Alpha Coverage #133
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[News] Archer Aviation selected by Korean Air to deploy Midnight eVTOL in Korea
Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) and Korean Air have signed an agreement in which the airline will purchase up to 100 of Archer’s (NYSE:ACHR) Midnight electric vehicle takeoff and landing ((eVTOL)) aircraft to be used for both government and commercial uses.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
[News] NASA to open up Artemis 3 moon mission contract to others as SpaceX falls behind
The United States is opening up the contract for the Artemis 3 lunar mission to other companies after NASA administrator Sean Duffy said that Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPACE) was behind schedule.
“I’m in the process of opening that contract up. I think we’ll see companies like Blue (NASDAQ:AMZN) get involved, and maybe others,” Duffy said Monday in an interview with Fox News. “We’re going to have a space race in regard to American companies competing to see who can actually get us back to the moon first.”
NASA’s Artemis missions aim to return astronauts to the moon for scientific discovery and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. Through these missions, the U.S. is also racing against China, which is planning for a moon landing by 2030.
Duffy said the U.S. could lag behind rival China, as SpaceX was not on schedule, and that President Trump wants to see the mission successfully executed before his second presidency ends in January 2029.
“They’re behind schedule, and so the president wants to make sure we beat the Chinese,” Duffy told Fox.
The Artemis 3 mission will send the humans to explore the region near the lunar South Pole. The mission has been planned for 2027 with SpaceX’s Starship.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
[News] Amazon’s robot army may be even bigger than anticipated
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is considering plans to boost its robot automation to the point that it can replace 600,000 jobs it would have otherwise had to hire for before 2033, according to the New York Times.
Internal documents seen by the New York Times indicate that Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) robotics team is working towards automating 75% of the company’s entire operations and expects to remove 160,000 U.S. roles that would otherwise be needed by 2027. The estimated savings would be about 30 cents on every item that Amazon warehouses and delivers to customers, meaning tens of billions could be saved before 2030 if the e-commerce giant leans into automation.
Earlier this year, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) deployed its one millionth robot to a fulfillment center in Japan, close to the number of humans working at its facilities, as the e-commerce giant continues to expand the world’s largest fleet of industrial mobile robots. Around 75% of the company’s global deliveries are now assisted in some way by robotics, and its fleet spans more than 300 facilities worldwide.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
GLD 0.00%↑ SLV 0.00%↑ KGC 0.00%↑ AEM 0.00%↑
[News] Gold and silver suffer historic one-day drop but most analysts say long-term uptrend remains
Gold and silver futures plummeted by the most in many years on Tuesday, in a selloff that some analysts said was a function of profit-taking but may not mark an end to a rally that has lifted prices to all-time highs.
Gold touched a fresh record high on Monday while silver climbed to its second-highest level ever before both metals retreated Tuesday.
Gold prices could withstand a 10% correction to ~$3,973/oz without affecting the long-term bullish narrative, Saxo Bank’s Ole Hansen said in a social media post.
“We don’t believe this marks the beginning of a serious correction,” Spartan Capital’s Peter Cardillo said. “Instead, we view today’s decline as a healthy pullback.”
Gold’s surge last week was driven partly by concerns over credit quality in the U.S. economy, which analysts said helped holdings of physically backed gold ETFs recording a massive fund inflow of $8 billion last week, the biggest weekly inflow in data going back to 2018, according to data from the World Gold Council.
“When you’ve got that much money quickly coming into the space, it’s only natural to expect some of that money to leave as well when people have made a quick return,” BMO Capital’s Helen Amos said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
[News] Alphabet CEO says quantum chip has achieved ‘first-ever verifiable quantum advantage’
“Willow ran the algorithm — which we’ve named Quantum Echoes — 13,000x faster than the best classical algorithm on one of the world’s fastest supercomputers,” Pichai said in a post on X.
“This new algorithm can explain interactions between atoms in a molecule using nuclear magnetic resonance, paving a path towards potential future uses in drug discovery and materials science. And the result is verifiable, meaning its outcome can be repeated by other quantum computers or confirmed by experiments. This breakthrough is a significant step toward the first real-world application of quantum computing, and we’re excited to see where it leads.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
[News] Wall Street ended higher as Trump–Xi meeting was confirmed
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping will meet next Thursday.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
GOOG 0.00%↑ GOOGL 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[News] Anthropic confirms expanded deal with Google for cloud, chip use
The newly expanded deal will see Anthropic use more of Google’s cloud computing services, including its tensor processing unit processors.
As part of the deal, Anthropic said it plans to use up to 1M TPUs and “dramatically” increase its compute resources. Anthropic said the expansion of the deal was worth “tens of billions of dollars” and is expected to bring well over a gigawatt of capacity online in 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
JPM 0.00%↑ WFC 0.00%↑ BAC 0.00%↑
[News] Zelle plans to enable international money transfers using stablecoins
Bank-owned digital payment network Zelle is planning to expand beyond U.S. borders, using stablecoins to power faster cross-border transfers, Early Warning Services LLC, the parent company of Zelle, said in a statement Friday.
