lixu/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images OpenAI ( OPENAI ) is facing internal debate over the timing of a potential initial public offering, with differences emerging among senior leadership, The Information reported. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has indicated internally that the company may not be ready to go public before 2026, citing the scale of preparation required, including ongoing wo...
lixu/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images OpenAI ( OPENAI ) is facing internal debate over the timing of a potential initial public offering, with differences emerging among senior leadership, The Information reported. Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has indicated internally that the company may not be ready to go public before 2026, citing the scale of preparation required, including ongoing work related to procedures, compliance, and organizational readiness, according to the report. Friar has also raised concerns about OpenAI’s financial exposure tied to heavy spending on computing infrastructure. Projections suggest the company’s cash burn could exceed $200B before reaching positive cash flow, The Information report said. The company has additionally committed more than $600B over five years toward cloud server capacity. Friar flagged the complexity of these commitments, noting that a significant portion of a recently announced $122B funding round is expected to come from Amazon ( AMZN ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ), both of which are also suppliers of cloud and chip infrastructure to OpenAI, potentially creating risks within the capital structure, the report added. OpenAI ( OPENAI ) has also highlighted risks tied to its reliance on Microsoft ( MSFT ), warning internally that any change in the relationship could negatively impact its business. The report said Friar’s cautious stance contrasts with CEO Sam Altman, who has expressed interest in pursuing an IPO as early as the fourth quarter. Signs of internal strain have also surfaced, as per the report. Friar was reportedly excluded from certain financial discussions, including a recent high-level meeting with a major investor on server procurement. In a notable shift, Friar now reports to Fidji Simo rather than directly to Altman, diverging from the typical CFO reporting structure. Despite these developments, both Friar and Altman have publicly said they remain aligned on OpenAI’s broader compute strategy, according t...
adventtr Global semiconductor sales climbed to $88.8B in February 2026, rising 7.6% M/M and surging 61.8% from a year earlier, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. "Sales into the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, and China were all major drivers of year-to-year growth," said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. Worldwide Semiconductor Revenues (www.semiconductors.org) Asia Pacifi...
adventtr Global semiconductor sales climbed to $88.8B in February 2026, rising 7.6% M/M and surging 61.8% from a year earlier, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. "Sales into the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, and China were all major drivers of year-to-year growth," said John Neuffer, SIA president and CEO. Worldwide Semiconductor Revenues (www.semiconductors.org) Asia Pacific/All Other recorded the highest increase at 93.5%, followed by the Americas at 59.2%, China at 57.4%, and Europe at 42.3%. Japan was the only region to post a decline, with sales slipping 0.3% compared to February 2025. On a month-on-month basis, growth in January 2026 was led by the Americas, where sales rose 12.6%, followed by Europe at 10.2%. Asia Pacific/All Other registered a 6% increase, while China and Japan saw gains of 3.6% and 3.0%, respectively. The industry is now widely considered to be on track to cross roughly $1T in annual semiconductor sales in 2026, after global revenue reached about $791B in 2025. In 2025, growth was broad-based across most chip categories, with logic and memory devices leading the expansion. The geopolitical dynamics continue to reshape the chip industry, with export controls on advanced chips to China driving supply chain shifts, but the country remains one of the major demand drivers. Semiconductor ETFs to watch: ( SMH ), ( SOXQ ), ( SHOC ), ( SEMI ), ( SOXX ). Top companies to watch: ( NVDA ), ( TSM ), ( AMD ), ( AVGO ), ( ASML ), ( INTC ), ( SSNLF ), ( QCOM ), ( MU ). More on semiconductors Recent AI Funding Problems Should Worry You SMH: Up Almost 40% With Plenty Of Room To Grow From HALO To AURA: The Next Rotation In AI Markets Most and least shorted large-cap tech stocks as of March ETFs tied to Marvell Technology jumped following Nvidia investment news
Ployker/iStock via Getty Images Within the Western critical minerals space, Energy Fuels ( UUUU ) is considered to be one of the most strategically distinctive producers of uranium, being the only domestic U.S. processor of monazite into separated rare earth oxides and the only Western company with a complete mine-to-oxide chain for heavy rare earth elements, such as dysprosium and terbium. With n...
Ployker/iStock via Getty Images Within the Western critical minerals space, Energy Fuels ( UUUU ) is considered to be one of the most strategically distinctive producers of uranium, being the only domestic U.S. processor of monazite into separated rare earth oxides and the only Western company with a complete mine-to-oxide chain for heavy rare earth elements, such as dysprosium and terbium. With no other Western company to have this degree of completeness, China's tightening export restrictions on rare earths have only increased the strategic premium attached to UUUU. Given the pullback of the stock in the tune of -36%, we think it is in line with the drawdown its peers experienced—UEC ( UEC ) -33% and URG ( URG ) -35.3%—and offers an interesting opportunity amidst a sector-wide selloff. Data by YCharts Uranium's Structural Bull Market The uranium market is currently in a multi-year structural bull market that is driven by a widening supply deficit. Mines are currently covering only an estimated 74%-90% of reactor demand globally, according to Teniz Capital . Further, spot uranium prices are forecast to reach $91/lb by year-end 2026, or about 20% from current levels, according to Goldman Sachs . During 2025-2035, the structural supply gap is estimated to be at ~13% cumulative before widening further in the 2030s due to reactor life extensions and new builds. Further exacerbating the deficit, the U.S. has prohibited Russian imports since its enactment in 2024. This benefits domestic producers like UUUU. Long-term contract prices have risen to $86/lb, which is well above the company's all-in cost of ~$23-$30/lb at Pinyon Plain, according to its latest filings . Rare Earth Element's Critical Supply Chain Gap China has dominated global rare earth processing (~90%) and is recognized as a strategic vulnerability for Western nations. China has progressively tightened export regulations on rare earth elements and has not hesitated in leveraging its rare earth dominance in t...
US allies are reportedly pressing for a last-minute deal with Iran, as President Donald Trump extended his deadline to Tuesday for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, keeping markets on edge over whether a breakthrough can be reached. Axios reported that Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are pushing to secure a potential ceasefire — lasting about 45 days — to head off threatened US strikes on Iran’s e...
US allies are reportedly pressing for a last-minute deal with Iran, as President Donald Trump extended his deadline to Tuesday for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, keeping markets on edge over whether a breakthrough can be reached. Axios reported that Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey are pushing to secure a potential ceasefire — lasting about 45 days — to head off threatened US strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure and retaliation by the Islamic Republic against countries in the region. Fighting continued, with Israel, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates reporting Iranian attacks overnight into Monday. Trump on Sunday issued an expletive-laced threat to destroy Iran’s power plants and blow up “everything over there,” before announcing what appeared to be a new Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline, without offering details. The move adds to a series of extensions since he began issuing similar ultimatums on March 21 to force Iran to reopen the strategic waterway. The repeated delays come as Trump points to ongoing negotiations between his envoys and Iran’s leadership, which he has yet to identify, aimed at ending the war triggered by US and Israeli attacks in late February. The fighting has left thousands dead, most of them in Iran and Lebanon, and brought vessel traffic through Hormuz — through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports normally flow — to a near standstill. Signs of last-ditch efforts to secure a ceasefire helped investors cautiously return to equities, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rising 0.3% and crude oil paring gains. Many European markets are closed. Iran rejected Trump’s latest ultimatum to reopen Hormuz, saying it would only fully resume operations when war damages are compensated. Tehran continued striking energy targets in Persian Gulf neighbors, including Kuwait’s oil headquarters and a major petrochemicals plant in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. The UAE issued multiple alerts overnight, while Kuwait said its air defense...