BUZZ-Arm shares more than triple since IPO

Shares of British chip designer Arm Holdings plchave more than tripled since their IPO, reaching fresh highs on Monday amid the frenzy around artificial intelligence (AI). The stock's recent surge has been fueled by strong forecasts on demand for its technology in designing chips for AI. However, the thin public float of shares can lead to big swings given SoftBank's majority ownership. The benchmark semiconductor index also reached a new record high on Monday, driven by the AI euphoria.

** Shares of British chip designer Arm Holdings plc (ARM.O) continue their recent dizzying ascent, skyrocket to fresh highs on Mon amid frenzy around artificial intelligence (AI)

** ARM leaps as much as 42.3% to $164 on the session vs Sept IPO price of $51

** Stock vaulted 48% on Thurs, fueled by strong forecasts on demand for its technology to design chips for AI

** But the thin public float of shares can make them prone to big swings given that SoftBank (9984.T) is an approx 90% shareholder

** Meanwhile, the benchmark semiconductor index (.SOX) rises 1.5%, reaches fresh record high on Mon

** This as chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O) up ~3% and briefly surpasses Amazon.com (AMZN.O) in market cap for first time since 2002 on AI euphoria

** Avg rating on ARM among 28 analysts is “buy” with median PT of $97.50, up from $65 a month ago, according to LSEG data

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)