1 month ago
Elon Musk's ***** eX has been talking, internally, about buying the leftover customer files of startups that already went under. Not licensing data from companies that are still operating and can say no. Buying the digital estate of companies that no longer exist to say anything at all.
The discussions are happening inside ***** eXAI, the artificial intelligence division born in February when ***** eX merged with xAI. People familiar with the talks told Bloomberg they're informal and might go nowhere. But the idea makes sense from the perspective of an AI lab racing for the frontier.
The goal is basically cheap fuel for Grok. AI models learn from training data—the text, code, and records an algorithm studies to get better at predicting what comes next—and the good stuff, real business records instead of scraped web pages, is getting expensive. A dead company's file cabinet is apparently a bargain by comparison.
Google already did the same. The search giant paid $10 million in a bankruptcy auction for the internal records of Spirit Airlines, the discount carrier that shut down for good this year. They got around 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, decades of employee files, all headed into an AI training pipeline.
That data belonged to real employees who signed up for a job, not an AI experiment. A flight attendants' union objected in bankruptcy court, arguing that scrubbing names off records—what companies call "de-identifying" data—doesn't stop someone from piecing together who said what in a decade of internal chats. The court fight is still ongoing.
#million #buying #still #training
The discussions are happening inside ***** eXAI, the artificial intelligence division born in February when ***** eX merged with xAI. People familiar with the talks told Bloomberg they're informal and might go nowhere. But the idea makes sense from the perspective of an AI lab racing for the frontier.
The goal is basically cheap fuel for Grok. AI models learn from training data—the text, code, and records an algorithm studies to get better at predicting what comes next—and the good stuff, real business records instead of scraped web pages, is getting expensive. A dead company's file cabinet is apparently a bargain by comparison.
Google already did the same. The search giant paid $10 million in a bankruptcy auction for the internal records of Spirit Airlines, the discount carrier that shut down for good this year. They got around 100 million emails, 500 million Microsoft Teams messages, decades of employee files, all headed into an AI training pipeline.
That data belonged to real employees who signed up for a job, not an AI experiment. A flight attendants' union objected in bankruptcy court, arguing that scrubbing names off records—what companies call "de-identifying" data—doesn't stop someone from piecing together who said what in a decade of internal chats. The court fight is still ongoing.
#million #buying #still #training
1 month ago
Bain Capital Ventures closed its 11th flagship fund at $1.6 billion on Wednesday, betting big on a "post-AGI world" that places AI agents as the chief economic driver of productivity.
The firm has been swapping software for something venture capital has never underwritten: AI-native companies that sell the work itself rather than the technology behind it.
Software startups made up 80% of Fund IX and around 20% of Fund X, said partner Matt Harris. For Fund X, AI-native startups made up 80% of the portfolio.
"The classic software startup is just not being born anymore," Harris said. "These companies where AI is just one feature among many, I think that's thoroughly uninteresting to us and, most importantly, to the most ambitious founders."
BCV defines "post-AGI" as AI agents being as productive as humans. This model's first proof point came in the form of Reserv, an AI-native insurance claims administration startup that the firm incubated with Altai Ventures and other partners. According to Harris, the company hit $100 million in revenue in its second full year. In May, the company raised a $125 million Series C.
#agents
The firm has been swapping software for something venture capital has never underwritten: AI-native companies that sell the work itself rather than the technology behind it.
Software startups made up 80% of Fund IX and around 20% of Fund X, said partner Matt Harris. For Fund X, AI-native startups made up 80% of the portfolio.
"The classic software startup is just not being born anymore," Harris said. "These companies where AI is just one feature among many, I think that's thoroughly uninteresting to us and, most importantly, to the most ambitious founders."
BCV defines "post-AGI" as AI agents being as productive as humans. This model's first proof point came in the form of Reserv, an AI-native insurance claims administration startup that the firm incubated with Altai Ventures and other partners. According to Harris, the company hit $100 million in revenue in its second full year. In May, the company raised a $125 million Series C.
#agents
1 month ago
Wall Street has spent years obsessing over when the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates, but billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller thinks investors may be asking the wrong question.
The senior macro investor argues that U.S. interest rates are already too low and that future rate cuts aren't essential, according to the Financial Times.
His argument comes at a critical period.
Treasury bonds have been under selling pressure amid inflation fears, growing U.S. public debt, and considerable bond issuance by artificial intelligence startups, CNBC noted. And it puts the focus of market chatter back on borrowing rates.
Druckenmiller's warning came at a Piper Sandler conference in New York, where he also targeted Federal Reserve officials who say current monetary policy is restrictive.
#reserve
The senior macro investor argues that U.S. interest rates are already too low and that future rate cuts aren't essential, according to the Financial Times.
His argument comes at a critical period.
Treasury bonds have been under selling pressure amid inflation fears, growing U.S. public debt, and considerable bond issuance by artificial intelligence startups, CNBC noted. And it puts the focus of market chatter back on borrowing rates.
Druckenmiller's warning came at a Piper Sandler conference in New York, where he also targeted Federal Reserve officials who say current monetary policy is restrictive.
#reserve
2 months ago
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is expanding its global AI infrastructure ambitions, with Australia emerging as an important new market for its growing portfolio of GPUs, CPUs, networking products, and AI software.
On September 9, it announced strategic partnerships with Australian NVIDIA Cloud Partners (NCPs) and AI infrastructure providers as it works with local partners toward an AI infrastructure buildout of up to 2 gigawatts by 2027.
The initiative will expand the availability of land, power, and data center shell capacity designed to host multiple generations of Nvidia's DSX AI factory infrastructure. While the buildout is designed to meet Australia's growing demand for AI computing, it could also create a significant new source of demand for Nvidia's hardware and software ecosystem.
The Australian buildout could benefit NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) beyond the initial sale of GPUs. Nvidia will provide its DSX platform, accelerated computing, networking, software, and ecosystem support to the emerging network of AI factories. DSX is also compatible with Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem.
As enterprises, universities, government agencies, and startups increasingly build AI workloads around Nvidia's architecture, the company could strengthen CUDA's position as the underlying software platform for AI development and deployment.
#NASDAQ #australian
On September 9, it announced strategic partnerships with Australian NVIDIA Cloud Partners (NCPs) and AI infrastructure providers as it works with local partners toward an AI infrastructure buildout of up to 2 gigawatts by 2027.
