BellRing Brands press release ( BRBR ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.37 beats by $0.05 . Revenue of $537.3M (+0.8% Y/Y) beats by $33.07M . Adjusted EBITDA* was $90.3 million, a decrease of $35.0 million, compared to $125.3 million in the prior year period. Outlook For fiscal year 2026, BellRing management has narrowed its previously issued guidance, as shown in the table below. As previously indicated, n...
BellRing Brands press release ( BRBR ): Q1 Non-GAAP EPS of $0.37 beats by $0.05 . Revenue of $537.3M (+0.8% Y/Y) beats by $33.07M . Adjusted EBITDA* was $90.3 million, a decrease of $35.0 million, compared to $125.3 million in the prior year period. Outlook For fiscal year 2026, BellRing management has narrowed its previously issued guidance, as shown in the table below. As previously indicated, net sales growth is expected to accelerate beyond the first quarter as merchandising initiatives, advertising and innovation become more meaningful. Metric Fiscal Year 2026 Net Sales $2.41-$2.46 billion (prior between $2.41-$2.49 billion) vs. consensus of $2.41B Net Sales Growth 4% to 6% Adjusted EBITDA $425-$440 million Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Net Sales Approximately 18% Capital Expenditures $8 million Click to enlarge More on BellRing Brands BellRing Brands, Inc. (BRBR) Presents at Morgan Stanley Global Consumer & Retail Conference 2025 Transcript BellRing Brands: Competitive Intensity Doesn't Erode The Growth Story BellRing Brands: Business Transitions Into A More Mature Growth-Phase Company BellRing Brands Q1 2026 Earnings Preview BellRing Brands sets $600M stock buyback plan
Nasa has postponed its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again, after issues arose during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet. The US space agency had planned to launch the Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as next week, but announced overnight that it would be delayed until March, without specifying a date. During an elaborate ...
Nasa has postponed its historic mission to send astronauts around the moon and back again, after issues arose during a critical test of its most powerful rocket yet. The US space agency had planned to launch the Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida as early as next week, but announced overnight that it would be delayed until March, without specifying a date. During an elaborate launch-day walkthrough, known as a “wet dress rehearsal”, engineers detected leaking hydrogen from the Space Launch System (SLS). Teams also encountered a problem with a valve associated with the Orion capsule that sits on top of the rocket, and where four astronauts will live and work while on a 10-day mission. “Engineers pushed through several challenges during the two-day test,” Nasa said in its announcement, adding that “teams will fully review data from the test” of the 98-metre-tall rocket. The news will be a frustrating setback for the crew, who have been in quarantine for close to two weeks to prevent them from picking up illnesses before the mission. As well as the first return of people to the vicinity of the moon in more than 50 years, Christina Koch and Victor Glover will become the first woman and first person of colour respectively to travel beyond low Earth orbit. It will be the second flight of Nasa’s SLS rocket, following the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which was also temporarily plagued by hydrogen leaks during tests. For Artemis II, the astronauts will not enter lunar orbit but will be the first to make the 685,000-mile round trip to travel around the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission paves the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts near the lunar south pole. Nasa wants to eventually establish a permanent presence on the lunar surface as part of its Artemis programme, which is named after the Greek goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo. View image in fullscreen People photograph the Space Launch System and its Orion cap...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
PayPal press release ( PYPL ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.23 misses by $0.06. Revenue of $8.7B (+3.6% Y/Y) misses by $90M. Transaction margin dollars (“TM$”) increased 3% to $4.0 billion; TM$ excluding interest on customer balances1,2 increased 4% to$3.7 billion. 4Q'25 total payment volume (“TPV”) increased 9% (6% FXN) to $475.1 billion; FY’25 TPV increased 7% (6% FXN) to $1.79trillion. 4Q'25 payment t...
