Alpha Coverage #157
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.
Hello from Gangtok, Sikkim!
Editor’s Pick:
[News] As the Iran War has ebbed and flowed, GPU availability for B200s has collapsed to zero...H100s close behind.
Link to X Post - Apr 08, 2026
[News] Robinhood, BNY picked to help run Invest America Accounts for kids - report
The U.S. Treasury chose BNY (BK) as the financial agent of the U.S. government to help implement the new Invest America Accounts program, the Treasury Department said on Monday.
Under this designation, BNY (BK) will manage the initial accounts and help develop the new Invest America Account app — a secure, user-friendly platform that will enable families to easily access and manage their accounts.
BNY partnered with Robinhood Markets (HOOD), which will serve as brokerage and initial trustee for the accounts.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 06, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ AVGO 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[News] Anthropic targets $30B revenue, signs TPU deal with Google and Broadcom
Anthropic (ANTHRO) has struck a deal with Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) and Broadcom (AVGO) for multiple gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity starting in 2027.
Around 3.5 GW of capacity on Google’s hardware will come through a partnership with chipmaker Broadcom, starting from next year, according to a separate filing on Monday. In all, the deal would give Anthropic access to close to 5 GW in new computing capacity over the coming years, according to a person with knowledge of the terms.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
[News] Broadcom gains after signing long-term deal with Google to develop AI chips
Broadcom (AVGO) shares gained more than 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday after it disclosed it had signed a long-term deal with Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) to develop its custom artificial intelligence chips, known as tensor processing units.
The deal, which runs through 2031, will be for Google’s future generations of TPUs, Broadcom said in a filing. It will also include a supply assurance agreement for Broadcom to supply networking and other components to be used in Google’s next-generation AI racks through up to 2031.
Citi analyst Atif Malik said with the announcement, there is the possibility of “upside” to Broadcom’s AI revenue target of $100B to $130B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ DIA 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑
[News] Stock futures jump, crude oil slides after Trump suspends Iran attack for two weeks
“I agree to suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “We received a 10-point proposal from Iran and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,” although the ceasefire is contingent on Iran agreeing to an opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked Trump to extend his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or risk devastating attacks on its infrastructure by two weeks, and requested Iran to “open the Strait of Hormuz for a corresponding period of two weeks as a goodwill gesture.”
However, Benjamin Netanyahu said the ceasefire excludes operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran’s proposal calls for full lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions, release of frozen assets, an end to attacks on Iran and its allies, continued Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. military withdrawal from the Middle East, alongside a binding UN Security Council resolution.
It also includes “acceptance of enrichment” for its nuclear program in the Farsi version—though this phrase was omitted from English versions shared with journalists.
In return, Tehran offered to reopen Hormuz with a $2M per-ship transit fee, sharing revenue with Oman.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
WealthWise Research - Apr 07, 2026
CRWD 0.00%↑ PANW 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[News] CrowdStrike, Palo Alto jump on board to enhance security for AI era under Project Glasswing
On Tuesday night, Anthropic (ANTHRO) revealed Project Glasswing, a cybersecurity initiative that will be built with the capabilities of its most powerful model, Claude Mythos Preview, with help from the most prolific software and security providers.
The partners include CrowdStrike (CRWD), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco (CSCO), Broadcom (AVGO), Google (GOOG)(GOOGL), Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), JPMorganChase (JPM), and the Linux Foundation.
The capabilities of the new model have demonstrated that “AI models have reached a level of coding capability where they can surpass all but the most skilled humans at finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities,” Anthropic said.
“Mythos Preview has already found thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities, including some in every major operating system and web browser,” Anthropic said. “Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely. The fallout—for economies, public safety, and national security—could be severe. Project Glasswing is an urgent attempt to put these capabilities to work for defensive purposes.”
Project Glasswing partners will use Claude Mythos Preview to scan and secure their own foundational systems — the software infrastructure that billions of people depend on — and share their findings with the broader industry, giving defenders a head start before similar AI capabilities become widely available to bad actors.
As it stands, Anthropic does not intend to release Mythos Preview into general availability. It will be utilized by the companies named above along with about 40 other organizations. Anthropic has committed up to $100M in usage credits for those selected. Afterward, Claude Mythos Preview will be available to participants at $25/$125 per million input/output tokens. Participants can access the model on the Claude API, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
WealthWise Research - Apr 08, 2026
[News] Amazon’s chip unit’s annual revenue run rate over $20B, discusses capex returns
Of the AWS capex we expect to spend in 2026, much of which will be monetized in 2027-2028, we already have customer commitments for a substantial portion of it,” said Amazon’s (AMZN) CEO Andy Jass in his 2025 letter to shareholders, which was out on Thursday.
He added that the company has very high demand and customers want AWS for core and AI workloads, and “we’re monetizing capacity as fast as we can install it.”
Jassy said in the letter that the annual revenue run rate for the company’s chips business (inclusive of Graviton, Trainium, and Nitro) is now over $20B and growing triple-digit percentages year-over-year.
