Alpha Coverage #168
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:
[News] U.S. to offer $17.5B in loans for utilities to finance Westinghouse nuclear reactors
The Trump administration has conditionally committed funding for $17.5B in loan facilities to support the long-lead equipment necessary to construct up to 10 large-nuclear reactors being built by Westinghouse Electric, the company said Tuesday.
Westinghouse said the conditional financing package will enable eligible utility and energy company partners to purchase long-lead items and help accelerate construction and commercial operations of Westinghouse reactors by up to three years, with the aim of having 10 reactors under construction by 2030.
Westinghouse Electric CEO Dan Sumner told The Wall Street Journal that he hopes new AP1000 reactors can come online starting in 2035.
Westinghouse is owned by Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and Canadian uranium producer Cameco (CCJ).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
CCXI 0.00%↑ #AGLT
[News] Agility Robotics to go public via $2.5B merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI
Agility Robotics and Churchill Capital (CCXI) have entered into a definitive business combination agreement, the companies said on Wednesday. Upon closing of the transaction, the combined company is expected to operate as Agility and be listed on a major North American exchange under the ticker symbol “AGLT.”
The business combination values Agility at a pre-money equity value of $2.5B, providing an attractive entry point into Agility for Churchill XI shareholders and new investors. The transaction is expected to provide more than $620M of gross proceeds to Agility.
Agility Robotics is supported by strategic investors and partners across the AI, technology, VC, and industrial ecosystem, including DCVC, NVIDIA (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (SFTBY), Foxconn, Schaeffler, Abico, and Playground Global.
Strong commercial momentum with more than $300M of multi-year contracted Digit v5 orders secured to date.
Proceeds will support fulfillment of existing customer orders, expansion of commercial deployments, scaling of Digit v5 production, and continued investment in Agility’s integrated platform.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
GLD 0.00%↑ SLV 0.00%↑ KGC 0.00%↑ AEM 0.00%↑
[News] Silver plunges to a fresh 6-month low, Gold dips below $4,000
Gold futures plunged below $4,000 on Wednesday for a fourth consecutive losing session and its lowest close since early November, pressured by a firming U.S. dollar and growing expectations of interest rate hikes.
Spot silver (XAGUSD:CUR) extended its decline at the Wednesday open, sliding more than 4% as selling pressure intensified across the precious metals complex. Prices have now fallen to their weakest level since December 9, 2025, marking a fresh six-month low.
The move reflects a broader downturn that has erased a significant portion of recent gains, with silver now down more than 50% from its January 29 peak of $121.61 per ounce. It has also dropped 23.6% from its June 2 high of $76.97, underscoring the severity of the ongoing correction.
Technical indicators continue to deteriorate as well. Spot silver is currently trading below its 20-day, 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, signaling sustained bearish momentum across multiple time frames.
Meanwhile, the relative strength index has fallen to 29.31, placing the metal in oversold territory and suggesting that downside momentum may be nearing extreme levels. Despite these conditions, buyers have yet to step in meaningfully to stabilize prices.
Overall, the trend points to sustained bearish sentiment, with traders watching for potential stabilization signals or a technical rebound, though momentum remains firmly negative in the near-term trading environment, ahead of now.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
AVGO 0.00%↑ CLS 0.00%↑ #OpenAI
[News] Broadcom and OpenAI heat up AI chip market with inference processor Jalapeño
Broadcom (AVGO) and OpenAI (OPENAI) revealed the fruits of its partnership today with Jalapeño, a new chip designed specifically to run inference for large language models.
OpenAI designed the chip, while partners Broadcom (AVGO) and Celestica (CLS) helped industrialize the platform through chip implementation, board, rack system integration, high-performance networking, and scalable production systems.
“Based on early testing, Jalapeño will efficiently execute our most important workloads close to the hardware’s theoretical limits,” said Richard Ho, who leads OpenAI’s hardware program.
Broadcom plans to deploy racks of AI accelerator and network systems targeted to start in the second half of 2026 and to be completed by the end of 2029.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
[News] Micron Non-GAAP EPS of $25.11 beats by $4.83, revenue of $41.46B (+345.8% Y/Y) beats by $6.21B
Looking to the upcoming fourth-quarter, Micron said it expects adjusted earnings between $30 and $32 per share, above the $25.72 per share estimate. Sales are forecast to be between $49B and $51B, well above the $43.58B estimate.
“Our fiscal Q4 gross margin outlook reflects a meaningful moderation in the rate of price increases,” Executive VP & CFO Murphy said.
“Results and guidance were far ahead of pre-call Street and buy side expectations, but to us the even more meaningful development was MU’s substantial expansion of its Strategic Customer Agreements (SCAs) from a single 5-year contract (announced last qtr) to 16 signed agreements, a step-change that in our view fundamentally transforms MU’s business model from cyclical commodity producer to multi-year contracted supplier with significant downside protection on both revenue and margins,” said J.P. Morgan analysts led by Harlan Sur.
The analysts noted that their view is consistent with Micron’s management, that AI will keep Dynamic Random Access Memory, or DRAM, demand well above supply beyond 2027. Micron’s quarter was consistent with that, with material upside to the quarter and guidance, the analysts added.
“Micron again beat Street expectations for the reported quarter, while guiding handily above consensus for the forward period. The surprise, in our view, rather was the level of detail that Micron was able to provide around the forward contracts it has negotiated for a significant portion of its forward bit output, with the new deals seemingly providing unprecedented revenue, margin, and earnings certainty for an elongated period,” said Wedbush analysts led by Matt Bryson.
The analysts noted that while these agreements moderate what they believe might have been peak cyclical earnings power over the next couple of years, they also create an elongated (and unprecedented) period of visibility with Micron talking to $18B in current Remaining Performance Obligations, or RPOs, that should grow to over $100B assuming the company succeeds in locking down about 50% of its capacity within SCAs.
Bryson and his team said that Micron, and they believe its peers, not only have unprecedented certainty around future cash flow (tied to a significant portion of their business), but this visibility arguably provides Micron with the ability to use this cash flow in a more shareholder friendly manner with the company taking advantage of its newfound financial stability to announce a plan to return 100% of FCF to shareholders starting in December of this year (post the expiration of CHIPS Act provisions restricting certain uses of cash).
“There is no AI without memory,” America Securities senior semiconductor analyst Vivek Arya explained, noting that the recent earnings surge—which far exceeded even whisper numbers—reflects a permanent shift rather than a typical cyclical upturn.
The supply-demand imbalance in AI memory is projected to persist at least through the end of next year.
“The forward price to earnings multiple for Micron (MU) is basically unchanged since the start of the year,” Arya observed, noting that the three largest semiconductor companies he covers—NVIDIA (NVDA), Broadcom (AVGO), and Micron (MU)—all trade below the S&P 500 (SP500) multiple, with Micron (MU) at a sub-10x forward multiple.
Looking ahead, Arya predicts AI infrastructure deployment will continue through the end of this decade as a new “intelligence layer” is established.
While growth may not sustain 60%-70% annual rates indefinitely, the structural buildout should persist.
“The only thing that stops it is, will the end customers have the imagination to create new applications that drive more user adoption? Will they be able to monetize these applications?” Arya said, suggesting the semiconductor industry’s trajectory ultimately depends on downstream innovation and commercialization.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[News] NASA selects Rocket Lab to launch Sun, Earth Sciences missions
Rocket Lab (RKLB) announced on Thursday that it has been selected by NASA to provide three Electron launches for two separate NASA missions — PolSIR and TSIS-2— from early next year.
The firm said it will fly two back-to-back Electron launches for NASA’s PolSIR mission from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand no earlier than June 2027. Additionally, a separate Electron launch for NASA’s TSIS-2 mission will take place from the same launch site in early 2027.
Alongside PolSIR and TSIS-2, other upcoming NASA missions to be launched by Rocket Lab include the agency’s Aspera mission. Later this year, Rocket Lab is also scheduled to deploy its Photon spacecraft on Electron for NASA’s LOXSAT mission.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[News] Pentagon is said to open door to greater AI role in military targeting
The Pentagon has updated its classified targeting doctrine to envision a future in which artificial intelligence takes a far more active role in combat decisions, marking another step toward automating battlefield operations, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.
