Alpha Coverage #142
AI, Robotics, Space, Quantum Computing, Climate Change/Energy Transition, Biotech/Genomics
Weekly newsletter bringing you a summary of unbiased, critical, thesis changing stock market news with long term impact. We cover news articles, opinion pieces and all forms of media to help you stay ahead of the curve. WealthWise Coverage Universe (Only for paying subscribers).
A Seeking Alpha subscription would help. Here is a 7 Day Free Trial + $30 off coupon to help you get started (Affiliate Link).
This Week’s Alpha Coverage: YouTube Playlist or Weekly Compilation.
Editor’s Pick:
NVDA 0.00%↑ MAGC 0.00%↑ KWEB 0.00%↑
[News] Nvidia looks to start shipping H200 GPUs to China by mid-February: Reuters
Nvidia (NVDA) has told Chinese clients it aims to start shipping its second-most powerful AI chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Initial orders are expected to come from existing inventory and shipments could total between 5,000 and 10,000 modules, or the equivalent of around 40,000 to 80,000 H200 chips, two of the sources explained.
Nvidia has also told Chinese clients that it plans to add new production capacity for the chips, with orders for that capacity opening in the second quarter of 2026, the third source said.
Significant uncertainty remains, as Beijing has yet to approve any H200 purchases and the timeline could shift depending on government decisions, the sources said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
Link to Reuters News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
[News] Alibaba considering ordering AMD AI chips: report
Chinese tech giant Alibaba (BABA) is considering ordering some of AMD’s (AMD) advanced artificial intelligence GPUs, MLex reported.
The tech giant could order somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 of AMD’s MI308 AI accelerators, the news outlet reported, citing its sources.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
NVDA 0.00%↑ #Groq
[News] Nvidia licenses Groq inference technology, Groq executives join chipmaker
Nvidia (NVDA) has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Groq for its inference technology. The agreement reflects a shared focus on expanding access to high-performance, low cost inference.
As part of the agreement, Groq’s Founder Jonathan Ross, President Sunny Madra and other members of the Groq team will join Nvidia to help advance and scale the licensed technology. Groq will continue to operate as an independent company, with Simon Edwards stepping into the role of Chief Executive Officer.
Groq was founded in 2016 by a group of former engineers, including Ross. He was one of the creators of Google’s tensor processing unit, or TPU, the search giant’s custom chip that’s being used by some companies as an alternative to Nvidia’s graphics processing units.
Groq chips are arguably the fastest in the world at Inference. While a typical AI might generate 20–50 words per second on a standard chip, Groq can generate 250+ words per second, making AI feel instant.
CNBC reported that Nvidia is acquiring assets from Groq for $20 billion. Alex Davis, CEO of Disruptive, told CNBC that Nvidia is getting all of Groq’s assets, though its nascent Groq cloud business is not part of the transaction.
If the figures are correct, the deal would represent by far Nvidia’s largest acquisition ever. The chipmaker’s biggest acquisition to date occurred in 2019, when it acquired Israeli chip designer Mellanox for nearly $7 billion.
Groq was one of the few independent hardware vendors proving that PyTorch models could run efficiently on non-GPU architectures (specifically “Language Processing Units” or LPUs). With Groq’s core engineering team now moving to Nvidia, the ecosystem of non-Nvidia hardware that supports PyTorch natively has lost its most promising independent player. This puts more pressure on Google’s TorchTPU project to succeed, as it remains one of the few viable alternatives for developers who want to run PyTorch workloads without paying the “Nvidia tax.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 25, 2025
[News] Silver soars to hit another record high, gold extends rally
The run-up in precious metals broke new ground Friday, as front-month silver futures surged 7.7% to nearly $76.49/oz, extending a record run that has more than doubled prices this year, while gold futures also hit records, rising 1.1% to $4,529.10/oz.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads:
Interactive Brokers reportedly seeks National Trust Bank Charter
Interactive Brokers (IBKR) has applied for a National Trust Bank Charter, a move that could allow the electronic broker to offer bank-like services in the U.S., subject to regulatory clearance, Bloomberg reported.
