Alpha Coverage #148
AI, Robotics, Space, Quantum Computing, Climate Change/Energy Transition, Biotech/Genomics
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This Week’s Alpha Coverage: YouTube Playlist or Weekly Compilation.
Editor’s Pick:
BLK 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ TBT 0.00%↑
[News] Big investors brace for inflation comeback as rate-cut bets look risky
BlackRock (BLK) has increased short positions in long-dated U.S. Treasuries and U.K. gilts, betting yields could rise if expected rate cuts are delayed. Bridgewater Associates is leaning toward equities over bonds, while Pacific Investment Management Co. is favoring inflation-linked Treasuries as a hedge.
Market signals back up their caution. U.S. inflation breakevens have jumped to multi-month highs, and inflation swaps are pointing to stronger price pressures ahead. Many investors worry that a resilient U.S. economy, higher commodity prices, heavy government borrowing and surging AI investment could reignite inflation, especially if Kevin Warsh pushes the Federal Reserve toward faster or deeper rate cuts.
Some strategists argue an inflationary boom is still underpriced, a scenario that could keep the Fed sidelined early in the year and force markets to price in rate hikes later. That outlook would complicate the start of Warsh’s tenure if confirmed, given his reputation as an inflation hawk and political pressure for lower rates.
In the United States, opinions are split. Some managers see inflation steadily easing toward target, while others warn it could climb above 4% by year-end amid tariffs, geopolitical risks and strong demand for energy and metals.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 01, 2026
MP 0.00%↑ USAR 0.00%↑ CRML 0.00%↑
[News] U.S. to launch $12B strategic critical minerals stockpile to counter China - Bloomberg
The venture, to be named Project Vault, reportedly will combine $1.67B in private funding with a $10B loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank to acquire and stockpile the minerals for automakers, technology companies and other manufacturers.
The effort would be similar to the U.S. emergency oil stockpile, but instead of crude, the initiative’s focus would be minerals - such as gallium and cobalt - used in products such as iPhones, batteries and jet engines.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
[News] Trade deal with India buoys retail stocks with manufacturing exposure
“Out of friendship and respect for Prime Minister Modi, and per his request, effective immediately, we agreed to a Trade Deal between the United States and India, whereby the United States will charge a reduced Reciprocal Tariff, lowering it from 25% to 18%. They will likewise move forward to reduce their tariff and non-tariff barriers against the United States to ZERO,” President Trump posted on Truth Social.
As part of the agreement between the two countries, India committed to buying more American-made goods, Venezuelan oil, and to cease purchases of Russian oil.
While the US has framed the move as a strategic win linked to the Ukraine war, India hasn’t mentioned Russian oil yet.
In his late-night post, PM Modi only mentioned that the tariffs have been reduced to 18 per cent and thanked Trump on behalf of the country. However, there was no mention of Russian oil or stopping imports in the post.
“Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement,” PM Modi said in a post on X.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
Link to Indiatoday News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[News] Anthropic AI Tool Sparks Selloff From Software to Broader Market
A new AI automation tool from Anthropic PBC sparked a $285 billion rout in stocks across the software, financial services and asset management sectors on Tuesday as investors raced to dump shares with even the slightest exposure.
A Goldman Sachs basket of US software stocks sank 6%, its biggest one-day decline since April’s tariff-fueled selloff, while an index of financial services firms tumbled almost 7%.
The selloff started before the US market opened as traders pointed to a release on the Anthropic website as the reason behind steep declines.
On its website of plugins, Anthropic included a legal tool that it says can automate work like contract reviewing and legal briefings. Though, “All outputs should be reviewed by licensed attorneys,” according to the website.
There are other signs that software companies are lagging their tech sector peers. So far this earnings season, just 71% of software companies in the S&P 500 have beaten revenue expectations, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 85% for the overall tech sector.
Link to Bloomberg News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[News] Lumentum lifts off as Q3 guidance glides past expectations
Lumentum (LITE) shares shot up 10% during early post-market trading on Tuesday after releasing its second quarter fiscal 2026 financial results and third-quarter guidance that shattered market expectations.
For the quarter ended December 27, the cloud and networking company reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.67 versus the consensus estimate of $1.41 and GAAP EPS of $0.89 compared to the $0.49 estimate.
Revenue for the second quarter surged 65% year over year to total $665M, which was more than the $652M consensus.
For the quarter in progress, Lumentum projects adjusted EPS ranging from $2.15 to $2.35, which completely clears the $1.59 estimate. It expects third-quarter revenue to range from $780M to $830M, with a midpoint of $805M, which is well above the $707M estimate.
“Our forward guidance calls for over 85 percent year-over-year revenue growth, yet we are only at the starting line for two substantial opportunities: optical circuit switches and co-packaged optics,” said Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston. “In OCS, we are scaling rapidly to meet extraordinary customer demand that has already driven our backlog well beyond $400 million. In CPO, we received an incremental multi-hundred-million-dollar order, deliverable in the first half of calendar year 2027.”
“We are now recognized as a foundational engine of the AI revolution. Virtually every AI network is powered by Lumentum technology,” Michael added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[News] Amazon creating AI tools to ramp up movie, TV show production - Reuters
Amazon (AMZN) plans to use artificial intelligence to boost the process for making movies and TV shows, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The report said Albert Cheng, the operating chief at Amazon MGM Studio, is overseeing a team developing AI tools to cut costs for the creative process. The company plans to test those tools in a closed beta program with industry partners in March and share results from that by May.
Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing unit, is expected to help the AI Studio, and the company plans to work with multiple LLM providers to give creators a wider array of options for pre- and post-production filmmaking, the report said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
NFLX 0.00%↑ WBD 0.00%↑ PSKY 0.00%↑
[News] Trump says he won’t be involved in Netflix-Paramount fight over Warner Bros.
President Donald Trump said he would stay out of the takeover battle between Netflix (NFLX) and Paramount Skydance (PSKY) over Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), a marked shift from two months ago, when he said he would be involved in the deal’s approval process.
“I haven’t been involved,” Trump told NBC News in an interview. “I’ve been called by both sides. It’s the two sides, but I’ve decided I shouldn’t be involved. The Justice Department will handle it.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ DIA 0.00%↑
[News] U.S.-based employers ramp up job cuts in January: Challenger Report
U.S.-based employers announced 108K job cuts in January, the highest for the month since 2009 and the highest monthly total since October 2025, according to data released by Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday.
The January announcements jumped 118% from January 2025 and 205% from the 36K job cuts announced in December.
The reasons for the job cuts include contract loss (30,784); market and economic conditions (28,392); restructuring (20,044); and closings (12,738). Artificial intelligence accounted for 7,624, or 7%, of the January job cuts.
By industry sector, transportation led the job cut announcements with plans for 31,243 cuts, primarily from UPS (UPS) eliminating 30K jobs as it winds down its partnership with Amazon (AMZN).
Technology followed with 22,291 job cuts in January, with most coming from Amazon (AMZN), which announced 16K cuts as it streamlines its layers of management.
Health care companies and health care product manufacturers, including hospitals, reported plans for 17,107 job cuts last month, the most for the industry since April 2020, when 19,453 job cuts were recorded.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
[News] Tower Semiconductor strikes Nvidia AI infrastructure deal (update)
Tower Semiconductor (TSEM) said Thursday it is teaming up with Nvidia (NVDA) to advance AI infrastructure with 1.6T data center optical modules.
“NVIDIA is collaborating with Tower Semiconductor to advance the ecosystem, enabling more efficient AI infrastructure through next-generation silicon photonics and accelerating AI applications at scale,” said Gilad Shainer, Senior Vice President, Networking, NVIDIA.
Tower Semiconductor said its silicon photonics technology can deliver up to twice the data rate of earlier solutions, increasing bandwidth and throughput for optical connectivity and helping accelerate AI workloads across AI infrastructure.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
[News] WeRide, Uber to deploy 1,200 robotaxis across the Middle East
WeRide (WRD) and Uber Technologies (UBER) have expanded their partnership to deploy at least 1,200 robotaxis across the Middle East.
The deployment, which will span Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Riyadh, is expected to be completed as soon as 2027.