The initiative will expand the availability of land, power, and data center shell capacity designed to host multiple generations of Nvidia's DSX AI factory infrastructure. While the buildout is designed to meet Australia's growing demand for AI computing, it could also create a significant new source of demand for Nvidia's hardware and software ecosystem.
The Australian buildout could benefit NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) beyond the initial sale of GPUs. Nvidia will provide its DSX platform, accelerated computing, networking, software, and ecosystem support to the emerging network of AI factories. DSX is also compatible with Nvidia's CUDA ecosystem.
As enterprises, universities, government agencies, and startups increasingly build AI workloads around Nvidia's architecture, the company could strengthen CUDA's position as the underlying software platform for AI development and deployment.
#NASDAQ #australian
2 months ago
Let's just get this out of the way: Mark Wahlberg is as A-list as it gets. He broke out in 1997's "Boogie Nights," and in the nearly three decades since, he's built one of the highest-wattage careers in Hollywood: two Academy Award nominations, a Golden Globe nod for "The Fighter," multiple Emmy nominations as a producer (HBO's "Entourage" among them), and a filmography that spans crime dramas, comedies, and action blockbusters. Right now, he's back on screen in "By Any Means," a manhunt thriller set during the 1966 Mississippi civil rights killings.
He's also signaling where he's increasingly turning his attention. Wahlberg will sit down with Bruce K. Lee, Founder and CEO of Keebeck Wealth Management, on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to talk about his own progression. Grab your ticket here so you don't miss a moment of this session and Disrupt 2026. Ticket prices increase on September 25.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
His acting career is really just part of the picture. Over the past two decades, Wahlberg has built a production company, a restaurant chain, apparel and fitness ventures, a slate of angel investments, and the now 25-year-old Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, which supports inner-city kids and teens. He's used his Hollywood success to launch big projects well outside the movie business — and in a fireside chat at this year's Disrupt, he's going to give us a peek into how.
Wahlberg, who's leaned almost entirely on entrepreneurial instinct about people, culture, products, and markets, is now someone who's been building institutional-level investing discipline, with Lee as his guide, and with a growing focus on healthcare and wellness startups. It's a rare, unvarnished look at how someone with Wahlberg's cultural intelligence has worked his way into some of the most sophisticated rooms in business and finance.
#techcrunch #ticket #decades #nominations
He's also signaling where he's increasingly turning his attention. Wahlberg will sit down with Bruce K. Lee, Founder and CEO of Keebeck Wealth Management, on the main stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to talk about his own progression. Grab your ticket here so you don't miss a moment of this session and Disrupt 2026. Ticket prices increase on September 25.
Image Credits:TechCrunch
His acting career is really just part of the picture. Over the past two decades, Wahlberg has built a production company, a restaurant chain, apparel and fitness ventures, a slate of angel investments, and the now 25-year-old Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, which supports inner-city kids and teens. He's used his Hollywood success to launch big projects well outside the movie business — and in a fireside chat at this year's Disrupt, he's going to give us a peek into how.
Wahlberg, who's leaned almost entirely on entrepreneurial instinct about people, culture, products, and markets, is now someone who's been building institutional-level investing discipline, with Lee as his guide, and with a growing focus on healthcare and wellness startups. It's a rare, unvarnished look at how someone with Wahlberg's cultural intelligence has worked his way into some of the most sophisticated rooms in business and finance.
#techcrunch #ticket #decades #nominations
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2 months ago
CNBC reported that NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CFO Colette Kress told investors on August 26 that fiscal 2028 revenue growth will reach 70%, far above the 44% average **** yst estimate tracked by LSEG, marking the company's first-ever year-ahead revenue forecast.
Applied to the roughly $396 billion consensus estimate for fiscal 2027, that guidance implies fiscal 2028 revenue near $673 billion to $700 billion. It would put Nvidia ahead of Apple and Alphabet and behind only Amazon among U.S. tech companies by revenue. The forecast followed fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations across the board: revenue more than doubled to $96.22 billion, up 106% year over year, with data center revenue of $89 billion, up 117%, now making up 92% of total sales.
CEO Jensen Huang told investors AI has reached the point where it is doing productive, profitable work and that computing capacity itself is now translating directly into revenue. Shares jumped roughly 8.7% on the news, lifting the broader semiconductor sector. Management said the 70% figure shows supply constraints, primarily memory component shortages, rather than a ceiling on actual demand, and the outlook excludes China data center revenue.
The current quarter already delivered, not just promised. Revenue of $96.22 billion beat estimates by roughly $4 billion, and data center revenue's 117% year-over-year jump shows the AI buildout is generating historic growth today, not just in a projection.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s customer base is broadening, which could reduce concentration risk. Huang said demand is now coming from hyperscale cloud providers alongside sovereign AI programs, neoclouds, AI startups, and enterprises. It means future growth depends less on any single large customer's spending decisions.
#year #corporation
Applied to the roughly $396 billion consensus estimate for fiscal 2027, that guidance implies fiscal 2028 revenue near $673 billion to $700 billion. It would put Nvidia ahead of Apple and Alphabet and behind only Amazon among U.S. tech companies by revenue. The forecast followed fiscal second-quarter results that beat expectations across the board: revenue more than doubled to $96.22 billion, up 106% year over year, with data center revenue of $89 billion, up 117%, now making up 92% of total sales.
CEO Jensen Huang told investors AI has reached the point where it is doing productive, profitable work and that computing capacity itself is now translating directly into revenue. Shares jumped roughly 8.7% on the news, lifting the broader semiconductor sector. Management said the 70% figure shows supply constraints, primarily memory component shortages, rather than a ceiling on actual demand, and the outlook excludes China data center revenue.
The current quarter already delivered, not just promised. Revenue of $96.22 billion beat estimates by roughly $4 billion, and data center revenue's 117% year-over-year jump shows the AI buildout is generating historic growth today, not just in a projection.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s customer base is broadening, which could reduce concentration risk. Huang said demand is now coming from hyperscale cloud providers alongside sovereign AI programs, neoclouds, AI startups, and enterprises. It means future growth depends less on any single large customer's spending decisions.
#year #corporation
2 months ago
Startups spend years courting brand-name investors to build credibility before they go public. Rarely does one of those investors also happen to be the company's biggest supplier, and in a roundabout way, one of its own paying customers.