According to the application submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the proposed bank would be named Interactive National Trust Bank, the news outlet reported, citing a filing posted on the agency’s website on Friday.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 20, 2025
XOVR 0.00%↑ TSLA 0.00%↑ #SpaceX
Bill Ackman proposes SpaceX IPO via Sparc merger
Ackman’s plan would distribute special purpose acquisition rights (SPARs) to Tesla (TSLA) shareholders, giving them the opportunity to invest in a SpaceX IPO. Shareholders who prefer not to participate could sell their SPARs to other interested investors.
Under Ackman’s proposal, approximately 0.5 SPARs would be issued for each share of Tesla, resulting in 1.723 billion SPARs outstanding (including 61.1 million SPARs already in circulation). Since each SPAR would be exercisable for two shares of SpaceX, the total would represent 3.446 billion SpaceX shares.
Ackman suggested that due diligence and a definitive agreement could be completed within 45 days, with a potential announcement by mid-February. The structure also offers flexibility for primary versus secondary shares.
Beyond SpaceX, Ackman dangled an additional incentive: exercising SPAR holders would receive Pershing Square SPARC Holdings II SPARs, which could potentially be used to take Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI public at a future date.
Pershing Square has committed to investing $4Bof capital at a fixed price per share, regardless of market conditions.
During the November 2025 meeting, Musk was quoted as saying:
“I do want to try to figure out some way for Tesla shareholders to participate in SpaceX. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how to give people access to SpaceX stock.”
He further elaborated on this sentiment through a post on X (formerly Twitter) in June 2024, which he has recently reaffirmed:
“Loyalty deserves loyalty. If any of my companies goes public, we will prioritize other longtime shareholders of my other companies, including Tesla.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 20, 2025
ANET 0.00%↑ LITE 0.00%↑ COHR 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] Cisco, Arista remain in line for excess returns among networking in 2026: Morgan Stanley
“For ANET, we think messaging has turned particularly negative of late around share, with possibility for this to reverse around the Q1 print as opportunity once deployments start being turned on become more clear.”
Morgan Stanley retains its Overweight rating on Cisco and Arista but slightly reduced its price target on Arista to $159 from $171.
Morgan Stanley also expects Corning (GLW), Ciena (CIEN), Lumentum Holdings (LITE) and Coherent (COHR) to outperform in 2026.
“Reason being, lasers and optics are heavy investment areas, with pricing particularly attractive on 800ZR, EML lasers and other optical componentry,” Marshall and Lenox said. “With the number of market participants investing in capacity, we are more cautious that this pricing will hold for the entire year, but if AI capex data points continue to get revised meaningfully positively, our short-term expectations for optical names will hold for the entire year (as it did in 2025).”
Morgan Stanley increased Corning’s price target to $98 from $82, Ciena to $213 from $195, Lumentum to $304 from $190 and Coherent to $180 from $150.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 21, 2025
WBD 0.00%↑ NFLX 0.00%↑ PSKY 0.00%↑
Trump allies line up on opposing sides in Warner Bros. takeover fight
Netflix (NFLX) has recently enlisted several Republican strategists with deep ties to President Donald Trump to shape its regulatory and political approach, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Those advising the streaming company include Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s former White House senior counselor and 2016 campaign manager, as well as veteran GOP operatives who previously served in the Trump administration. Netflix (NFLX) has also brought on former White House aides May Mailman and Clete Willems, now its chief global affairs officer, as it prepares for antitrust scrutiny in Washington.
The company is also working with influential lobbyists led by Brian Ballard, a longtime Republican power broker with close connections across the media industry and to senior Trump officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi. Netflix (NFLX) has been expanding its government affairs and policy team in anticipation of a lengthy regulatory review overseen by the Justice Department.
Paramount (PSKY), meanwhile, has assembled its own roster of Trump-aligned advisers as it advances an all-cash bid valued at roughly $78 billion. That group includes Jason Miller, a longtime Trump campaign aide providing communications support, and Makan Delrahim, the former head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division under Trump, now serving as Paramount’s (PSKY) chief legal officer. Allies of Paramount (PSKY) have publicly questioned whether Netflix’s bid for Warner’s assets would raise competitive concerns.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has also sought guidance from veteran Republican consultants, including Trump campaign strategist Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio, as it navigates competing takeover offers and heightened political scrutiny.
