 in 3 (38%) U.S. chief financial officers (CFOs) at large enterprises are actively using artificial intelligence (AI) in their accounts payable (AP) programs. An additional 43% are interested in integrating AI across AP but have not yet done so. Read more here
Today's shoppers expect brands to understand their preferences and provide tailored experiences. Generative AI is helping retailers meet this demand by analyzing purchasing behavior, browsing history, and even social media interactions to create dynamic, accurate customer profiles. Such data supports retail success, with a McKinsey report highlighting that effective personalization can increase sales by 10%–15% and improve customer satisfaction by 20%. Read more here
Enterprise AI in 2025 is moving from experimentation to implementation and deployments are evolving from AI assistants to AI agents. That’s the primary theme of the IBM Think 2025 conference, which gets underway today. At the event, IBM is announcing an extensive list of new enterprise AI services as well as enhancements to existing technologies to help move more enterprise AI efforts into real-world deployment. Read more here
Cash-Strapped Consumer
Today’s pay later market is characterized by changing consumer preferences for predictability in managing spending and borrowing, driving the rise of alternative credit providers with innovative underwriting and lending models. These providers have demonstrated the value consumers place on certainty regarding loan payoff over a specific period. Read more here
Consumers in the United States, warily eyeing the impact of the President Donald Trump administration’s global trade war, are increasingly worried about higher prices on everything from Mexican avocados to China-made iPhones. Shoppers expect the average cost of all goods, whether imported or made in America, and services to spike nearly 7% over the next 12 months… read more here
According to a report published by GlobalData on May 9, 56% of U.S. consumers say they are “extremely” or “quite concerned” about the impact of trade wars and import tariffs on product pricing, and three-quarters expect tariffs to drive up prices. Read more here
Cybersecurity
Marks and Spencer (M&S) confirms that customer data was stolen in a cyberattack last month, when ransomware was used to encrypt servers. The attack occurred on April 22, 2025, significantly impacting business operations on the retailer's 1,400 stores, forcing it to stop accepting online orders. Read more here
Fake AI-powered video generation tools are being used to distribute a new information-stealing malware family called 'Noodlophile,' under the guise of generated media content. The websites use enticing names like the "Dream Machine" and are advertised on high-visibility groups on Facebook, posing as advanced AI tools that generate videos based on uploaded user files. Read more here
A cybersecurity incident on Nucor Corporation's systems, the largest steel producer in the U.S., forced the company to take offline parts of its networks and implement containment measures. The incident caused the company to temporarily suspend production at multiple locations, although the full impact on Nucor’s business remains unclear. Read more here
Generative AI (Gen AI) has transformed multiple industries by boosting creativity, efficiency, and innovation. However, cybercriminals are leveraging this technology to automate malware development, enhance attack tactics, and evade security defenses. Recognizing these risks is essential for businesses and security professionals to strengthen their cybersecurity measures. Read more here
Digital Infrastructure
Humain, an AI-focused subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), is partnering with Nvidia to build up to 500MW of data centers in the Gulf country. The announcement comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where he was accompanied by various tech leaders including Jensen Huang, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman… Nvidia will first deliver 18,000 GB300 chips for a single supercomputer, with “several hundred thousand” more superchips in the pipeline over the next five years. The GB300 combines the Grace Arm CPU with the B300 GPU. Read more here
Humain, the newly announced AI venture from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, is partnering with Amazon Web Services. The two companies will invest some $5 billion to build an 'AI Zone' in the Kingdom, which is separate to the cloud provider's existing $5.3bn region set to come online next year. Read more here
Qualcomm has signed a memorandum of understanding with Humain to develop AI data centers, hybrid AI across Edge and cloud, and AI chips. The MoU would cover facilities in Saudi Arabia and around the world. Humain was launched this week by the Sovereign Wealth Fund as a national AI venture - and has announced partnerships with Nvidia, AMD, Groq, AWS, and Cisco. Read more here
CoreWeave posted a fivefold jump in revenue in its first earnings report as a public company, fueled by what Chief Executive Mike Intrator called accelerating customer demand. The cloud provider plans to pull forward certain investments in order to continue meeting this demand, Intrator added, warning that these higher costs are expected to have a near-term effect on margins. Read more here
Cisco Systems Inc. experienced another quarter of growing demand for its networking products amid the artificial-intelligence boom… Cisco said its AI-infrastructure orders from webscale customers topped $600 million during the quarter, “surpassing our $1 billion target one quarter early.” The company’s product orders were up 20% from the previous year — or up 9% when excluding Splunk — and Cisco said it saw growth across all of its markets. Product revenue was up 15% year over year, while services revenue climbed 3%. Read more here
Digital Lifestyle
Consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are mobile shopping leaders. They rank first in mobile shopping among the eight countries surveyed in PYMNTS Intelligence’s latest research: Just over 2 in 3 made their most recent retail purchase using a mobile device. What’s more, the typical UAE consumer window shops from their mobile device 17 days per month, well above the global average. Read more here
Fox Corp. intends to launch a new stand-alone subscription streaming service under the Fox One moniker before the start of the next NFL season, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said during a call with investors Monday. Read more here
ESPN’s highly anticipated streaming service will cost $29.99 a month and be named “ESPN.” The new service, set to launch this fall, will give sports fans all the content shown on ESPN’s television channels, including professional and college football and basketball games. Read more here
Over a billion RCS messages are sent on a daily basis in the United States, Google said today. RCS, or Rich Communication Services, is a communication protocol that replaced the prior SMS and MMS messaging standards. Read more here