The revised guidance, approved in April, describes an evolution from today’s model, where humans initiate military actions, to systems in which AI can recommend or initiate actions while commanders monitor the process. The document argues that the speed of future warfare may eventually require fully autonomous capabilities as rival nations rapidly expand their own military AI programs.
The updated doctrine also highlights AI’s ability to compress the “sensor-to-shooter” timeline by processing intelligence from multiple sources faster than humans can. Beyond identifying potential targets, the technology could improve data quality, fill intelligence gaps and automate information flows across military networks.
At the same time, the Pentagon acknowledges that greater reliance on AI raises significant legal and ethical questions. The guidance warns against overreliance on algorithmic recommendations, emphasizing that commanders remain responsible for decisions involving the use of force and compliance with the law of armed conflict.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[News] Starlink mobile plans set SpaceX up as potential competitor to Verizon, AT&T: report
Elon Musk’s SpaceX (SPCX) has told investors that it plans to launch a new Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell told investors during an IPO roadshow that the group was considering launching a Starlink retail product. The company could build its own terrestrial US mobile network.
The move would require Starlink to sell mobile contracts to individual customers, the report said. It also positions the satellite company as a potential competitor to Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), and other traditional telecom providers.
TD Cowen analyst Gregory Williams wrote Thursday that SpaceX could buy T-Mobile in pitch to turn Starlink into a global connectivity platform.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
News, Facts, Analyst & Market Commentary - Short Reads:
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑
Trump calls Iran deal ‘unconditional surrender,’ says his power has ‘no limits’: Axios
U.S. President Trump denied that the Iran war revealed the limits of his ability to exert power, telling “The Axios Show” he still believes there are “no limits,” and insisted the deal reached with Iran amounts to “unconditional surrender” by Tehran.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 19, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑
Iran closes Strait of Hormuz citing ceasefire violations
Iran on Saturday said that it is sending a team of negotiators to Switzerland for talks with the U.S., even as the country’s joint military command said that a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will resume due to alleged ceasefire violations.
The closure of the vital shipping route is in response to what it called violations of a ceasefire deal by the U.S. and Israel.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 20, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑
Iran oil exports poised for return under new U.S. deal, but recovery faces hurdles
Under the deal, sanctions on Iranian oil sales would be eased, allowing the country to market crude and refined products with support from international shipping, banking and insurance providers. However, implementation remains uncertain amid continued regional tensions and disputes involving Israel and Hezbollah.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 21, 2026
ITA 0.00%↑ USO 0.00%↑ FCG 0.00%↑ TLT 0.00%↑ GLD 0.00%↑
Iran suspends U.S. talks after Trump threatens new strikes
Negotiations between the United States and Iran were thrown into doubt Sunday after Tehran halted participation following new warnings from President Donald Trump over Hezbollah’s actions in Lebanon.
The high-level discussions, involving U.S., Iranian, Qatari and Pakistani officials, were intended to address issues including Iran’s nuclear program, sanctions relief and regional security concerns. Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were among the participants.
The latest setback came after Trump warned on social media that the U.S. could launch additional military action if Iran failed to restrain Hezbollah. He also warned Tehran against disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global energy shipments.
On Sunday, Trump said on Truth Social: “Iran must immediately stop their highly paid PROXIES in Lebanon from causing trouble. If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!”
In a telephone interview with Fox News, Trump also made additional threats saying: “We may take over the strait, if we have to.” and “You close it and you won’t have a country. You won’t even make it back to your fucking country.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 21, 2026
WealthWise Research - Jun 21, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Robinhood CEO says, “AI Trading” tops 50K users
CEO and Co-Founder Vlad Tenev said that in the first few weeks of “agentic trading,” over 50K customers have already opened accounts and are trading millions of dollars per day in equities and options.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 19, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Google adopts Nvidia-style approach to grow TPU business - report
In western New York, near Lake Ontario and Niagara Falls, the tech company is backing an AI data center project called Lake Mariner. Google (GOOG) provided a $3.2B financial guarantee for the project. The facility’s developers will lease computing power generated by thousands of Google’s (GOOG) AI chips to AI startup Anthropic (ANTHRO), according to a WSJ report that cites people familiar with the matter.
The tech conglomerate is leveraging its cloud infrastructure to encourage customers and large enterprises to shift their AI workloads to Google’s (GOOG) proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 19, 2026
POWR 0.00%↑ ZAP 0.00%↑ ELFY 0.00%↑ NUKZ 0.00%↑ UTES 0.00%↑
U.S. energy regulator orders overhaul of data center grid rules
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission this week approved orders to remove bottlenecks that had risked slowing the AI boom, aiming to handle requests for connecting large-load facilities such as data centers to the power grid within 90 days, a dramatic acceleration of a process that can take years.
The top energy regulator directed the six federally regulated organizations that operate the bulk of the U.S. electric grid — PJM Interconnection, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, California Independent System Operator, Southwest Power Pool, New York ISO, and ISO New England — to justify or overhaul their process for powering large energy users, aiming to speed up the connection of data centers while minimizing the impact on grid stability and power bills for Americans.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 20, 2026
China hits back: Slaps trade restrictions on U.S. entities including MP Materials and USA Rare Earth
In a retaliatory move on Monday, China slapped trade restrictions on dozens of U.S. companies after Washington added more Chinese firms to a Pentagon military-aid blacklist.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce placed 10 American industrial suppliers on its export control list, including rare earth miners MP Materials Corp (MP) and USA Rare Earth (USAR), and drone makers Teal Drones and Jaia Robotics — barring exports of any dual-use items originating in China to the companies.
The Pentagon also recently expanded its 1260H blacklist, which targets Chinese tech firms suspected of supporting Beijing’s military. High-profile giants like Alibaba Group (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), and EV manufacturer BYD (BYDDF) were among the latest additions.
However, the Trump administration has reportedly delayed adding Chinese AI startup DeepSeek (DEEPSEEK), memory chipmaker CXMT, and more than 100 other companies identified as national security risks to a trade blacklist as Washington seeks to avoid escalating tensions with Beijing.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Chinese AI stocks rally as Beijing signals expanded policy support for AI
The primary catalyst for the market surge was a statement from Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai. The announcements aim to fast-track technological self-sufficiency through what Beijing calls “new productive forces,” introducing sweeping regulatory reforms targeted at the tech-heavy STAR Board in Shanghai and the ChiNext Board in Shenzhen.
The new measures aim to boost industry growth through two main areas. First, regulatory changes will ease IPO standards for AI developers and support advanced sectors like quantum computing. They will also encourage Hong Kong tech companies to dual-list in mainland China. Second, the government will implement initiatives to promote next-generation AI devices and integrate technology more deeply in consumer markets and logistics.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
NXT 0.00%↑ #Zimmermann
Nextpower to buy Zimmermann PV-Steel for $378M
Nextpower (NXT) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Zimmermann PV-Steel Group, a Germany-based solar technology provider with more than 20 gigawatts (GW) deployed and deep market presence in Germany, one of Europe’s largest solar markets.
The business is expected to contribute approximately €300M in revenue and €45M of adjusted EBITDA on an annual run-rate basis following transaction close, and is expected to be accretive.
The total consideration for the transaction is comprised of cash and stock of up to €330M, or approximately $378M based on exchange rates as of June 20, and is subject to customary closing conditions including required regulatory review.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of Nextpower’s fiscal 2027.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Fervo Energy to partner with Nvidia, PNNL on geothermal digital twin
PNNL researchers will use field data from Fervo (FRVO) to train AI models on Nvidia (NVDA) infrastructure, with the trained models to be integrated into Nvidia Omniverse libraries, helping geothermal operators more quickly identify and respond to subsurface changes, optimize power generation, and strengthen the scalability of enhanced geothermal systems.
PNNL will develop workflows and data pipelines using high-performance computing, including U.S. Department of Energy supercomputing resources, to run large-scale simulations.