PayPal press release ( PYPL ): Q4 Non-GAAP EPS of $1.23 misses by $0.06. Revenue of $8.7B (+3.6% Y/Y) misses by $90M. Transaction margin dollars (“TM$”) increased 3% to $4.0 billion; TM$ excluding interest on customer balances1,2 increased 4% to$3.7 billion. 4Q'25 total payment volume (“TPV”) increased 9% (6% FXN) to $475.1 billion; FY’25 TPV increased 7% (6% FXN) to $1.79trillion. 4Q'25 payment transactions increased 2% to 6.8 billion. Excluding payment service provider transactions5 (“PSP”), 4Q'25 payment transactions increased 6% to 4.3 billion; FY'25 payment transactions decreased 4% to 25.4 billion. FY'25 payment transactions exPSP increased 6% to 16.1 billion. Payment transactions per active account (“TPA”) on a trailing 12-month basis decreased 5% to 57.7. TPA ex-PSP4 increased 5%. Active accounts increased 1.1%, or by 4.7 million, to 439 million. In 4Q'25, active accounts increased sequentially by 0.3%, or by1.2 million. Q1 EPS guidance of Mid-single digit decline from prior $1.33 vs $1.38 consensus FY EPS guidance of Low-single digit decline from $5.31 to slightly positive vs $5.73 consensus The Board’s appointment of Enrique Lores as PayPal’snext President and CEO reflects a clear commitment to strengthening execution, innovation, and results. We are fully aligned on thepath forward as PayPal enters its next chapter of growth. Shares -1.7% PM. More on PayPal PayPal: Golden Buying Opportunity Before Q4 Earnings PayPal: A Brutal Competitive Landscape And Changes Yet To Be Seen PayPal Looks Dirt Cheap, But It May Never Recover Its Mojo (Downgrade) PayPal Q4 earnings preview: Competitive pressures remain a threat Earnings week ahead: AMZN, GOOG, PLTR, AMD, PFE, DIS, PYPL, ABBV, QCOM, SMCI, MRK, PEP, UBER, PM, and more
Following the sudden demise of a major gold trading platform in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, another retail-focused operator has suffered a run, stoking fears of contagion in China’s private market for the precious metal. The platform, Ydd007, is the latest to face trouble. On Sunday, it told investors that it had experienced three “severe runs” in recent days amid mounting industry pani...
Following the sudden demise of a major gold trading platform in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, another retail-focused operator has suffered a run, stoking fears of contagion in China’s private market for the precious metal. The platform, Ydd007, is the latest to face trouble. On Sunday, it told investors that it had experienced three “severe runs” in recent days amid mounting industry panic. It also acknowledged a significant funding shortfall, according to Chengdu.cn, part of the Chengdu municipal government's media office. Since Saturday, investors from Guizhou, Jiangxi and other provinces have travelled to Ydd007’s office in Shenzhen’s Shuibei – widely regarded as the heart of China’s private gold trade – to demand immediate payouts, the report said. The incident came right after a redemption crisis at Shuibei’s JWR, an online metals trading platform. Advertisement The turmoil coincided with global volatility in gold and silver prices. Both suffered a historic sell-off last week, with the gold price plunging nearly 10 per cent on Friday – the biggest single-day decline in decades – before partially recovering on Tuesday. On Wednesday, authorities in Shenzhen’s Luohu district announced that a task force would investigate abnormal business operations at JWR, where unpaid funds could exceed 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion), based on investor estimates reported by mainland media outlets. Advertisement Shuibei is home to a large share of the country’s wholesale, processing and pricing activity for gold, and its stability has long been regarded as a barometer for the domestic industry.
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is p...
Artificial intelligence is the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime. The time to invest in groundbreaking AI is now, and this stock is a steal! AI is eating the world—and the machines behind it are ravenous. Each ChatGPT query, each model update, each robotic breakthrough consumes massive amounts of energy. In fact, AI is already pushing global power grids to the brink. Wall Street is pouring hundreds of billions into artificial intelligence—training smarter chatbots, automating industries, and building the digital future. But there’s one urgent question few are asking: Where will all of that energy come from? AI is the most electricity-hungry technology ever invented. Each data center powering large language models like ChatGPT consumes as much energy as a small city. And it’s about to get worse. Even Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI, issued a stark warning: “The future of AI depends on an energy breakthrough.” Elon Musk was even more blunt: “AI will run out of electricity by next year.” As the world chases faster, smarter machines, a hidden crisis is emerging behind the scenes. Power grids are strained. Electricity prices are rising. Utilities are scrambling to expand capacity. And that’s where the real opportunity lies… One little-known company—almost entirely overlooked by most AI investors—could be the ultimate backdoor play. It’s not a chipmaker. It’s not a cloud platform. But it might be the most important AI stock in the US owns critical energy infrastructure assets positioned to feed the coming AI energy spike. As demand from AI data centers explodes, this company is gearing up to profit from the most valuable commodity in the digital age: electricity. The “Toll Booth” Operator of the AI Energy Boom It owns critical nuclear energy infrastructure assets , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. , positioning it at the heart of America’s next-generation power strategy. It’s one of the only global companies capable ...