The fleet will be scaled up progressively, with Uber committed to adding more robotaxis as key regulatory approvals and performance milestones are met, including the launch of fully driverless commercial operations covering the core areas of each city.
With this expanded deployment, WeRide and Uber now operate robotaxis in three of the 15 cities outlined under their previous agreement, with another 12 cities to come by 2030.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ #Waymo
[News] Waymo using Genie 3 to create hard-to-predict driving scenarios
The Waymo World Model, built on Genie 3, generates photorealistic and interactive 3D environments and “adapts for the rigors of the driving domain.” By using Genie’s “immense” world knowledge, Waymo (GOOG) (GOOGL) can be trained to react to situations such as extreme weather conditions and natural disasters.
“Genie 3’s strong world knowledge, gained from its pre-training on an extremely large and diverse set to videos, allows us to explore situations that were never directly observed by our fleet,” Waymo said in a blog post.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads:
NVDA 0.00%↑ #OpenAI
Nvidia – OpenAI megadeal worth $100B faces uncertainty: WSJ
Under the partnership announced in September, Nvidia (NVDA) agreed to build at least 10 gigawatts of computing power for OpenAI and pledged to invest up to $100B in the Sam Altman-led startup.
In exchange, OpenAI agreed to lease the chips from the Santa Clara, California-headquartered tech giant and planned to deploy the first gigawatt of NVIDIA systems in the second half of 2026.
People familiar with the matter said that Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has privately told business associates that the original agreement was not binding and finalized.
He has also identified OpenAI’s business approach as lacking discipline and noted the rivalry the company faces from AI players such as Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN)/Google (GOOG)-backed Anthropic.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jan. 31, 2026
NVDA 0.00%↑ #OpenAI
Nvidia to join OpenAI funding round with potentially its largest investment ever
Nvidia (NVDA) Chief Executive Jensen Huang said that his company will “absolutely” be involved in Microsoft (MSFT)-backed OpenAI’s (OPENAI) current funding round, and its contribution could potentially be “the largest investment we’ve ever made.”
“We will definitely participate in the next round of financing, because it’s such a good investment,” Bloomberg News reported, quoting Huang as telling reporters in Taipei, adding, “It’s a great pleasure.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Amazon.com (AMZN) is in talks to invest up to $50B in the Sam Altman-led OpenAI (OPENAI), which has been seeking up to $100B in new capital from investors in its current funding round.
However, Huang added that Nvidia’s (NVDA) investment in the ChatGPT maker will be “nothing like” $100B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jan. 31, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] AI’s chip frenzy starts to squeeze Apple’s once-unshakable supply chain
As artificial-intelligence companies pour vast sums into data centers, they are snapping up chips, memory and other critical components, and increasingly outbidding Apple (AAPL). Suppliers that once bent over backward for the iPhone maker now have the upper hand, pushing prices higher and narrowing Apple’s (AAPL) famously rich margins.
For years, Apple’s (AAPL) scale and discipline allowed it to dictate terms, renegotiate prices frequently and even walk away from suppliers. But AI customers are willing to pay premiums, lock in long-term supply and make upfront commitments, giving memory makers such as Samsung Electronics (SSNFL) and SK Hynix (HSXC.F) more leverage than before.
Apple (AAPL) is also competing for talent and attention inside supplier organizations. Engineers who once focused on smartphone displays, sensors and components are now increasingly pulled toward specialized materials and hardware for AI chips.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 01, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Silver boom fuels smuggling, speculation, pain for industry
The surge has been devastating for manufacturers, particularly solar-panel producers. Silver now accounts for up to 20% of solar-cell production costs, up from single digits just a few years ago. Major Chinese panel makers have warned of heavy losses, raised prices and accelerated efforts to replace silver with cheaper materials like copper.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 01, 2026
#BYDDF #BYDDY
BYD sales slide continues as China EV competition intensifies
The company sold 210,051 vehicles worldwide last month, down 30.1% from a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Production fell nearly in step, declining 29.1%, marking the fifth consecutive monthly contraction.
Plug-in hybrids (BYD’s largest segment, accounting for more than half of total sales) posted a 28.5% year-over-year decline in January, continuing a slide that began in 2025.
Overseas markets remain a relative bright spot. BYD exported just over 100,000 new-energy vehicles in January and is targeting 1.3 million international shipments this year, a 24% increase from 2025. That goal, however, is lower than earlier ambitions shared with investors late last year. BYD did not explain the revision.
The automaker is expanding its manufacturing footprint abroad, with a new plant in Hungary expected to open this year, complementing existing operations in Brazil and Thailand, and planned assembly facilities in Indonesia and Turkey.
BYD (BYDDF) (BYDDY) hit its reduced global sales target of 4.6 million vehicles in 2025 and has yet to set a goal for 2026. Looking ahead, analysts expect China’s auto market to stagnate as government subsidies for lower-priced vehicles are scaled back, adding strain for BYD and other manufacturers focused on affordability.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 01, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Xi signals push for yuan reserve status as Beijing eyes bigger role in global finance
In an essay published Saturday in Qiushi, the Chinese leader argued that China should build a “strong” currency that is broadly used across global trade, investment and foreign exchange markets and that can ultimately be held by central banks as reserves.
Beijing has spent years promoting wider international use of the renminbi. The article is notable because it sets out a clearer definition of what that ambition requires. Xi pointed to the need for a more capable People’s Bank of China, globally competitive financial institutions, and financial centers with enough depth to attract overseas capital and influence price-setting in global markets.
The comments were drawn from a 2024 address to senior regional officials and had not been made public until this week.
Their release comes as global investors and central banks reassess the dollar’s dominance amid market volatility, policy uncertainty and geopolitical strains.
Some economists see Beijing trying to capitalize on a shifting backdrop in the global order.
China’s central bank governor, Pan Gongsheng, has also spoken about a future system where several major currencies share influence, the Financial Times reported.
Even so, the renminbi’s role in official reserves remains small. The International Monetary Fund data show the U.S. dollar still makes up the largest share of global reserves, with the euro second. The renminbi ranks well behind, at under 2% in the third quarter of 2025.
Analysts say a bigger reserve role would likely require steps China has been cautious about, including a more open capital account and fuller convertibility. Trading partners have also urged Beijing to allow a stronger exchange rate, arguing the currency is kept too weak and contributes to China’s outsized trade surplus.
Policymakers have recently tolerated modest strengthening against the dollar, though the currency has been softer versus the euro. Market watchers say Beijing’s near-term focus is stability, while longer-term appreciation would depend on stronger domestic growth and continued progress in strategic technologies, the FT reported.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 01, 2026
Marvell completes $3.25B Celestial AI acquisition
Celestial develops Photonic Fabric optical interconnect technology, which is designed to support high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity across large-scale AI deployments.
Marvell expects initial revenue contributions from Celestial to start in the second half of fiscal 2028, with revenue ramping in the fourth quarter to a $500M annualized run rate. Revenue is expected to double to a $1B annualized run rate by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2029.
The acquisition is expected to add about $50M in annual non-GAAP operating expenses to Marvell’s current run rate.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
Twist Bioscience rises as fiscal 2026 revenue guidance raised; accelerating AI-enabled discovery investments
The DNA-based life sciences tools company now sees FY26 revenue of $435M-$440M, up from $425M-$435M prior. Consensus is $431.67M.
The company also projects FY26 Q2 revenue of $107M-$108M. Consensus is $104.36M.
CEO Emily Leproust described the company’s expansion into AI-enabled discovery markets, with over $25 million in orders for fiscal 2025, and now sees “a clear path to more than $12 billion of addressable market by 2030.”
President & COO Patrick Finn discussed the transition of AI-enabled discovery from “exploratory work in early 2025” to “repeat production level workflows,” adding, “we continue to drive in the first quarter with 74% of incremental revenue dropping through to gross margin.”
Matthew Larew, William Blair: Asked about the durability of AI drug discovery demand and the economics of delivering data versus DNA. Leproust responded that customers are returning with large orders and expects “AI is going to become the first path” for antibody discovery, adding, “we get a great benefit to the top line as well” from upselling data.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
Robinhood unveils stocks & shares ISA in UK; Mizuho sees ‘major positive catalyst’
Robinhood UK (HOOD) introduced a stocks & shares ISA (individual savings account), offering zero platform fees, no commissions, low FX fees, and a 2% cash bonus on contributions made before April 5, 2026, the company said on Monday.