The team will use field data from Fervo’s (FRVO) Nevada and Utah sites to train the digital twin, with the platform scheduled for implementation by 2029.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
$CRBS
Cerebras sees bullish views maintained at Wedbush ahead of Q1 results
The analysts believe Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) capacity is Cerebras’ primary pinch point. TSM, in their view, likely provides at least modest upside to expected wafer output in 2026 and 2027. As such, the analysts believe Cerebras probably realizes some wafer/system upside versus expectations.
“And with accelerator availability tightening, and memory sourcing becoming even more challenging (less an issue for Cerebras given the chip relies on SRAM rather than HBM), we see several reasons to believe that Cerebras should be able to realize financial upside from any incremental output,” said Bryson and his team.
In addition, the analysts said that Cerebras has not provided formal insight into the timing of WSE-4, nor is any benefit from the upgrade baked into Wedbush’s forward numbers. However, the analysts noted that general speculation is that WSE-4 will be launched and ramped in late 2026/early 2027, and they believe the new design’s improved performance should benefit Cerebras’s financial model (both margins/ revenue). As such, any update around Cerebras’s execution/plans on this front will likely be positive in nature, according to the analysts.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Lemonade introduces autonomous car insurance product in Colorado
Lemonade (LMND) said on Monday that it is expanding its autonomous car insurance product to Colorado.
The product gives Tesla (TSLA) owners 50% off every mile driven using Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology.
“This first-of-its-kind insurance product cuts Tesla’s cost of ownership by slashing insurance prices in half for miles driven with FSD (Supervised),” said Shai Wininger, co-founder of Lemonade.
“Tesla’s safe FSD (Supervised) tech reduces the chances of getting into an accident,” said Wininger.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Nvidia launches full-stack safety system Halos for robotics
Nvidia (NVDA) said it is bringing Halos for Robotics, the industry’s first full-stack safety system for robotics and physical AI that unifies AI compute and safety.
Agility is integrating Nvidia IGX Thor and Halos Core into its proprietary safe human detection system for its humanoid robot Digit, which is designed for industrial work in logistics, manufacturing, and warehouse operations, according to Nvidia.
For Digit, Nvidia IGX Thor delivers industrial-grade AI compute with built-in safety capabilities, while Halos Core supports the software layer for safety-related operating functions, the company added.
Before robotics, Halos had been available for autonomous vehicles.
The company noted that Halos enables companies to rely on a standardized, unified safety architecture that connects AI compute, system software, sensor data, safety applications, and inspection for robotic systems.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
MU 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[Newsletter Exclusive] Micron rises on collab with Anthropic to develop and supply AI memory and storage infrastructure
“Our compute strategy depends on getting every layer of the stack right, and memory and storage are central to how efficiently we can train and serve Claude,” said Tom Brown, co-founder and chief compute officer at Anthropic. “Partnering with Micron means we collaborate closely on optimizing these systems for our workloads and secure the supply we need. As demand for Claude grows, this is how we scale our compute for the long term.”
The companies will research how memory and storage subsystems perform across varying workloads. They will utilize Micron’s portfolio of HBM, DRAM and SSDs and how they affect performance, energy efficiency and total cost of ownership across AI training and inference. These efforts are expected to create improvements across the aforementioned areas, as well as enhance token economics.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
META 0.00%↑ #Cred
Meta buys 20% stake in Indian fintech Cred, hires founder to lead WhatsApp
Meta Platforms (META) has acquired a 20% stake in Indian fintech firm Cred and moved the company’s founder into a new role as head of WhatsApp.
Cred founder Kunal Shah will assume the role from Will Cathcart, who is moving to a new AI-focused role at Meta (META)
Cred operates an app that rewards users for paying credit card bills on time. The $900M investment from Meta (META) now values the platform at $4.5B.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Japan’s Sakana AI launches “Fugu system”; says it beats GPT-5.5, Gemini, Opus
Sakana AI, a Japan-based frontier R&D company, announced on Monday the launch of “Sakana Fugu,” a new AI system that takes a different approach from the industry’s race to build bigger and bigger models.
According to the company, instead of relying on a single model, Fugu can coordinate multiple AI models through a single API to solve complex tasks.
Fugu itself is a language model that can decide whether to answer a request itself or assign parts of the work to specialized models, verify the results, and combine them into a final response.
The company said the approach helps reduce operational and geopolitical risks tied to relying on a single AI provider, especially amid recent export controls affecting Anthropic-backed models as an example.
Moreover, the company launched two versions: Fugu for coding, chat, and other everyday tasks, and “Fugu Ultra” for more difficult work such as AI research, paper reproduction, cybersecurity analysis, and patent investigations.
Both Fugu and Fugu Ultra are now available through a unified API, with subscription plans for regular users and pay-as-you-go pricing for enterprise customers.
Officially, the Japanese startup said Fugu Ultra performed on par with Anthropic (ANTHRO)’s Fable 5 and Mythos Preview on key engineering, science, and reasoning benchmarks.
The company also said its tests showed Fugu models outperformed Alphabet (GOOGL)’s Gemini 3.1 Pro, OpenAI (OPENAI)’s GPT-5.5, and Anthropic’s Opus 4.8 in tasks such as automated research, mechanical design, Japanese handwriting analysis, one-shot chess, Rubik’s Cube solving, and financial time-series prediction.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Credo Technologies is likely to keep benefiting from AI: BNP
“We continue to view Credo as a key beneficiary of hyperscalers adopting innovations in copper and optical interconnects for both scale-out and scale-up backend networks, as well as frontend network deployments driven by agentic AI,” BNP analyst Karl Ackerman wrote in a note to clients. “Indeed, we believe [active electrical cables], ZF optical transceivers, silicon photonics, Active LED Cables (ALCs), and OmniConnect gearboxes expand Credo’s [total addressable market] to over $10B, or 3x from Credo’s opportunity just 18 months ago.”
“We believe Credo is increasingly diversifying its customer base with 3-4 10% hyperscale customers expected in FY27,” Ackerman added. “We also expect Neoclouds could approach 20% of sales over time. Credo indicated that they are involved with 5 of 6 hyperscalers which we believe are Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, and Oracle.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Interactive Brokers expands agentic trading capabilities with ChatGPT, Grok integration
The addition expands IBKR’s AI platform integrations that began with Claude.
The expansion also extends the selection of products available for order instructions to include support for options, futures, and futures options in addition to equities and ETFs.
The expansion enables clients to link their existing IBKR account to ChatGPT, Grok, or Claude using their login at no extra cost, with no new account required, and no passwords or API keys ever shared with the AI provider.
The connection allows clients to use natural language to explore their portfolio, analyze markets, and generate order instructions.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
COIN 0.00%↑ #Anthropic #OpenAI
Coinbase launches pre-IPO perpetual futures tied to Anthropic, OpenAI after SpaceX
Earlier this month, the crypto exchange was letting traders make risky bets on SpaceX’s (SPCX) future share prices through the so-called ‘pre-IPO perpetual futures’, Reuters had reported.
The derivatives did not have a direct link to the underlying shares but were priced with reference to SpaceX’s latest disclosed pre-IPO valuation, the newswire had said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Infleqtion launches “Quantum Space Initiative” to boost U.S. space-tech edge
The initiative brings together founding partners including Voyager Technologies (VOYG), Monarch Quantum, Armada, and the University of Colorado Boulder.
Through a new Quantum Space Hub, the group plans to connect companies, researchers, and government agencies to help move quantum technologies from the lab into real-world space applications.
According to Infleqtion, quantum sensing, timing, navigation, communications, and computing technologies could support future lunar infrastructure, deep-space exploration, and defense systems.
The initiative builds on the company’s earlier work with NASA, including contributions to the Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the International Space Station and the Quantum Gravity Gradiometer Pathfinder mission, which is expected to become the world’s first quantum gravity sensor in space.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
GOOG 0.00%↑ AIQ 0.00%↑ #A24
Google invests in movie studio A24 for DeepMind R&D collaboration
As part of a greater push into Hollywood’s use of artificial intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) has invested ~$75M in independent studio A24, enabling further engagement of Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) DeepMind AI unit with A24’s filmmaking.