The growing involvement of Trump-connected figures on all sides underscores how the outcome may depend as much on regulatory and political maneuvering as on financial terms, reflecting the increasingly politicized environment surrounding media consolidation and antitrust enforcement.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 21, 2025
Baidu partners with Uber, Lyft to test Apollo Go robotaxis in UK
Baidu (BIDU) is teaming up with Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) to bring its Apollo Go robotaxis to the UK, as the Chinese firm continues to expand its global footprint.
Uber (UBER) will begin testing the robotaxis in London in the first half of 2026. Lyft (LYFT) will test the initial fleet with dozens of vehicles in the city next year, with plans to scale to hundreds from there.
Baidu’s (BIDU) Apollo Go has operations in 22 cities around the world, clocking in more than 250,000 weekly trips with over 17M cumulative rides completed.
Apollo Go’s rival Waymo (WAYMO) is currently testing its robotaxis in the UK, with plans to offer rides starting in 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 202
WBD 0.00%↑ NFLX 0.00%↑ PSKY 0.00%↑
Paramount includes personal guarantee from Larry Ellison in its Warner Bros. bid
“Larry Ellison has agreed to provide an irrevocable personal guarantee of $40.4 billion of the equity financing for the offer and any damages claims against Paramount,” the company said in a statement on Monday.
The news comes after Warner Bros. said in an SEC filing last week that the Ellisons’ equity is supported by “an unknown and opaque revocable trust” and the documents Paramount provided had “gaps, loopholes, and limitations.”
Paramount said Larry Ellison has agreed not to revoke the Ellison family trust or adversely transfer its assets during the pendency of the transaction. It has also raised its reverse termination fee from $5B to $5.8B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
MSFT 0.00%↑ CRM 0.00%↑ SNOW 0.00%↑ IOT 0.00%↑ PANW 0.00%↑
Microsoft, Salesforce among Evercore’s top software stocks for 2026
Microsoft (MSFT), Salesforce (CRM) and Oracle (ORCL) are among Evercore’s top enterprise software stocks for 2026, the investment firm said on Monday.
In addition to the aforementioned trio, the firm also said it likes Intuit (INTU), Snowflake (SNOW) and Samsara (IOT) going into next year.
For Salesforce, the company is seen as a name that “checks the most boxes” of a washed-out software company, though there is momentum related to its AI strategy and the possibility of revenue re-accelerating. Additionally, Salesforce’s low free cash flow multiple skews its risk-reward “materially higher,” the analysts added.
Intuit is seen as well-positioned to benefit from small businesses adopting AI, and Samsara is seen as a top small and medium-cap idea for 2026.
Palo Alto Networks (PANW) is the firm’s top pick in cybersecurity, thanks to the belief that the narrative will shift “meaningfully,” as the synergies from the CyberArk (CYBR) and Chronosphere acquisitions begin to start.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
BlackSky surges 18% after Jefferies initiates coverage with Buy rating
Jefferies has a price target of $23 for the stock.
The brokerage sees the space-based intelligence firm’s topline doubling to $211 million by 2028 from $108 presently, driven by international growth.
The company has targeted an annual growth of 20-30% which Jefferies said, is supported by its backlog and growing demand. The brokerage noted that BlackSky’s backlog stood at $323 million as of the end of Q3, which is 23% more than $262 million recorded in 2024.
Of the total backlog, $17.3 million is expected to be recognized over the remainder of 2025, $56.9 million in 2026, and $248.5 million in subsequent periods, it said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
BMNR 0.00%↑ #ETH #BTC
Bitmine Immersion’s ether holdings exceed 4K tokens in past week
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) said Monday its ether (ETH-USD) holdings totaled 4.07M tokens at $2,991 apiece, or ~$12.2B, as of Dec. 21, 2025.
Now, Bitmine (BMNR) owns 3.37% of the ETH token supply, two-thirds of the way to its 5% goal.
In addition, the company said it held 193 bitcoin (BTC-USD) and total cash of $1.0B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 22, 2025
NVDA 0.00%↑ AVGO 0.00%↑ MU 0.00%↑ NXPI 0.00%↑ SNPS 0.00%↑ CDNS 0.00%↑
Citi 2026 semis outlook: AI growth continues, MCHP top pick
The brokerage continues to favor NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), and Micron Technology (MU) in the AI ecosystem.