The new offering will be made available to every Zelle bank, comprising the likes of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Bank of America (BAC).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads:
GOOG 0.00%↑ GOOGL 0.00%↑ #OpenAI #Anthropic
OpenAI ‘dominating’ consumer AI token consumption, Anthropic wins enterprise: Barclays
At OpenAI’s recent developer day, the company announced that its API platform was processing 6B tokens each minute, up 20 times over the past two years. The company also said that ChatGPT had surpassed 800M weekly active users.
In comparison, Google said recently it was processing 1.3 quadrillion tokens each month across all of its services, including AI Overviews, Gemini, and the API platform on Google Cloud.
“In piecing together these datapoints, we estimate that while OpenAI is dominating consumer AI token consumption (2x+ the size of Google Gemini), Google processes the most tokens out of the AI labs by a wide margin,” Barclays analyst Ross Sandler wrote in a note to clients. “The lead in aggregate inference tokens is likely from the 2B+ search users generating AI Overviews (2B users disclosed on the 2Q25 call and estimated to be closer to 2.5B users currently), accounting for 900T (~70%) of the 1.3Q monthly tokens. The market share of native consumer AI applications likely tips much more towards OpenAI.”
While the competition for consumer-generated tokens appears is being led by OpenAI, that’s not the case in the enterprise. Anthropic (ANTHRO) is leading by a wide margin.
Anthropic has “nearly” double the revenue share when compared to OpenAI, as evidenced by recent reporting. The company is on pace to reach an internal goal of a $9B annualized revenue run rate by the end of 2025, and could generate as much as $20B in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 18, 2025
Apple’s iPhone 17 spurs strongest sales growth since pandemic: FT
Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) redesigned iPhone 17 is driving the company’s fastest smartphone growth since Covid-19, according to supply-chain checks and carrier data showing stronger-than-expected demand since its September launch, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
After two years of flat or declining sales, upgrades to the camera, display and battery are persuading customers to replace older models. Bank of America analysts noted that shipping times are longer than in previous years, a sign of strong demand. Wait times are roughly 13% higher than last year, hinting at a wider upgrade cycle, according to Deepwater Asset Management.
Unit volumes are expected to stay around 235 million through 2026 before climbing above 240 million in 2027, potentially helped by a rumored foldable model. The iPhone still generates more than half of Apple’s (AAPL) $390 billion in annual revenue, supported by trade-in deals and Chinese subsidies for lower-priced models.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 19, 2025
China buys no U.S. soybeans in September amid trade tensions, first zero imports since 2018
China’s soybean supply chain underwent a dramatic realignment in September 2025, with customs data showing U.S. imports collapsed to zero last month from 1.7 million metric tons a year earlier. This marks the first time since November 2018 that no U.S. soybeans were shipped to China during the month.
This realignment, fueled by deepening trade tensions, saw buyers heavily favor South American suppliers.
China’s total soybean imports reached 12.87 million tons in September, the second-highest on record, and powered by huge deliveries from the region.
Brazil supplied 10.96 million tons (up 29.9% year-on-year), securing an 85.2% market share, while Argentina’s shipments surged 91.5% to 1.17 million tons.
Year-to-date figures underscore this pivot: Brazil has shipped 63.7 million tons and Argentina 2.9 million tons, with Beijing currently shunning the new U.S. harvest.
China is, by far, the top buyer of U.S. soybeans. In 2024, the United States shipped almost 985 million bushels to China, which represented 51 percent of all U.S. soybean exports that year.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump listed rare earths, soybeans, and fentanyl as top U.S. issues ahead of trade talks with China, which are set to resume later this week in Malaysia, according to a media report.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ DIA 0.00%↑
Apollo sees trade war fears receding amid powerful AI and manufacturing tailwinds
The U.S. economy may be entering a stronger phase than many expect, according to Apollo Global Management Chief Economist Torsten Slok. In a recent investor note Apollo said key credit indicators are showing clear signs of improvement, signaling resilience beneath the surface.
Default rates on high-yield bonds and leveraged loans have already peaked, as have delinquency rates for credit cards and auto loans, Slok noted. The economist attributed this shift to three primary factors: fading uncertainty from the trade war, powerful tailwinds from the artificial intelligence boom, and a broad-based revival in U.S. industrial activity.
Slok highlighted that the ongoing expansion of data centers and energy infrastructure linked to AI is providing meaningful support to both corporate investment and consumer confidence. Meanwhile, rising equity markets have bolstered household spending power.
At the same time, renewed capital commitments in manufacturing, defense, biotech, and automation suggest the early stages of what he called an “industrial renaissance.”
While trade tensions continue to exert a modest drag on global growth, Slok argued that these headwinds are increasingly outweighed by technology-driven and industrial momentum—raising the possibility that U.S. economic growth could reaccelerate in the months ahead.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
Cleveland-Cliffs surges after saying it will expand presence in rare earth production
Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) +9.1% pre-market Monday after the steelmaker said it is seeking to expand its presence in the production of rare earth metals, and that it is examining existing mining sites in Michigan and Minnesota that show key indicators of rare earth minerals.