Nscale, a two-year-old British AI cloud computing firm, is negotiating to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of a planned U.S. stock listing, according to Bloomberg.
Nvidia (NVDA) is expected to supply about $2 billion of that financing, with hedge fund Third Point leading a separate tranche of convertible notes and Goldman Sachs running the process.
The arrangement would make Nscale's chip supplier one of its largest shareholders just weeks before the company asks public investors to back a valuation roughly double its last private round.
Related: Nvidia stock flashes unusual signal for investors
#investors #public #rarely
Nscale, a two-year-old British AI cloud computing firm, is negotiating to raise up to $3.5 billion ahead of a planned U.S. stock listing, according to Bloomberg.
Nvidia (NVDA) is expected to supply about $2 billion of that financing, with hedge fund Third Point leading a separate tranche of convertible notes and Goldman Sachs running the process.
The arrangement would make Nscale's chip supplier one of its largest shareholders just weeks before the company asks public investors to back a valuation roughly double its last private round.
Related: Nvidia stock flashes unusual signal for investors
#investors #public #rarely
2 months ago
Featured image courtesy of the Invest in Women Taskforce
Female-focused VC funds are piling up this year as women-founded startups pull in more capital.
On Sep. 1, Berlin-based investor Auxxo closed its second Female Catalyst Fund at €33.3 million (around $38.7 million) to back pre-seed and seed female-founded startups. The vehicle, which is one of the largest direct funds dedicated to female founders in Europe, follows several fund launches and closes in the ****** e this year.
In May, Arāya Sie Fund, a joint venture between London-based VC Arāya Ventures and accelerator Sie Ventures, secured £7.5 million (around $10 million) in its first close. Around a month earlier, the Women Backing Women fund, a fund-of-funds managed by Bootstrap4F and created by the UK's Invest in Women Taskforce, raised £130 million in its first close.
In April, Copenhagen-based Unconventional Ventures announced the second close of its Fund II, which targets diverse founders, including women.
#women #million
Female-focused VC funds are piling up this year as women-founded startups pull in more capital.
On Sep. 1, Berlin-based investor Auxxo closed its second Female Catalyst Fund at €33.3 million (around $38.7 million) to back pre-seed and seed female-founded startups. The vehicle, which is one of the largest direct funds dedicated to female founders in Europe, follows several fund launches and closes in the ****** e this year.
In May, Arāya Sie Fund, a joint venture between London-based VC Arāya Ventures and accelerator Sie Ventures, secured £7.5 million (around $10 million) in its first close. Around a month earlier, the Women Backing Women fund, a fund-of-funds managed by Bootstrap4F and created by the UK's Invest in Women Taskforce, raised £130 million in its first close.
In April, Copenhagen-based Unconventional Ventures announced the second close of its Fund II, which targets diverse founders, including women.
#women #million
2 months ago
VC investment in quantum computing notched a record $2 billion in Q2 across 23 deals, accounting for a third of dollars in the chips and datacenters vertical, according to a new PitchBook report.
Quantum's marquee event this quarter was Quantinuum's IPO, which accounted for most of the $19 billion in quantum exit value and was the first major test of the technology in public markets. On the VC side, Oxford Quantum Circuits raised a £260 million Series C led by Bullhound Capital.
Strategics are eyeing quantum technologies, too. Miraex, a quantum hardware startup, was bought in June following Quantum Circuits $538 million sale earlier this year.
Overall, investment in chips and datacenters fell for the second consecutive quarter, hitting $6.6 billion across 133 deals in Q2. Despite the pullback from recent highs, 2026 is still on pace to exceed 2025's record of $21.6 billion.
The declines were concentrated in semiconductor chip design startups, which posted their weakest quarter since Q1 2025 at $1.7 billion. While newer chip design entrants like Etched, d-Matrix, and Ricursive Intelligence are making waves, the dominance of larger players has given investors pause.
#investment #across #deals #datacenters
Quantum's marquee event this quarter was Quantinuum's IPO, which accounted for most of the $19 billion in quantum exit value and was the first major test of the technology in public markets. On the VC side, Oxford Quantum Circuits raised a £260 million Series C led by Bullhound Capital.
Strategics are eyeing quantum technologies, too. Miraex, a quantum hardware startup, was bought in June following Quantum Circuits $538 million sale earlier this year.
Overall, investment in chips and datacenters fell for the second consecutive quarter, hitting $6.6 billion across 133 deals in Q2. Despite the pullback from recent highs, 2026 is still on pace to exceed 2025's record of $21.6 billion.
The declines were concentrated in semiconductor chip design startups, which posted their weakest quarter since Q1 2025 at $1.7 billion. While newer chip design entrants like Etched, d-Matrix, and Ricursive Intelligence are making waves, the dominance of larger players has given investors pause.
#investment #across #deals #datacenters
2 months ago
The market is flooded with names that claim to be AI companies. The word "AI-powered" is enough to get the attention of the Street, but some believe those days are going to be history soon as investors become jittery about massive CapEx and ROI-related fears.
To find out where retail investors are actually putting money for the long haul, we scoured Reddit threads and discussions on the r/stockstobuytoday community and picked two stocks retail investors on Reddit said they are buying for the next five years. These are International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). In this article, we will focus on IBM.
Retail investors on Reddit say they like IBM because they believe small quantum startups won't be able to raise enough development money or handle regulation, while IBM is already embedded in enterprise accounts with a strong reputation. They also like the stock's valuation and dividend.
Valuation
IBM has a forward non-GAAP P/E of 19.12, which is 15.72% below the sector median of 22.69 and 5.85% above IBM's own five-year average of 18.07. Forward GAAP P/E of 23.13 sits 21.10% under the sector and 17.03% below IBM's five-year average of 27.88. Forward EV/EBITDA of 13.85 is 5.46% under the sector median and 5.86% above IBM's own history.
#retail #enough #believe
To find out where retail investors are actually putting money for the long haul, we scoured Reddit threads and discussions on the r/stockstobuytoday community and picked two stocks retail investors on Reddit said they are buying for the next five years. These are International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM) and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG). In this article, we will focus on IBM.
Retail investors on Reddit say they like IBM because they believe small quantum startups won't be able to raise enough development money or handle regulation, while IBM is already embedded in enterprise accounts with a strong reputation. They also like the stock's valuation and dividend.