“To dimensionalize this versus other chips companies, that run rate is somewhat understated by our currently only monetizing our chips through EC2. If our chips business was a stand-alone business, and sold chips produced this year to AWS and other third parties (as other leading chips companies do), our annual run rate would be ~$50 billion. There’s so much demand for our chips that it’s quite possible we’ll sell racks of them to third parties in the future,” Jassy noted.
Jassy added that three years into this AI wave, AWS’ AI revenue run rate is over $15B in the first quarter of 2026 (nearly 260 times larger than AWS at that same point), and ascending rapidly.
In addition, Jassy said that at scale, Amazon expects the Trainium AI chips will save it tens of billions of capex dollars per year and provide several hundred basis points of operating margin advantage versus relying on others’ chips for inference.
Jassy noted that Trainium3, which started shipping at the start of 2026 and is 30% to 40% more price-performant than Trainium2, is nearly fully subscribed.
“A significant chunk of Trainium4, which is still about 18 months from broad availability, has already been reserved. And, Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s primary (and very fast-growing) inference service, runs most of its inference on Trainium. Demand for Trainium is booming,” Jassy noted.
“That’s a lot of absolute growth. And yet, we still have capacity constraints that yield unserved demand. [As an aside, two large AWS customers have already asked if they could buy *all* of our Graviton instance capacity in 2026 (Graviton is our widely-adopted custom CPU chip)—we can’t agree to these requests given other customers’ needs, but it gives you an idea of the demand.],” said Jassy.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
NVDA 0.00%↑ AVGO 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[News] Anthropic weighs building its own AI chips: Reuters
Artificial intelligence lab Anthropic (ANTHRO) is exploring the possibility of designing its own chips, as the company and its rivals respond to a shortage of AI chips needed to power and develop more advanced AI systems, Reuters reported on Thursday.
The plans are in early stages and the company may still decide to only buy AI chips and not design any, the report added. The company has yet to commit to a specific design or put together a dedicated team to work on the project.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads:
#BTC #ALGO #SOL #XRP
Quantum risk to crypto is advancing, Google paper warns
Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) researchers have issued a new warning that future quantum computers may be capable of breaking the cryptography that protects Bitcoin (BTC-USD) (IBIT) and other cryptocurrencies with fewer resources than previously estimated.
In a recent blog post, Google Quantum AI researchers Ryan Babbush and Hartmut Neven revealed updated estimates showing an approximately 20-fold reduction in the quantum computing hardware needed to crack elliptic curve cryptography—the security foundation underpinning most crypto wallets and transactions.
The researchers said they have compiled quantum circuits that could solve the underlying mathematical problem, known as ECDLP-256, using fewer than 500,000 physical qubits and executing in just minutes. While no such machine exists today, the findings narrow the timeline for when quantum computers might pose a real threat to blockchain security.
“We urge all vulnerable cryptocurrency communities to join the migration to post-quantum cryptography without delay,” the researchers wrote in an accompanying white paper.
Google framed the disclosure as an early warning rather than a prediction of imminent danger, noting that the time remaining before such machines arrive still appears longer than what’s needed to transition public blockchains to quantum-resistant security. However, the “margin for error is increasingly narrow.”
The tech giant recently announced its own timeline to migrate all security systems to post-quantum cryptography by 2029. The company has been working on a responsible transition to quantum-safe standards since 2016.
To share the research responsibly, Google engaged with the U.S. government and developed a zero-knowledge proof method that allows third parties to verify the findings without providing a roadmap for potential attackers.
The researchers highlighted early efforts already underway across the industry, including post-quantum projects on Algorand (ALGO-USD), Solana (SOL-USD), and the XRP Ledger (XRP-USD), calling them evidence that “transition to post-quantum cryptography is realistic.”
Bitcoin faces a particularly acute version of this challenge. Unlike Algorand, Solana, and the XRP Ledger — which have already begun post-quantum migration work — Bitcoin’s notoriously slow and consensus-dependent governance makes a cryptographic overhaul significantly harder to execute. The protocol relies on elliptic curve cryptography for wallet security, and any address that has ever been spent from has its public key permanently visible on-chain, creating a growing pool of legacy exposure. Estimates suggest tens of billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin sit in such vulnerable addresses, including potentially coins belonging to early miners. With no coordinated post-quantum upgrade on Bitcoin’s roadmap, the community may be running out of runway to act before Google’s narrowing margin for error closes further.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 03, 2026
WealthWise Research - Apr 03, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑
Iran rejects U.S. demands; ceasefire bid breaks down – WSJ
Mediators told the Wall Street Journal that Iran has informed them that the U.S. demands are unacceptable and that it is not willing to meet the U.S. officials in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, in the coming days.
Earlier, a U.S. fighter jet was shot down over Iran in the first such incident since the war started five weeks ago.
Two U.S. officials confirmed that one of the two crew members from the fighter jet has been rescued, according to the Wall Street Journal report.