Energy Pain Point
The AI race is without a doubt centered on the United States and China, who host 45 percent and 25 percent of world data center capacity, respectively. They also host the leading AI labs, including firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek. Still, the policy challenge of the AI-driven data center and electricity demand boom is global. The International Energy Agency (IEA) puts global data center electricity consumption at 415 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity—roughly 1.5 percent of global electricity demand—which is anticipated to nearly triple by 2035 to 1,200 TWh. Read more here
New nuclear power capacity could meet about 10% of the projected increase in data center electricity demand by 2035… Deloitte expects data centers to consume about 30%, or 11 GW to 19 GW, of the estimated 35 GW to 65 GW of new nuclear capacity added over the next decade through a combination of power uprates at operational plants, restarts of recently-retired reactors, and new reactor deployments at greenfield and existing power plant sites. Read more here
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), powering AI systems requires huge amounts of electricity, mainly through data centers that train and run AI models. These centers are starting to consume as much power as some of the world’s most energy-hungry industries. In 2024, data centers used about 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally. That’s around 1.5% of the world’s total electricity consumption. The U.S. led the pack, consuming 45% of that energy, followed by China at 25%, and Europe at 15%. Read more here
Luxury Buying Boom
Burberry, the brand best known for its iconic checkered pattern and fashionable trench coat, announced Wednesday that it may cut around 1,700 jobs worldwide in a major cost-reducing effort. The news comes as British luxury brand reported a staggering 117% drop in annual profits, or around $87.8M (£66m), over the last financial year. Read more here
Sales of luxury goods worldwide are likely to fall between 2% and 5% this year, consultancy Bain & Co forecast on Wednesday, sharply downgrading its previous estimate for 0-4% growth and signalling further gloom for the sector after 2024’s 1% drop… It cited economic pressures and price fatigue over the first three months of the year, and noted shoppers were waiting for new, more creative products from brands. Bain’s previous forecast for flat sales to 4% growth was issued in November. Read more here
Safety & Security
Defense spending by European Union member states is set to increase significantly in the next two years. The shift will have a positive — but limited — impact on GDP growth, Goldman Sachs Research economists Niklas Garnadt and Filippo Taddei write in a report. The team’s baseline assumption is that the EU will gradually increase its annual defense spending by around €80 billion ($84 billion) by 2027 — equivalent to roughly 0.5% of GDP, according to the report dated February 27. Defense expenditures in the euro area accounted for 1.8% of GDP in 2024 and Goldman Sachs Research expects them to rise to 2.4% by 2027. Read more here
Germany-based Helsing has launched an underwater drone surveillance network powered by artificial intelligence for the detection of enemy submarines and ships out at sea for months at a time. Read more here
… Central to this effort was the creation of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), an organization established to oversee AI adoption within the DoD, in addition to aligning AI adoption with broader defense strategy, and DoD investments in AI research, development, testing, and evaluation (RDT&E). This push for AI innovation aligns with the DoD’s 2024 strategy, which prioritizes advanced AI capabilities to ensure that U.S. forces maintain decision superiority on the battlefield. As AI becomes integrated in militaries across the world, the Pentagon is overseeing more than 685 AI-related projects, several of which are tied to major weapons systems. Read more here
The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models
Aging of the Population - Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings with it.
Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.
Cash Strapped Consumers - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
CHIPs Act – Capturing the reshoring of the US semiconductor industry and the $52.7 billion poised to be spent on semiconductor manufacturing.
Cloud Computing – Companies that provide hardware and services that enhance the cloud computing experience for users, such as co-location, security, and edge computing.
Core Holdings – Companies that reflect economic activity and are large enough to not get pushed around by day-to-day market trends. Low-beta, large-cap names able to better withstand economic turmoil.
Cybersecurity - Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption, or destruction of data.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity - Companies that are integral to the development and the buildout of the infrastructure that supports our increasingly connected world.
Digital Lifestyle - The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
EPS Diplomats - Profitable large capitalization companies proven to produce above-average EPS growth and provide investors with the benefit of multiple expansion.
EV Transition - Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.
Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.
Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.
Market Hedge Model – This basket of daily reset swap-based broad market inverse ETFs protects in the face of market pullbacks, overbought market technicals, and other drivers of market volatility.
Nuclear Energy & Uranium – Companies that either build and maintain nuclear power plants or are involved in the production of uranium.
Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
Rebuilding America - Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.
Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.
Space Economy – Companies that focus on the launch and operation of satellite networks.
The Strategies Behind Our Dividend Income Models
Monthly Dividend Model – Pretty much what the name indicates – this model invests in companies that pay monthly dividends to shareholders.
ETF Dividend Model – High-yielding ETFs that provide a range of exposures from domestic equities, international equities, emerging market equities, MLPS, and REITs.
ETF Enhanced Dividend Model – A group of high-yielding ETFs that utilize options to enhance yield through collecting option income.
Don’t be a stranger
Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion for an article or book we should read, or a stream we should catch, email us at info@tematicaresearch.com. The same email works if you want to know more about our thematic and targeted exposure models listed above.