FuboTV Inc. press release ( FUBO ): Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.02. Revenue of $1.55B (+39.6% Y/Y) beats by $190M . Pro Forma Revenue of $1.683 billion, compared to $1.588 billion (up 6% Y/Y). Pro Forma Net Loss of $46.4 million, compared to $130.4 million Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA of $41.4 million, compared to $22.0 million Cash Position: Fubo ended the quarter with $458.6 million in cash, cash equivalent...
FuboTV Inc. press release ( FUBO ): Q1 GAAP EPS of -$0.02. Revenue of $1.55B (+39.6% Y/Y) beats by $190M . Pro Forma Revenue of $1.683 billion, compared to $1.588 billion (up 6% Y/Y). Pro Forma Net Loss of $46.4 million, compared to $130.4 million Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA of $41.4 million, compared to $22.0 million Cash Position: Fubo ended the quarter with $458.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash on hand. More on FuboTV Inc. FuboTV: Synergies With Hulu Yet To Be Priced In FuboTV: Hulu Live Merger Lifts Bargaining Power, But Losses Muddy The Picture FuboTV: Huge Scalability News, Need To Profits First FuboTV repurchases $140.2M of convertible notes due 2026 Fubo customers lose NBCU channels after disagreement on multi-year deal
NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA used a recent webinar on “Co-package Silicon Photonic Switch for Gigawatt AI Factories” to outline how it is designing networking and optical interconnects to support large-scale AI “factories,” with Senior Vice President of Networking Gilad Shainer detailing the company’s approach to building AI supercomputers and the role co-packaged optics (CPO) plays in power efficiency and...
NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA used a recent webinar on “Co-package Silicon Photonic Switch for Gigawatt AI Factories” to outline how it is designing networking and optical interconnects to support large-scale AI “factories,” with Senior Vice President of Networking Gilad Shainer detailing the company’s approach to building AI supercomputers and the role co-packaged optics (CPO) plays in power efficiency and reliability. Get NVIDIA alerts: Sign Up Data centers as “the computer” and four interconnect layers Shainer framed modern AI infrastructure around the idea that “the data center is the computer,” arguing that AI workloads depend on many computing elements operating together and that the network increasingly defines the capability of the overall system. He described an AI supercomputer as a combination of four major infrastructures: Scale-up: NVLink connects NVIDIA H100 GPUs to form what he called a rack-scale GPU, with tens of GPUs today and potentially hundreds in the future operating as a single unit. NVLink connects NVIDIA H100 GPUs to form what he called a rack-scale GPU, with tens of GPUs today and potentially hundreds in the future operating as a single unit. Scale-out: Spectrum-X Ethernet is positioned as the end-to-end fabric connecting racks to enable distributed workloads across hundreds of thousands of GPUs. Spectrum-X Ethernet is positioned as the end-to-end fabric connecting racks to enable distributed workloads across hundreds of thousands of GPUs. Context memory storage: A storage tier within an AI pod, leveraging BlueField DPUs “data and storage processors,” aimed at inferencing storage requirements. A storage tier within an AI pod, leveraging BlueField DPUs “data and storage processors,” aimed at inferencing storage requirements. Scale across: A Spectrum-X-based approach intended to connect multiple data centers into a single computing engine when single-site scaling is limited by power or real estate, targeting “giga-scale” AI factories. Spectrum-X Ethern...
Seeking Alpha More on Pfizer Pfizer: Buyer Beware, The Risk Outweighs The Reward Pfizer: A High-Yield Pharma At A Turning Point Pfizer: The Great Healthcare Plan Does Not Change My Bullish Stance Pfizer obesity therapy causes up to 12% weight loss in mid-stage study Pfizer Non-GAAP EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.09, revenue of $17.6B beats by $770M
Seeking Alpha More on Pfizer Pfizer: Buyer Beware, The Risk Outweighs The Reward Pfizer: A High-Yield Pharma At A Turning Point Pfizer: The Great Healthcare Plan Does Not Change My Bullish Stance Pfizer obesity therapy causes up to 12% weight loss in mid-stage study Pfizer Non-GAAP EPS of $0.66 beats by $0.09, revenue of $17.6B beats by $770M
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg’s journalists around the world. Today, Vlad Savov admires the endurance of iPhone demand. Tech Across the Globe Palantir’s strong quarter: The data software company with close ties to the US government exceeded estimates with its latest revenue and annual forecast, sending its stock higher in late trading. NXP...