“The renewed importance of rare earths has driven us to re-focus on this potential opportunity at our upstream mining assets,” CEO Lourenco Goncalves said in the company’s Q3 earnings release. If the assets in Michigan and Minnesota show enough evidence of rare earths, “it would align Cleveland-Cliffs with the broader national strategy for critical material independence, similar to what we achieved in steel.”
Goncalves said the Q3 results “marked a clear sign of demand recovery for automotive-grade steel made in the U.S.” as well as “a richer sales mix and improved pricing, further bolstered by our continued execution on costs.”
“As a result of this new trade environment, we have won new and growing supply arrangements with all major automotive [original equipment manufacturers],” the CEO said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
BitMine Immersion reports $13.4 bln in crypto and cash holdings
BitMine Immersion Technologies (NYSE:BMNR) said on Monday its total cryptocurrency, cash and investment holdings rose to $13.4 billion, including 3.24 million ether ETH tokens worth about $13 billion.
The company said it now holds 2.7% of the total ETH supply and aims to reach 5%.
Its assets also include 192 bitcoin, $219 million in cash, and a $119 million stake in Eightco Holdings.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
LITE 0.00%↑ ALAB 0.00%↑ MRVL 0.00%↑ COHR 0.00%↑ AMZN 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] Barclays changes ratings on KLA Corp., Astera Labs, others ahead of earnings
The investment firm downgraded Lumentum (NASDAQ:LITE), Astera Labs (NASDAQ:ALAB) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) to Equal-Weight from Overweight, as the trio look “less attractive compared to the AI involved names,” specifically mentioning it likes Coherent (COHR) and MACOM Technology (MSTI).
The downgrade on Astera is the result of a lack of adoption of its UALink product, beyond Amazon’s (AMZN) Trainium 3 and as the world moves towards Ethernet, ESUN and SUE-T products.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
[Newsletter Exclusive] TSMC’s dominant foundry position strengthens on AI, packaging demand: Counterpoint
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) has further expanded its dominance in the semiconductor foundry space, as evidenced by its recent third-quarter financial results, where its revenue reached $33.1B.
“This achievement reflects strong traction at 3nm and sustained high utilization at 4/5nm, supported by ongoing orders from AI GPU and HPC customers as well as premium smartphone platforms,” according to analysis by Counterpoint Research.
Apple (AAPL) has led to TSMC’s ramp-up of 3nm production, while Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) continued to drive high demand for 4nm and 5nm chips, the analysts said. This has maintained capacity at full utilization. Hyperscalers are also driving up demand at TSMC. This includes Google’s (GOOG)(GOOGL) TPUs, Amazon Web Services (AMZN) Tranium chips and Meta Platform’s (META) MTIA accelerators.
Foundry competitors such as Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) still trail TSMC by a significant share, but are making some progressive steps, the firm said.
“Regarding the commercial timeline, Intel projects that wafer commitments to its foundry customers will begin in 2026, with high-volume production and lead customers expected to ramp up between 2026 and 2027,” Counterpoint noted. “Intel has also pivoted its foundry strategy to be customer-commitment driven rather than building speculative capacity. This shift ensures that capacity expansion is directly tied to confirmed demand.”
Counterpoint also said Samsung’s advanced process utilization and wafer consumption increased during the second quarter of 2025 and are expected to continue for the rest of the year. This is due in part to smartphone chips based on 2nm technology.
“Going forward, the outlook for Samsung’s advanced nodes will largely depend on the success of its 2nm chips,” Counterpoint said. “Beyond its in-house Samsung Exynos lineup, the outcome of its collaboration with Tesla (TSLA) in the coming years will be a key factor determining whether Samsung can attract more customers and secure additional orders in the advanced process node.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
Semiconductor sales could approach $1T by 2027, BofA says
Amid surging demand related to all things artificial intelligence, semiconductor sales could reach roughly $1T by 2027, Bank of America said, up from its prior view of $860B.
“We flag materially higher growth outlook in memory (across HBM, commodity DRAM, and NAND), as well as in data center/AI-related components, modestly offset by consumer/auto,” analysts at the firm wrote in a note to clients.
The analysts continued: “... [We] continue to believe the current AI [infrastructure] build out is structurally more durable than prior large cycles and remain bullish on AI capex.”
Breaking it down, the firm sees industry sales of $745B, $870B and $971B in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively, up roughly between 3% and 6% than it previously forecast. Excluding memory, sales are expected to be around $538B, $621B, and $706B, respectively.
The firm reiterated its top five stock picks in the space: Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO), AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) and KLA Corp. (NASDAQ:KLAC), citing their respective leverage towards “the strong data center and memory spend outlook.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
#LYSCF #LYSDY
Trump signs agreement on critical minerals with Australia
President Trump signed an agreement with visiting Australian Prime Minister Albanese on Monday, intended to boost cooperation in accessing critical minerals and rare earths as the U.S. seeks to reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.
The full text of the agreement is not yet available, but Albanese said the deal calls for an initial $1 billion contribution each from Australia and the U.S. over the next six months toward joint projects between the two countries on rare earths.
