Alpha Coverage #14
Weekly Stock Market Newsletter - News/Articles/Podcasts/YouTube/Books
Weekly newsletter bringing you a summary of critical, thesis changing stock market news. We cover news articles, opinion pieces and all forms of media to help you stay informed.
We cover over 250 tickers across US Equities, Emerging Market equities, Equity ETFs, Commodities ETFs, Income ETFs, Leveraged ETFs, Crypto & REITs & mREITs.
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Editor’s Pick:
PhillipCapital starts coverage on AMD, highlights generative AI tailwinds
Analyst Maximilian Koeswoyo started coverage on AMD (AMD) with an accumulate rating and per-share price target of $125, noting that he expects the company to gain additional market share in the data center as more workloads are going to AMD-based systems.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
EU expands probe into suicide risk linked to weight loss drugs
According to the EMA, officials have received 150 reports of self-injury and suicidal thoughts in patients using liraglutide and semaglutide. The regulator expects to conclude its review in November 2023.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 11, 2023
Domino's Pizza soars after striking global delivery deal with Uber Technologies
Customers in the U.S. using the Uber Eats platform will be able to order delivery from their local Domino's store menu. Uber Eats will be the exclusive third-party platform for Domino's in the U.S. until at least 2024.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 12, 2023
TSLA 0.00%↑ INDA 0.00%↑ PIN 0.00%↑ INQQ 0.00%↑
Tesla eyes producing 500K vehicles a year locally in India
A source told The Times of India that Tesla (TSLA) has come back to the government for discussions, and there is confidence that the movement will be positive this time around, especially as it involves both local manufacturing and exports. Elon Musk said late in June that he was confident the electric vehicle maker would be in India, although the timing was uncertain. There is no official indication yet that Tesla (TSLA) has secured special incentives to also import vehicles into India at a lowered import tax if it builds a local plant.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
TSM 0.00%↑ TSLA 0.00%↑ INDA 0.00%↑ PIN 0.00%↑ INQQ 0.00%↑ $FXCOOF
Foxconn mulls team up with Taiwan Semiconductor, TMH to make chips in India - report
Foxconn Technology (OTCPK:FXCOF) is in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) and Japan's TMH Group for a joint venture and technology collaboration to start semiconductor fab units in India, The Economic Times reported citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 14, 2023
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads
Defense and weapon stocks in focus as Biden heads to NATO summit
Many nations that have funneled weapons to Ukraine are also finding that their stocks are running low, such as Stinger and Javelin anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles produced by Raytheon (NYSE:RTX) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT). It could take years for defense contractors to meet the shortfall, especially with less than a quarter of NATO countries meeting their obligations to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense spending by 2025.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
Novo Nordisk weight loss drugs under EU scrutiny over suicide risk
A safety committee of the EMA has started the probe after the Icelandic Medicines Agency flagged the adverse events, including two cases of suicidal thoughts potentially related to Ozempic and Saxenda. According to the EMA, there was an additional case related to thoughts of self-injury linked to Saxenda.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
Nvidia slips even as Goldman says it's entering new phase of GenAI prowess
Analyst Toshiya Hari, who also raised the firm's per-share price target on Nvidia (NVDA) shares to $495 from $440, said the company is seeing a "step-function increase" in its data center revenue outlook, which is evidence of the new phase.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
PANW 0.00%↑ FTNT 0.00%↑ CRWD 0.00%↑ CHKP 0.00%↑
Fortinet, Check Point, CrowdStrike have 'favorable setups' going into Q2: MS
Analyst Hamza Fodderwala said that companies such as Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT), Check Point Software (NASDAQ:CHKP) and CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) are best positioned amid a "challenging" environment for the industry as a whole this quarter.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
First Solar started at Market Perform at BMO; demand positives mostly priced in
The "game changer" phrase has been used too often since the passage of the IRA, but in First Solar's (FSLR) case "it is warranted and not hyperbole," according to BMO's Ameet Thakkar, as IRA premium tax credits should drive ~3x expansion of First Solar's earnings power during 2023-26.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 10, 2023
AAPL 0.00%↑ INDA 0.00%↑ PIN 0.00%↑ INQQ 0.00%↑
Tata inches ahead to be 1st Indian iPhone manufacturer with potential Wistron deal - report
The deal, which is potentially worth over $600M and could be seen as early as August, would mark the first time a local Indian company would move into the assembly of iPhones, the report added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 11, 2023
SPY 0.00%↑ VOO 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ IWM 0.00%↑
Did SVB's collapse delay a recession?
"However, as we stand here today, we’re pretty much back to where we were pre-SVB in rates (plus or minus) and with equities notably higher. I still think we’re at the earlier end of the full impact period from the lag of what has been fairly aggressive monetary tightening over the last 12-15 months. Remember that a year ago the ECB rate was still negative with QE only having just ended."
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 11, 2023
Zillow stock climbs after Piper upgrades to Overweight on better macro
At the same time, the macro backdrop is improving as "home sales growth likely troughed last quarter," Champion contended in a note. And, "while mortgage rates remain higher than a year ago, they've stabilized at current levels, which should spur demand."