Valuation
IBM has a forward non-GAAP P/E of 19.12, which is 15.72% below the sector median of 22.69 and 5.85% above IBM's own five-year average of 18.07. Forward GAAP P/E of 23.13 sits 21.10% under the sector and 17.03% below IBM's five-year average of 27.88. Forward EV/EBITDA of 13.85 is 5.46% under the sector median and 5.86% above IBM's own history.
#retail #enough #believe
2 months ago
By Jonathan Stempel
Aug 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank cannot pursue a $1.71 billion claim against the FDIC stemming from the bank's March 2023 collapse, one of the largest U.S. bank failures.
In a 206-page decision on Friday, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California, held that a trust that took over the parent's claims was responsible for former executives' ill-fated decisions to try boosting profit by investing heavily in long-term government bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after rising interest rates caused at least $4.52 billion of losses in the bank's investment portfolio, sparking a bank run that disrupted many technology startups whose deposits it held.
Most of the bank's deposits were uninsured. The bank's demise presaged the collapses of two other large lenders in 2023, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.
#former #deposits
Aug 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge said the former parent of Silicon Valley Bank cannot pursue a $1.71 billion claim against the FDIC stemming from the bank's March 2023 collapse, one of the largest U.S. bank failures.
In a 206-page decision on Friday, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California, held that a trust that took over the parent's claims was responsible for former executives' ill-fated decisions to try boosting profit by investing heavily in long-term government bonds and mortgage-backed securities.
Silicon Valley Bank collapsed after rising interest rates caused at least $4.52 billion of losses in the bank's investment portfolio, sparking a bank run that disrupted many technology startups whose deposits it held.
Most of the bank's deposits were uninsured. The bank's demise presaged the collapses of two other large lenders in 2023, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank.
#former #deposits
2 months ago
SpaceX (SPCX) has set a launch date for its plan to run artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in orbit, and I think it deserves more attention. CEO Elon Musk said the company's first AI satellites, powered by Nvidia (NVDA) chips, will start launching in the final quarter of 2027, and he believes that the network will reach real scale in 2028. Each satellite is built to work like a data center in ****** e. Musk described the design as simpler, cheaper, denser, and lighter than a normal server rack on the ground. As I previously covered, ****** eX eventually wants to fly as many as 1 million of these satellites. The satellites are expected to handle heavy AI workloads from orbit, with Nvidia named as the exclusive chip supplier.
SpaceX is not the only company chasing orbital data centers. Startups like Starcloud are working toward the same goal. But ****** eX holds one advantage none of them can copy: It owns the rockets that rivals depend on to reach orbit.
Wu-Tang Clan Member Raekwon Is a Palantir 'OG,' Visiting Headquarters 16 Years After Receiving His Custom PLTR Jacket
Tesla Stock Could Benefit as Trump Locks Down the U.S. Power Grid
Tesla Just Killed Its Solar Roof After Years of Struggling to Scale. What It Means for TSLA Stock.
#satellites
SpaceX is not the only company chasing orbital data centers. Startups like Starcloud are working toward the same goal. But ****** eX holds one advantage none of them can copy: It owns the rockets that rivals depend on to reach orbit.
Wu-Tang Clan Member Raekwon Is a Palantir 'OG,' Visiting Headquarters 16 Years After Receiving His Custom PLTR Jacket
Tesla Stock Could Benefit as Trump Locks Down the U.S. Power Grid
Tesla Just Killed Its Solar Roof After Years of Struggling to Scale. What It Means for TSLA Stock.
#satellites
2 months ago
Puck, the subscription newsletter and events business, is in late-stage talks with private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners about a deal that would see RedBird becoming its largest shareholder, sources confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: The deal, which values Puck at roughly $250 million, would set a strong industry benchmark for other media startups looking to liquidate.
By the numbers: Puck raised more than $17 million since it launched in 2021.
It acquired Air Mail, another subscription email startup with overlapping investors, in a cash-and-stock deal worth $16 million last year. Air Mail had raised more than $30 million across two funding rounds.
Neither Puck nor Air Mail were profitable at the time of the transaction, Axios reported.
#puck #axios
Why it matters: The deal, which values Puck at roughly $250 million, would set a strong industry benchmark for other media startups looking to liquidate.
By the numbers: Puck raised more than $17 million since it launched in 2021.
It acquired Air Mail, another subscription email startup with overlapping investors, in a cash-and-stock deal worth $16 million last year. Air Mail had raised more than $30 million across two funding rounds.
Neither Puck nor Air Mail were profitable at the time of the transaction, Axios reported.
#puck #axios
2 months ago
Nvidia shares rebounded in after-hours trading Wednesday after initially falling following the chipmaker's fiscal second-quarter earnings report.
The stock closed regular trading down 1.59% at $209.66 before recovering to about $217 after hours, roughly 3.5% above its closing price.
Nvidia's quarterly revenue more than doubled to $96.2 billion, exceeding the $92.27 billion average ******* yst estimate reported by the ******* ociated Press. Data Center revenue rose 117% to $89 billion, while adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share beat the $2.09 estimate. Gross margins held at 75%.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang attributed the quarter's growth to accelerating demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure:
"AI has reached its inflection point. It's doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue, and demand is accelerating," Huang said in a statement. "This time last year, one lab alone was driving the buildout; today, we have a golden age of new AI labs and startups, multiple frontier labs scaling in parallel, a thriving open-model ecosystem and physical AI coming online—with strong momentum across the U.S. and around the world."
#estimate
The stock closed regular trading down 1.59% at $209.66 before recovering to about $217 after hours, roughly 3.5% above its closing price.
Nvidia's quarterly revenue more than doubled to $96.2 billion, exceeding the $92.27 billion average ******* yst estimate reported by the ******* ociated Press. Data Center revenue rose 117% to $89 billion, while adjusted earnings of $2.22 per share beat the $2.09 estimate. Gross margins held at 75%.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang attributed the quarter's growth to accelerating demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure:
"AI has reached its inflection point. It's doing useful work. Its tokens are productive and profitable. Now, compute is revenue, and demand is accelerating," Huang said in a statement. "This time last year, one lab alone was driving the buildout; today, we have a golden age of new AI labs and startups, multiple frontier labs scaling in parallel, a thriving open-model ecosystem and physical AI coming online—with strong momentum across the U.S. and around the world."