A24 is the studio behind hits like Backrooms, Marty Supreme, The Brutalist, and Eddington.
The deal does not give Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) access to A24’s library but does give the tech company access to its roster of artists to bridge the gap between technology and entertainment, creating new tools for movie production and distribution and to “expand what is possible in the future of entertainment.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
SpaceX lands another cloud computing deal as Reflection signs up for potential $6.3B contract
The agreement calls for Reflection to gain access to Nvidia’s (NVDA) GB300s for training and running AI models from Colossus data center infrastructure for $150M per month, according to CNBC, which viewed some contract details. The contract begins on July 1, 2026, and runs through 2029. Similar to other deals inked by SpaceX, either company can end the contract with a 90-day notice after the first three months.
If the agreement runs through its full potential term, it would generate $6.3B in revenue for SpaceX.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Apple’s WWDC is a ‘material positive reset’ for its AI ambitions: BofA
Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said the third generation of Apple’s foundation models, known as AFM 3, is a core architectural change. It moves to a hybrid stack, as inference will take place on the device, while private cloud compute and Google Cloud (GOOG) (GOOGL) — with Nvidia (NVDA) GPUs — will handle the most demanding workloads.
“AFM 3 Core Advanced is the most important on-device disclosure, in our view, because its 20bn-parameter sparse architecture activates only 1bn–4bn parameters per request, helping Apple scale local model capability,” Mohan explained.
Aside from the models, there is an “underappreciated debate” from Apple’s tokenomics, where request volume, effective workload, and cloud cost may diverge “meaningfully,” Mohan added.
“In our illustrative 2030 framework, we model 50% on-device & 50% PCC request mix, with 5% of requests routed to AFM 3 Cloud Pro,” Mohan wrote. “However, after adjusting for larger context packages, reasoning burden, image compute, and model cost intensity, Cloud Pro rises to 33% of workload units and 67% of weighted cloud cost (using our own estimates and assumptions). This highlights why Apple’s margin sensitivity depends more on how often workloads escalate to image generation or high-intensity agentic reasoning.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
U.S. authorizes Iranian oil sales for 60 days, dismantling sanctions imposed on Iran’s oil industry
The Trump administration has issued a temporary license allowing Iran to sell some of its energy exports through August 21 following “productive talks” between the U.S. and Iran, Treasury Secretary Bessent said Monday, opening the door for eventually ending many sanctions programs as part of negotiations between the two countries.
The waiver allows the U.S. to import Iranian crude oil and other petrochemical and petroleum products, which the U.S. has not done on any meaningful level since imposing measures after the 1979 revolution, and that Iran can be paid in dollars, a boon for the country which is in desperate need of foreign exchange.
Shipowners, traders, and buyers will now have to evaluate whether they have time to source, finance, and complete such purchases after years of not dealing with Iran because of sanctions.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
META 0.00%↑ NFLX 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑ AMZN 0.00%↑ DIS 0.00%↑
Instagram on TV: Social media app branching out into alternative content
Instagram for TV launched Monday on Samsung TV devices, extending its reach from Amazon Fire (AMZN) and Google (GOOG) (GOOGL) TV options. Besides widescreen options, Instagram is also experimenting with longer-form videos, live TV, and episodic series.
Besides leveraging its stable of creators—both professional and amateur—Instagram (META) is looking to capitalize on the emerging genre of “microdramas” and low-budget “YouTuber” movies like Backrooms and Obsession, both of which are shattering box-office records. Rival TikTok is now making its own microdramas through its PineDrama app and signed a deal with Issa Rae’s HOORAE production company to produce content. And with YouTube (GOOG) emerging as the most-watched video provider in the U.S., it’s gotten the attention of streaming giant Netflix (NFLX) which recently signed Pete Davidson, Bill Simmons, and Charlamagne Tha God for video podcasts and even lured popular YouTube (GOOG) podcaster Jay Shetty with a $100M deal.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Bond markets are pricing in two interest rate hikes this year – analyst
Seeking Alpha analyst Damir Tokic warns that interest rates will continue to rise, driven by real yields, with traders now pricing in two Fed rate hikes in 2026—a development he says is “consistent with the late-cycle overheated economy,” despite falling oil prices that may be “overreacting to the downside.”
The decoupling between Treasury yields (US10Y), (US2Y), (US30Y), and oil prices (CL1:COM), (CO1:COM) has caught the attention of multiple market observers.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, described the situation as a “market configuration that seems strange,” attributing it primarily to “the markets looking at the prospect of large and growing corporate and government bond issuance.”
Tokic warns that the pressure extends beyond bonds into equities, stating that “the AI trade is starting to collapse with selling in hyperscalers and semiconductors.”
According to the analyst, the selloff stems from concerns over “the broken token-based business model and the worries about ROI on AI capex,” which he believes will “continue to put pressure on the S&P 500 (SP500).”
Analysts at Renaissance Macro Research explain that for Fed hawks, “the rationale for rate hikes is not about oil.”
They note that the 75 basis points of “insurance cuts put in place last year to support the labor market” are “no longer required” given that inflation remains above target and labor markets are reviving.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Rocket Lab completes end-to-end VICTUS HAZE mission; sets new TacRS record
Rocket Lab (RKLB) announced on Monday that it successfully launched its Electron rocket and deployed its Pioneer spacecraft for the U.S. Space Force’s VICTUS HAZE mission.
The company completed the launch in less than ~17 hours after receiving the order, setting a record for rapid-response space missions.
The Rocket Labs became the first contractor to deliver a complete TacRS mission package, including spacecraft design, manufacturing, launch, and on-orbit operations, showing the strength of its in-house capabilities.
The Pioneer spacecraft was fully activated in 37 hours and 36 minutes, well ahead of the mission’s 72-hour target, and is now carrying out operations in low Earth orbits to simulate threat-response scenarios.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Fatal crash in Texas investigated for potential involvement of Tesla Autopilot
On Friday evening, a 44-year-old man driving a Tesla (TSLA) Model 3 in a residential area of Katy failed to make a right-hand turn, left the roadway at high speed, and crashed straight into a brick house. The impact drove the car through an exterior wall and into a room where 76-year-old Martha Avila was inside her home. She was airlifted to a hospital by helicopter but was later pronounced dead from her injuries.
The driver told Harris County sheriff’s investigators that the Tesla (TSLA) was operating on its automated driver-assistance system when it failed to navigate the turn and continued directly into the house. According to the initial reports, authorities said the vehicle was travelling at a “high speed,” and the driver showed no signs of intoxication when evaluated after the crash. The driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Local law enforcement and federal safety officials are now examining whether Tesla’s (TSLA) driver-assistance technology was actually engaged and, if so, whether it functioned properly or was being misused at the time of the collision. Investigators have noted that they have not yet confirmed the vehicle’s Autopilot status from data logs, and the precise role of the system in the crash remains under active investigation at the moment.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it has opened a special crash investigation.
CEO Elon Musk wrote in a post on social media platform X that the incident “makes no sense,” he argued “FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets and this was a high speed crash!”
Tesla (TSLA) VP of Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy said, “In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area,” Elluswamy added in response to Musk. “They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.”
Unfortunately for Tesla (TSLA), this defense has been tried before and failed to absolve Tesla completely of responsibility. Last summer, a Miami jury found Tesla 33% responsible for a fatal 2019 crash in which a Tesla (TSLA) with autopilot engaged ran through an intersection at a high speed, killing a 22-year old woman and injuring her companion. While the driver shared the majority of the responsibility, Tesla (TSLA) was ordered to pay $243M to the plaintiffs. Tesla (TSLA) appealed but the judgement was upheld by a federal judge.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has also opened an investigation into the crash and is working with the Harris County, TX sheriff’s office.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 22, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Trump signs orders to accelerate quantum adoption, boost cyber defense
The first order launches a national effort to develop a quantum computer capable of performing significant scientific calculations. White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believe such a system could be developed by 2028.