The two presidents said the agreement would include Australian processing of rare earths, with Albanese adding that Australia had capacity to expand those efforts.
Australia, which holds the world’s fourth-largest deposits of rare earths, has attempted to position itself as a viable alternative to China for supplies, and Lynas Rare Earths (OTCPK:LYSCF) (OTCPK:LYSDY) in Australia is only current producer of heavy rare earths outside China; Lynas shares +14.1% in Monday’s trading.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
[Newsletter Exclusive] Cboe seeks to expand options trading into pre-market, after-hours sessions
Cboe Global Markets (BATS:CBOE) is proposing expanding its options trading hours to include pre-market and post-market sessions, according to a Monday filing, in a move that aligns with a broader shift toward longer U.S. market hours.
If approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the derivatives exchange would include a morning session from 7:30 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET and a 15-minute session after 4:00 p.m., the filing showed. By comparison, the normal trading session starts at 9:30 a.m. and ends at 4:00 p.m.
Cboe’s (BATS:CBOE) plan targets certain equity options based on trading volume, market cap and active turnover. The rollout of the extended options hours is being limited to select options contracts and in short sessions, before and after the normal market close, per the filing.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
[Newsletter Exclusive] USA Rare Earth, three others started Outperform at Blair with room to run higher
USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) +12.7% in Monday’s trading, after shares have more than doubled YTD to touch all-time highs, and William Blair analysts Neal Dingmann and Bertrand Donnes still see material future upside for the company, as well as for American Resources (AREC), United States Antimony (UAMY) and NioCorp Developments (NB), as global demand for rare earth elements rises.
USA Rare Earth (USAR) has made acquisitions to boost its metal-making operations, as along with the development of a mine in Texas, the company anticipates a neo magnet manufacturing site in Oklahoma will start production in next year’s H1, with the combination of factors leading to generate long-term shareholder return, Dingmann and Donnes wrote.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 20, 2025
IonQ rises as it hits new quantum computing world record
The College Park, Md.-based firm released two scientific papers that showed it had achieved 99.99% two-qubit gate performance, representing a significantly low error rate. In setting this performance, IonQ became the first quantum computing company to cross the “four-nines” benchmark and surpassed the previous record, held by Oxford Ionics, which was set last year.
IonQ completed its $1.07B acquisition of Oxford Ionics last month; the deal was announced in June.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Lithium Americas receives first $435M DoE loan drawdown for Thacker Pass project
Lithium Americas (NYSE:LAC) +2.7% pre-market Tuesday after saying it received its first drawdown of $435 million from its $2.23 billion guaranteed loan from the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office to finance construction of the Thacker Pass processing facilities in Nevada.
The $2.23 billion DoE loan includes principal of $1.97 billion and estimated capitalized interest during construction of $256 million; the company has the ability to draw on the loan as frequently as monthly, as needed, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions for this type of construction loan included in the loan documentation, the company said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Eos Energy surges on deal with Talen Energy to power Pennsylvania data centers
Eos Energy Enterprises (NASDAQ:EOSE) +20.6% pre-market Tuesday after announcing plans to develop a $75 million factory that it expects will help Talen Energy (TLN) supply Pennsylvania’s growing data centers.
Under the collaboration agreement, Eos (NASDAQ:EOSE) and Talen (TLN) said they aim to jointly identify and develop multiple storage projects across Talen’s existing assets, including potential sites in Pennsylvania at or near operating Talen plants and retired fossil fuel plants, to help meet the state’s increasing electricity demand and support artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Eos (NASDAQ:EOSE) said the initial 432,000 sq ft facility in Marshall Township, Pennsylvania, will contain additional production lines that complement its existing Turtle Creek manufacturing facility, with plans to eventually reach 8 GWh of annualized energy storage capacity, and will enable the company to transition from single piece flow operations to high-efficiency, large-scale production.
The factory is expected to help Talen (TLN) better use its generating resources, including its Susquehanna nuclear plant and fossil fuel generation, in part to serve the Amazon data center there, Eos (EOSE) CEO Joe Mastrangelo told Bloomberg.
Eos (EOSE) also said it was awarded a $24 million economic development package from the state of Pennsylvania to help its expansion.
Finally, Eos (EOSE) announced a supply agreement for as much as 750 MWh with MN8 Energy, one of the largest U.S. independent renewable companies, to deploy Eos next-generation Z3 energy storage systems in support of a portfolio of projects.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
GOOG 0.00%↑ GOOGL 0.00%↑ #OpenAI #Perplexity
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Atlas to challenge Comet and Chrome
OpenAI (OPENAI) launched its artificial intelligence-powered web browser, ChatGPT Atlas, in a direct challenge to search giant Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) and fellow startups such as Perplexity.
OpenAI has built an “Agent mode” directly into Atlas. This allows the agent to take actions for the user, such as making purchases and reservations, while the user continues to browse. In an example, the agent completes an order for recipe ingredients through Instacart while the user continues to search the web.