The second crew member was also recovered after an operation by the American special forces, who entered Iranian territory to recover the downed service member.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 03, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 03, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ MSFT 0.00%↑ #OpenAI #Anthropic
ChatGPT, DeepSeek continue to lose chatbot mobile market share in US as competition heats up
ChatGPT has lost market share for four straight months now, falling below 40% in March. As recently as September 2025, it held more than 50% of the daily average user share.
In contrast, Google’s (GOOG)(GOOGL) Gemini and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Copilot held steady in March, while Anthropic’s (ANTHRO) Claude made the most significant gains. Claude increased to 10% of DAU share during the month after it held less than 2% as recently as December 2025.
Claude’s power users are now spending 139 minutes per day in the app, up from 98 in February, and its power user churn dropped to 12%.
Gemini accounted for 25% of DAU share in March, while xAI’s (X.AI) Grok slipped to 13.5% from 15.3% month over month. Copilot has held steady at 10% of DAU market share for three straight months. Finally, Perplexity declined slightly to 2.1%, and DeepSeek slipped to about 1% as it has nearly vanished from the U.S. market, according to Apptopia data.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 04, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑
Trump says “all hell” will rain down on Iran if no deal within 48 hours
“Remember when I gave Iran ten days to make a deal or open up the Hormuz Strait” Trump wrote in a social media post on Saturday, adding, “Time is running out—48 hours before all hell will rain down on them.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 04, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑
Trump threatens Iran with Tuesday strikes on infrastructure in NSFW post
U.S. President Donald Trump sharply escalated tensions with Iran on Sunday, warning of potential military strikes in a profanity-laced post on his Truth Social platform.
“Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 05, 2026
Iran reopens Strait of Hormuz to Iraqi oil shipments: FT
Iran has signaled a partial easing of restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz, allowing Iraqi oil shipments to pass through the vital corridor after weeks of disruption that rattled global energy markets, the Financial Times reported Sunday.
An Iraqi tanker, the Ocean Thunder, successfully navigated the strait along Iran’s coastline over the weekend, carrying roughly 1 million barrels of Basrah Heavy crude, according to shipping data cited by the newspaper.
The move could pave the way for a significant volume of oil, potentially up to 3 million barrels per day, to re-enter global markets.
A European-owned container ship recently completed a successful transit, and vessels linked to China and Oman have also passed through. Pakistan has said it secured an arrangement to allow multiple ships under its flag to cross safely.
For now, Iran’s decision to carve out an exception for Iraq offers a narrow but meaningful opening in one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 05, 2026
Trump sets deadline for Iran to reopen Strait of Hormuz, threatens strikes
U.S. President Donald Trump has given Iran until 8 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, warning that failure to comply could trigger U.S. attacks on key infrastructure across the country.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 05, 2026
Vertical Aerospace achieves major milestone with eVTOL flight development
Vertical Aerospace Ltd. (EVTL) announced on Monday that it completed the first piloted thrustborne transition in a full-scale eVTOL under UK Civil Aviation Authority oversight, with the aircraft taking off vertically and then smoothly transitioning into wingborne flight. The company described the development as a major milestone because it proved one of the hardest parts of eVTOL flight, which is transferring lift from propellers to wings in real conditions at full scale.
The flight marks the first half of the aircraft’s two-way transition sequence. The company noted that the next step is completing the return from wingborne flight back to vertical landing, which would unlock the full runway-free mission profile for its Valo aircraft.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 06, 2026
Strait of Hormuz traffic highest in weeks, but Qatar LNG vessels make U-turn
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has increased to its highest levels since the early days of the Iran war, as India, Iraq, and other countries secured apparent safe-passage agreements, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The strait saw 21 ships transit over the weekend—the highest two-day total since the first days of March, when traffic was declining—as more energy-starved governments apparently made deals to extract vessels, cargoes, and crews from the Persian Gulf.
India, which has negotiated the exit of some ships, has seen eight of its liquefied petroleum gas tankers come through Hormuz; the Green Asha, which reportedly transited the strait on Sunday, is the first midsize gas carrier carrying LPG to cross since the start of the Middle East war, with previous LPG vessels all very large gas carriers.
However, two vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Qatar’s Ras Laffan, Qatar, U-turned away after moving eastward towards the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data showed Monday.
So far, no loaded LNG tanker has passed through Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel began strikes on Iran in late February.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 06, 2026
#SpaceX
SpaceX details IPO schedule; retail demand expected to break records - report
SpaceX (SPACE) provided details of its IPO during a Monday night meeting with its bankers, indicating that a significant portion of shares will be allocated to retail investors and that it plans to host 1,500 of them at a June event, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The Elon Musk-led company plans to kick off its IPO roadshow the week of June 8, where the company representatives and bankers will pitch to the investors.
On June 11, SpaceX (SPACE) plans to host 1,500 retail investors at what the sources described as a major investor event. Alongside the U.S. investors, retail investors from the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Korea will also have the opportunity to participate in the offering, the report added. The IPO prospectus will be made public in late May.