ISAs are the UK’s most widely used long-term savings vehicle, but many investors are put off by high fees, complicated transfers, and outdated platforms, Robinhood said. The new account gives UK customers access to ~5,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ADRs. Investors can trade whole and fractional shares, it added.
The total addressable market for Robinhood’s (HOOD) new product “is vast,” Mizuho said. The market value of adult ISA holdings is “likely well over $1T cash + stock vs. ~$333B assets under custody as of 3Q25 for HOOD,” Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
RKLB 0.00%↑ #BlueOrigin
Hegseth courts Blue Origin as Pentagon steps up pressure on legacy defense firms
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday used a visit to Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin’s Cape Canaveral facilities to underscore the Pentagon’s push to overhaul weapons buying and reward faster, lower-cost innovation, while sharpening his critique of traditional defense contractors.
Speaking alongside Bezos, Hegseth said the department is moving away from “business as usual,” praising Blue Origin for avoiding vendor lock-in and delays that have long plagued major programs. He contrasted the company’s progress with what he called a legacy model of over-budget, behind-schedule contracts, adding that those practices are no longer acceptable.
Hegseth’s “Arsenal of Freedom” tour has included stops at major primes such as Huntington Ingalls (HII) and Lockheed Martin (LMT), as well as newer defense entrants like Rocket Lab (RKLB), Castelion and Divergent Technologies, as the Pentagon seeks to broaden its industrial base and speed delivery.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] NXP edges down following Q4 financial results despite strong growth in IoT and industrial
For the quarter ended December 31, NXP reported adjusted earnings per share of $3.35 versus the consensus estimate of $3.31.
Revenue for the quarter increased 7.2% year over year to total $3.34B, which was more than the $3.31B consensus. On a business segment basis, automotive increased 4.8% to $1.88B, industrial and IoT increased 24% to $640M, and mobile revenue increased 22% to $485M. Communications infrastructure decreased 18% to $334M but still topped the $327.4M estimate.
Looking ahead, NXP projects first quarter revenue ranging from $3.05B to $3.25B, with a midpoint of $3.15B more than the $3.09B estimate. The Netherlands-based company expects adjusted EPS to range from $2.77 to $3.17, with a midpoint of $2.97 just above the $2.95 consensus.
“Automotive revenue was $7.1 billion, flat year-on-year due to slower inventory digestion at direct customers in the first half of 2025. With the inventory digestion behind us, the second half performance aligns with our group, our 8% to 12% long-term growth outlook,” CEO Rafael Sotomayor said.
The CEO noted strong design wins and global adoption in software-defined vehicles (SDV), referencing S32 and S32K processor families, and cited that “early conversations with customers from the recently acquired technologies from TTTech Auto and Aviva Links are accelerating interest in NXP’s SDV portfolio.”
Sotomayor added that, “The potential revenue contribution from these engagements should materialize beyond 2027.”
In Q1 2026 NXP expects Industrial and IoT to be up in the low 20% range year-on-year and down in the mid-single-digit range sequentially. Mobile is expected to be up in the mid-teen percent range year-on-year and down in the 20% range sequentially. Communications Infrastructure and Other is expected to be up in the mid-teen percent range year-on-year and up 10% sequentially.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
#SpaceX #xAI
[Newsletter Exclusive] SpaceX confirms xAI merger after Musk seems to corroborate reports
“SpaceX has acquired xAI to form the most ambitious, vertically-integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free speech platform,” Musk wrote in a statement on SpaceX’s website. “This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI’s mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe and extend the light of consciousness to the stars! Current advances in AI are dependent on large terrestrial data centers, which require immense amounts of power and cooling. Global electricity demand for AI simply cannot be met with terrestrial solutions, even in the near term, without imposing hardship on communities and the environment.”
Musk continued: “My estimate is that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space. This cost-efficiency alone will enable innovative companies to forge ahead in training their AI models and processing data at unprecedented speeds and scales, accelerating breakthroughs in our understanding of physics and invention of technologies to benefit humanity. This new constellation will build upon the well-established space sustainability design and operational strategies, including end-of-life disposal, that have proven successful for SpaceX’s existing broadband satellite systems.”
Citing an internal memo from Musk, Bloomberg reported that the combined company will have a valuation of $1.25T.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
California Governor Newsom floats $200M rebate plan for Tesla, EV industry
The administration of California Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday that the state’s proposed $200 million electric vehicle incentive program would apply only to first-time buyers and require participating manufacturers to offer matching incentives.
Under the new program, passenger vehicles priced at or below $55,000 would qualify for the rebate, along with $80,000 for vans, SUVs, and pickup trucks and $25,000 for used vehicles, Bloomberg News reported, citing a statement from Newsom’s office.
The cutoff would mean some of Tesla’s (TSLA) most popular models, as well as one variation of its Cybertruck, would qualify for a rebate at current prices.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 02, 2026
GOOGL 0.00%↑ #Waymo
[Newsletter Exclusive] Alphabet’s Waymo valued at $126B in latest funding round
Waymo (WAYMO), the autonomous driving arm of Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), has raised $16B in a new funding round, boosting its post-money valuation to $126B.
Waymo’s (WAYMO) autonomous ride-hailing services are currently live across major U.S. markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Austin, Miami, and Atlanta. Looking ahead to 2026, the company plans to expand autonomous ride-hailing to 20 additional cities, including international markets such as Tokyo and London.
In 2025 alone, Waymo more than tripled its annual ride volume to 15M, pushing lifetime rides past 20M.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Rambus shares slide 15% after quarterly report flags supply risks
The global semiconductor company said a one-time supply chain disruption, outlined in its Q1 outlook, will weigh on product revenue in the quarter. As such, guidance for Q1 2026 revenue and earnings per share is lower than the previous quarter’s outlook, reflecting the supply chain disruption.
“The issue is being resolved in collaboration with our supply chain partners, and we expect our product business to return to strong growth in the second quarter, fueled by market share gains and the continued ramp of new products. I am confident in our long-term trajectory for 2026 and beyond,” CEO Luc Seraphin said on the conference call.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Teradyne rallies 20%, guides Q1 numbers above estimates on AI demand
Q4 revenue reached $1.08B, up 44% Y/Y, with Semiconductor Test at $883M, Product Test at $110M, and Robotics at $89M.
GAAP net income was $257.2M ($1.63 per share), while non-GAAP net income hit $283M ($1.80 per share), beating analyst expectations fueled by AI in compute, networking, and memory.
“Across all of our business groups – Semi Test, Product Test, and Robotics – we experienced sequential growth, and at the company level we achieved 13% growth in 2025,” said Teradyne CEO, Greg Smith. “In 2026, we expect year-over-year growth across all of our businesses, with strong momentum in compute driven by AI.”
For Q1, Teradyne (TER) expects revenue of $1.15B to $1.25B (consensus at $966.57M) with GAAP net income of $1.82 to $2.19 per diluted share and non-GAAP net income of $1.89 to $2.25 per share (consensus at $1.28).
“AI demand drove 40% to 50% of our revenue in Q3. In Q4, AI drove more than 60% of our revenue. Looking forward to Q1 of 2026, we expect that upwards of 70% of our revenue will be driven by AI applications,” CEO Gregory Smith said.
Sreekrishnan Sankarnarayanan, TD Cowen: Inquired about GPU test share expectations. Smith indicated, “We expect to achieve production qualification... Once we achieve qualification, I believe we’ll incrementally gain share for these devices over the course of a couple of years.”
Vedvati Shrotre, Evercore: Asked about Robotics revenue breakeven and e-commerce customer impact. Smith stated, “We’re aiming at breakeven for Robotics this year... we think that, that revenue is kind of going to triple-ish between 2025 and 2026 and then grow substantially post ‘26.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Snowflake releases system to improve AI agents’ semantic understanding and outcomes
Snowflake (SNOW) has released Semantic View Autopilot, an artificial intelligence-powered service that automates the creation and governance of semantic views, giving agents a shared understanding of business metrics to deliver more consistent and trustworthy outputs.