Welcome to Tech In Depth, our daily newsletter about the business of tech from Bloomberg’s journalists around the world. Today, Vlad Savov admires the endurance of iPhone demand. Tech Across the Globe Palantir’s strong quarter: The data software company with close ties to the US government exceeded estimates with its latest revenue and annual forecast, sending its stock higher in late trading. NXP’s struggles: The Dutch chipmaker reported slightly slower growth than anticipated in its key automotive market, adding to concern about the pace of the company’s recovery. OpenAI-xAI court fight: OpenAI accused Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup of destroying evidence in a lawsuit that alleges OpenAI blocked competition in the market for generative AI tools. Revalued Waymo raised $16 billion in a funding round that valued the Alphabet robotaxi company at $126 billion. The financing was led by new investors including Sequoia Capital. Waymo leads the field of companies vying for commercial autonomous driving operations, running full driverless, fare-charging services in about a half-dozen US cities with plans to expand this year in the US and into the UK. This isn’t easy Apple’s powers of persuasion remain unimpeachable. The company’s iPhone hasn’t had the industry’s best mobile camera for a decade,* lags behind Android rivals in battery and memory specifications, and doesn’t even include a charger in the box. And yet the iPhone just set a record for its best quarter of sales in China ever. It’s a powerful reminder that iPhones are not fungible goods — consumers don’t readily exchange them for other smartphones. I checked in with my buddies at Counterpoint Research for their latest assessment of what precipitated such strong sales for the US company in the world’s biggest mobile market. The first thing is what analyst Ivan Lam calls a super upgrade cycle, with a spate of iPhone owners who purchased a handset during the pandemic aching for an update. “Apple planted t...
China’s 4.5-generation fighter the J-10C appeared at the Singapore Air Show this week amid a drive by Beijing to boost arms sales to Southeast Asia. Last year, the model gained increasing global prominence following reports that it had been used by the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down at least one French-made Rafale fighter operated by India during the two countries’ brief border conflict. The sev...
China’s 4.5-generation fighter the J-10C appeared at the Singapore Air Show this week amid a drive by Beijing to boost arms sales to Southeast Asia. Last year, the model gained increasing global prominence following reports that it had been used by the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down at least one French-made Rafale fighter operated by India during the two countries’ brief border conflict. The seven J-10C jets taking part in the Singapore Air Show arrived in the city state on Wednesday last week, accompanied by a Y-20A refuelling tanker. Advertisement Six of the jets later took part in an aerobatic display outside the Changi Exhibition Hall, where the air show is taking place, and two of the planes also performed solo aerobatic manoeuvres. The J-10C is a single-engine, multirole combat aircraft developed by China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, and earlier models of the plane, such as the J-10A, featured at the 2020 Singapore Air Show. Advertisement
RadNet ( RDNT ) acquired the outpatient imaging assets of Northwest Radiology Network, marking its entry into Indiana and the Midwest region. This deal adds six multimodality imaging centers in the greater Indianapolis area, along with contracted services from 18 Northwest radiologists. The acquisition is projected to generate ~$18M in annualized revenue for RadNet. More on RadNet RadNet, Inc. (RD...
RadNet ( RDNT ) acquired the outpatient imaging assets of Northwest Radiology Network, marking its entry into Indiana and the Midwest region. This deal adds six multimodality imaging centers in the greater Indianapolis area, along with contracted services from 18 Northwest radiologists. The acquisition is projected to generate ~$18M in annualized revenue for RadNet. More on RadNet RadNet, Inc. (RDNT) Presents at 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Prepared Remarks Transcript RadNet, Inc. (RDNT) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript RadNet, Inc. (RDNT) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript RadNet expands to Southwest Florida with acquisition of Radiology Regional RadNet buys CIMAR UK
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the 10 Best AI Software Stocks to Buy Right Now. On January 29, Raymond James reduced its price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $600 to $580 and kept its Outperform rating after the company released its fiscal 2026 second-quarter results. The firm pointed out that Azure growth and guidance were about one percentage point less than wh...