The order also directs federal agencies to develop plans for deploying quantum-enabled sensors and networks within the next five years, the officials said, while strengthening cooperation with allies to protect quantum intellectual property and secure critical supply chains.
A second executive order seeks to speed the adoption of post-quantum cryptography, requiring federal agencies to transition high-value assets to encryption standards resistant to quantum-powered cyberattacks by no later than 2031.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
Energy Fuels to buy magnet manufacturer VAC in $1.9B cash-and-stock deal
VAC is an advanced magnetics company with more than 400 patents, over 1,000 customers, and operating magnet production facilities in North America, Europe and Asia, including a state-of-the-art facility in South Carolina with capacity to produce 2K metric tons/year of permanent magnets and scalable to 12K tons/year; VAC has produced and shipped more than 1B rare earth permanent magnets during the last decade.
VAC’s legacy business generated $29M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025 and has experienced more than 20% Y/Y growth in its order book for 2026; the South Carolina plant is expected to generate $65M-$75M of annual run-rate EBITDA once its production reaches current capacity of 2K tons/year.
Under the deal terms, Energy Fuels (UUUU) will acquire 100% of VAC for $718M in cash and ~65.85M newly issued Energy Fuels common shares, which at Energy Fuels’ closing share price of $16.12 as of June 22, implies an equity value of $1.9B for VAC.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Firefly Aerospace set for $110M EXIM loan to expand Texas production
Firefly Aerospace (FLY) is poised to receive a $110 million loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank that would help finance an expansion of the company’s spacecraft manufacturing operations in Texas, underscoring Washington’s growing effort to strengthen the competitiveness of the domestic space industry, Reuters reported Tuesday.
The loan is expected to come before EXIM’s board for approval on Tuesday.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
Iran, Oman move to assert control over Strait of Hormuz
The governments of Iran and Oman said Tuesday they are studying the future administration of the Strait of Hormuz, including costs to be charged for services provided.
The two countries bordering the strait emphasized in a joint statement “their sovereignty and sovereign rights over their territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz” and said they will begin discussions on the future administration of navigation in the strait and related services, including “the costs associated with them in accordance with international standards.”
Iran said last week that ships need its permission to cross the waterway and would require an insurance policy to do so, which is free for now but could potentially pave the way for fees down the line.
U.S. allies are pushing the Trump administration to not accept or normalize Iran’s efforts to introduce fees to pass the strait, which would set a dangerous precedent that could be duplicated in other waterways.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
LITE 0.00%↑ COHR 0.00%↑ MRVL 0.00%↑ AAOI 0.00%↑ CRDO 0.00%↑ TSEM 0.00%↑ AEHR 0.00%↑
[Newsletter Exclusive] AI data centers hit a new bottleneck: Optical interconnects
As AI data centers scale to handle larger workloads, the physical infrastructure connecting chips inside those facilities has become a limiting factor. Optical interconnects, which use light rather than electrical signals to move data, are increasingly seen as the solution to bandwidth and power constraints at scale.
The shift toward co-packaged optics and silicon photonics is not just a design challenge. It is a manufacturing and testing challenge. Equipment suppliers, test solution providers, and contract manufacturers all play roles in determining how quickly optical interconnect technology can reach high-volume production.
Key publicly traded companies in this supply chain include ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) and Lam Research Corporation (LRCX), both core semiconductor equipment suppliers whose tools are used in advanced chip fabrication. ASM International NV (ASMIY) and Tokyo Electron Limited (TOELY) are also major equipment players in the space. On the components and connectivity side, Credo Technology (CRDO) and MaxLinear (MXL) are among the companies reporting direct revenue exposure to optical data center ramps. Fabrinet (FN) serves as a contract manufacturer for optical and datacom products.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Congress sets Clarity Act hearing on July 17 but Catholic groups warn of risks
The CLARITY Act has advanced through Congress but still faces key hurdles, including securing 60 Senate votes, reconciling differences between committee versions, and final approval by both chambers before reaching the president’s desk.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
$CRBS
Cerebras Systems tumbles as margin worries outweigh OpenAI deal
Cerebras Systems Inc. press release (CBRS): Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.22 beats by $0.07.
Revenue of $193.41M (+94.4% Y/Y) beats by $12.57M.
Hardware revenue rose 59% year-over-year to $110.6M, while cloud and other services revenue surged 178% year-over-year to come in at $82.8M.
Looking to the fiscal second quarter, Cerebras expects core gross margins to be between 36% and 38%, down from the 47% it generated in the first quarter. Revenue for the second quarter is expected to be $194M, up 88% year-over-year.
The weak guidance overshadowed the aforementioned deal with OpenAI. The multi-year agreement will see OpenAI deploy 750 megawatts of Cerebras’s high-speed inference over the next several years. The value of the deal is worth more than $20B, Cerebras explained.
Looking to the rest of fiscal 2026, Cerebras expects revenue to be between $855M and $865M, up 69% year-over-year at the midpoint.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 23, 2026
#SKHY
SK Hynix targets $29.4B raise in historic U.S. listing
The South Korean memory-chip maker expects its shares to begin trading on July 10, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
It plans to apply to list the ADSs on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “SKHY.”
The company reported record first-quarter operating profit of KRW 37.61T ($25.4B), topping analysts’ average estimate of KRW 35.7T. Revenue nearly tripled year over year to KRW 52.58T.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
Uber Eats expands U.S. retail offerings with new brands across multiple categories
The company said consumers can now purchase products from Kiehl’s, FedEx Office, Blick Art Materials, Academy Sports + Outdoors and Choice Pet through the Uber Eats, Uber, and Postmates apps.
Uber (UBER) said the expansion builds on its effort to move beyond food delivery and position Uber Eats as a broader on-demand retail platform offering products including skincare, shipping supplies, sporting goods, and everyday essentials.
Uber (UBER) said the marketplace also includes other major retailers such as Sephora, The Home Depot and Best Buy, with thousands of retail locations added since the start of 2026.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Gold’s central bank takeover is mostly a mark-to-market story
The precious metal’s share of world foreign-exchange reserves has been climbing sharply this year. But a counterfactual line—assuming market prices and no change in gold holdings since March 2009—tracks the actual series closely, according to a JPMorgan Asset Management chart shared by Daily Chartbook.
Notably, the line assuming actual holdings with no change in the gold price since 2009 sits nearly flat below 10%.
The takeaway undercuts a popular narrative around central-bank strategy. While talk of de-dollarization and gold (GLD) accumulation has dominated global finance discussions, the reserve-share move is largely a mark-to-market effect.
As such, Gold’s (GLD) weight in the system has risen because gold got much more expensive, jumping 21% from a year earlier and 130% from five years ago.
Still, that’s not to say that central banks are not buying. China’s monthly gold (GLD) imports reached their highest in more than two years in May, as the world’s biggest buyer continued to show a strong appetite for bullion as prices fell 25% below their early 2026 highs.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
AMD, Arm set to take advantage of CPU rack demand in wake of agentic AI growth: UBS
“We are incrementally more constructive on AMD as standalone CPU racks gain traction, given its advantage in core count, multithreading, and x86’s historically strong software ecosystem for traditional software workloads that are now increasingly part of the agentic AI workloads,” said UBS analysts, led by Timothy Arcuri, in a Wednesday investor report. “We now assume x86/ARM split for standalone segment of the market at 60%/40% x86 vs. ARM and think AMD is in position to capture an outsized share of the incremental demand in light of INTC’s roadmap and supply challenges.”
UBS significantly increased its price target on AMD to $670 from $455. It also increased its CPU revenue estimate for calendar year 2027 to $23B from $21B and 2028’s figure to $29B from $27B.
Meanwhile, UBS substantially hiked its price target for Arm to $470 from $260.