“I can pick Agent mode from the sidebar, and it can take actions on my behalf,” said OpenAI engineer Will Ellsworth. “It has access to all my history. It is using the internet for me. It can take over tasks for me while I do something else.”
Similar to other browsers, it has a query bar in the center of the page. You can search the web based on standard filters such as images, news, etc. It features an Ask ChatGPT option located in the top right corner of the browser. It also has a “suggestions” feature beneath the query bar, which evolves based on user activity. Most of these features can be turned on and off depending on preferences.
Atlas is available today for Apple’s (AAPL) macOS. It will be available soon for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows, Apple iOS and Google Android.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
CRCL 0.00%↑ #BTC #ETH
U.S. crypto transaction volume surges in H1 amid policy shift under Trump - report
U.S. crypto transactions jumped ~50% year-over-year in the first half of the year to over $1T, reflecting growing institutional interest, according to a Tuesday report from blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.
That builds on the roughly 50% Y/Y gain recorded in 2024, cementing the U.S.’s status as the world’s largest crypto market in absolute terms measured by transaction volume.
The climb underscores how regulatory frameworks like the GENIUS Act started to become much clearer -- which boosted confidence -- and more institutional money started flowing into crypto through vehicles like stablecoins and exchange-traded funds.
“The US market’s two consecutive years of double-digit expansion reflect not just enthusiasm, but the compounding effect of regulatory clarity and political commitment,” TRM said.
But the U.S. isn’t the only country embracing crypto. In the January - July 2025 period, India had the highest level of crypto adoption, followed by the U.S., Pakistan, Philippines, Brazil and Indonesia. The nations with the lowest ranks include Luxembourg, Iceland and Brunei Darussalam.
Notably, crypto adoption in South Asia accelerated 80% from the same period last year, becoming the fastest-growing region for crypto adoption this year, as of July, the report said.
Globally, stablecoins like Tether’s USDT (USDT-USD) and Circle Internet Group’s (CRCL) USDC (USDC-USD) played a greater role in crypto adoption, representing 30% of crypto transaction volume in the January - July 2025 period.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
This AI bubble is ‘absolutely’ going to burst – analyst
When discussing the current investment landscape, Lauren Taylor Wolfe, Impactive Capital managing partner pointed to Oklo (OKLO), Sam Altman’s SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) focused on small nuclear reactors, as an example of market excess.
“It is the largest weight in the Russell 2000 Value index (IWN). It has no revenues for three years. It started the year at $3B. Today, it’s $25B of market cap with no revenues,” she said, calling the situation “insane.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
NuScale sinks Citi cuts to Sell
NuScale Power (NYSE:SMR) -12.8% in Tuesday’s trading as Citigroup downgraded shares to Sell/High Risk from Neutral/High Risk with a $37.50 price target, “as a binding customer contract remains elusive, competition from new entrants heats up, further sale of interest by Fluor (FLR) weighs on the stock, and the company trades at a stretched valuation.”
Citi analysts estimate NuScale (NYSE:SMR) shares are pricing in ~16 GW of reactors by 2040 vs. the bank’s forecast of ~56 GW of reactors to be installed in total in the U.S., believing such a “level of market share in a crowded market is too high, especially as the company does not yet have an identified customer.”
NuScale (NYSE:SMR) has guided to one customer agreement to year-end 2025, with the current framework a non-binding deal with TVA and developer ENTRA1 for a potential PPA covering 6 GW; once signed, Citi said NuScale would still need to secure an OEM agreement to supply NPM units, leaving the timing of the PPA timing and contract signing uncertain.
If an agreement is reached for all 6 GW, NuScale (SMR) would potentially contribute ~$500 million via multiple tranches to ENTRA1, but the company had only $420 million in cash and cash equivalents as of Q2 2025, Citi noted.
“We believe the market is giving too much credit for this deal, as the timeline likely will be longer than expected, and the capital needs could weigh heavily, especially since the deal is not guaranteed, [and the company] does not have material near-term customers to fall back on, making it reliant on its active projects unless new entrants emerge, which we view as unlikely,” Citi wrote.
Citi also maintained its Sell recommendation on Plug Power (PLUG), as its analysts said they see no direct benefits to the company from AI and data center-related spending.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
GE Vernova to acquire remaining 50% of Prolec GE JV in $5.3B deal
GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) said Tuesday it agreed to acquire the remaining 50% stake of power grid equipment supplier Prolec GE, its joint venture with Xignux, for $5.275 billion.
GE Vernova (NYSE:GEV) said the deal will accelerate the growth trajectory of its electrification segment - the company’s fastest-growing business - by expanding its presence in and support for North America, where demand for grid technologies is rising rapidly as electricity demand grows.
Prolec GE expects $3 billion in revenue at a ~25% adjusted EBITDA margin in 2025 with low double-digit revenue growth in the coming years.
The JV originally was established between General Electric and Xignux in 1995, and the acquisition consolidates Prolec GE after 30 years of partnership.