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the 10 Best AI Software Stocks to Buy Right Now. On January 29, Raymond James reduced its price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $600 to $580 and kept its Outperform rating after the company released its fiscal 2026 second-quarter results. The firm pointed out that Azure growth and guidance were about one percentage point less than what investors had expected. Raymond James noted that Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure growth is being held back by the company’s own decisions to direct resources toward first-party applications and services and internal research and development efforts. Pixabay/Public Domain Also on January 29, Piper Sandler cut its price target on Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) from $650 to $600 and maintained an Overweight rating. The firm noted that the company is still focusing on its broader platform, allocating capacity across Azure, first-party applications, and internal research and development instead of focusing only on Azure growth. Piper Sandler believes that demand for Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) services is still exceeding supply, with Azure’s growth reflecting the capacity that the company has allocated rather than end customer demand. The firm also noted that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is increasingly directing capital toward short-lived assets like GPUs and CPUs to deal with near-term capacity limits. Piper Sandler is still positive on the company and highlighted strong commercial remaining performance obligation growth of $625 billion including OpenAI, which is an increase of 110%. The research firm believes Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is in a good position to benefit from additional AI-related workloads. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is an American technology company that specializes in AI-powered cloud, productivity, and business solutions. The company develops and markets software, services, and hardware. While we acknowl...
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the 10 Best AI Software Stocks to Buy Right Now. On January 22, Phillip Securities started covering Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), giving the stock a Buy rating and setting the price target at $208. Phillip Securities noted that the stock could move higher as the company’s fundamentals improve and its total addressable market continues ...
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the 10 Best AI Software Stocks to Buy Right Now. On January 22, Phillip Securities started covering Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), giving the stock a Buy rating and setting the price target at $208. Phillip Securities noted that the stock could move higher as the company’s fundamentals improve and its total addressable market continues to grow. According to the research firm, Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) has “just” captured 2.4% of its $119 billion total addressable market estimated in 2020. With the company’s AI software growing at more than 25% a year, Phillip Securities noted that the addressable market has probably expanded, which supports “significant upside” for the stock. Earlier, on January 6, Truist Securities also initiated coverage of Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), giving it a Buy rating and a price target of $223. The firm noted that the stock trades at a high valuation but highlighted the company’s strong opportunity to help governments and enterprises adopt generative AI. Truist Securities pointed to improving momentum supported by the launch of Palantir Technologies Inc.’s (NASDAQ:PLTR) Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). In its initiation report, the research firm described Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) as a “best-in-class AI asset.” Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is an American software company that specializes in big data analytics and AI platforms. The company serves key government and commercial enterprises. While we acknowledge the potential of PLTR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 11 Most Profitable Cheap Stocks to Invest In Now and 12 Best 5G Stocks to Inv...
Chinese robotics firms continue to secure fresh financing, including from state-backed funds, as investors shift focus from hardware to the “brains” of humanoids – the software and operating systems that underpin their intelligence. Alongside hardware-centric companies like Unitree Robotics , a new wave of firms is emerging with capital directed towards robotic software and operating systems. Shen...
Chinese robotics firms continue to secure fresh financing, including from state-backed funds, as investors shift focus from hardware to the “brains” of humanoids – the software and operating systems that underpin their intelligence. Alongside hardware-centric companies like Unitree Robotics , a new wave of firms is emerging with capital directed towards robotic software and operating systems. Shenzhen-based humanoid robot maker LimX Dynamics announced on Monday the completion of its US$200 million series B round. The company last month unveiled LimX Cosa, an operating system for embodied artificial intelligence agents. Advertisement Physical AI start-up Orca also said on Monday it had completed pre-A and pre-A+ funding rounds. It said its eponymous system was benchmarked against Nvidia’s Omniverse, a platform for virtual worlds that allows developers to build physically accurate simulation environments for training embodied robots. X Square Robot, founded in 2023, completed a 1 billion yuan (US$144 million) A++ round last month. The Shenzhen-based company focuses on developing foundation models for robotics. ByteDance was among the investors, joining previous backers Meituan and Alibaba Group Holding. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Three humanoid robots sit at Unitree’s first retail store in Beijing on January 9, 2026. Photo: AFP The trend showed Big Tech firms were now focusing on training the “brains” of embodied AI, the National Business Daily reported, citing economist Pan Helin.