“We maintain the view that ARM architectures will represent ~70% share of a ~20MM unit TAM for head-nodes by C2030 – the real investor debate, in our view, is revenue potential for ARM’s standalone CPU,” Arcuri added. “Following a series of expert calls and industry discussions, we emerge slightly more optimistic about its standalone prospects and are raising our estimates for ARM’s internal CPU slightly from ~$13B to ~$14B in C2030. ARM’s core competency lies in latency and efficiency—which aligns well with hyperscaler needs; however, current limitations in core count/throughput will limit the use of ARM’s internal Gen1 AGI for standalone AI racks because for this application, workloads need to scale across as many cores on a single machine as possible.”
In addition to Arm’s standalone CPU opportunity, UBS finds that Arm’s royalty component for head node applications is also expected to increase.
“We expect royalty rates per device to increase driven by higher core count and royalty per core (the latter likely increasing 2x+ or even 3.5x in our bull case),” Arcuri noted.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Worried about U.S. market concentration? Look at rest of world
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
BABA 0.00%↑ #Anthropic
[Newsletter Exclusive] Anthropic notifies White House that Alibaba attempted to ‘harvest’ US AI capabilities: report
Anthropic (ANTHRO) sent a letter to the White House officials and several U.S. senators this week alleging that Alibaba (BABA) was waging an industrial-sized effort to illictly access its Claude models, according to Bloomberg.
Anthropic explained that between April and June, operators linked to Alibaba’s Qwen AI lab conducted 28.8M exchanges with Claude through about 25,000 fraudulent accounts. It said Chinese labs are attempting to use the mountain of results to develop competing AI models. This tactic is known as adversarial distillation, the report said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 24, 2026
AST SpaceMobile Announces BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 Orbital Launch in the First Half of August
BlueBirds 11, 12, and 13 feature commercial communications arrays measuring approximately 2,400 square feet, matching the scale of the BlueBird satellites currently operating in orbit. These next-generation satellites are expected to deliver nearly double the peak data speeds of AST SpaceMobile’s initial Block 1 BlueBird satellites, which recently achieved peak download speeds of 98.9 Mbps directly to standard smartphones.
The satellites leverage AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation stackable satellite architecture, including advanced composite carbon structures designed to support efficient multi-satellite launches and accelerated constellation deployment. Combined with the company’s multi-provider launch strategy, the architecture is designed to provide flexibility in deploying AST SpaceMobile’s global constellation.
Link to Businesswire News Article - Jun 23, 2026
GIW 0.00%↑ #Quantisimo
[Newsletter Exclusive] WISeKey, SEALSQ set up Quantisimo SPV for $575M merger deal
WISeKey International (WKEY) and its subsidiary SEALSQ (LAES) Thursday announced that their jointly established special purpose vehicle, Quantisimo Corp, has entered into a non-binding LOI with GigCapital8 (GIW) to explore the establishment of a Nasdaq-listed strategic quantum technology platform.
The proposed transaction contemplates a business combination between Quantisimo and GigCapital8.
Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company is expected to have a pre-money enterprise value of approximately $575M, subject to customary closing conditions. The parties intend to increase this initial valuation to reach $2B through build-up consolidated acquisitions of up to an additional five quantum companies.
The transaction is currently expected to close during the first quarter of 2027.
Quantisimo was created by WISeKey and SEALSQ to establish a Trusted Quantum Pure-Play platform designed to provide investors with direct exposure to the rapidly emerging quantum economy.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
IBM surges after unveiling new sub-1 nm chip technology
IBM (IBM) unveiled what it called the world’s first sub-1 nanometer, or nm, chip technology, featuring a revolutionary transistor architecture at the 0.7 nm, or 7 angstrom, node.
The new sub-1 nm chip packs nearly 100B transistors onto a chip the size of a fingernail, nearly twice the density of IBM’s 2 nm chip, unveiled in 2021.
IBM noted that the new sub-1 nm chips are 70% more efficient, or 50% more powerful, than the 2 nm node chips.
“Today’s popular AI accelerators can produce about 1,500 TOPS (or trillions of operations per second), and IBM researchers estimate one using 7 angstrom technology could deliver about seven times more, or 7,000 TOPS. If 7 angstrom chips were used to train today’s massive, frontier model LLMs, we could drastically cut training time from around three months to a couple weeks,” said IBM in a separate blog post.
The company said that to produce this chip, its researchers developed an entirely new transistor architecture called nanostack, the industry’s first known three-dimensional, nanosheet-based design. Nanostack represents a major advance beyond nanosheet technology, the industry’s current leading-edge architecture, invented by IBM, the company noted.
IBM said that with the expectation of the earliest adoption of nanostack technology at the sub-1 nm node, it sees a path to production in as early as the next five years.
In addition, in new research presented at VLSI 2026, IBM researchers showed that the nanostack architecture provides 40% scaling in Static Random-Access Memory, or SRAM, unlocking the ability of chip designers to create more efficient chips while also supporting the high-bandwidth data demands of advanced AI workloads.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) currently has started volume production of 2 nm chip technology, which features first-generation nanosheet transistor technology. The company is working on A16 and A14 technologies.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] China unveils measures to boost green power use by data centers
China will encourage the direct connection of green power to data center projects as part of its blueprint for building a new energy system between 2026 and 2030.
China has set a new medium-term renewable energy target, aiming for new energy sources to account for 30% of the country’s electricity generation by 2030, according to the “15th Five-Year Plan for Building a New Energy System” jointly released on Thursday by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration.
The plan outlines China’s energy transition roadmap through 2030, with the power grids expected to have the capacity to integrate 900M kilowatts of new energy.
It targets non-fossil energy to account for 25% of total energy consumption by 2030, while wind and solar power are expected to exceed 50% of installed electricity generation capacity.
Charging infrastructure will be expanded significantly, with the number of charging facilities projected to reach 40M units by 2030, roughly double current levels.
China will support direct green power connection projects for emerging industries, including data centers, energy-intensive sectors subject to green electricity consumption requirements, and export-oriented companies.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Nvidia in focus as banned Blackwell GPUs see price increases in China: Wedbush
Wedbush Securities analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note to clients: “Sustained willingness to pay 2x for banned Blackwell rather than adopt domestic parts underscores how wide the capability and software-stack gap to Huawei remains, supportive of the broader NVIDIA platform moat even with the China channel formally closed.”
The Financial Times reported that the DGX B300, which contains eight Blackwell GPUs, has seen its price double on the black market since the start of 2026 to roughly $1.1M, compared to $400K stateside. Additionally, the 96GB RTX 6000 PRO Blackwell has seen a rise of more than 2.5 times, to around $14,500 from $5,580 at the start of the year.
Nvidia’s older A100-class parts and modified gaming GPUs have also firmed up in price in China, the news outlet added.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Doncasters prices $919M IPO above range as aerospace supplier bets on defense, AI power
Doncasters (DPC) will make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday after raising approximately $919 million in an initial public offering priced above expectations, marking another milestone in the British aerospace supplier’s turnaround.
The nearly 250-year-old company priced 27.9 million shares at $33 each, topping its marketed range of $28 to $32 per share. The Derby, England-based manufacturer will trade under the ticker symbol DPC (DPC).
For investors, Doncasters (DPC) offers exposure to two of the market’s strongest industrial themes: rising defense spending and surging demand for power generation equipment driven by AI data centers. The company also represents a classic turnaround story, having restructured its balance sheet, modernized its factories and more than doubled revenue over the past several years.
Founded in Sheffield in 1778 as a manufacturer of metal files, Doncasters (DPC) has evolved into a global supplier of precision-engineered components for aerospace engines and industrial gas turbines. Its products include blades, vanes and other high-performance parts designed to withstand extreme temperatures and operating conditions.
While aerospace remains a core market, Doncasters (DPC) is also benefiting from a boom in demand for industrial gas turbines as utilities and technology companies seek additional electricity generation to support the rapid expansion of AI data centers. Those turbines require regular replacement of critical components throughout their operating lives, creating a recurring source of aftermarket demand.
Analysts say the company’s long operating history lends credibility, but its investment appeal is increasingly tied to operational improvements rather than its heritage.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
VACI 0.00%↑ #NSTR
NorthStar Earth & Space moves toward NYSE listing through SPAC deal
NorthStar Earth & Space (NSTR) has taken another step toward becoming a publicly traded company, filing a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for its planned merger with special purpose acquisition company Viking Acquisition Corp. I (VACI).