The data cloud company also introduced new capabilities across agent evaluations and observability, end-to-end machine learning, and AI cost governance.
“Our focus is to make that future a reality now by ensuring AI agents operate on consistent business logic, behave as expected, and scale without surprises. By unifying trust, governance, and execution on one platform, we’re delivering AI that actually works in the environments our customers care about,” Christian Kleinerman, executive vice president of product at Snowflake said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
TSLA 0.00%↑ #SpaceX
There is a logical path for Tesla to merge with SpaceX and X.AI – analyst
“In our view there is a growing chance that Tesla will eventually be merged in some form into SpaceX/xAI over time. The view is this growing AI ecosystem will focus on Space and Earth together.....and Musk will look to combine forces/technologies over time. Tesla now is laser focused on autonomous and robotics in this key era for Musk & Co. and we expect more cross-pollination between Tesla and SpaceX over the coming year which is bullish for the Tesla story in our view,” said Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives.
Seeking Alpha analyst The Techie said, “I think Tesla (TSLA) remains part of the conversation here. I think the company now acts as the industrial utility of the empire, driven by the energy storage part of the business, which is the missing link needed to power those orbital data centers. As Tesla invests $2 billion into xAI and pivots capacity toward Optimus robots, the company is evolving from a car manufacturer into the physical AI provider that will eventually deploy hardware, powered by xAI’s intelligence, across Musk’s terrestrial and space-based infrastructure.”
Jed Dorsheimer, group head of the energy and power technologies sector at William Blair, sees a logical path for Tesla (TSLA) to eventually merge with SpaceX (SPACE) and xAI (X.AI), citing the strategic alignment of power, energy, and autonomy across Elon Musk’s portfolio of companies.
The analyst noted that Tesla’s (TSLA) transition toward humanoid robots and autonomous vehicles creates natural synergies that could benefit from a unified corporate structure.
Dorsheimer pointed to Tesla’s (TSLA) decision to scale back Model S and X production in favor of manufacturing its Optimus humanoid robots as evidence of the company’s shifting priorities.
The shift toward autonomous robotaxis could fundamentally reshape Tesla’s (TSLA) automotive business, Dorsheimer suggested. He noted that the average car utilization in the U.S. is only about 5%, and as autonomy takes hold, “the need for the number of cars actually goes down, dramatically.”
Dorsheimer also highlighted Tesla’s (TSLA) energy division as a “silent winner” during this transition period, arguing that the return on invested capital for the energy business exceeds that of the automotive segment.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Enterprise software stocks tumble as analysts mull growth acceleration amid AI impact
“Maybe the simplest explanation is the correct one: growth is broadly not accelerating in software, while it is in other sectors, particularly those exposed to the Al capex trade and data center buildout. And with software historically being the growth leader, the sector is adjusting to a new reality, one where it is simply no longer the growth king. This gets compounded by investors not having conviction in who the winners and losers are in an Al world. And with software growth not accelerating, the conclusion is that the sector is not seeing a material benefit from Al...yet,” said William Blair analysts led by Arjun Bhatia.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Copper Rebounds as China Industry Group Calls for Stockpiling
Copper rebounded as a metals selloff led by silver and gold eased and a state-backed industry group called for China to boost its strategic reserves of the crucial industrial metal.
China should expand the size of the reserves and also work with major state-owned producers to boost commercial stockpiles, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, which held an annual briefing to review trends in the sector on Tuesday.
Link to Bloomberg News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
AMD slides even as Q4 results, guidance surge past Wall Street estimates
For the period ending Dec. 27, AMD said it earned an adjusted $1.53 per share as revenue rose 34% year-over-year to $10.27B. Data Center revenue rose 39% year-over-year to $5.4B, aided by its MI300 AI accelerator and its Instinct and EPYC processors. Analysts were anticipating $4.97B in Data Center revenue.
Lisa Su, Chair, President & CEO emphasized momentum in Data Center AI, declaring, “8 of the top 10 AI companies use Instinct to power production workloads”.
Su projected, “We are well positioned to grow Data Center segment revenue by more than 60% annually over the next 3 to 5 years and scale our AI business to tens of billions in annual revenue in 2027.”
Sequentially, revenue is expected to decline in Q1, 2026 approximately 5% due to seasonal factors in Client, Gaming, and Embedded, partially offset by growth in Data Center.
Vivek Arya, BofA: Sought clarification on China MI308 sales and potential for 60%+ Data Center growth in 2026. Su replied, “We are not forecasting any additional revenue from China just because it’s a very dynamic situation.” On Data Center growth, “the long-term target of, let’s call it, greater than 60% is certainly possible in 2026.”
Regarding the China situation, AMD management—led by CEO Dr. Lisa Su and CFO Jean Hu—said it’s a dynamic situation. The near $400M in revenue reported in Q4 from China was from a license that was approved by the Trump Administration from orders “very early” in 2025, Su explained.
“And so we saw some revenue in Q4, and we’re forecasting for about $100 million of revenue in Q1,” Su added. “We are not forecasting any additional revenue from China just because it’s a very dynamic situation. So given that it’s a dynamic situation, we’re still waiting for—we’ve submitted licenses for the MI325, and we’re continuing to work with customers and understanding sort of their customer demand. We thought it prudent not to forecast any additional revenue other than the $100 million that we called out in the Q1 guide.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Enphase targets $2B battery retrofit market in Netherlands while rolling out fifth-generation batteries and AI-driven customer tools
“U.S. consumers pulled forward purchases ahead of the Section 25D tax credit deadline, helping us exit 2025 with a lean channel,” CEO Badrinarayanan Kothandaraman said.
The CEO cited a major battery retrofit opportunity in the Netherlands: “With an installed base of approximately 475,000 Enphase residential solar systems, we estimate a total opportunity of roughly $2 billion for batteries.”
On product innovation, Kothandaraman stated, “We are investing in next-generation products very strongly, both IQ9 microinverters and our fifth-generation battery platform. We expect to deliver structural cost improvements in these products, which enable attractive pricing and sustain healthy gross margins.”
CEO Kothandaraman provided, “We are providing Q1 revenue guidance of $270 million to $300 million. We are approximately 90% booked to the midpoint of our revenue guidance. We continue to believe Q1 marks the low point for underlying demand with improvement expected through 2026.”
Mandy Yang projected, “We expect our revenue for Q1 to be within a range of $270 million to $300 million, which includes shipments of 120-megawatt hours of IQ batteries. The revenue guidance includes approximately $35 million of safe harbor revenue.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 03, 2026
Microsoft’s AI product Copilot faces issues, competition: report
Confusing brand positioning and interoperability issues have frustrated users, said current and former employees who have worked on Microsoft’s AI products, the report added.
Only a small percentage of subscribers to Microsoft’s enterprise suite use Copilot, and the portion who favor it over Alphabet’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) Google’s Gemini or other tools has declined in recent months, according to data reviewed by the WSJ.
Last week, shares of Microsoft (MSFT) tumbled following investor concern that growth in its Azure cloud-computing business is slowing.
“We have moved past the initial phase of discovery” of AI, CEO Satya Nadella wrote in a December 2025 blog post, adding that the industry was entering a phase where “we are beginning to distinguish between ‘spectacle’ and ‘substance.’
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] FDA push to fast-track Compass Pathways’ psychedelic treatment rejected by Trump officials, STAT News reports
Trump administration officials declined to approve an FDA plan to fast-track review of a psychedelic treatment for severe depression, STAT has learned, suggesting possible internal differences between senior leadership and the Make America Healthy Again movement.
A psilocybin treatment from Compass Pathways (CMPS) made the FDA’s list of promising medicines to be granted a speedy regulatory review, five people familiar with the process told STAT News.
But when Commissioner Marty Makary presented that list for sign-off to the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the FDA, and to the White House in October, his superiors shot it down, the people said.
The veto came just hours before the FDA announced the first recipients of Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers, the report said. Of the 10 drugs the agency put forward, only Compass’ (CMPS) medicine didn’t make the final list.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Johnson Controls International beats top-line and bottom-line estimates; initiates Q2 and updates FY26 outlook
Johnson Controls International press release (JCI): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.89 beats by $0.05.