Previous reports indicated that founder Elon Musk aimed to allocate up to 30% of SpaceX’s (SPACE) shares to retail, far above the typical 5% to 10% seen in most IPOs. Recently, the space tech company (SPACE) raised its IPO target valuation to more than $2T.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
Pony AI advances Singapore AV rollout with regulatory approval for by-invite rides
Pony AI (PONY) Tuesday said that its autonomous mobility service, operated in collaboration with ComfortDelGro in Singapore, has received regulatory approval to enter by-invite rides, the final phase before public-facing services.
The by-invite rides phase allows invited participants from the local community to experience the service ahead of its next stage of deployment.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ #Anthropic #OpenAI
[Newsletter Exclusive] Anthropic, Google, OpenAI team up to fight model copying in China: report
The companies are sharing information via the Frontier Model Forum, an industry nonprofit that the three founded with Microsoft (MSFT) in 2023 to detect so-called adversarial distillation attempts that breach their terms of service, the report added, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The rare collaboration suggests the severity of a concern raised by U.S. AI companies that some users, especially in China, are developing imitation versions of their products that could undercut them on price and siphon away customers while posing a national security risk. U.S. officials have estimated that unauthorized distillation costs Silicon Valley firms billions of dollars in annual profit, the report noted.
Distillation in AI is a technique in which a small, new model (a so-called student model) is trained to replicate the capabilities and performance of a large, complex model (a teacher model). The method enables smaller models to achieve high accuracy and requires less computational power and cost.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
Serve Robotics highlights its conversational AI-powered delivery robot
Serve Robotics (SERV) highlighted on Tuesday that it used NVIDIA GTC 2026 to introduce a conversational sidewalk delivery robot named “Maggie,” designed to interact with people in real time using edge AI and 5G connectivity from T-Mobile (TMUS). The company noted that the demo highlighted a shift from simple autonomous delivery to a more interactive, brand-facing robot that can hold conversations, respond dynamically, and support personalized experiences.
The company described the launch as a step toward a new category of experiential marketing, where robotics, AI, and low-latency networking combine to create more immersive public engagement.
“We’re building robots that don’t just move through the world but interact with it,” highlighted Serve Robotics (SERV) CEO Ali Kashani.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
QBTS 0.00%↑ IONQ 0.00%↑ RGTI 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] D-Wave, IonQ and Rigetti’s price targets cut at Mizuho
Mizuho reduced the price targets on quantum computing stocks D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), IonQ (IONQ), and Rigetti Computing (RGTI) but maintained its Outperform rating on the three.
The firm cut D-Wave’s price target to $31 from $40, Rigetti’s to $33 from $43, and IonQ’s to $61 from $80.
Despite the price target cuts, analysts led by Vijay Rakesh said they continue to see more than 100% upside and remain positive on the long-term quantum computing roadmap in the early stages of an inflection.
IonQ (IONQ)
“Assuming 16% market share in the QC [quantum computing] market by C30E, with F26/27E Rev growing 81%/42% y/y and with ~44%/~51% GM [gross margin]. We see IONQ continuing to drive trapped ion QC leadership with a TAM [Total Addressable Market] growing at a ~68% 2025-35E CAGR [Compounded Annual Growth Rate] towards >$200B market by 2035E. IONQ remains well-capitalized with DecQ [December quarter] cash, equivalents, and investments at $3.3B, while also being a key leader in trapped ion QC and benefiting long-term from bringing its foundry operations in-house post the close of the SKYT transaction,” said Rakesh and his team.
Rigetti Computing (RGTI)
The analysts are assuming 10% market share in the QC market by 2030, with fiscal 2026/2027 revenue growing about 300%/around 100% year-over-year and with about 39%/around 49% gross margin.
“We see RGTI continuing to refine its chiplet superconducting technology, as RGTI remains well-capitalized with DecQ cash, equivalents, and investments at ~$590M, while also noting a new 9-qubit Novera QPU sale to the University of Saskatchewan could drive some near-term optimism as it scales to 1,000 qubits,” said the analysts.
D-Wave Quantum (QBTS)
Rakesh and his team have assumed a nearly 10% market share in the QC market by 2030, with fiscal 2026/2027 revenue/EPS growing 82%/93% year-over-year, with more than 75% gross margins.
“We see QBTS continuing to drive its dual platform annealing and superconducting modalities as the first supplier offering multiple solutions, potentially giving it a leg up vs peers in the long-run,” the analysts added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ #Waymo
Waymo starts autonomous ride-hailing service in Nashville
The rollout initially spans a 60-square-mile area, covering key parts of the city including Broadway, 12 South, Midtown, and East Nashville.
Waymo is also testing operations at Nashville International Airport and plans to expand service to travelers there soon.
The company has now launched in 11 U.S.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
TSLA 0.00%↑ INTC 0.00%↑ #SpaceX #xAI
Intel joins SpaceX, Tesla and xAI in Terafab chip production project
Intel (INTC) has joined the Terafab project alongside billionaire Elon Musk’s companies SpaceX (SPACE), xAI (X.AI), and Tesla (TSLA) to “help refactor silicon fab technology.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑
Iran cuts off communication with U.S. ahead of 8 p.m. deadline – report
Iran has reportedly cut off direct communication with the U.S. after President Donald Trump announced threats to destroy the country.