“The deal is immediately accretive before synergies, with a partner we know well, and will drive additional profitable growth for GE Vernova,” CEO Scott Strazik said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Intuitive Surgical surges as Q3 results easily beat on both lines
Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) is up ~18% in after-hours trading Tuesday after its Q3 results beat on both the top and bottom lines, driven by higher placements of its da Vinci surgical systems and an increase in procedures conducted by its da Vinci and Ion endoluminal systems compared to the prior-year period.
In the quarter, the company placed 427 da Vinci systems vs. 379 in the prior-year period. Fifty Ion systems were placed vs. 58 in the year-ago period. Procedures grew ~20% compared to Q3 2024 as Da Vinci-based ones increased ~19% and Ion-based by ~52%.
Intuitive Surgical saw its non-GAAP net income rise to $2.40 from $1.87 ($867M vs. $669M) in the year-ago period. Q3 revenue increased 23% year over year to $2.51B.
The company also repurchased 4M shares for $1.92B.
CEO David Rosa highlighted the broad adoption of da Vinci 5, including the first placements in Japan and Europe.
He discussed the intent to offer refurbished Xi systems as part of the broader portfolio to expand access in cost-sensitive geographies.
CFO Jamie Samath confirmed, “We’ve sold 20 refurbished Xis so far.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
AAPL 0.00%↑ GOOGL 0.00%↑ QCOM 0.00%↑ #SSNLF
Samsung looks to take on Apple Vision Pro with new Galaxy XR headset
After months of heavy speculation, Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) finally announced its competitor to Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) Vision Pro mixed reality headset with its own Galaxy XR device.
The device, which is available tonight in the U.S. and Korea and sells for $1,800 — or nearly half the Vision Pro’s $3,500 price tag — runs on Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Android XR operating system. Google and Samsung showed off a mixed reality headset developer kit in December 2024 that used the Android XR — or extended reality — operating system.
The headset also runs on Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ:QCOM) Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 platform. Qualcomm, Google and Samsung coordinated to develop the mixed reality ecosystem.
Samsung did not say how many apps would be available for the Galaxy XR at the start, but noted that several Google apps, such as Google Maps, YouTube, Circle to Search, and Google Photos, are “optimized” for mixed reality.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Key takeaways from Netflix’s earnings; stock dented by Brazil tax issue
Netflix stock (NASDAQ:NFLX) slipped about 5% in the wake of its third-quarter earnings report, where the company posted revenue growth as expected but lower operating income and margins, an outcome that Netflix pinned on an unexpectedly ongoing dispute over Brazil taxes.
Revenues rose 17.2% to $11.51B, in line with expectations, and operating income rose to $3.25B from a year-ago $2.91B.
Operating margin, though, dipped to 28.2%, down from a year-ago 29.6% as well as Q2’s 34.1%. Net income rose to $2.55B from a year-ago $2.36B.
“We incurred an expense in Q3 ’25 of approximately $619 million related to an ongoing dispute with Brazilian tax authorities regarding certain non-income tax assessments. This expense was not included in our prior guidance forecast but was identified as a potential exposure in our prior 10-Q and 10-K filings,” the company said in its release.
That expense was booked as a cost of revenue and its cumulative impact cut operating margin by more than 5 percentage points, Netflix said, and it otherwise would have beaten its forecast.
Correspondingly, while net income grew (to $5.87 per share), it ended up below consensus of $6.97.
Net cash from operations landed at $2.83B, up from a year-ago $2.32B and above consensus gathered by Bloomberg for $2.56B. Free cash flow was $2.66B, up from a year-ago $2.19B and above consensus for $2.39B.
The company noted its highest quarterly view share ever in the U.S. and UK, up 15% and 22% respectively since the end of the last fiscal year.
“Management’s commentary on AI was noteworthy; it emphasizes that Netflix wishes to be credited as an AI disruptor, not a company that could be disrupted by AI,” he added. “The concern for Netflix remains its valuation, which has been somewhat stretched since the holidays.
Theodore Sarandos, Co-CEO, said, “We continue to have a massive opportunity since we’re only about 7% of the addressable market, in terms of consumer spending and only about 10% of time spent on TV in our biggest market. So enormous room for profitable growth in the core business.”
Peters discussed the advertising outlook: “We more than doubled our U.S. upfront commitments. That lands partly in ‘25 and partly in ‘26… we are feeling good about our growth trajectory.”
Gregory Peters, Co-CEO, outlined 2026 advertising plans: “We want to increase the diversity of advertisers… more ways to buy, more data for targeting and media planning capabilities globally, more modular in interactive ad formats with enhanced AI capabilities and more measurement functionality in all of our markets.”
Netflix in charts: Revenue from all regions see double digit Y/Y growth in Q3
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 21, 2025
POET Technologies receives $5M production order
POET Technologies (NASDAQ:POET) announced on Wednesday that it has received a production order valued at over $5M for a shipment of optical engines.
The production order of leading-edge 800G optical engines provides further evidence of the commercial viability and scalability of its technology designed to power AI connectivity.