Other Buy-rated stocks include NXP Semiconductors (NXPI).
“We like AVGO and see upside due to proliferation of TPUs,” the brokerage said, as AVGO confirmed Anthropic as Google’s (GOOG) largest TPU customer with $21 billion in revenue in 2026.
“We continue to believe more upside is coming at Micron, with DRAM pricing increasing every quarter in C26, driving further upside to consensus estimates,” analysts said in a Dec. 22 note.
Citi also favors Synopsys (SNPS) over Cadence Design Systems (CDNS), citing stronger potential for operating margin expansion at Synopsys. The firm expects margins to benefit from cost-cutting initiatives, a higher software mix, and a rebound in the IP business.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 23, 2025
IonQ and KISTI agree to deliver 100-qubit quantum system in South Korea
Under the agreement, IonQ will deliver its next-generation Tempo 100 quantum system to support KISTI’s hybrid quantum-classical research initiatives. The system will be integrated into KISTI-6, the largest high-performance computing (HPC) cluster in Korea, creating the first instance of hybrid quantum-classical onsite integration in the country, the firm said.
The compute cluster will be accessible through a secure private cloud environment, enabling remote access to South Korean researchers, universities, and enterprise users, it added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 23, 2025
INTC 0.00%↑ NVDA 0.00%↑ AVGO 0.00%↑ TSM 0.00%↑
Intel shares fall after Nvidia reportedly declines to move forward with 18A manufacturing process
Intel shares fell 3% in premarket trading on Wednesday after Nvidia (NVDA) evaluated manufacturing its chips using Intel’s (INTC) 18A production process but did not move forward, Reuters reported.
Chip designers Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom had run manufacturing tests with Intel (INTC) earlier in March. Intel’s 18A chip technology has since faced challenges, as initial customer tests have led to dissatisfaction and reduced demand, the news outlet added, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 24, 2025
China unveils venture capital funds to back tech startups focused on ‘hard technology’ - report
China has launched three venture capital funds to invest in “hard technology” areas, Reuters reported, citing state broadcaster CCTV.
The plans for capital contribution in the funds have been finalized, each with over 50B yuan (about $7.14B), the report added.
The funds will mainly invest in early-stage startups, and the targets should be valued at less than 500M yuan, an official noted, adding that no single investment would amount to over 50M yuan, according to the report.
The funds’ anticipated targets include companies focused on integrated circuits, quantum technology, biomedicine, brain-computer interfaces, aerospace, and other important hard technologies. “Soft” technologies would include internet services, the report added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
[Newsletter Exclusive] GLP-1 weight loss meds lead to changes in consumer food demand - study
The study, conducted by researchers at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business, found that households with at least one GLP-1 user cut grocery spending by 5.3% within six months of starting therapy. Higher-income households see even greater reductions -- 8.2%.
The study, published in the Journal of Marketing Research, noted that the biggest declines were seen in calorie-dense, processed foods. A 10.1% reduction in savory snacks was seen.
Also, an 8% decline in spending at fast-food chains, coffee shops, and limited-service restaurants was seen.
Some healthy food calories saw spending increases. For example, yogurt.
The authors also found that once households ends GLP-1 use, food purchases tend to revert toward what they were before taking the drug.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
NVDA 0.00%↑ #Groq
Nvidia’s Groq deal sees positive reactions from Wall Street analysts
Wall Street analysts said that Nvidia’s (NVDA) recent deal with Groq offers both “offense and defense” and is strategic.
Cantor said Nvidia remains a top pick and reiterated its Overweight rating and $300 price target on the stock.
“At a high level, we view this acquisition as offering both offense and defense. On the offense side, we know Nvidia has been working with Groq for specific inference acceleration. We suspect Nvidia saw real opportunities and decided it would be better for Groq to be inside Nvidia vs. external partners,” said analysts led by C.J. Muse.
For defense, the analysts said that Nvidia dominates AI training and time-based inference, and with Groq’s low-latency, energy-efficient inference, this offering inside Nvidia’s full system stack solution (and likely eventually CUDA compatible) will enable a greater share of the inference market, particularly for the next leg of the AI infrastructure build out — real time workloads like robotics and autonomy.
BofA Securities analysts led by Vivek Arya kept its Buy rating and $275 price target on Nvidia’s stock.