#estimate
2 months ago
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
Investors trying to value humanoid robotics startups may need to rethink traditional metrics. In an exclusive email interview with Benzinga, RoboStrategy, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOT) CEO Andrew Kang said current revenue tells only a small part of the story for companies targeting massive future markets.
To illustrate the point, he noted Anthropic's rapid rise as an example of how quickly frontier AI companies can scale.
Kang noted that "Anthropic went from $10m in revenue in 2022 to expected $65B ARR in 2026," arguing that robotics investors should also focus on long-term growth potential rather than near-term sales alone.
While discounted future cash flows and production forecasts remain important, he said qualitative factors—including the quality of a company's hardware, its ability to scale manufacturing and the performance of its robot foundation models—will increasingly shape valuations.
#robotics #future
Investors trying to value humanoid robotics startups may need to rethink traditional metrics. In an exclusive email interview with Benzinga, RoboStrategy, Inc. (NASDAQ:BOT) CEO Andrew Kang said current revenue tells only a small part of the story for companies targeting massive future markets.
To illustrate the point, he noted Anthropic's rapid rise as an example of how quickly frontier AI companies can scale.
Kang noted that "Anthropic went from $10m in revenue in 2022 to expected $65B ARR in 2026," arguing that robotics investors should also focus on long-term growth potential rather than near-term sales alone.
While discounted future cash flows and production forecasts remain important, he said qualitative factors—including the quality of a company's hardware, its ability to scale manufacturing and the performance of its robot foundation models—will increasingly shape valuations.
#robotics #future
2 months ago
Ali Javaheri covers emerging ****** es as a senior research ****** yst at PitchBook.
Space startups raised more venture capital in the first half of 2026 than during all of last year, as investors concentrated larger checks in companies moving from technical validation toward manufacturing and production.
Venture-backed ****** e companies raised $11.3 billion across 244 deals through June, according to PitchBook's 2026 Vertical Snapshot: ****** e Tech, surpassing the $10.1 billion invested across 433 deals in all of 2025.
The increase reflects bigger financings rather than a comparable surge in dealmaking.
The median round more than doubled to $14.5 million from $7 million last year, while venture-growth and late-stage deals captured 87.4% of total investment.
#venture #year
Space startups raised more venture capital in the first half of 2026 than during all of last year, as investors concentrated larger checks in companies moving from technical validation toward manufacturing and production.
Venture-backed ****** e companies raised $11.3 billion across 244 deals through June, according to PitchBook's 2026 Vertical Snapshot: ****** e Tech, surpassing the $10.1 billion invested across 433 deals in all of 2025.
The increase reflects bigger financings rather than a comparable surge in dealmaking.
The median round more than doubled to $14.5 million from $7 million last year, while venture-growth and late-stage deals captured 87.4% of total investment.
#venture #year
2 months ago
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban warned Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that a proposed 5% wealth tax on California billionaires could discourage investment and push high-value startups and their founders out of the state.
On Saturday, Khanna said the California Democratic Party and the state's labor movement joined him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in supporting the proposal.
"The California Democratic Party and the California labor movement just stood with BernieSanders and me in supporting 5% wealth tax on 250 California billionaires," he said.
He added, "California voters want a Democratic Party that will stand up for the working class over the billionaire class."
#khanna #wealth #billionaires
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban warned Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that a proposed 5% wealth tax on California billionaires could discourage investment and push high-value startups and their founders out of the state.
On Saturday, Khanna said the California Democratic Party and the state's labor movement joined him and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in supporting the proposal.
"The California Democratic Party and the California labor movement just stood with BernieSanders and me in supporting 5% wealth tax on 250 California billionaires," he said.
He added, "California voters want a Democratic Party that will stand up for the working class over the billionaire class."
#khanna #wealth #billionaires
2 months ago
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Lyntris' shares fell 11.4% in the defense contractor's New York debut on Wednesday, giving the company a valuation of $1.78 billion and underscoring investor caution toward new listings.
Shares of the company opened at $15.5 each, below the initial public offering price of $17.50 apiece.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based company and some of its existing shareholders downsized the IPO to 17 million shares on Tuesday and raised $297.5 million, after the company and its shareholders had initially marketed 24 million shares at $19 to $22 apiece.
The company sold about 5.7 million shares in the IPO, more than its earlier proposal of about 4.9 million shares, while existing shareholders cut their offering by more than 7.8 million shares.
The U.S. IPO market has rebounded strongly in recent months, bringing startups across sectors to the public markets. However, investors remain selective.
#shares #apiece #existing
Shares of the company opened at $15.5 each, below the initial public offering price of $17.50 apiece.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based company and some of its existing shareholders downsized the IPO to 17 million shares on Tuesday and raised $297.5 million, after the company and its shareholders had initially marketed 24 million shares at $19 to $22 apiece.
The company sold about 5.7 million shares in the IPO, more than its earlier proposal of about 4.9 million shares, while existing shareholders cut their offering by more than 7.8 million shares.
The U.S. IPO market has rebounded strongly in recent months, bringing startups across sectors to the public markets. However, investors remain selective.
#shares #apiece #existing
2 months ago
Shares in Unitree, one of China's largest manufacturers of humanoid robots, closed their first day of trading by more than 460%, showing strong investor appetite for China's robotics sector.
Unitree raised around $900 million in its IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market, the city's board for technology startups, at a valuation of $9 billion. After today's surge, Unitree is now worth around $66 billion, ahead of larger Chinese tech firms like Baidu and JD.com. It's also worth more than the most valuable U.S. robotics company, Figure AI, which got a $39 billion valuation in a September 2025 funding round.
Investors piling into Unitree represents the hype around China's robotics sector, which is responsible for almost all shipments of humanoid robots in the first half of the year. But ******* ysts views are mixed on how much potential companies like Unitree have: While the startup continues to push what their robots can do—recently, beyond human performance—continued struggles on the software side, as well as a recent U.S. ban on foreign-made robots, could weigh on the company's future.
Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in revenue in 2025, with almost 45% of that coming from overseas sales. It also generated 600 million yuan ($89 million) in profit last year. Most of Unitree's sales go towards research purposes, though some Chinese tech companies and state-owned enterprises are starting to explore using humanoid robots in their operations.
Unitree has been backed by fellow Hangzhou startup DeepSeek, as well as big tech firms like Alibaba, Ant Group and Tencent, as well as several state-backed investment funds.