“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Despite Iran allegedly cutting off communication with the U.S., Middle Eastern officials said talks with ceasefire mediators continue, although efforts are now complicated.
One official said this move by Iran intends to send a signal of disapproval and defiance, WSJ reported.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
$ETH
Ethereum stablecoin supply hits $180B ATH: Is ETH demand mispriced?
According to Token Terminal, stablecoin supply on Ethereum (ETH-USD) has hit an ATH of ~$180B, up ~150% in 3 years. With a 60% market share, the asset isn’t just leading but rather becoming the financial highway for digital dollars.
The bigger picture? Reportedly, up to ~$1.7T could move on-chain in four years. Even if ETH’s share drops to 50%, that still implies ~$850B in potential inflows. Stablecoins tell the clearest story here.
Tether (USDT-USD) leads with ~$94B, while USD Coin (USDC) follows at ~$55B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
China’s central bank buys the most gold in a year as Iran war slashes prices
The People’s Bank of China said Tuesday it bought the most gold in more than a year in March, as a key pillar of support for the metal remained intact as prices came under pressure due to the Middle East war.
Bullion held by China’s central bank rose by 160K oz last month, or around five tons, marking the 17th consecutive month that the PBOC—among the world’s largest buyers—has added to its holdings.
Gold tumbled 12% in March in the metal’s worst monthly performance since 2008, as the war lifted the U.S. dollar and prompted bets that the Federal Reserve would not reduce interest rates if inflation picked up.
The PBOC’s purchases may help lift investor confidence in gold, as some other central banks have turned to sales; in March, Turkey’s central bank sold and swapped ~60 tons to defend the lira.
In the first two months of this year, central banks bought a net 25 tons, the World Gold Council reported last week.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
Aehr Test Systems Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.05 beats by $0.02, revenue of $10.31M misses by $0.54M
“Our effective backlog, which includes the backlog of $38.7 million at the end of the fiscal third quarter plus additional bookings received since the end of the quarter, is now over $50 million, a new company record,” said President, CEO & Director Erickson.
“We received a $14 million follow-on production order from our lead wafer-level AI accelerator processor customer for multiple new fully automated FOX-XP wafer-level burn-in systems,” said President, CEO & Director Erickson.
“We also expect to return to profitability on a non-GAAP basis in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026,” CFO, Executive VP of Finance & Secretary Chris Siu said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 07, 2026
AAPL 0.00%↑ #OpenClaw
Apple in focus as Wedbush calls long lead times for Mac mini, Mac Studio a ‘victory’
Lead times for the Mac mini have slipped to at least four weeks, and in many configurations, are between two and three months. Lead times for the more expensive Mac Studio start at around two or three weeks, depending upon configuration, and in some cases, run more than a month.
Many analysts have attributed the demand for the Mac mini to the rise of OpenClaw, which allows users to run agentic AI tasks locally on a machine.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Kratos receives $446.8M space systems command contract
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions (KTOS) on Wednesday said it has been awarded an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with a total potential value of $446.8 million, contingent on the exercise of all options.
Kratos will serve as the prime contractor supporting the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command for the Ground Management and Integration (GMI) agreement on the Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking (MWT) program.
The GMI agreement supports Space Force’s efforts to build and operate an integrated ground architecture capable of managing the Resilient MWT’s multi-orbit satellite constellation. The Resilient MWT system provides persistent detection, tracking, and custody of advanced missile threats—especially hypersonic glide vehicles and maneuvering ballistic missiles.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
DRNZ 0.00%↑ AVAV 0.00%↑ RCAT 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] AIRO downgraded at BTIG on backlog decline, rising competition
An excellent table with summary of all government drone contracts in the link below.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Applied Materials surges as it unveils new chipmaking systems
Applied Materials (AMAT) shares surged 8% during Wednesday trading after the semiconductor equipment manufacturer revealed a pair of new chipmaking tools designed to operate with atomic-level precision for the new wave of AI chips.
These new systems are designed to create the smallest features in the most advanced logic chips. The astronomical demand for artificial intelligence computing power has led to the introduction of gate-all-around transistors at 2nm.
“Next-generation AI GPUs now in development are expected to pack more than 300 billion transistors into a space the size of a postage stamp,” Applied Materials said. “Without proper isolation, electrons can easily diffuse into neighboring transistors, leading to parasitic capacitance, an unintended electrical drag between transistors that slows signals, wastes power and negatively impacts a chip’s performance-per-watt.”
Silicon oxide is used to isolate the atom-wide trenches between these billions of transistors, but these can erode over time and lead to lower chip performance. Applied Materials’ new Applied Producer Precision Selective Nitride PECVD system deposits a dense silicon nitride layer on top of the silicon oxide, which helps the isolation withstand later processing steps that would otherwise erode the material. The system is now being adopted by leading logic chipmakers at 2nm and below GAA process nodes.