The analysts said key takeaways are — The involves a different kind of hardware called language processing unit, or LPU versus Nvidia’s well-regarded graphics processing unit, or GPU, expertise/focus; and implies Nvidia’s recognition that while GPU dominated Al training, the rapid shift towards inference could require more specialized chips.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
Samsung, SK Hynix increase HBM3E prices by 20% for 2026 orders: report
South Korean memory makers Samsung (SSNLF) and SK Hynix have reportedly increased prices for their fifth-generation, high-bandwidth advanced memory chips by 20% for 2026 deliveries, according to DigiTimes Asia.
The price hike for the HBM3E arrives as demand continues to surge for advanced memory chips due to the rise of artificial intelligence applications. It is also occurring as memory makers are preparing to start shifting resources to HBM4 chips, which is typically when prices begin to weaken on the prior generation, the report said. Nvidia (NVDA), Google (GOOG)(GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) have all increased their memory requirements for new AI chips.
Micron Technology (MU) is also ripe to benefit from HBM demand as it is also a key supplier of the memory chips. Micron has already sold out its HBM supply through 2026, including HBM4.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
#TKECF #TKECY
Tepco to partially restart world’s biggest nuclear power plant next month
Tokyo Electric Power (TKECF) (TKECY) plans to reactivate a unit of its long-idled Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on January 20, with the intent to fully resume normal operations on February 26, the Japanese utility said December 24.
The prefecture assembly in Niigata, the region where the plant is located, approved the partial restart of the plant - the first for Tepco (TKECF) (TKECY) since the 2011 reactor meltdown at its Fukushima Daiichi plant - and will assess the reactor’s integrity during test runs.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was among 54 reactors that were shut down following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled Fukushima Daiichi; Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 reactors that remain operable, as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s total capacity is 8.2 GW, and the pending restart would bring the 1.36 GW No. 6 unit online next year, with a potential restart of another unit with the same capacity as soon as 2029.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
XPeng’s Middle East expansion lifts Chinese EV names
Xpeng (XPEV) is launching its popular models in the Middle East and Africa, partnering with a subsidiary of Almana Group as the company’s exclusive distributor in Qatar, and Axess Limited in the East African nation of Mauritius.
The Chinese EV maker will enter the Qatari market with the G6 and G9 SUVs and, later with the P7+ sedan. Xpeng (XPEV) also showcased products from its Adridge flying car subsidiary at the product launch in Doha.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Dec. 26, 2025
YouTube:
[Financial Historian | The Financial Historian] Every country on Earth is drowning in debt. who’s the creditor?
Every country on Earth is drowning in debt — but nobody ever asks the real question: if everyone owes money… who’s the creditor?
The United States owes over $38 trillion. Europe owes $14 trillion. Japan owes $9 trillion. Global debt now exceeds $315 trillion — nearly three times the size of the world economy. Yet somehow, the system keeps running. How? Because governments aren’t trying to pay their debts off — they’re rolling them over forever.
In this episode of The Financial Historian, we reveal how modern economies turned debt into money itself — and why the entire system depends on confidence, not repayment. You’ll learn:
How sovereign bonds became the foundation of modern finance.
Who really owns America’s debt (and why it’s mostly Americans).
Why countries don’t ever plan to repay the principal — and what would happen if they tried.
How central banks quietly manufacture debt to create money.
And how the world’s “creditors” aren’t nations or billionaires — but a system of endless promises.
Once you see how the global debt machine really works, you’ll never hear the word “deficit” the same way again.
Link to Full Video (09:23 Minute) - Oct 27, 2025
[The holder investor] Dollar Cost Average vs Buy The Dip (SURPRISING)
Buy stocks every month or buy only when the stock price is down? In the video, we will see a study that analyzes which strategy is the best for long-term investments, dollar cost average (DCA), or buy the dip.
The dollar cost average or DCA, is when you buy stocks in regular intervals, can be monthly, weekly, or in any other period. The key point of this strategy is that the purchases occur regardless of the asset’s price.
On the other hand, the buy the dip strategy is when you only buy stocks when they are going down. As the stock’s price dips, it may present an opportunity to pick up shares at a discount price.
Link to Full Video (04:02 Minute) - Feb 23, 2022
Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.