Nomura, which gave a "buy" rating to Unitree shares on Wednesday, credited Unitree's "rapid product iteration and continuous innovation" as the foundation of a "first-mover advantage."
#billion #like
Unitree raised around $900 million in its IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market, the city's board for technology startups, at a valuation of $9 billion. After today's surge, Unitree is now worth around $66 billion, ahead of larger Chinese tech firms like Baidu and JD.com. It's also worth more than the most valuable U.S. robotics company, Figure AI, which got a $39 billion valuation in a September 2025 funding round.
Investors piling into Unitree represents the hype around China's robotics sector, which is responsible for almost all shipments of humanoid robots in the first half of the year. But ******* ysts views are mixed on how much potential companies like Unitree have: While the startup continues to push what their robots can do—recently, beyond human performance—continued struggles on the software side, as well as a recent U.S. ban on foreign-made robots, could weigh on the company's future.
Unitree reported 1.7 billion yuan ($252 million) in revenue in 2025, with almost 45% of that coming from overseas sales. It also generated 600 million yuan ($89 million) in profit last year. Most of Unitree's sales go towards research purposes, though some Chinese tech companies and state-owned enterprises are starting to explore using humanoid robots in their operations.
Unitree has been backed by fellow Hangzhou startup DeepSeek, as well as big tech firms like Alibaba, Ant Group and Tencent, as well as several state-backed investment funds.
Nomura, which gave a "buy" rating to Unitree shares on Wednesday, credited Unitree's "rapid product iteration and continuous innovation" as the foundation of a "first-mover advantage."
#billion #like
2 months ago
Aug 19 (Reuters) - Lyntris' shares fell 11.4% in the defense contractor's New York debut on Wednesday, giving the company a valuation of $1.78 billion and underscoring investor caution toward new listings.
Shares of the company opened at $15.5 each, below the initial public offering price of $17.50 apiece.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based company and some of its existing shareholders downsized the IPO to 17 million shares on Tuesday and raised $297.5 million, after the company and its shareholders had initially marketed 24 million shares at $19 to $22 apiece.
The company sold about 5.7 million shares in the IPO, more than its earlier proposal of about 4.9 million shares, while existing shareholders cut their offering by more than 7.8 million shares.
The U.S. IPO market has rebounded strongly in recent months, bringing startups across sectors to the public markets. However, investors remain selective.
#company #shareholders
Shares of the company opened at $15.5 each, below the initial public offering price of $17.50 apiece.
The Falls Church, Virginia-based company and some of its existing shareholders downsized the IPO to 17 million shares on Tuesday and raised $297.5 million, after the company and its shareholders had initially marketed 24 million shares at $19 to $22 apiece.
The company sold about 5.7 million shares in the IPO, more than its earlier proposal of about 4.9 million shares, while existing shareholders cut their offering by more than 7.8 million shares.
The U.S. IPO market has rebounded strongly in recent months, bringing startups across sectors to the public markets. However, investors remain selective.
#company #shareholders
2 months ago
By Prakhar Srivastava and Pragyan Kalita
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Jane Street-backed Etched said on Tuesday its valuation more than doubled in less than a month to $21 billion, as investors bet on growing demand for specialized chips used to run artificial intelligence models.
The San Jose, California-based company raised $700 million, with trading firm Jane Street continuing its backing by leading the round, joined by Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, among others.
The funding highlights growing investor interest in the infrastructure needed to run AI models, particularly as demand surges for inference — the process of using trained AI models to generate responses.
Etched builds specialized AI inference systems designed to make models faster and cheaper to run, joining a growing group of startups seeking to challenge Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip market.
#growing #etched
Aug 18 (Reuters) - Jane Street-backed Etched said on Tuesday its valuation more than doubled in less than a month to $21 billion, as investors bet on growing demand for specialized chips used to run artificial intelligence models.
The San Jose, California-based company raised $700 million, with trading firm Jane Street continuing its backing by leading the round, joined by Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz and Tiger Global, among others.
The funding highlights growing investor interest in the infrastructure needed to run AI models, particularly as demand surges for inference — the process of using trained AI models to generate responses.
Etched builds specialized AI inference systems designed to make models faster and cheaper to run, joining a growing group of startups seeking to challenge Nvidia's dominance in the AI chip market.
#growing #etched
2 months ago
Size isn't everything in China's IPO markets.
Unitree, perhaps China's most famous humanoid robotics maker, is in the middle of an initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR market, the city's board for tech startups, with a trading debut expected for this week. Then, later this week, the fast-fashion platform Shein will reportedly start its own IPO in Hong Kong, with shares potentially debuting as soon as Aug. 28, according to Reuters.
Shein's IPO dwarfs Unitree's, with the fast fashion giant hoping to raise as much as $3 billion, roughly three times what Unitree is targeting. And yet Unitree's IPO is getting most of the attention: Retail investors are scrambling to buy into the company, and secondary markets are predicting a massive jump in valuation after the startup's debut.
Unitree may be smaller and younger compared to Shein, which has a decade of global expansion under its belt. But in the eyes of investors, the robot maker is the more exciting bet, as appetites shift to AI and hardware, and away from e-commerce and internet platforms.
Unitree, founded by ***** Xingxing in 2016, has become a fixture in China's pop culture, thanks to its robots' dance routines at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, China's most-watched television broadcast.
Unitree is raising 6.1 billion Chinese yuan ($904 million) in its IPO, at a market valuation of around $9 billion. The company claimed last week that the retail portion of its offering was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed.
#maker
Unitree, perhaps China's most famous humanoid robotics maker, is in the middle of an initial public offering on Shanghai's STAR market, the city's board for tech startups, with a trading debut expected for this week. Then, later this week, the fast-fashion platform Shein will reportedly start its own IPO in Hong Kong, with shares potentially debuting as soon as Aug. 28, according to Reuters.
Shein's IPO dwarfs Unitree's, with the fast fashion giant hoping to raise as much as $3 billion, roughly three times what Unitree is targeting. And yet Unitree's IPO is getting most of the attention: Retail investors are scrambling to buy into the company, and secondary markets are predicting a massive jump in valuation after the startup's debut.
Unitree may be smaller and younger compared to Shein, which has a decade of global expansion under its belt. But in the eyes of investors, the robot maker is the more exciting bet, as appetites shift to AI and hardware, and away from e-commerce and internet platforms.