Revenue of $5.8B (+6.8% Y/Y) beats by $160M and organic sales increased 6%.
Q1 Orders +39% organically year-over-year
Backlog of $18.2 billion increased 20% organically year-over-year.
The Company provided fiscal 2026 full year Adjusted EPS guidance of ~$4.70 (previously ~$4.55) (vs. $4.62 consensus).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Eli Lilly in charts: Mounjaro +109% and Zepbound +123% Y/Y in Q4
The Zepbound maker reported $19.3B in revenue for the quarter, beating the consensus by as much as ~$1.4B with ~43% YoY growth, while its adjusted EPS of $7.54 indicated a ~42% YoY growth and a beat of $0.61.
As for individual products, Lilly (LLY) reported $7.4B and $4.3B in revenue from its GLP-1 products Mounjaro and Zepbound, indicating ~110% YoY and ~123% YoY growth compared to $6.8B and $3.8B projected by analysts, respectively, according to Bloomberg data.
Looking ahead, the company reiterated its plans to launch its oral weight loss therapy. Orforglipron in Q2 subject to regulatory clearance in the U.S.
Seamus Fernandez, Guggenheim: Asked about broader investment in immunology. Daniel Skovronsky replied that proceeds from obesity are being reinvested in oncology, neuroscience, and immunology, “We’re reinvesting some of the proceeds from the obesity opportunity to make sure we can further accelerate growth in those promising areas.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
JKS 0.00%↑ KGRN 0.00%↑ TSLA 0.00%↑
JinkoSolar surges after visit from Elon Musk team
JinkoSolar (JKS) +13.7% pre-market Wednesday after a state-backed media outlet reported the company confirmed it had been visited by a team sent by Elon Musk, days after he announced plans to build 100 GW of solar cell capacity in the U.S. during a Tesla earnings call.
A team sent by Musk reportedly visited several photovoltaic companies in China, including those involved in equipment, silicon wafers, battery modules and perovskite technology.
The U.S. solar market is heavily protected by tariffs designed to stop imports of cheaper panels and cells from China and Southeast Asia, but several U.S. producers still have links to Chinese manufacturers.
Jinko Solar (JKS) jumped by the daily limit of 20% in Shanghai trading, while Trina Solar gained as much as 12% and industry bellwether LONGi Green Energy Technology also rose.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Uber in Charts: Gross Bookings cross $54B in Q4, +22.5% Y/Y
During the company’s earnings call, Khosrowshahi updated on the company’s autonomy ambitions with an outlook to have AVs in 15 cities by the end of 2026.
“I’m more convinced than ever that AV represents a multi-trillion dollar opportunity,” he said, adding that AVs on the platform are at “significantly higher utilization” than standalone platforms.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Lumentum lights up as analysts highlight new growth drivers
“We see the unprecedented demand for AI network infrastructure as the key long-term growth driver,” said Needham analysts, led by Ryan Koontz, in an investor note. “Deep vertical integration from its own production infrastructure and global scale provides strong operating leverage … Shares should continue to trend higher as AI momentum persists and the company capitalizes on multiple growth vectors.”
Needham also highlighted additional growth opportunities through new product lines, including optical circuit switches and co-packaged optics.
“Among new product lines, OCS systems and CPO laser orders saw material order increases and accelerated availability to C2H26 and C1H27, respectively,” Koontz added.
Needham bulked up its price target to $550 from $470 and reiterated its Buy rating.
Meanwhile, B. Riley Securities upgraded Lumentum to Buy from Neutral and nearly quadrupled its price target to $526 from $147.
“The strength was across the board, including EMLs, pumps, and ITLAs,” said B. Riley analyst Dave Kang in a note. “With demand for laser chips exceeding supply by 25–30%, LITE has strategically front-loaded a 40% expansion of its InP capacity. Management indicated that this is only the initial phase, with further modular expansions planned throughout CY26.”
“While LITE already benefits from several secular tailwinds, we see a path for outsized growth driven by two specific near-term catalysts: the rapid scaling of OCS in C2H26, followed by the rapid CPO ramp beginning in early CY27,” he added.
Finally, GF Securities maintained its Buy rating and also highlighted the new opportunities emerging through OCS and CPO.
“We previously identified three primary catalysts for Lumentum’s future growth: cloud transceivers, optical circuit switches, or OCS, and co-packaged optics, or CPO,” said Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston during Tuesday night’s earnings call. “The headline for this quarter is that the vast majority of this growth is still ahead of us, and we have increased confidence as to the timing and magnitude of the ramps. While our Q2 results and Q3 guidance reflect meaningful contributions from cloud transceivers, we are only just beginning to unlock the massive potential of OCS and CPO.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Vertical Aerospace advances its commercial plans for Japan
Vertical Aerospace (EVTL) announced a major acceleration of its commercial roadmap in Japan through a partnership with Marubeni Corporation.
The new agreement is aimed at accelerating the rollout of electric air taxi services in Japan using Vertical Aerospace’s (EVTL) Valo eVTOL aircraft, focusing initially on piloted demonstration flights in the Osaka Bay area targeted for 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
AMZN 0.00%↑ #OpenAI
[Newsletter Exclusive] Amazon enters discussions with OpenAI for possible customized models: report
Amazon (AMZN) has reportedly entered into discussions with OpenAI (AMZN) for the development of customized artificial intelligence models that could be used in Amazon’s AI products, according to The Information.
This news follows last week’s revelation that Amazon might invest up to $50B in OpenAI, which is currently involved in a new fundraising round.
OpenAI’s models could be customized to improve the performance of Amazon’s AI products, such as Alexa, the report said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
AMZN 0.00%↑ $T GSAT 0.00%↑ ASTS 0.00%↑
AT&T taps Amazon for satellite internet, telecom to provide fiber to AWS data centers
AT&T (T) and Amazon (AMZN) have joined hands for a significant partnership under which the telecom will avail satellite internet services from Amazon Leo to offer connectivity to customers in dead zones across the U.S. and, additionally, connect data centers owned by Amazon Web Services with high-capacity fiber, according to a joint statement on Wednesday.
Shares of rival satellite internet providers Globalstar (GSAT) and AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) closed down nearly 6% and 11%, respectively, following the news.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
$BTC
[Newsletter Exclusive] Institutional investors are rapidly retreating from the cryptocurrency
Institutional investors are rapidly retreating from the cryptocurrency, with massive withdrawals from Bitcoin ETFs driving the broader decline. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows of over $3B in January, approximately $2B in December, and roughly $7B in November 2025.
The future of the asset now hinges on the stalled Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, which has been delayed in Congress for months due to disagreements over how stablecoin rewards are handled, she said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
SNOW 0.00%↑ MDB 0.00%↑ IOT 0.00%↑
This is where opportunities lie in growing AI hardware capex – analyst
During an interview with CNBC, Brook Dane, co-head of public tech investing at Goldman Sachs Asset Management emphasized that the AI industry remains in its infancy. “We’re still super early in the buildout of AI, and that has implications for both the hardware infrastructure pieces of things and the software stack,” he said.
While hardware investments accelerate, Dane characterized the software market as being in an “awkward period” where investors are indiscriminately selling positions despite improving AI models and the coming wave of agentic technology.
“The market has taken the first approach of just saying, get me out of everything. We think that’s the wrong answer,” he said, adding that his team sees opportunities to buy companies that will emerge from the current volatility in stronger positions.
Among the software names Dane highlighted are Snowflake (SNOW) and MongoDB (MDB), both of which support the data ecosystem essential for AI development. He noted that these companies benefit from consumption-based pricing rather than seat-based models, meaning their revenue grows as enterprises use and process more data to train and tune AI models.
Dane also pointed to opportunities in industrial applications, specifically citing Samsara (IOT) as an example of a company embedding AI into its core product for fleet management and telematics clients. By offering capabilities like predictive maintenance and safety training, such companies can upsell and cross-sell to their existing customer base at an accelerated pace.
Addressing broader concerns about application software companies, Dane acknowledged the bear case that systems of record businesses may face diminished long-term value.