The second new tool revealed was the Trillium ALD System. The system has been highly tailored for GAA applications with new features to enable thinner work function metals and volumeless dipole materials that address the limited space in GAA structures. It is also being adopted by leading logic chipmakers at 2nm and below GAA process nodes, the company said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Firefly Aerospace rallies after updating on its moon imaging project
Firefly Aerospace (FLY) announced a new collaboration with Nvidia (NVDA) to enable rapid on-orbit processing in lunar orbit for the company’s Ocula Moon imaging service. As part of the collaboration, an Nvidia (NVDA) Jetson module was embedded on high-resolution Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory telescopes and delivered to Firefly’s (FLY) spacecraft facility ahead of integration on its Elytra orbital vehicle.
“Ocula will be powered by the world’s leading edge AI processor. This capability allows us to layer on our SciTec AI software as the ‘brains’ that give customers real-time, data-driven insights from the Moon,” highlighted Firefly Aerospace (FLY) CEO Jason Kim.
The Ocula service will be activated onboard Elytra as part of Firefly’s (FLY) second mission to the Moon, which is targeted to launch no earlier than late 2026. Elytra will first serve as a transfer vehicle and long-haul communications relay for Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander. Elytra will then remain operational in lunar orbit for approximately five years, capturing continuous imagery for the Ocula service, supporting advanced lunar surface mapping, mineral detection, and reconnaissance.
Firefly (FLY) said its AI-powered software will further enable advanced space domain awareness in lunar orbit. Following Blue Ghost Mission 2, Firefly (FLY) is on contract to deploy two additional Elytra vehicles to lunar orbit as part of Blue Ghost Mission 3 and Mission 4.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑
Iran threatens to exit ceasefire over Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon - reports
Iran signaled Wednesday it may withdraw from the current ceasefire agreement if Israel continues its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a source speaking to Tasnim news agency, which is believed to have ties to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
The source indicated that Iran is actively reviewing the possibility of exiting the fragile ceasefire framework, claiming that a halt to fighting on all fronts—including against Lebanon’s Hezbollah—had been agreed upon by the U.S. as part of a two-week truce proposal.
However, according to U.S. and Israeli statements, Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire agreement with Iran. In an interview with PBS News Hour, President Trump said that Lebanon was not included in the ceasefire deal “because of Hezbollah.”
According to the Tasnim news source, Iran claims that Israel has carried out “clear violations of the ceasefire” with attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon since this morning. In response, Iran’s armed forces are reportedly identifying potential targets.
In a pointed warning, the Tasnim source stated that if the U.S. cannot restrain its “rabid dog” in the region, Iran would “exceptionally help it do so—by force.”
Iran’s Fars news agency claimed that oil tankers stopped passing through the strait because of Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Richtech Robotics signs EU distribution deal to expand overseas presence
Richtech Robotics (RR) on Wednesday said that it has signed a distribution agreement with Netherlands-based NewConsultancy to expand the deployment of its AI-driven service robots across the Netherlands and the wider European Union.
Under the agreement, NewConsultancy will handle local distribution, deployment and customer support, enabling Richtech to scale its robotics solutions and services in the region.
The company said the partnership targets sectors such as hospitality, logistics and commercial services, where businesses are seeking automation to address labor shortages and rising costs.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑
Vance to lead U.S. talks with Iran in Pakistan following ceasefire
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is set to travel to Pakistan this week to head a new round of negotiations aimed at securing a longer-term agreement with Iran, according to the White House.
He will be joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with talks scheduled to begin Saturday in Islamabad, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Oil plunges by most since COVID on ceasefire deal, but Strait of Hormuz still bottled up
Crude oil futures fell Wednesday by the most in six years as the U.S. and Iran reached a two-week ceasefire agreement that was supposed to include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but oil’s retreat was contained somewhat by concerns about the truce holding and the outcome of negotiations to be led on the U.S. side by Vice President Vance.
Only four ships were allowed to pass through the strait on Wednesday, the fewest so far in April, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence; Iran reportedly is requiring ships to work out toll arrangements ahead of time and then pay the fees in cryptocurrency or Chinese yuan.
President Donald Trump wants the strait, which has been effectively blocked by Iran during the war, opened up “immediately, without limitation, including tolls,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing on Wednesday
Overall traffic through the vital waterway has not picked up beyond the slow trickle it has experienced throughout the war, experts and industry professionals said, according to the report.
It is still unclear whether the negotiations set to start Saturday will be based on the U.S. 15-point plan or Iran’s diametrically opposed 10-point plan, which would include Iran’s control of Hormuz and the nearly 1,000 lbs of highly enriched uranium reportedly buried under rubble inside the country.
Vance said that neither the U.S. nor Israel had ever said Lebanon would be part of the ceasefire, while Iran said the deal with the U.S. must include a pause in Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon; Iran cited Israel’s continued strikes on Lebanon as its justification for bottling up shipping on the strait.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 08, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
Trump vows U.S. troops will remain near Iran until ‘real agreement’ is met, warns of major escalation
“All US ships, aircraft, and military personnel...will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The remarks followed the largest coordinated strike of the war by Israel on Wednesday that killed more than 250 people in Lebanon.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Tesla developing new smaller, cheaper EV: report
Tesla (TSLA) is developing a smaller, lower-cost electric SUV, Reuters reported, citing four people familiar with the matter.