The market for optical transceivers for scale-out and scale-up networks used in AI clusters is expected to double in size from $5B in 2024 to $10B in 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
Archer Aviation named air taxi partner for Los Angeles Sports Commission
Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) has been selected to be the official air taxi partner to the Los Angeles Sports and Entertainment Commission (LASEC), raising the company’s exposure during events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl LXI.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
Trump weighing plan to expand export control to include U.S. software, Bessent says
The Trump administration is considering a plan to expand its export controls to China and include products made with or containing software from U.S. companies, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said.
Bessent confirmed the news, first reported by Reuters, in an interview with CNBC.
The plan could impact everything from laptops to jet engines, Reuters added, citing a U.S. official and three people briefed by U.S. authorities. The news outlet added that the plans is not the only option on the table and other plans are being considered. The move would be retaliation after China expanded its rare earth restrictions earlier this month.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
Astera Labs to acquire aiXscale Photonics
Astera Labs (NASDAQ: NASDAQ:ALAB) said on Wednesday it has agreed to acquire aiXscale Photonics GmbH to strengthen its photonics and connectivity portfolio for rack-scale AI infrastructure.
The deal, subject to customary closing conditions, will combine aiXscale’s fiber-chip coupling technologies with Astera’s connectivity and signal processing expertise to develop optical scale-up solutions.
The acquisition aims to address growing bandwidth, power, and reliability demands in large-scale AI systems using photonic chiplets for faster and more efficient data movement.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
Tesla talks AI upside, robotaxi progress, and Optimus 3 as a surgeon during its earnings call
Investors seemed to be focused on the drop in margins from a year ago, despite the surge of deliveries ahead of the expiration of the EV tax credit.
“We look forward to unveiling Optimus V3 in Q1, 2026. It won’t seem like a robot but a human in a suit,” Elon Musk highlighted.
During the question and answer part of the call, Musk said robotaxi rides in Austin without safety drivers should start before the end of the year, but the company is still being cautious. Musk said Tesla (TSLA) expects its robotaxis to be in 8 or 10 metro areas before the end of the year.
Despite the EPS miss, Tesla’s gross margin rate improving on a quarterly basis and the energy segment growing at 44% were seen as positives.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 22, 2025
IONQ 0.00%↑ RGTI 0.00%↑ QBTS 0.00%↑ WQTM 0.00%↑
Quantum computing stocks soar after reports of US mulling stake; government denies
Quantum computing stocks surged on Thursday following reports that the Trump administration is negotiating equity stakes in several companies in this space.
However, the government noted that it is not negotiating on equity stakes with quantum computing companies, CNBC reported, citing an administration official.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
SPY 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ UUP 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑ SLV 0.00%↑ #BTC
U.S. national debt tops $38T amid second-longest government shutdown
The gross federal debt of the United States has just topped the $38T level, only two months after surpassing $37T. For those keeping tabs, that’s the quickest rate of adding $1T outside a pandemic, with gloomy fiscal milestones now being added at twice the pace seen since 2000, according to the Peterson Foundation.
The daunting numbers come despite efforts like DOGE, as well as a general lack of concern to rein in spending. No one wants to touch popular entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, or limit defense expenditures to more appropriate levels. Legislation like the “One Big Beautiful Bill” has also exacerbated the problem, while interest rate payments have now become the third-largest monthly outlay for the federal government. It’s no surprise that safe havens like gold have been on a rip this year (despite Tuesday’s big drop), along with a significant weakening of the dollar, and any rise in government bond yields can hurt economic growth if levels remain elevated.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
Google enters first carbon capture and storage deal for gas-fired plant to power data centers
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) has agreed to support a gas-fired power plant with carbon capture and storage to supply enough energy to help fuel its buildout of data centers for artificial intelligence while maintaining clean energy goals.
“Today we’re excited to announce a first-of-its kind corporate agreement to support a gas power plant with CCS,” said Michael Terrell, Google’s head of advanced energy. “Broadwing Energy, located in Decatur, Illinois, will capture and permanently store approximately 90% of its CO2 emissions. By agreeing to buy most of the power it generates, Google is helping get this new, baseload power source built and connected to the regional grid that supports our data centers.”
The Broadwing project will be located at an industrial center operated by Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM). The new power plant will have 400 MW of generating capacity. Carbon dioxide will be stored in AMD’s sequestration facilities, which will pump the CO₂ more than one mile beneath the surface. The power plant is expected to come online in early 2030.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
Microsoft shows off Mico, its attempt at ‘human-centered AI’
Mico, which gets its name from combining the words Microsoft and Copilot, is expressive, customizable, and warm, Microsoft said in a blog post. In doing so, the Windows maker is taking aim at partner and competitor OpenAI’s (OPENAI) ChatGPT, Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Gemini and other chatbots.
“A lot of people are evaluating what a relationship with an AI companion should look like and feel like,” Microsoft AI executive Mustafa Suleyman wrote in the blog post. “In this release we’re adding features to make Copilot more personal and more adaptable to your needs and style, while holding true to our brand values. Copilot is designed to be empathetic and supportive, not sycophantic. It will push back on you sometimes, but always respectfully. This is AI that listens. That learns. That earns your trust.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
NVIDIA using Uber driving data to further autonomous driving models
Shares of Uber (NYSE:UBER) are getting a lift on Thursday following an announcement from NVIDIA (NVDA) confirming the collaboration between the two companies to further the development of autonomous driving.