However, he expressed confidence that these fears are overblown, stating that as the market moves through this generation of AI development, the pessimistic narrative “will largely be disproven.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
NextEra Energy scraps Wyoming wind project amid Trump ‘blockade’ - NYT
NextEra Energy (NEE) has canceled its 600 MW Jackalope wind farm project in Wyoming, The New York Times reported Wednesday, in the latest casualty of President Trump’s efforts to slow or stop federal approvals for wind and solar projects.
A key environmental review of Jackalope Wind by the Interior Department was stalled for months, and the project is now effectively dead, the report said.
The project, which was expected to be operational by summer 2027, signed an agreement in late 2024 with Idaho Power (IDA) to sell energy produced by the farm over 35 years.
In September, the Idaho utility canceled its contracts with Jackalope Wind, citing “uncertainties related to the federal permitting process,” and has since accelerated plans to install nine engines that burn natural gas.
More than 60 large wind and solar farms under development on federal lands, such as Jackalope Wind, are at risk of being stymied by a pause on renewable energy permitting, NYT said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
NVDA 0.00%↑ IGV 0.00%↑ AMD 0.00%↑
Tech Voices: Huang on software sell-off, Su on AMD, Anthropic on ads
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said he thought this week’s sell-off of software company shares was “illogical.”
“It’s the most illogical thing in the world,” Huang said at the Cisco AI Summit late Tuesday, according to Bloomberg. “There’s this notion that the tool is in decline and being replaced by AI. Would you use a screwdriver or invent a new screwdriver?”
“What I would tell you from someone on the inside is AI is accelerating at a pace that I would not have imagined,” Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Lisa Su told CNBC, adding that demand for both its data center products and CPUs is accelerating as well due to AI.
Su also said she expects AMD to reach an “inflection point” later this year when it begins shipping its Helios AI rack-scale platform.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
GE Vernova upgraded at Baird as overcapacity concerns farther away than believed
GE Vernova (GEV) was upgraded Wednesday at Baird to Outperform from Neutral with a $923 price target, raised from $701, after lowering shares just a month ago, now believing the energy infrastructure cycle is still in the early innings and GEV is “squarely positioned as one of the biggest beneficiaries.”
Baird analyst Ben Kallo previously was concerned with overcapacity in the market for gas power following a series of competitor announcements, but he said recent checks eased his concerns in the near- to intermediate-term.
GE Vernova (GEV) ended 2025 with 83 GW of gas turbine capacity contracted, divided roughly 50-50 between firm orders and slot reservation agreements, Kallo said, adding that a few slots are still available in 2029 and 2030, but GEV expects these will be sold out by year-end 2026, which would leave the company with no available gas capacity through the rest of the decade, absent a capacity expansion.
CEO Scott Strazik’s comments at a competitor conference in September 2025 and on GE Vernova’s (GEV) Q4 earnings call lead to expectations that the company will ultimately be sold out through 2035, even if next-decade deals come at lower price points, the analyst said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Qualcomm crashes amid weak Q2 guidance
For the period ending Dec. 28, Qualcomm said it earned an adjusted $3.50 per share as revenue rose 5% year-over-year to $12.25B. QCT sales rose 5% year-over-year to $10.61B. Revenue from handsets rose 3% year-over-year to $7.82B, while automotive sales jumped 15% to $1.1B. Sales from its internet of things division rose 9% to $1.69B. Licensing revenue came in at $1.59B for the period.
A consensus of analysts expected the company to earn $3.41 per share on an adjusted basis, with revenue of $12.2B during its fiscal third quarter.
Looking to the second-quarter, Qualcomm said it expects to earn between $2.45 and $2.65 per share on an adjusted basis, with revenue forecast between $10.2B and $11B. Qualcomm noted that its guidance includes “the estimated impact of memory supply constraints and related pricing on demand from several handset customers.”
Analysts were expecting $2.90 per share in earnings and $11.1B in revenue.
“In addition, the company has previously noted it is losing 25% share at Samsung, share at Apple is expected to decline in September, and China is likely to see a seasonal slowdown after last quarter’s handset launch and holiday-driven strength,” BofA analysts, led by Tal Liani said.
However, the bank noted that Qualcomm’s auto and IoT segments outperformed estimates due to increased demand for the Snapdragon Digital Chassis platform and strength in consumer and networking products, respectively.
Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Akash Palkhiwala said it is expanding its reach in the auto market through higher-end silicon, and he expects this to be a sort of “stepping stone” into the robotics sector.
“The cars are completely changing,” he said during an interview with Seeking Alpha. “They want AI and the ability to connect to the cloud. We are playing in an expanding part of the industry while others are in the shrinking part. You should think of auto as a stepping stone for robotics and humanoids. We are extending our roadmap from automotive to robotic humanoids. If robotic humanoids are going to be a big market, we are the company to bet on.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Arm Holdings stumbles after offering up in-line Q4 guidance
Arm Holdings (ARM) shares fell more than 6% in extended trading on Wednesday as the British chip firm reported third-quarter results and guidance that were largely in line with the Street’s estimates, suggesting investors wanted more.
For the period ending Dec. 31, Arm said it earned an adjusted $0.43 per share as revenue came in at $1.24B, up 26% year-over-year. License and other revenue rose 25% year-over-year to $505M, while royalty revenue climbed 27% to $737M.
A consensus of analysts expected the company to earn $0.41 per share on $1.23B in revenue.
Looking ahead, Arm said it expects to earn between $0.54 and $0.62 per share on an adjusted basis for the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2026, with the midpoint of $0.58 above the $0.56 analysts were anticipating. Revenue is expected to be between $1.42B and $1.52B, with the $1.47B midpoint above the $1.44B analyst estimate.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Coherent craters after Q2 results and outlook surpass expectations
For the quarter ended December 31, the creator of transceivers, optical components, and laser systems reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 versus the consensus estimate of $1.21. GAAP EPS was $0.76 compared to the $0.69 estimate.
Revenue for the second quarter increased 17% year over year to $1.69B, which was more than the $1.64B consensus. On a segment basis, data center and communications accounted for $1.2B and industrial accounted for $477.6M.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, Coherent projects adjusted EPS ranging from $1.28 to $1.48, with a midpoint of $1.38, which is more than the $1.32 consensus. The company expects revenue to range from $1.7B to $1.84B, with a midpoint of $1.77B, which also surpasses the $1.71B estimate.
CEO James Anderson highlighted “strong revenue and profit growth” in the December quarter, attributing it to the AI build-out and rapid expansion in optical networking infrastructure. Anderson stated, “We expect continued strong sequential revenue growth in both our March and June quarters, and we expect our fiscal ‘27 revenue growth rate to exceed our fiscal ‘26 growth rate.”
The CEO reported a “step function increase in our data center bookings with a book-to-bill ratio that exceeded 4x,” providing strong visibility for the coming quarters and noting customers are placing orders further out, including into calendar 2027.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Alphabet earnings: Key takeaways amid earnings beat, sharp rise in 2026 spending
Revenues overall grew 18% to $113.8B, topping expectations for $111.5B, thanks to accelerating growth in Google Services and the increasingly important Google Cloud.
Operating income rose 16% to $35.9B as operating margin held steady at 32% (a number that was consistent for the quarter and the full year). And with a boost in other income, net income increased a full 30% to $34.46B.
And as with other big-tech bellwethers, investor focus was heavily on artificial intelligence spending and benefits. CEO Sundar Pichai signaled that 2026 capital expenditures would come in at $175B-$185B, well above estimates compiled by Bloomberg for $119.5B.
Google Search and other, $63.1B (up 16.7%); YouTube ads, $11.4B (up 8.7%); Google Network, $7.83B (down 1.6%); Google subscriptions, platforms, and devices, $13.6B (up 16.7%); Google Cloud, $17.7B (up 47.8%); Other Bets, $370M (down 7.5%).
Net cash from operations for the fourth quarter landed at $52.4B; less purchases of property and equipment, free cash flow arrived at $24.55B.
For the trailing 12 months, total operating cash flow was $164.7B and free cash flow was $73.3B.