The filing advances a previously announced business combination that assigns NorthStar a pre-money equity valuation of $300 million. The transaction also includes a fully committed $30 million private investment in public equity financing led by Cartesian Capital Group.
Once the merger is completed, the combined company is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol NSTR.
NorthStar specializes in Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and Space Domain Awareness (SDA) — tracking, cataloging, and monitoring objects in orbit to detect threats and enable collision avoidance. More specifically: ZoomInfo
It offers services like maneuver detection and pattern of life analysis, and has demonstrated full custody tracking for the U.S. government — tracking an object as small as 10 cm in orbit over a 26-hour period. Satellite Today
NorthStar integrates ground-based and space-based data to monitor orbital activity and detect threats.
The main commercial SSA players are LeoLabs, Slingshot Aerospace, ExoAnalytic, and NorthStar — all competing in a market historically dominated by defense primes like L3Harris, Lockheed, and RTX.
Key differentiator NorthStar claims: space-based sensors vs. the ground-based radar/optical approach of competitors like LeoLabs (pure radar) and ExoAnalytic (pure optical). Space-based sensors can in theory observe orbital regimes that ground systems view at poor geometries. But with only 4 satellites vs. a planned 96, this is currently aspirational.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
WealthWise Research - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Canadian Solar rises as e-STORAGE secures Florida utility deal
e-STORAGE will deliver a complete, integrated BESS solution, combining its 5 MWh SolBank 3.0 battery packs powered by battery cells manufactured at Canadian Solar’s (CSIQ) facilities, along with the power conversion systems and energy management system.
Once operational, the 426 MWh project will dispatch stored energy during peak demand periods, helping the utility lower energy costs; battery installation is planned for H2 2027 with commercial operation targeted for early 2028.
Earlier this week, Canadian Solar (CSIQ) announced an e-STORAGE supply deal for a 75 MW/381 MWh battery energy storage system for a project in Michigan.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Firefly Aerospace bets on AI-powered navigation with Space-ng acquisition
Firefly Aerospace (FLY) announced on Thursday the acquisition of Space-ng, an AI-powered navigation firm, to strengthen its capabilities in autonomous space operations for lunar, Martian, and deep-space missions.
The deal adds Space-ng’s vision navigation software, high-resolution spacecraft cameras, and AI compute hardware to Firefly’s portfolio, supporting navigation, docking, and proximity operations without relying on GPS or GNSS.
Firefly plans to deploy the technology across its Blue Ghost lunar landers and Elytra orbital vehicles to support upcoming NASA and defense missions.
Space-ng co-founder and CEO Ethan Rublee will join Firefly as Chief Engineer of Software and lead the company’s spacecraft software development.
Following the transaction, Space-ng will be fully integrated into Firefly, while its navigation and autonomous guidance technologies will continue to be offered to government and commercial customers.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Adobe to acquire Topaz Labs
Adobe (ADBE) announced on Thursday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Topaz Labs, an AI company specializing in video and image enhancement models.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026. After the transaction closes, Topaz Labs CEO Eric Yang will continue to lead the Topaz Labs team.
Adobe highlighted that Topaz Labs provides a broad array of advanced AI models for video and image enhancement that analyze and improve existing visual content by sharpening detail, removing noise, restoring footage, and increasing resolution, making them essential for any workflow that combines real-world capture with AI-generated imagery.
With Topaz Labs, Adobe will expand its video and image model offerings with state-of-the-art AI enhancement models in Adobe Firefly, Firefly Services, and Creative Cloud apps, giving creators, designers, video professionals, photographers, and enterprises the tools to achieve exceptional quality across every format and workflow. Topaz Labs and its AI technology will be integrated across Adobe’s creative AI portfolio.
Adobe added that Topaz Labs customers can expect continued support and investment in future innovation, and Topaz Labs products will remain available as standalone offerings through the company’s website.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
TSLA 0.00%↑ GOOG 0.00%↑ AMZN 0.00%↑ UBER 0.00%↑ CABZ 0.00%↑
US to ease brake pedal rules for driverless vehicles
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to propose changes to federal vehicle safety standards. This would exempt fully driverless vehicles from requirements for manual brake controls, according to a notice reported by Bloomberg on Thursday.
The proposal would apply only to vehicles built exclusively for autonomous operation. Conventional vehicles would still be required to have brake pedals, while existing standards for vehicles that combine automated driving systems with human driving controls would remain unchanged.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] AI capex cycle signals healthy capital markets funding rather than a late-cycle ‘big top’ – SG’s Manish Kabra
The AI capex cycle has coincided with a significant shift in equity supply dynamics, with the S&P 500 (SP500) share count rising approximately 2.6% since 2023, according to Manish Kabra, head of U.S. equity strategy at Société Générale.
This marks a clear reversal from the 2010s, when the share count declined by roughly 9%, providing a strong tailwind through shrinking equity supply.
The strategist noted that buyback growth is moderating alongside increasing primary and secondary issuance, meaning financial engineering is no longer supporting valuations to the same extent.
Despite the uptick in equity supply, Kabra argues that current issuance levels are not yet a constraint on the bull market. The current pick-up in issuance is more moderate than previous cycles, with share growth stabilizing closer to 1%, he said.
This compares favorably to the 1990s TMT build-out, when share growth ran at approximately 3% annually alongside strong equity returns, according to the strategist.
Kabra points to the 1990s tech cycle as evidence that elevated issuance can persist without signaling a market top. During the late 1990s TMT build-out, IPO (IPO) activity remained elevated for several years, with major listings such as Netscape, Yahoo, Amazon (AMZN), and eBay (EBAY) coming to market alongside sustained equity price gains.
“This phase was defined by strong capital formation and investor demand rather than exhaustion,” according to his analysis.
The turning point in the 1990s only emerged with the rise of large-scale M&A, most notably the AOL–Time Warner deal in early 2000, according to Kabra.
He noted that equity market tops have historically aligned with surges in M&A activity, reflecting peak confidence and late-cycle dynamics. The current environment lacks such a signal, the strategist said.
While IPO activity is recovering, M&A remains subdued with no comparable surge in large or concentrated transactions, according to Kabra.
Both issuance and deal volumes have rebounded from post-2022 lows but remain well below prior cycle peaks in both absolute terms and relative to market capitalization, he said.
This suggests the recent pick-up reflects a reopening of capital markets rather than late-cycle overheating, with conditions still consistent with an ongoing expansion phase rather than a “big top,” according to the strategist.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Samsara has ‘clear AI moat,’ says BNP after key takeaways from Investor Day
“Clear AI moat for Samsara. Management effectively laid out why the company is insulated from the potential disruption posed by AI labs: 1) Lack of appetite by the likes of Anthropic for displacing software in certain markets like physical operations: 2) Advantages posed by its data collection/analysis, which leverages its ability to gain insight from data collected across millions of vehicles; and 3) The accuracy (and likely only mechanism) of ingesting data (hardware collected),” said DeGasperi.
The analyst noted that Samsara announced several new products that will generate consumption revenue.
Firstly, new agents (spanning maintenance, safety, and dispatch). In particular, the company’s new maintenance agent can deliver meaningful Return on Investment, or ROI, to customers through preventative maintenance and warranty cost savings (ROI was mentioned as 8-10x), the analyst noted.
DeGasperi added that their conversations with some executives/customers post-investor day were very bullish on this opportunity. A pricing framework is established but is being fine-tuned post-customer conversations in the last few days, according to the analyst.
Secondly, Bluetooth-powered printable shipping labels. DeGasperi believes this could see meaningful adoption as it tracks shipment of sensitive assets and is relatively low-cost to customers (think AI supply chain components), the analyst added.
In addition, DeGasperi said that innovation is expanding Samsara’s Total Addressable Market, or TAM.
