Companies like Nvidia, AMD and Apple design them, but it’s the foundry companies running specialized factories that make the advanced chips powering AI. Taiwan’s TSMC utterly dominates the sector, but Samsung Electronics may have something to say about that. Bargaining Chips Given the AI boom, you won’t be surprised to read that the top 10 foundry companies made a combined $169.5 billion in revenu...
Companies like Nvidia, AMD and Apple design them, but it’s the foundry companies running specialized factories that make the advanced chips powering AI. Taiwan’s TSMC utterly dominates the sector, but Samsung Electronics may have something to say about that. Bargaining Chips Given the AI boom, you won’t be surprised to read that the top 10 foundry companies made a combined $169.5 billion in revenue last year, up 26.3% from 2024, according to technology research firm TrendForce. But that growth was concentrated at TSMC, where sales climbed 36.1% to $122.5 billion. The Taiwanese firm’s market share rose 5.5 percentage points to 69.9%. In a very distant second-place, like an NFL offensive lineman racing Usain Bolt, was Samsung Electronics. Foundry revenue at the tech subsidiary of South Korean holdings giant Samsung fell 3.9% to $12.6 billion, and its market share dipped 2.2 percentage points to 7.2%. Samsung’s foundry business has struggled to sign up customers because of poor yields, a term for the percentage of chips it produces that aren’t defective (last year, Korean daily Chosun Ilbo reported Samsung foundry yields as low as 50%, compared with TSMC’s more than 90%). But Samsung’s foundry business may have found an ace card: High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). Top-of-the-line AI chips, such as those from Nvidia and AMD, require substantial memory bandwidth to support large-scale training and complex inference. While TSMC doesn’t make its own branded memory chips, Samsung does. That includes its advanced HBM4, released this year, amid a growing memory chip shortage. That shortage has opened a lane for Samsung to assert itself in the chip supply chain: It leapfrogged Micron for second place in the HBM market last year and, in the fall, announced plans to build a new factory with Nvidia that will have HBM capacity. And now, Samsung is reportedly using its advantageous position in the memory space as a bargaining chip for foundry business: Last week, Samsung agreed to supply...
Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is warming oceans to unprecedented levels, making weather more extreme and threatening health and food supplies, the World Meteorological Organization has warned. The United Nations body confirmed 2015 to 2025 were the hottest 11 years ever measured, but a still bleaker message was that the rising temperature experienced by humans...
Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is warming oceans to unprecedented levels, making weather more extreme and threatening health and food supplies, the World Meteorological Organization has warned. The United Nations body confirmed 2015 to 2025 were the hottest 11 years ever measured, but a still bleaker message was that the rising temperature experienced by humans on the surface was only 1% of the faster-accumulating heat in the wider Earth system. More than 90% of that excess is absorbed by the oceans, which experienced the highest heat content in history last year. The rate of ocean warming has more than doubled over the past two decades, compared with the average over the previous 45 years. The authors of the latest annual State of the Global Climate report say this highlights the increasing vulnerability of a planet that is moving ever further out of balance as a result of human activity. The burning of oil, gas, coal and forests releases heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which are all at their highest level in at least 800,000 years. This disrupts the planet’s energy equilibrium. In a well-functioning system, the amount of radiation entering and leaving the Earth system is roughly similar. But a heat surplus has been accumulating since at least 1960 and has noticeably accelerated in recent years. This is tracked for the first time in the new report, which shows the Earth’s energy imbalance increased by about 11 zettajoules a year between 2005 and 2025, which is equivalent to about 18 times total human energy use. Last year it was more than double that average. At present, humans and other life forms on the surface directly suffer only a small fraction of that energy backup because 91% is absorbed by oceans, 5% by the land, 1% warms the atmosphere, and 3% melts ice at the poles and on high mountains. But even with only a tiny share of this extra energy, the world’s surface temperat...
Chinese researchers have developed a surgical robot that can perform complex brain imaging nearly 30 per cent faster than traditional manual methods, according to a study published earlier this year. The feat marks a milestone for the world’s first approved cerebrovascular intervention system. In a head-to-head at the prestigious Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), a young surgeon using...