The project is still in early stages, and it’s unclear whether Tesla has approved it for production. The company has recently approached suppliers to discuss details of the plan, the people said. The talks revolved around the manufacturing process and specifications for various components for the compact SUV, which would be a standalone model rather than a variant of the Model 3 or Model Y.
Sources added the compact SUV is likely to be built in China initially, with potential expansion to the U.S. and Europe. The vehicle is expected to be shorter than the Model Y and priced substantially lower than its entry-level Model 3 sedan, which starts at $34,000 in China and about $37,000 in the U.S, two of the sources said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
CoreWeave, Meta enter into $21B expanded AI infrastructure pact
CoreWeave (CRWV) shares rose 7% in premarket trading Thursday after the company announced an expanded long-term agreement with Meta Platforms (META) to provide AI cloud capacity through December 2032, valued at about $21B.
The dedicated capacity will be deployed across multiple locations and will include some of the initial deployments of the NVIDIA Vera Rubin platform (NVDA).
CoreWeave (CRWV) has also been diversifying its customer base beyond Microsoft (MSFT), its largest client. The company expanded a deal with OpenAI (OPENAI) last year by up to $6.5B to support training of advanced AI models, bringing the total value of that contract to about $22.4B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
NioCorp nears deal to sell critical minerals output to Traxys, including potential $30M investment
NioCorp Developments (NB) has entered into a non-binding agreement with Traxys North America LLC outlining a long-term marketing and offtake arrangement for NioCorp’s remaining planned critical minerals products from its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project.
Subject to a definitive contract being executed between NioCorp and Traxys, NioCorp would be positioned to sell out of its planned critical minerals products for the first 10 years of operation, following the successful completion of project financing and commencement of commercial production.
NioCorp has already placed under contract 75% of its planned ferroniobium production and 12% of its planned scandium oxide production.
“Upon execution of definitive agreements with Traxys, we believe that this initiative moves NioCorp closer to securing full project financing for the Elk Creek Project,” said Mark A. Smith, CEO, and Executive Chairman of NioCorp.
The term sheet also contemplates a potential strategic equity investment by Traxys of up to $30 million in NioCorp, subject to due diligence, negotiation, and execution of definitive agreements, regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.
Traxys is a key participant in Project Vault, an initiative aimed at strengthening U.S. critical minerals supply chains backed by EXIM. NioCorp (NB) is also working with EXIM on a potential debt financing package for its Elk Creek Project.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
Energy Vault acquires 850 MW energy storage portfolio to enter Japan market
Energy Vault Holdings (NRGV) said on Thursday it had entered the Japanese market through a binding deal to acquire a BESS project pipeline from a domestic developer.
The deal includes a local energy team and an 850 MW portfolio, providing a multi-year growth pipeline.
The portfolio comprises 350 MW of advanced-stage projects and 500 MW of early-stage projects.
Advanced-stage projects are slated for construction from H2 2027 and operations from H2 2028.
More than $180M in annual recurring EBITDA is expected once assets are fully operational over the next 12–36 months.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
Eos Energy guides for Q1 revenues of $56M-$57M on record battery output
Eos Energy Enterprises (EOSE) up 8.9% pre-market Thursday after saying it expects to report preliminary Q1 revenues of $56M-$57M, as record shipments and manufacturing output showed continued progress in the company’s operational scaling.
Eos (EOSE) also reported quarterly records for shipments, up 17% Q/Q; battery output, up 10.4% Q/Q; and bipolar output, up 10.6% Q/Q.
The company also said bi-polar automation yields improved 22% Q/Q, indicating increased process stability and manufacturing consistency.
Eos (EOSE) said it successfully completed factory acceptance testing for its second battery production line, with initial production targeted for the end of Q2.
Line 2 was purpose-built to expand manufacturing capacity while increasing efficiency, the company said, with enhancements including a single-piece flow configuration, increased process redundancy, and advanced pick-and-place gantry systems to enable faster cycle times and repeatability.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
Marvell rises after upgrade at Barclays on growth in optical
Barclays analysts led by Tom O’Malley said that Marvell is first and foremost an optical company, and with ports growing rapidly, the market growth carries the name alone. Industry checks suggest optical ports should double in 2026 and double again in 2027, the analysts added.
The firm also raised the price target on the stock to $150 from $105.
“Our math implies that Optical could grow ~90% for MRVL this year and next, even with some share shift to AVGO. We lay out a scenario below that shows that even when eliminating MSFT entirely, no unit growth at AMZN, and discounting XPU attach we still get to ~$5 of earnings. We don’t agree with those assumptions and in fact are more confident in MSFT ramping after the NVDA NVLink Fusion announcement, said O’Malley and his team.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
IGV 0.00%↑ CIBR 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
Software sector plunges, cybersecurity names hit hardest, as AI disruption concerns persist
Software companies nearly across the board were bleeding on Thursday, with cybersecurity names hit the hardest amid persistent fears of AI disruption and a shaky geopolitical backdrop.