“Management highlighted that $130bn of its $175bn TAM is driven by emerging products. Two were specifically highlighted: Waste Intelligence, which can help companies overcharge by providing insight into customer/driver behavior; and Ground Intelligence, which is leveraging its dash cams to help the public sector leverage that data to fix potholes for example. We would note that both appear to be a result of leveraging previously developed product (AI cameras). We would highlight that multi-cam, a somewhat high ARPU [Average Revenue Per User] product, is seeing meaningful traction in new markets, particularly in theft-prevention/recovery of asset/vehicles,” said DeGasperi.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Southwest flies first aircraft equipped with Starlink
Southwest Airlines (LUV) flew its first aircraft equipped with Starlink (SPCX) inflight Wi-Fi connectivity on June 22 on a flight between Dallas and Albuquerque.
“This ultra-fast WiFi brings an at-home experience to the air and redefines how customers can stay connected, be productive, and make the most of their time while flying at 35,000 feet,” said Southwest Chief Customer and Brand Officer Tony Roach.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
SpaceX expands into energy infrastructure with Texas pipeline plan
SpaceX (SPCX) plans to begin construction next month on an eight-mile natural gas pipeline that will feed its Starbase launch complex in South Texas, highlighting Elon Musk’s drive to dramatically increase the launch cadence of the company’s Starship rocket, Reuters reported Thursday.
Regulatory filings indicate the pipeline, known as Starpipe, is scheduled to enter service in late January. The project would replace the labor-intensive process of trucking liquid methane to the launch site, giving SpaceX a more efficient fuel supply as it scales Starship operations.
The pipeline also appears to be part of a broader effort by SpaceX (SPCX) to control more of its fuel supply. Company filings and land records show SpaceX (SPCX) has acquired more than 100 oil and gas leases in Texas since 2023, while earlier engineering plans outlined a methane liquefaction facility at Starbase. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has also discussed the possibility of eventually processing, and even producing, the company’s own natural gas.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
[Newsletter Exclusive] Lithium producers warm to demand for battery storage as focus shifts from EVs
The lithium industry is growing more optimistic about a market recovery as accelerating demand for battery storage systems helps offset a slowdown in electric vehicles, leading producers said this week at a key industry conference, Reuters reported.
Top producer Albemarle (ALB) said it is seeing steady growth for battery storage, in contrast to lumpy EV demand.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 25, 2026
Infleqtion’s neutral atom quantum approach prompts Outperform initiation from Wedbush
Infleqtion (INFQ) has emerged as the only publicly traded neutral atom play, and the analysts at Wedbush believe it is a compelling way to gain exposure to quantum computing.
“Assuming we are correct in our view that neutral atoms are a viable modality, we see INFQ as meaningfully mispriced: it carries the second-largest revenue base in the public quantum group yet ranks sixth in valuation, a steep discount to several peers that command market values many times INFQ’s despite more modest revenue expectations,” said Wedbush analysts Antoine Legault and Matt Bryson in an investor note.
Wedbush believes the stock is undervalued compared to its peers due to neutral atoms being a less-proven approach compared to trapped-ion and superconducting modalities. Furthermore, many investors perceive Refleqtion as a sensing-only quantum company despite having a full-stack quantum platform.
However, Infleqtion holds high-end partnerships and should benefit from government involvement in the sector.
“The roster is anchored by a deep NVDA relationship (NVQLink, CUDA-Q, both Ising models) and extends to Safran, NASA, Voyager, and DARPA. We expect additional marquee logos, with each acting as a potential catalyst,” Legault said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
Applied Materials’ event focuses on DRAM, and advanced packaging: analysts
“In our view, these insights reflect broader tech trends reshaping the entire semi supply chain,” Susquehanna analyst Mehdi Hosseini wrote in a note to clients. “The rising complexity of next-gen DRAM architectures—alongside greater functionality integrated at the system-in-package (SiP)—is driving higher capital intensity. Yet the resulting gains in performance and throughput make these advances incrementally attractive on a cost-benefit basis for end customers. This value creation, in our opinion, supports higher incremental revenue opportunities for the semi-capital equipment (SCE) industry. In short, we see the path toward a $300B WFE being driven not only by higher system shipments but also by rising system prices—a departure from prior cycles, where growth was primarily volume-driven, and in turn, justifying multiple expansion for the SCE sector.”
“We continue to see AMAT as [an] outperformer with strong exposure to leading-edge [foundry/logic] and DRAM,” Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis wrote. “DRAM is increasingly adopting foundry logic technologies (FinFET, CMOS Bonded Array), driving higher process intensity and expanding AMAT’s served market per wafer with the [serviceable address market] rising from $6B at 6F² to $6.5B at 4F² and $7.5B at 3D DRAM per 100k wspm. Incremental revenue opportunities scale to $4B+ or capacitor patterning and $6B+ for periphery/interconnect over the next five years.”
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
SPY 0.00%↑ QQQ 0.00%↑ DIA 0.00%↑
Stock market stays ‘very solid’ thanks to strong earnings amid ‘AI fatigue’ – Ed Yardeni
Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, says the stock market (SP500), (COMP:IND), (DJI) looks “very solid” from an earnings standpoint, pointing to what he calls FEMO—fabulous earnings momentum—as the driving force behind his bullish outlook.
Despite his optimism, Yardeni acknowledged that markets are experiencing what he describes as a “June swoon” in certain sectors.
He attributed this temporary pullback to “AI fatigue,” as investors grow weary of trying to determine how artificial intelligence investments will ultimately pay off. Concerns about Chinese competitors releasing cheaper, open-source AI models have added to the uncertainty.
Yardeni introduced a compelling framework for understanding the long-term value of these investments, arguing that data has become a “fourth factor of production” alongside land, labor, and capital.
“We’re never going to run out of data,” he said. “The more data we can process, the faster we can do it, the cheaper we can do it, the more data we’re going to process.”
Looking ahead, Yardeni expressed confidence that data centers and technology infrastructure will continue to drive economic growth despite periodic bouts of AI fatigue.
“We need these technologies because we’ve discovered that all this data we’ve been sitting on is very, very valuable and can really increase productivity and profitability,” he concluded.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
FuelCell Energy surges as Jefferies upgrades to Buy on data center power upside
Jefferies upgrades shares to Buy from Hold with a $24 price target, raised from $16, pointing to the company’s first contracted order tied to U.S. data center power through its recently announced Fit Energy deal that shifts the investment thesis from speculative to executable on visible backlog.
The 380 MW power supply deal includes an initial 30 MW firm deployment backed by an immediate non-refundable deposit, which at ~$3K/kW pre-ITC implies $90M in near-term revenue and marks FuelCell’s (FCEL) first tangible conversion of pipeline into backlog, Jefferies analyst Julien Dumoulin Smith says.
The analyst notes that FuelCell (FCEL) trades at ~8x estimated 2030 EV/EBITDA, a steep discount to Bloom Energy’s (BE) 19x multiple, a valuation gap that allows investors to “own a player set to capture meaningful data center market share at a fraction of peer valuations.”
FuelCell’s (FCEL) 5 GW pipeline and 500 MW Torrington expansion materially raise the ceiling, and combined with the recent data center conversion, allow for the upgrade to Buy, confident in the company’s ability to continue to convert further pipeline into actionable backlog, Dumoulin-Smith said.
Link to Seeking Alpha News Article - Jun 26, 2026
YouTube:
[The Compound | The Compound and Friends] Too Early to Get Off the Wave | TCAF 248
On episode 248 of The Compound and Friends, Michael Batnick and Downtown Josh Brown are joined by Ryan Detrick and Sonu Varghese, of Carson Group, to discuss the biggest questions facing investors right now: the Fed, inflation, market rotation, Micron’s incredible run, semiconductor demand, small caps, gold, Bitcoin, regional banks, and whether the Mag 7 slowdown is actually bullish for the market.
They also discuss Alan Greenspan’s legacy, Fed transparency, crowded trades, equity issuance, emerging markets, and why this bull market may have more room to run than investors think.
Link to Full Video (01:04 Hours) - Jun 26, 2026
Disclosure: We own positions in some/all of the tickers mentioned in this article.