Unitree, founded by ***** Xingxing in 2016, has become a fixture in China's pop culture, thanks to its robots' dance routines at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, China's most-watched television broadcast.
Unitree is raising 6.1 billion Chinese yuan ($904 million) in its IPO, at a market valuation of around $9 billion. The company claimed last week that the retail portion of its offering was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed.
#maker
2 months ago
By Samuel Shen and Eduardo Baptista
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China's Unitree, the country's most high-profile humanoid robot maker, is widely expected to have an explosive stock market debut in Shanghai next week. The only question is — how frenzied is it going to be?
Outside China, on private share platforms such as EquityZen, UpMarket and Hiive, Unitree shares are tipped to almost triple, while on crypto exchanges Hyperliquid and Gate, derivative trades point to a jump of almost four times.
Some others expect much more.
Such is the excitement around Unitree, whose humanoid robots have drawn global attention for their running, dancing and performing of martial arts, that its IPO was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, a record for Shanghai's STAR Market for tech startups.
#samuel
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - China's Unitree, the country's most high-profile humanoid robot maker, is widely expected to have an explosive stock market debut in Shanghai next week. The only question is — how frenzied is it going to be?
Outside China, on private share platforms such as EquityZen, UpMarket and Hiive, Unitree shares are tipped to almost triple, while on crypto exchanges Hyperliquid and Gate, derivative trades point to a jump of almost four times.
Some others expect much more.
Such is the excitement around Unitree, whose humanoid robots have drawn global attention for their running, dancing and performing of martial arts, that its IPO was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, a record for Shanghai's STAR Market for tech startups.
#samuel
2 months ago
By Saeed Azhar and Milana Vinn
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (REUTERS) - Goldman Sachs is in talks with potential investors about participating in Nvidia's $500 billion AI financing initiative, after leveraging its long-standing relationship with the chipmaker to secure a coveted role in the deal, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. insurers, money managers and banks are expected to form the core investor base for the financing, one of the people said, while ******* et managers plan to retain a sizable share of the financing, a second source said.
Nvidia announced on August 10 it has partnered with six major financial institutions including Goldman to launch compute platforms aimed at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure. The move highlights how surging demand for AI computing capacity is drawing institutional investors, as governments, companies and startups race to build out data centers to support AI workloads.
Goldman can provide junior capital and private credit financing through its ******* et management arm, while its investment bank can also help place the debt into private credit funds and eventually public debt markets, the second source said.
#billion #managers #asset
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (REUTERS) - Goldman Sachs is in talks with potential investors about participating in Nvidia's $500 billion AI financing initiative, after leveraging its long-standing relationship with the chipmaker to secure a coveted role in the deal, people familiar with the matter said.
U.S. insurers, money managers and banks are expected to form the core investor base for the financing, one of the people said, while ******* et managers plan to retain a sizable share of the financing, a second source said.
Nvidia announced on August 10 it has partnered with six major financial institutions including Goldman to launch compute platforms aimed at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure. The move highlights how surging demand for AI computing capacity is drawing institutional investors, as governments, companies and startups race to build out data centers to support AI workloads.
Goldman can provide junior capital and private credit financing through its ******* et management arm, while its investment bank can also help place the debt into private credit funds and eventually public debt markets, the second source said.
#billion #managers #asset
2 months ago
By Hannah Lang
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose new crypto-related rules.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."
The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.
The delay comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, if passed, would create new federal rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.
#rules #securities #without #lang
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose new crypto-related rules.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."
The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.
The delay comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, if passed, would create new federal rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.
#rules #securities #without #lang
2 months ago
By Hannah Lang
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose new crypto-related rules.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."
The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.
The delay comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, if passed, would create new federal rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.
#reuters
Aug 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday abruptly canceled a meeting scheduled for Friday on whether the agency should propose new crypto-related rules.
In a statement, an SEC spokesperson said the meeting would be moved "due to an unforeseen scheduling issue."
The agency was set to vote on proposing highly anticipated exemptions that would allow crypto startups to raise capital without having to comply with traditional securities offering rules.
The delay comes after the Senate left Washington on Saturday for a five-week recess without voting on the industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, suggesting the bill's chances of passage have dimmed. The bill, if passed, would create new federal rules tailored to cryptocurrencies, and would put companies on a more sound legal footing, lobbyists say.
#reuters
3 months ago
By Juby Babu and Isla Binnie
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Nvidia said on Monday it has partnered with six major financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms aimed at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on X that the company has the option to backstop up to $125 billion, or 25% of the poential deals.
The move highlights how surging demand for AI computing capacity is drawing institutional investors, as governments, companies and startups race to build out data centers to support AI workloads.
Big Tech companies have signaled that spending on AI would not slow down, with combined outlays set to surpass $730 billion this year.
#Companies #juby
Aug 10 (Reuters) - Nvidia said on Monday it has partnered with six major financial institutions to launch compute financing platforms aimed at raising over $500 billion in third-party capital for AI infrastructure.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on X that the company has the option to backstop up to $125 billion, or 25% of the poential deals.
The move highlights how surging demand for AI computing capacity is drawing institutional investors, as governments, companies and startups race to build out data centers to support AI workloads.
Big Tech companies have signaled that spending on AI would not slow down, with combined outlays set to surpass $730 billion this year.
#Companies #juby
3 months ago
Wall Street has been fretting over a potential AI bubble burst and whether huge AI spending by companies would ever pay off. But Cathie Wood is doubling down. Ark recently bought 80,000 shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) across five funds. Ark also decreased its stake in Roblox (NYSE: RBLX).
Nvidia bears say AI infrastructure spending is running too hot and will eventually slow. That will directly impact Nvidia as its GPU sales will slow down.
Bulls say that fear misses the point. Nvidia's data center networking revenue jumped nearly 200% year over year last quarter. That shows Nvidia is capturing value beyond the GPU itself, through racks, interconnects, and software. Roughly half of data center revenue now comes from AI cloud, industrial, enterprise, and sovereign customers rather than the handful of hyperscalers everyone watches closely. Combined, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet plan to spend up to $725 billion this year, up 77% year over year, and Nvidia is positioned to capture 35% to 40% of that.