Chinese researchers have developed a surgical robot that can perform complex brain imaging nearly 30 per cent faster than traditional manual methods, according to a study published earlier this year. The feat marks a milestone for the world’s first approved cerebrovascular intervention system. In a head-to-head at the prestigious Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), a young surgeon using the robotic system shaved nine minutes off the time required for a standard manual procedure. Advertisement “Preliminary clinical application shows that the YDHB-NS01 robot-assisted system is feasible for diagnostic cerebral angiography and shows early indications of safety and comparable procedural performance to conventional manual methods,” lead author Dr Zhao Yuanli wrote in the study published in the Chinese Neurosurgical Journal on January 30. Cerebral vascular imaging is a must for the treatment of many brain diseases, but it is a difficult procedure for both patient and doctor. In conventional methods, the neurologist must manually thread a thin guide-wire from a patient’s thigh up to the brain’s blood vessels under X-ray fluoroscopy. Advertisement
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: After the weekend’s wild flip-flops on US war strategy , Asian markets opened weak ; The Magnificent Seven stands corrected — and it doesn’t seem to hurt others; Gold suffers its worst five-day loss since 2013 in Asia trading; The US oil industry isn’t feeling the positive effects of higher oil prices;...
To get John Authers’ newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here . Today’s Points: After the weekend’s wild flip-flops on US war strategy , Asian markets opened weak ; The Magnificent Seven stands corrected — and it doesn’t seem to hurt others; Gold suffers its worst five-day loss since 2013 in Asia trading; The US oil industry isn’t feeling the positive effects of higher oil prices; AND: More music that has claws . US War Aims? Take Your Pick President Donald Trump is far more considerate than people give him credit for. Since world markets closed Friday, he spent the weekend posting startling pronouncements on his next steps in the war with Iran. It was nice of him to do so while markets were closed. During trading hours he would have caused mayhem. As it was, everyone watched the blinding switchbacks with no new money at stake — and a cautious open to Asian trading suggests nobody feels much wiser. Shortly after markets closed last week, he posted at length on Truth Social, saying that he was planning to wind down the war: We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran. After giving a list of objectives that he said had been met, or were close to being achieved, he added that keeping open the Strait of Hormuz was not one of them, and that the US could disengage even while Iran effectively closed it to traffic: The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not! If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them. In other words, the TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) moment had arrived. Many (Points of Return included) thought it would be impossible for him to declare victory and walk away until the Strait had reopened. Th...
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what the...
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what they say... More on Today's Markets: Trump says U.S. will 'obliterate' Iran's power plants if Strait of Hormuz not opened in 48 hours "If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. U.S. hits military targets on Iran's Kharg Island; Trump says oil infrastructure avoided for now "For reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island," Trump wrote, but "should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider this decision." Hormuz opening several weeks off, despite Trump deadline - prediction markets Kalshi contracts point to a more gradual reopening timeline. Markets imply roughly a 39% probability that traffic normalizes by May 15, rising to about 53% by June 1 and 59% by July 1, indicating expectations that disruptions could persist into the second quarter. Musk offers to pay TSA while Trump threatens to deploy ICE in airports "If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports." Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday. ICE agents deployed to airports amid TSA staffing shortages “We’re simply there to help TSA do their job in areas that don’t need their specialized expertise suc...
Presented by Tulsa Innovation Labs As the global energy system evolves, companies are racing to adopt technologies that can deliver real-world solutions, especially in hard-to-abate industries. Oklahoma, long known as the oil capital of the world, is a center for energy innovation, with Rose Rock Bridge at the forefront. A non-profit based in Tulsa, Rose Rock Bridge is a pilot deployment studio th...
Presented by Tulsa Innovation Labs As the global energy system evolves, companies are racing to adopt technologies that can deliver real-world solutions, especially in hard-to-abate industries. Oklahoma, long known as the oil capital of the world, is a center for energy innovation, with Rose Rock Bridge at the forefront. A non-profit based in Tulsa, Rose Rock Bridge is a pilot deployment studio that connects early-stage energy startups with corporate energy partners, non-dilutive funding, and pilot opportunities that accelerate commercialization. Now accepting applications for its Spring 2026 cohort through April 6, it is seeking early- and growth-stage startups developing practical, scalable solutions to today’s most pressing energy challenges. Rose Rock Bridge gives startups access to real-world commercial workflows and pilot opportunities through energy partners with more than $150 billion in market capitalization, including Devon Energy, H&P, ONEOK, and Williams. Backed by one of the strongest coalitions of strategic partners and investors of any energy-focused accelerator, incubator, or venture studio, the program enables startups to move quickly from development to real-world testing and deployment. Here’s how it works: Discover opportunities for energy innovation Rose Rock Bridge starts by working directly with corporate innovation teams to identify high priority technology solutions for their businesses, pinpointing which solutions will carry the most impact. Focus areas are formed around these findings. “We don't just chase the latest tech and hope to find a use for it. Our process starts at the asset level — identifying the specific operational bottlenecks and unmet requirements our partners are actually facing,” says Nishant Agarwal, Innovation Manager. “By leveraging our background in CVC and engineering, we run technical deep dives alongside partner subject matter experts to define the requirement first. We then source technologies as a direct response ...