Pichai cited a rapidly growing cloud backlog, now $240 billion, and over 325 million paid subscriptions across Alphabet’s consumer services. He emphasized the milestone of selling more than 8 million paid seats of Gemini Enterprise in 4 months and noted the Gemini app now has over 750 million monthly active users.
Brian Nowak, Morgan Stanley, Research Division: Asked about progress in agentic commerce and YouTube integration of new creation tools. Pichai responded that 2025 was about “laying the foundation” and is “excited now that we have laid the foundation of interoperability on which agentic commerce can work.”
Douglas Anmuth, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division: Inquired about maintaining Gemini’s lead and TPUs as a revenue stream. Pichai stated, “we are in a very, very relentless innovation cadence” and TPUs are part of the wide choice of accelerators attracting cloud customers.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
MP 0.00%↑ USAR 0.00%↑ CRML 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] Rare earth stocks sink as Trump administration floats tariffs to implement price floor
Rare earth stocks fell across the board Wednesday after the Trump administration proposed the creation of a critical minerals trading bloc with allies that would use tariffs to maintain price floors.
Tariffs and price floors would be necessary to prevent China from flooding the market with cheap minerals, Vice President Vance said at an event held at the U.S. State Department.
“These reference prices will operate as a floor maintained through adjustable tariffs to uphold pricing integrity,” Vance told the meeting of more than 50 foreign ministers that also featured a discussion led by Secretary of State Rubio and an effort to recruit countries to the proposed new protected trade zone.
WealthWise Research reports that the market was looking for a price floor subsidy (Government pays the difference) but instead got a tariff (Customers pay the difference).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
Vertical Aerospace signs new customer JetSetGo to accelerate electric and hybrid-electric aviation in India
JetSetGo and Vertical Aerospace (EVTL) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the intended purchase of 50 Valo aircraft, alongside a strategic collaboration to develop Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) services in India.
The agreement includes the evaluation of hybrid-electric aircraft for long-range missions ideally suited for use cases across India.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 04, 2026
TSM 0.00%↑ EWJ 0.00%↑ DXJ 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] TSMC expands in Japan with 3 nm chip production, advancing Takaichi’s tech agenda: report
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions, Bloomberg News reported.
TSMC aims to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fabrication plant in Kumamoto, TSMC’s (TSM) chief executive officer said, according to the report.
That marks an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7nm chips by late 2027, people familiar with the matter said, asking to remain anonymous discussing private deliberations.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ MSFT 0.00%↑ CRWD 0.00%↑ SNOW 0.00%↑ CRM 0.00%↑ PLTR 0.00%↑ IVES 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] Microsoft, Palantir among Wedbush’s 5 stocks to own amid ‘Software Armageddon’
Wedbush (IVES) said Microsoft (MSFT), Palantir Technologies (PLTR), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Snowflake (SNOW) and Salesforce (CRM) are the five software stocks to own amid what it calls the “software apocalypse.”
“We believe the market is baking in a doomsday scenario for software companies in the near-term, which we believe is extremely overblown, as many customers won’t be willing to put their data at risk to capitalize on AI implementation strategies until there is less risk with these migration projects. Is AI a headwind in the near-term for software? YES!...however, the magnitude of this software sell-off is a major head scratcher and is factoring in an Armageddon scenario for the sector that is far from reality in our view,” said analysts led by Dan Ives.
he analysts think that enterprises will not completely overhaul tens of billions of dollars of prior software infrastructure investments to migrate over to Anthropic (ANTHRO), OpenAI (OPENAI), and others.
The analysts said that large enterprise installed bases have taken many decades to accumulate, and trillions of data points are now ingrained in software infrastructure company ecosystems. They added that new players like OpenAI and Anthropic don’t have the current capacity to hold all enterprise data to power AI integrations and protect organizational data structures from malware.
One of the largest concerns is that AI will continue to take more share of seat-based models following the recent updates from Anthropic, where it released a slew of new AI tools designed to automate high-value work, the analysts noted. This work included legal, sales, and marketing among other things, and created a panic moment across the software complex as more investors feared that the normal software as a service, or SaaS, models would come under fire.
AI assistant OpenClaw poses another risk to enterprise software companies looking to integrate AI across products, as this product runs directly across operating systems and applications to automate real world tasks, according to the analysts.
The analysts added that another major theme driving the software sector down so far is budget reallocation towards AI players and away from standalone software vendors. With about 80% of CIOs focused on implementing AI and machine learning, or ML, capabilities across organizations, there is growing speculation that enterprise software budgets have started to shift towards AI initiatives, cannibalizing the spend left for software advancements, according to the analysts.
Snowflake (SNOW)
Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $270 price target on the stock.
The analysts noted that one of the misconceptions in this sell-off is that enterprises are going to bypass software platforms and connect frontier models directly in the data, but enterprises require security, access controls, lineage, and governance before AI interacts/connects with production systems.
“This positions SNOW as the trusted layer between enterprise data and external models like Anthropic, further reinforcing SNOW’s position as an AI winner moving forward,” said Ives and his team.
CrowdStrike (CRWD)
Wedbush maintained its Outperform rating and $600 price target on the stock.
Ives and his team noted that Crowdstrike’s differentiated agentic Security Operations Center, or SOC, orchestration driven by Charlotte AI operates across domains, identities, and endpoints to fight fire with fire by allowing enterprises to secure their domain with AI as the company becomes the cybersecurity operating system of the AI era.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
TSLA 0.00%↑ #VLKAF #VWAGY
Volkswagen overtakes Tesla as top all-electric vehicle seller in Europe
Volkswagen (VLKAF) (VWAGY) became the top seller of fully electric cars in Europe in 2025, according to data from JATO Dynamics. That broke a four-year streak of Tesla (TSLA) being the top-selling all-electric brand in Europe.
JATO said sales of Volkswagen brand battery electric vehicles in Europe rose 56% last year, led by strong sales of its new ID.7. Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) sales slumped 27% during the year. Overall, EV sales growth of 29% easily outpaced the growth of the broad automobile industry. The report from JATO included data from 28 European nations, including non-EU members Norway, Switzerland, and Britain.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
APP 0.00%↑ U 0.00%↑ #CloudX
[Newsletter Exclusive] AppLovin, Unity’s structural moats are ‘intact,’ despite CloudX launch: Wedbush
Shares of AppLovin (APP) and Unity Software (U) were hit on Wednesday after CloudX, a new artificial intelligence-infused startup that could shake up the mobile advertising stack, became generally available.
However, Wedbush Securities believes the structural moats of the mobile technology firms are “intact,” despite the added pressure.
CloudX intends to use Trusted Execution Environments to run ad auctions transparently and use agentic AI, SDK-less bidding, and make auctions more transparent. The fear is that the take rate that AppLovin and Unity get from their roles in facilitating the ad auctions could come down significantly.
However, Wedbush added that several other companies, including Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), and Prebid, all failed at the “SDK-less” transition because of latency and rendering gaps.
“While the market focuses on the loss of mediation control, it is ignoring the potential gain of brand dollars,” Wedbush analysts wrote. “CloudX’s architecture is attempting to solve the #1 blocker for major advertisers (Ford, P&G): trust. If CloudX succeeds, it doesn’t just steal gaming dollars; it unlocks a massive, dormant [total addressable market] of brand advertising that has refused to touch mobile gaming due to opacity. We view this as an expansion of the pie, not a zero-sum war.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
#OpenAI
[Newsletter Exclusive] OpenAI pushes deeper into enterprise market with launch of Frontier platform
Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI (OPENAI) is attempting to make a deeper push into the lucrative enterprise market with the launch of Frontier, a new platform that helps enterprises build, deploy, and manage artificial intelligence agents, the company announced today.
“Frontier connects siloed data warehouses, CRM systems, ticketing tools, and internal applications to give AI coworkers that same shared business context,” OpenAI said. “They understand how information flows, where decisions happen, and what outcomes matter. It becomes a semantic layer for the enterprise that all AI coworkers can reference to operate and communicate effectively.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ AAPL 0.00%↑ CRM 0.00%↑ CRWD 0.00%↑ MSFT 0.00%↑ ORCL 0.00%↑ NOW 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] ‘We’re going to look back at this selloff as a table pounder time to own names’ – Wedbush’s Dan Ives
This year will be Apple’s (AAPL) breakout year, according to Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities.