The bear case is about the balance sheet, not the growth rate. Nvidia's inventories more than doubled year over year, and prepaid expenses grew over 40%, as the company locks up more supply commitments to protect delivery timelines. Three customers make up 30%, 18%, and 16% of Nvidia's accounts receivable, so any shift by a major buyer toward custom chips would hit hard. Non-marketable securities, mostly stakes in AI startups and infrastructure partners, now make up 17% of Nvidia's total ****** ets.
Cathie Wood of ARK Investment Management
#year #NVIDIA #spending #infrastructure
Nvidia bears say AI infrastructure spending is running too hot and will eventually slow. That will directly impact Nvidia as its GPU sales will slow down.
Bulls say that fear misses the point. Nvidia's data center networking revenue jumped nearly 200% year over year last quarter. That shows Nvidia is capturing value beyond the GPU itself, through racks, interconnects, and software. Roughly half of data center revenue now comes from AI cloud, industrial, enterprise, and sovereign customers rather than the handful of hyperscalers everyone watches closely. Combined, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet plan to spend up to $725 billion this year, up 77% year over year, and Nvidia is positioned to capture 35% to 40% of that.
The bear case is about the balance sheet, not the growth rate. Nvidia's inventories more than doubled year over year, and prepaid expenses grew over 40%, as the company locks up more supply commitments to protect delivery timelines. Three customers make up 30%, 18%, and 16% of Nvidia's accounts receivable, so any shift by a major buyer toward custom chips would hit hard. Non-marketable securities, mostly stakes in AI startups and infrastructure partners, now make up 17% of Nvidia's total ****** ets.
Cathie Wood of ARK Investment Management
#year #NVIDIA #spending #infrastructure
3 months ago
Brown Advisory, an investment management company, released its "Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy" for the second quarter of 2026 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Brown Advisory's Global Leaders Strategy delivered a net return of 4.6% in the second quarter of 2026, underperforming its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Net Index, which returned 14.9%. The relative weakness was driven mainly by underexposure to semiconductors and technology hardware, while software, cloud services, and financial holdings also weighed on performance. The strategy benefited from holdings in areas tied to AI infrastructure, with semiconductor exposure and AI-related investments gaining from strong demand. Looking ahead, Brown Advisory sees an attractive environment for active stock-picking, with its ready-to-buy list at its highest level since the COVID-19 period and an estimated 12%-13% average five-year base-case IRR, while maintaining a focus on quality, valuation discipline, and long-term cash-flow generation. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know its best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund highlighted stocks like Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK). Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) develops design and engineering software used by professionals across architecture, construction, manufacturing, and media industries. The one-month return of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) was 17.37% while its shares traded between $185.50 and $329.09 over the last 52 weeks. On August 7, 2026, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) stock closed at approximately $242.47 per share, with a market capitalization of about $52.59 billion.
Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund stated the following regarding Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
We exited Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in June. Since our first-quarter drawdown review, we have continued our research and discussions around substitution risk for Autodesk, with a particular focus on the potential impact of world models replacing large parts of the 3D creation stack. At the same time, we have seen physical-AI startups, such as Jeff Bezos' Prometheus, investing heavily in developing engineering-grade physical models. (Prometheus closed a successful funding round in June, valuing the company at a level broadly comparable to Autodesk's market capitalization.) The competitive environment for Autodesk is intensifying. As we see substitution risk increasing and the range of outcomes for software companies widening, we have decided to allocate capital elsewhere, funding our initiations in Nvidia and Progressive Corporation.
#NASDAQ #adsk
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund highlighted stocks like Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK). Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) develops design and engineering software used by professionals across architecture, construction, manufacturing, and media industries. The one-month return of Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) was 17.37% while its shares traded between $185.50 and $329.09 over the last 52 weeks. On August 7, 2026, Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) stock closed at approximately $242.47 per share, with a market capitalization of about $52.59 billion.
Brown Advisory Global Leaders Strategy Fund stated the following regarding Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
We exited Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) in June. Since our first-quarter drawdown review, we have continued our research and discussions around substitution risk for Autodesk, with a particular focus on the potential impact of world models replacing large parts of the 3D creation stack. At the same time, we have seen physical-AI startups, such as Jeff Bezos' Prometheus, investing heavily in developing engineering-grade physical models. (Prometheus closed a successful funding round in June, valuing the company at a level broadly comparable to Autodesk's market capitalization.) The competitive environment for Autodesk is intensifying. As we see substitution risk increasing and the range of outcomes for software companies widening, we have decided to allocate capital elsewhere, funding our initiations in Nvidia and Progressive Corporation.
#NASDAQ #adsk
3 months ago
Robinhood this week unveiled a financial instrument that lets anyone feel like they, too, can make money by backing Y Combinator startups.
Robinhood Venture Fund II (RVII) is expected to become a publicly traded fund on August 13 at an opening price of $25 per share.
The fund intends to raise as much as $200 million, Reuters reports, and use that money to invest in startups founded by current and former Y Combinator participants, should those startups agree to sell their shares.
While any retail investor can buy shares in the fund, they will not directly hold any shares in the startups. Investors will be able to trade their shares in the fund, but it's unclear how much profit they can expect to make should the YC companies manage big exits.
The fund intends to pay the 2/20 fees typical in the VC world to another entity owned by Robinhood, plus tack on extra fees. That means Robinhood's unit will collect 2% of the net returns as a management fee, plus other fees, taking the total to just over 4%, the company said. The fund will also pay the Robinhood unit 20% "carried interest" (commonly called "carry"). That means if enough Y Combinator companies have good exits for the fund to make money, that Robinhood unit will get 20% of the resulting returns.
#combinator #shares #money #unit
Robinhood Venture Fund II (RVII) is expected to become a publicly traded fund on August 13 at an opening price of $25 per share.
The fund intends to raise as much as $200 million, Reuters reports, and use that money to invest in startups founded by current and former Y Combinator participants, should those startups agree to sell their shares.
While any retail investor can buy shares in the fund, they will not directly hold any shares in the startups. Investors will be able to trade their shares in the fund, but it's unclear how much profit they can expect to make should the YC companies manage big exits.
The fund intends to pay the 2/20 fees typical in the VC world to another entity owned by Robinhood, plus tack on extra fees. That means Robinhood's unit will collect 2% of the net returns as a management fee, plus other fees, taking the total to just over 4%, the company said. The fund will also pay the Robinhood unit 20% "carried interest" (commonly called "carry"). That means if enough Y Combinator companies have good exits for the fund to make money, that Robinhood unit will get 20% of the resulting returns.
#combinator #shares #money #unit