NVIDIA (NVDA) will use Uber’s (NYSE:UBER) extensive database of real-world driving data that includes complex intersections, airports, and bad weather, to train NVIDIA’s (NVDA) AI models to improve realism and safety. By employing Uber’s (NYSE:UBER) data, the collaboration will leverage NVIDIA’s (NVDA) cloud-computing platform and speed up the AV training process.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
Nextracker surges after Q3 beat and raise, forms JV to boost energy transition in Saudi Arabia
Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) +10.6% post-market Thursday after posting better than expected Q2 adjusted earnings and revenues, as backlog rose to more than $5 billion, and raising guidance for the fiscal year.
The company said it sees FY 2026 adjusted earnings of $4.04-$4.25/share, up from prior guidance of $3.96-$4.27, and in line with $4.22 analyst consensus estimate, on full-year revenues of $3.275 billion-$3.475 billion, up from prior guidance of $3.2 billion-$3.45 billion, in line with $3.4 billion consensus.
Nextracker (NASDAQ:NXT) also said it entered into a joint venture agreement to form Nextracker Arabia with Abunayyan Holding in Saudi Arabia to help further expand its footprint in the Middle East and North Africa markets.
Nextracker (NXT) said the JV will include sales, engineering, and operations, and will assume ownership of the company’s existing Saudi manufacturing facility, which will play a key role in the production and distribution of integrated solar power plant technologies for major utility-scale and distributed generation projects in Saudi Arabia and across the MENA region.
Saudi Arabia has a goal of deploying 130 GW of clean energy by 2030, with solar playing a critical role, while MENA’s solar capacity is expected to surpass 30 GW by year-end 2025 on the way to potentially exceeding 180 GW by 2030.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 23, 2025
Pony.ai rolls out 300th ARCFOX Alpha T5 Robotaxi
Pony.ai (NASDAQ:PONY) Friday reported the rollout of its 300th jointly manufactured ARCFOX Alpha T5 Robotaxi—a significant production milestone that accelerates the company’s trajectory toward large-scale deployment and commercialization.
The ARCFOX Alpha T5 Robotaxi was jointly developed and produced in partnership with BAIC.
Mass production of the ARCFOX Alpha T5 Robotaxi began in July 2025. It is one of the three Gen-7 models that Pony.ai unveiled globally at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2025.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
IBM’s key quantum computing algorithm can work with standard AMD chips: report
Jay Gambetta, the IBM vice president running the firm’s quantum efforts, said the work showed that IBM’s algorithm not only works in the real world, but can operate on a readily available AMD chip that is not “ridiculously expensive,” the report added.
“Implementing it, and showing that the implementation is actually 10 times faster than what is needed, is a big deal,” said Gambetta in an interview, according to the report.
IBM has a multi-year plan to develop a quantum computer called Starling by 2029.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
Uber, WeRide launch autonomous Robotaxi passenger ride service in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
The launch marks the first time autonomous vehicles are publicly available on the Uber platform in the Gulf country.
Starting today, Uber riders traveling between Roshn Front and Princess Noura University may be able to select a WeRide Robotaxi GXR.
At the initial launch, each Robotaxi is expected to include a vehicle operator and then transition to fully driverless operations in the future.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
Trump administration pushes regulators to accelerate AI power hookups - Bloomberg
The Trump administration has urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to grant expedited reviews for data center grid connections, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing a draft proposed rule sent to the agency by Energy Secretary Chris Wright that would limit the reviews to 60 days, a drastic shift for a process that currently can drag on for years.
Under the proposed rule, data centers could win an accelerated review if they include new power plants or agree to reduce usage in response to regional grid strain during high-demand periods such as heatwaves, according to the report; a data center that would be located next to an existing power plant would require a study to determine if that generation capacity is needed to maintain grid reliability.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
GOOGL 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
Google’s new deal with Anthropic increases potential for more TPU clients: analysts
Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL) freshly inked deal to supply Anthropic (ANTHRO) with up to 1M of its in-house Ironwood TPUs for artificial intelligence applications opens the door for more such agreements in the future, according to analysts.
The fact that the TPUs are produced by Google should also increase margins.
“The chips are in-house inference chips, so we expect the rental of them to be higher margin than chips bought in from external sources,” said HSBC analyst Paul Rossington in an investor note.
“Alphabet is the only western Cloud Service Provider that has managed to get the latest version of its in-house chip into production in 2025, with Microsoft’s (MSFT) project Braga and Amazon’s (AMZN) Trainium3 chip delayed into 2026,” Rossington said. “We expect this to be a part of the reason for the deal and suggest further upside potential through Ironwood leases to other clients.”
HSBC noted that Amazon has a 20% stake in Anthropic, while Google holds about 14%. The bank expects Anthropic to utilize a multi-cloud strategy.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Oct. 24, 2025
Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.