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 11, 2023
BOTZ 0.00%↑ IRBO 0.00%↑ ROBT 0.00%↑ AIQ 0.00%↑
BofA takes neutral view on AI ETFs, weighing growth potential vs. near-term headwinds
"Beyond returns, we see 3 more benefits to AI ETFs: 1) AI ETFs offer more diversification than “vanilla” growth and tech funds; 2) AI has strong 9% earnings growth potential where earnings are otherwise scarce (SPY -3%); and 3) governments and companies have entered the AI arms race with no end to spending in sight, the US having spent $249bn already," the firm stated.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 11, 2023
Netflix rises as UBS boosts estimates, citing 'positive data' on paid sharing
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) shares rose fractionally in pre-market trading on Wednesday as investment firm UBS boosted its estimates on the streaming giant, citing "positive data" on the company's paid sharing initiatives.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 12, 2023
PANW 0.00%↑ ZS 0.00%↑ MSFT 0.00%↑
Why did Palo Alto Networks stock drop today? Blame Microsoft
Morgan Stanley analyst Hamza Fodderwala said the secure service edge offering is potentially the "largest and last" major cybersecurity market that the Redmond, Washington-based tech giant has yet to enter.
Fodderwala added that Microsoft's (MSFT) offerings of Microsoft Entra Internet Access (for web and SaaS apps) and Entra Private Access (for private and internal apps) puts it squarely against companies like Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Zscaler (ZS) and Cloudflare (NET).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 12, 2023
Google jumps after launching AI bot Bard in Europe, Brazil
Google, a unit of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), said it is Bard's biggest expansion to date and it is now available in most of the world, and in the most widely spoken languages, including Arabic, Chinese, German, Hindi and Spanish.
The new features include — listening to Bard’s responses; use images in prompts wherein users can upload images with prompts and Bard will analyze the photo; export code to more places; share responses with friends; pin and rename conversations; and change the tone and style of Bard's responses to five options - simple, long, short, professional or casual.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
FREYR Battery up after announcing $112M grant
Giga Arctic has been under construction for over a year and is designed to be a 29GWh nameplate capacity facility powered with 100% renewable hydroelectricity.
The annual production at the planned Giga Arctic facility could enable FREYR’s (FREY) customers to mitigate 80 million tons of CO2 emissions over the batteries’ lifetime.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
RKLB 0.00%↑ #SPACEX #ISRO
Space watch: Moonshot for India, SpaceX by the numbers and Rocket Lab launches again
India will launch Chandrayaan 3 as it looks to join the U.S., China, and the former Soviet Union as the only nations to have landed a spacecraft on the moon. Chandrayaan consists of a lander and a rover, both with scientific instruments. The actual touchdown on the moon is expected near the south pole in late August.
A recent funding round for Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPACE) reportedly took the closely-held company’s valuation to about $150 billion.
Rocket Lab (RKLB) also has a launch planned for Friday (pushed to next week). is planning a launch of its own from New Zealand on Friday afternoon. The ‘Baby Come Back’ mission, Rocket Lab’s 39th Electron launch, is scheduled to deploy from Pad A at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand. Rocket Lab (RKLB) is also planning to conduct a marine recovery of Electron’s first stage as part of this mission. The launch company's recovery team will retrieve Electron using a customized vessel and transport the stage back to Rocket Lab’s production complex for analysis. Data from this recovered stage will inform Rocket Lab’s ongoing recovery and reuse program. Morgan Stanley is bullish on Rocket Lab (RKLB) on its view that the company is making space look easy while others demonstrate how hard it can be.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
Judge denies FTC request to temporarily block Activision sale to Microsoft
U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley rejected the FTC's request to have the mega videogame deal delayed as it appeals the judge's original decision denying a preliminary injunction on Tuesday, according to a court filing late Thursday.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
Microsoft, Activision consider sale of UK cloud-gaming rights - report
A potential resolution may involve selling off the cloud-based market rights for videogames in the UK to a telecom, gaming, or internet-based computing firm, according to a Bloomberg report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 13, 2023
$BYDDF INDA 0.00%↑ PIN 0.00%↑ INQQ 0.00%↑
China's BYD plans $1B joint venture to make EVs in India - report
China's BYD (OTCPK:BYDDF) has filed a $1B investment plan to make electric cars and batteries in India in collaboration with Indian company Megha Engineering and Infrastructures, Reuters reported citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jul. 14, 2023
Opinion Pieces - Facts & Opinions - Long Reads
AMD: Unlocking AI Potential At A Fraction Of Nvidia's Price
AMD has not been idle alongside Nvidia, developing programs such as HIPIFY, a tool that allows them to translate CUDA source code into HIP C++ so that it is compatible with AMD's own graphics cards.
Amazon also recently started considering AMD's new MI300 AI chips for its cloud unit, which we'll talk about in a moment. Even Microsoft has been working closely with AMD to train models that work with AMD GPUs that support ROCm and their MI100/MI200 accelerators.
The MI300X is said to have 153B transistors compared to the H100 with 80B transistors, with the MI300x at 750W consuming slightly more power than the H100 at 700W. The MI300X also has 192GB of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) compared to Nvidia's H100 with 80GB HBM. MosaicML recently compared the A100 40GB and 80GB versions to the already available MI250 and saw that they were 80% and 73% as fast as the A100 versions, respectively. While many market players are quick to point out Nvidia's lead, we think AMD is not too far behind and certainly remains the worthy underdog that is not currently receiving much attention.
Link to Seeking Alpha Opinion Piece - Jul. 10, 2023
Robinhood: The Turnaround Is In Motion - 60% Net Cash, Forgotten Meme Stock
Robinhood has generated positive adjusted EBITDA for three consecutive quarters and has nearly $6 billion of net cash on its balance sheet.
Link to Seeking Alpha Opinion Piece - Jul. 12, 2023
Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.
