<div id="readability-page-1"><div> <h2>Key Points</h2><ul><li>Geopolitics just made the supply chain more expensive and fragile, especially for critical inputs like helium, shifting pricing power to suppliers.</li><li>Industrial gas giants like Linde and domestic chip players like GlobalFoundries stand to benefit from a more localized, resilient supply chain.</li><li>10 stocks we like better than GlobalFoundries ›</li></ul>The ceasefire in Iran right now is fragile, the talks in Islamabad are uncertain, and Iran's parliament speaker is already signaling &#34;new cards on the battlefield.&#34; Yet none of that changes the core prediction: the AI (artificial intelligence) supercycle is intact and still unfolding.What is changing is the illusion that the supply chain feeding it is immune to geopolitical shock. That assumption died somewhere between the first Iranian strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan facility and the moment helium spot prices doubled. For investors paying attention, all these current events are a great buying opportunity.Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an &#34;Indispensable Monopoly&#34; providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NjEwMS9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0yMTUwODc4MTEyLmpwZyZ3PTcwMA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="700" height="393" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://g.foolcdn.com/image//query-dXJsPWh0dHBzOi8vZy5mb29sY2RuLmNvbS9lZGl0b3JpYWwvaW1hZ2VzLzg2NjEwMS9nZXR0eWltYWdlcy0yMTUwODc4MTEyLmpwZyZ3PTcwMA"/>Image source: Getty Images. <h2>Why the supercycle survives</h2>The AI trade held up with a resilience that surprised even its biggest bulls. Since hitting a low on March 30, the iShares Semiconductor ETF surged more than 30%. The Magnificent Seven posted double-digit gains despite ongoing conflict, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) said on itsearnings callthat it does not anticipate immediate operational disruption, citing prepared safety stock and government energy agreements. J.P. Morgan, in a March note, concluded that the Iran war represents &#34;a manageable risk, for now&#34; because semiconductor allocations for helium are being prioritized, and the industry has several months of inventory buffer. The deeper reason the supercycle persists is simpler: Demand for AI compute is no longer optional. Hyperscalers like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon have already committed hundreds of billions to data center build-outs that cannot be paused for a commodity shock. The war creates friction, not cancellation. It raises costs and compresses timelines at the margin, but the fundamental pull of generative AI adoption is stronger than any single supply disruption.What it does do is change who benefits. And that is where the investment story gets interesting.<h2>The new winners: Industrial gas and domestic foundry</h2>If helium is now a strategic asset rather than an afterthought, then the companies that produce, store, and distribute it have a different kind of pricing power than they did six months ago. Linde (NASDAQ: LIN), the world's largest industrial gas company, has emerged as the most prominent beneficiary. Linde holds significant helium storage capacity and a well-established supply network that gives it disproportionate leverage when supply is constrained, and buyers are desperate.Semiconductor manufacturing already accounts for roughly a quarter of global helium usage -- and that share was growing even before the war, alongside the AI chip build-out. Linde also has a $10 billion project backlog, with two-thirds tied to clean energy contracts, meaning the helium windfall is a cyclical bonus on top of a business with long-term structural growth. To me, Linde is one of the cleaner ways to express the thesis that the AI build-out will continue, but the supply chain around it is permanently more expensive. When chips cost more to make and helium is in short supply, Linde collects the difference.Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE: APD) is worth watching alongside it. Air Products is one of the few other companies with meaningful industrial helium distribution infrastructure and the scale to redirect supply when regional shortages create pricing premiums. It's less discussed than Linde in most Iran war coverage, which is sometimes the best sign.<h2>The reshoring trade has a new urgency</h2>The other structural winner of a permanently more complex global chip supply chain is domestic semiconductor manufacturing. GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ: GFS) spent 2025 laying the groundwork for what now looks prescient: a multibillion-dollar U.S. manufacturing expansion anchored at its Fab 8 campus in Malta, New York, and its Vermont facility, supported by CHIPS Act funding and backed by partnerships with major financial players. In February 2026, GlobalFoundries also announced a multibillion-dollar expanded strategic collaboration with Renesas, explicitly framed around &#34;secure, resilient supply chains&#34; and alignment with &#34;U.S. priorities to strengthen domestic semiconductor production for economic and national security.&#34; That language was written before Operation Epic Fury, but it reads like something written after it. A U.S. fab in upstate New York does not have a helium problem sourced from Qatari LNG. It does not have a shipping route problem in the Strait of Hormuz. In short, it does not have a seven-day liquified natural gas (LNG) reserve problem.These are decisive structural advantages that are impossible to ignore after Feb. 28, and are now visible to every supply chain manager in the tech industry.<h2>The Iran war will be felt for years</h2>Even if the ceasefire holds and negotiations in Islamabad produce something real, the Iran war has permanently altered how the technology industry thinks about supply chain concentration.A third of the world's helium supply came from one facility, in one country, with one shipping route to the world. That is not a vulnerability that disappears because a peace deal gets signed.The AI supercycle is intact. The supply chain that feeds it just got a permanent redesign. The investors who recognize that shift early -- before it fully appears in consensus estimates -- are the ones who will look back on this moment as the setup for the next leg of the trade.<h2>Should you buy stock in GlobalFoundries right now?</h2> Before you buy stock in GlobalFoundries, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and GlobalFoundries wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $498,522!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,276,807!* Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 983% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 200% for the S&amp;P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 26, 2026. Micah Zimmerman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, GlobalFoundries, Microsoft, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool recommends Linde. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc. </div></div>

The ongoing Iran war has made the supply chain for critical inputs like helium more expensive and fragile, benefiting industrial gas companies like Linde and domestic chip manufacturers such as GlobalFoundries. Despite geopolitical tensions, the AI supercycle remains intact, with strong demand for AI compute driving investments. Companies producing helium now hold greater pricing power, while reshoring efforts in semiconductor manufacturing gain urgency. Linde and Air Products are positioned to capitalize on these changes, as the industry adapts to a more complex supply chain landscape.

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Prediction: The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Supercycle Will Survive the Iran War. But the Supply Chain That Feeds It Just Changed Forever.