Earlier this week, Anthropic (ANTHRO) announced Claude Mythos, its most powerful model, which it said was capable of identifying hidden cybersecurity issues across a broad range of software systems. Anthropic has only shared the model with about 40 tech giants, including cybersecurity stalwarts such as CrowdStrike (CRWD) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
XLF 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
Bessent, Powell call urgent meeting with bank CEOs about Anthropic model risks
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell are said to have summoned Wall Street leaders to an urgent meeting on concerns that the latest artificial intelligence model from Anthropic PBC (ANTHRO) will usher in an era of greater cyber risk.
Bessent and Powell assembled the group at Treasury’s headquarters in Washington on Tuesday to make sure banks are aware of possible future risks raised by Anthropic’s Mythos and potential similar models and are taking precautions to defend their systems, according to media reports.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 09, 2026
Nvidia-backed Lumentum sees AI boom keeping orders full through 2028
Lumentum Holdings (LITE) said demand from U.S. hyperscalers for its optical components is accelerating and on track to fill its order book through 2028.
The company is also targeting more brownfield sites to ramp up capacity faster, CEO Michael Hurlston said in a Bloomberg TV interview.
However, one challenge the company faces is that Chinese suppliers are able to sell in the U.S., while doors of Chinese hyperscalers are not nearly as open to American suppliers, Hurlston added.
The Nvidia (NVDA)-backed company, whose Nasdaq-traded shares have risen more than 1,500% over the past year, is expanding as quickly as possible and still finding it hard to meet demand.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
CRWV 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
CoreWeave gains on multi-year data center deal with Anthropic to support Claude AI models
Anthropic (ANTHRO) has agreed to lease data center capacity from CoreWeave (CRWV) to support rising demand for its artificial intelligence services, with the multi-year deal set to bring additional compute online starting later this year.
The capacity will include a variety of Nvidia (NVDA) chip architectures at data centers in the U.S., Intrator told Bloomberg in an interview. The companies declined to disclose financial terms of the agreement.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ #BTC
Bitcoin business: Are Iran and the U.S. in agreement on cryptocurrency?
The critical waterway was supposed to be fully open to traffic by now, but according to scans of the area, only several tankers have transited the chokepoint. Compounding the problems is that Iran wants to start charging pass-through tolls, which cannot be sanctioned or touched by the Western financial system.
Quote: “Every very large crude carrier (VLCC) transiting the strait has been paying $2M (or $1 per barrel of oil), in line with what has been under discussion in parliament,” said Hamid Hosseini, a spokesperson for Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical products exporters’ union. “Once the email arrives and Iran completes its assessment, vessels are given a few seconds to pay in bitcoin, ensuring they can’t be traced or confiscated due to sanctions.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
‘Extremely chaotic’ maritime trade despite ceasefire agreement
“The situation is extremely chaotic,” Adrian Beciri, CEO of DUCAT Group said in an interview with CNBC, noting there is no established protocol for transiting the straits or even a clear way to contact Iranian authorities about passage.
Vessels attempting the transit are being forced to follow unconventional routes closer to the Iranian coastline, with ship owners being asked to pay sums that Beciri described as “quite frankly ridiculous.”
While such costs might be absorbed by high-value tankers carrying cargo worth hundreds of millions, the logistics executive said transit has become “uneconomic” for smaller bulkers, fertilizers, and other trades.
“There needs to be an absolute clear statement between and an agreement between both parties here,” he said, adding that conflicting terms and multiple messages from various Iranian officials have left the industry confused.
The CEO dismissed optimistic assessments of the situation, stating flatly: “If anyone thinks that [the straits are open], they’re mislead right now.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
Trump says U.S. is readying military if Iran fails to comply – report
President Donald Trump said on Friday that U.S. warships are being reloaded with “the best ammunition” and “best weapons ever made” to resume strikes on Iran if peace talks in Pakistan fail, according to The New York Post.
Trump warned that “if we don’t have a deal, we will be using them, and we will be using them very effectively.”
“We’re loading up the ships with the best weapons ever made, even at a higher level than we used to do a complete decimation,” Trump said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
#Anthropic
Fastly, along with Akamai and Cloudflare, tumbles after Anthropic launches Managed Agents
Anthropic’s Managed Agents is a hosted service in the Claude Platform that runs long-horizon agents on a user’s behalf through a small set of interfaces meant to outlast any particular implementation.
Launched April 8 in public beta, Claude Managed Agents is a suite of composable APIs for building and deploying cloud-hosted agents at scale. The core idea is to eliminate the months of infrastructure work — sandboxing, state management, credential handling, error recovery, and observability — that has prevented most enterprises from shipping AI agents in production. Developers define what they want the agent to do; Anthropic handles the rest.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Apr 10, 2026
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Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.