The $29.3 billion AI coding tool just got caught with its provenance showing. When Cursor launched Composer 2 last week — calling it "frontier-level coding intelligence" — it presented the model as evidence that the company is a serious AI research lab, not just a forked integrated development environment (IDE) wrapping someone else's foundation model. What the announcement omitted was that Compos...
The $29.3 billion AI coding tool just got caught with its provenance showing. When Cursor launched Composer 2 last week — calling it "frontier-level coding intelligence" — it presented the model as evidence that the company is a serious AI research lab, not just a forked integrated development environment (IDE) wrapping someone else's foundation model. What the announcement omitted was that Composer 2 was built on top of Kimi K2.5 , an open-source model from Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup backed by Alibaba, Tencent and HongShan (the firm formerly known as Sequoia China). A developer named Fynn (@fynnso) on X figured it out within hours. By setting up a local debug proxy server and routing Cursor's API traffic through it, Fynn intercepted the outbound request and found the model ID in plain sight: accounts/anysphere/models/kimi-k2p5-rl-0317-s515-fast. "So composer 2 is just Kimi K2.5 with RL," Fynn wrote. "At least rename the model ID." The post racked up 2.6 million views. In a follow-up, Fynn noted that Cursor's previous model, Composer 1.5, blocked this kind of request interception — but Composer 2 did not, calling it "probably an oversight." Cursor quickly patched it, but the fact was clearly out. Cursor's VP of Developer Education, Lee Robinson, confirmed the Kimi connection within hours, and co-founder Aman Sanger acknowledged it was a mistake not to disclose the base model from the start. But the story that matters here is not about one company's disclosure failure. It is about why Cursor — and likely many other AI product companies — turned to a Chinese open model in the first place. The open-model vacuum: Why Western companies keep reaching for Chinese foundations Cursor's decision to build on Kimi K2.5 was not random. The model is a 1 trillion parameter mixture-of-experts architecture with 32 billion active parameters, a 256,000-token context window, native image and video support, and an Agent Swarm capability that runs up to 100 parallel sub-agents simult...
David Kreuzberg/iStock via Getty Images I'm a contrarian at heart. I see a stock at a 52-week low, and my first instinct is to want to buy. It's enjoyable to take the stance that the crowd is wrong and get in on an out-of-favor stock before sentiment starts to flip. And in the case of Flowers Foods ( FLO ) specifically, I previously owned the stock but sold at $23 per share back in 2019 . It's ent...
David Kreuzberg/iStock via Getty Images I'm a contrarian at heart. I see a stock at a 52-week low, and my first instinct is to want to buy. It's enjoyable to take the stance that the crowd is wrong and get in on an out-of-favor stock before sentiment starts to flip. And in the case of Flowers Foods ( FLO ) specifically, I previously owned the stock but sold at $23 per share back in 2019 . It's enticing to buy back into a former holding at less than half the price at which it was previously sold. And just look at this chart. It's a straight line down: Data by YCharts The contrarian in me loves looking at a chart like this, especially in a defensive industry such as packaged foods. Surely, there must be value at some point in this decline, right? Not necessarily. Here's why, despite the huge sell-off, I still don't see a good upside case for Flowers Foods from the current $8 share price. Q4 Earnings Were Good, but Guidance Was Underwhelming Flowers Foods reported its Q4 earnings on February 12th. These were fairly upbeat, with EPS of 22 cents beating expectations by 7 cents. Revenues also increased 10.8% year-over-year, though this was merely in line with expectations and benefitted from M&A plus an extra calendar week. Q4 was a pleasant surprise, particularly in comparison to Q3, which had been underwhelming. However, the stock didn't really rebound on the numbers, and there's good reason for that. That's because management issued soft 2026 guidance, with the company looking for just 80 to 90 cents of adjusted EPS. That would fall far short of the prior 97-cent analyst expectations. It's worth zooming out and considering the company's longer-term EPS evolution: Data by YCharts Flowers has not been a consistent EPS grower in recent years. EPS reached a slightly higher peak in 2024, but it came after numerous drops along the way. The company's projected midpoint adjusted earnings figure of 85 cents for 2026, furthermore, would be roughly unchanged from what the company...