During an interview with CNBC, Ives projected that AI could add “$75 to $100 per share” to the company’s valuation.
Ives characterized the current moment as a “table pounder” time to buy oversold names like Salesforce (CRM), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL), and ServiceNow (NOW).
Jeff Kilburg, founder, CEO, and CIO of KKM Financial expressed particular enthusiasm for Alphabet’s (GOOGL), (GOOG) momentum, noting the company surpassed $400B in revenue for the first time. He highlighted the efficiency gains in Google’s Gemini platform, which now processes 10B tokens per minute while serving costs have dropped 78% in one year.
“I get giddy about Google,” Kilburg said, describing the company as “the tip of the spear moving forward.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
Novo seeks legal action as HIMS launches compounded versions of Wegovy pill
Novo Nordisk (NVO) said on Thursday that it will take legal and regulatory steps in response to plans by Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) to launch low-cost compounded versions of its oral obesity therapy, the Wegovy pill.
Earlier in the day, shares of the telehealth platform added ~13% in the premarket after the company announced plans to launch cheaper compounded versions of the Wegovy pill at a steeply discounted price compared to the branded product.
After Reuters first reported about HIMS’s plans, ADRs of the Danish drugmaker lost ~5%, extending a multi-day selloff driven by an underwhelming outlook issued earlier this week.
The report came roughly a month after the Danish drugmaker rolled out the weight loss pill in the U.S. for cash-paying customers at $149 for a monthly supply of 1.5 mg and 4 mg doses, following its FDA approval in December.
However, HIMS plans to roll out its version at an introductory price of $49 per month, indicating a roughly $100 discount to the brand-name product. Following the one-time payment, HIMS members with a 5-month subscription plan can pay $99 per month compared to the $199 Novo (NVO) charges.
HIMS said that its copycat version, which contains the same active ingredient, semaglutide, as the Wegovy pill, can be customized to patients who seek to manage side effects and those who are averse to needles.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ NOW 0.00%↑ MDB 0.00%↑ FROG 0.00%↑ SNOW 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] Extended enterprise software selloff hits seat-based business models hardest: Truist
“We continue to view NOW as the company in our coverage that is best positioned to find their way back into the ‘AI winners’ bucket this year,” Jump added.
In contrast, Truist also highlighted those software companies who have benefitted the most due to AI narratives over the past year. This includes MongoDB (MDB), JFrog (FROG), and Snowflake (SNOW), which all have Buy ratings.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑ MSFT 0.00%↑ WDAY 0.00%↑ CRM 0.00%↑ SAP 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] The software sector goes through a ‘forest fire’ every 10-15 years, markets are ‘about to take off’ – analyst
Rick Sherlund, founder of AI software investment bank Sherlund Partners, believes the market is on the verge of a significant upswing despite recent pullbacks in tech stocks.
The recent earnings reports from Alphabet (GOOGL), (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) have sparked concerns about a potential bubble, with Alphabet forecasting capital expenditures between $175B and $185B this year—potentially more than double its 2025 spending.
However, Sherlund dismisses these worries, noting that the real issue isn’t whether demand will materialize. “The demand is there. The concern is capacity,” he said.
According to Sherlund, the key to understanding the current market dynamics lies in the shift from consumer-focused AI applications to enterprise adoption. As businesses deploy AI agents and reasoning-intensive applications, the need for inference computing has exploded.
“Inference is really just starting to take off,” Sherlund explained, adding that enterprise use of reasoning models “burns a lot of cycles.”
The broader software sector, meanwhile, is experiencing what Sherlund describes as a predictable disruption.
“The software sector, every 10, 15 years, goes through a forest fire,” he noted, pointing to previous platform shifts that saw companies like PeopleSoft replaced by Workday (WDAY) and Siebel Systems overtaken by Salesforce (CRM). The current transition from traditional SaaS to AI-native platforms is creating similar uncertainty among investors.
Sherlund cautioned against oversimplifying the threat to established software companies, particularly those with complex enterprise workflows.
While “vibe coding” may make simple applications easier to replace, companies like SAP (SAP) with “extensive integrations and supply chains” have a much larger moat protecting their business.
“The coding itself is maybe 20% of what a software company has to do,” he said.
Looking ahead, Sherlund expects AI-native companies to begin going public later this year as they seek capital to build out data center capacity. While this may create a challenging narrative for legacy software vendors, Sherlund remains optimistic about the overall direction of the market as enterprises increasingly leverage large language model technology.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Coursera Non-GAAP EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.06, revenue of $194M beats by $2.17M
Coursera press release (COUR): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.12 beats by $0.06.
Revenue of $194M (+8.3% Y/Y) beats by $2.17M.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Amazon slides as investors eye profit guidance, $200B capex forecast
Total revenue was up 14% year-over-year to $213.4B, vs. $211.5B consensus.
The cloud business was strong again as AWS revenue came in at $35.6B (+24% Y/Y) to beat the consensus estimate of $34.9B.
CEO Andy Jassy: “With such strong demand for our existing offerings and seminal opportunities like AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites, we expect to invest about $200 billion in capital expenditures across Amazon in 2026 and anticipate strong long-term return on invested capital.”
Looking ahead, Amazon (AMZN) expects revenue of $173.5B to $178.5B (midpoint $176.5B) for the first quarter, vs. $175.5B consensus.
Douglas Anmuth, JPMorgan: Inquired about Project Rainier and Trainium chip deployment. Jassy explained, “Anthropic is building their next -- they’re training their next cloud model on top of Trainium2. And that’s what Project Rainier is. So we talked about 500,000 chips there. You’ll see that continuing to increase.”
Michael Morton, MoffettNathanson: Questioned the impact of agentic AI like Rufus on retail and ads. Jassy noted, “We have 300 million customers who used Rufus in 2025. Customers who use Rufus are about 60% more likely to complete a purchase.”
Eric Sheridan, Goldman Sachs: Queried AWS backlog and supply-demand balance. Jassy reported, “Our backlog is $244 billion. That’s up 40% year-over-year.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 05, 2026
Hims & Hers falls as FDA to target “illegal copycat drugs”
Hims & Hers Health (HIMS) fell ~8% in the premarket on Friday after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said that his agency will take swift action against “companies mass-marketing illegal copycat drugs.”
The telehealth platform is well known for marketing the compounded versions of Novo Nordisk’s (NV) weight-loss therapy semaglutide at a steep discount to the branded product.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
Semiconductor sales to reach nearly $1T globally in 2026
Semiconductor sales worldwide jumped 25.6% year-over-year to $791.7B in 2025. In 2024, sales were $630.5B.
“Semiconductors are the foundation of nearly all modern technology, and emerging technologies like AI, IoT, 6G, autonomous driving, and others will continue to drive robust demand for chips,” said SIA president and CEO John Neuffer.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
Nvidia’s Huang says tech is in a ‘generational’ buildout with AI; weighs in on China, OpenAI
Appearing on CNBC, Huang, who has been at the forefront of the tech industry’s artificial intelligence revolution, said the buildout will take around seven years to get infrastructure to a “sustainable level.” In addition, he weighed in on some of the hyperscalers and how they are using AI and said that Meta (META) is among the most advanced users of AI at scale.
Huang, 62, added that the demand for AI accelerators is so strong that GPUs that were sold six years ago are still rising in price.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Stocks see rotation out of momentum AI into spaces that benefit from broader AI integration – analyst
Stocks are experiencing a rotation out of momentum-driven AI trades as investors shift their focus from pure technology companies to businesses across the broader economy that are benefiting from AI integration, according to Jeff Richards, managing partner at Notable Capital.
In an interview with CNBC, Richards pointed to companies like C.H. Robinson (CHRW), whose stock has risen 100% despite flat year-over-year revenue, as evidence that “the AI trade was the tech companies” last year, while this year investors are “betting on the companies that are benefiting from AI”—spanning industrials, retail, logistics, and manufacturing.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Dow tops 50,000 for the first time as the blue-chip rally accelerates
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rallied to a new all-time high on Friday, decisively clearing the historic 50,000 threshold for the first time.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Feb. 06, 2026
Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.
