quantic69/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Seeking Alpha As you can see in the rating history chart above, I double upgraded Astera Labs, Inc. ( ALAB ) from a sell rating up to a buy rating in late March. In that analysis, I cited an overdone valuation contraction and limited optical disruption risk as the reasons for my bullishness. Since the publication of that article, the stock has more th...
quantic69/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Seeking Alpha As you can see in the rating history chart above, I double upgraded Astera Labs, Inc. ( ALAB ) from a sell rating up to a buy rating in late March. In that analysis, I cited an overdone valuation contraction and limited optical disruption risk as the reasons for my bullishness. Since the publication of that article, the stock has more than tripled, and as shown above, I called the bottom at just the right time. The AI connectivity leader reported their latest earnings results back in May, and today I will be providing an update to see if it is now time to take profits or not. Growth Remains Respectable Data by YCharts While percentage top-line growth is currently nowhere near as strong as it was back at the 2024 Q2 peak, investors should realize that the growth base is much larger now after a lengthy run of solid business activity. In 2026 Q1, Astera Labs reported record revenues of $308.4 million, up 93% YoY. This is an acceleration from Q4's 92% growth rate , and so business momentum is in a respectable position currently. They stated that their "market-leading PCIe 6 AI fabric and signal conditioning portfolio delivered strong growth during Q1" and noted that they also beat analyst expectations by over $16 million. Therefore, at this point, demand for their connectivity solutions doesn't seem to be a problem. Gaining Market Share Astera Labs reported that their PCIe switches and Smart Cable Modules are in fact gaining market share, and so it seems that their innovation is powering differentiation and a strong value proposition. In early May, the company announced their 320 Lane Scorpio X-Series Smart Fabric Switch, which they describe as "the industry's largest open, memory-semantic fabric switch engineered to improve token economics and support large scale-up clusters with minimal latency." This new switch is already shipping to hyperscalers, and therefore demand for Astera Labs' state-of-the-art conne...
quantic69/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Seeking Alpha As you can see in the rating history chart above, I double upgraded Astera Labs, Inc. ( ALAB ) from a sell rating up to a buy rating in late March. In that analysis, I cited an overdone valuation contraction and limited optical disruption risk as the reasons for my bullishness. Since the publication of that article, the stock has more th...
quantic69/iStock via Getty Images Introduction Seeking Alpha As you can see in the rating history chart above, I double upgraded Astera Labs, Inc. ( ALAB ) from a sell rating up to a buy rating in late March. In that analysis, I cited an overdone valuation contraction and limited optical disruption risk as the reasons for my bullishness. Since the publication of that article, the stock has more than tripled, and as shown above, I called the bottom at just the right time. The AI connectivity leader reported their latest earnings results back in May, and today I will be providing an update to see if it is now time to take profits or not. Growth Remains Respectable Data by YCharts While percentage top-line growth is currently nowhere near as strong as it was back at the 2024 Q2 peak, investors should realize that the growth base is much larger now after a lengthy run of solid business activity. In 2026 Q1, Astera Labs reported record revenues of $308.4 million, up 93% YoY. This is an acceleration from Q4's 92% growth rate , and so business momentum is in a respectable position currently. They stated that their "market-leading PCIe 6 AI fabric and signal conditioning portfolio delivered strong growth during Q1" and noted that they also beat analyst expectations by over $16 million. Therefore, at this point, demand for their connectivity solutions doesn't seem to be a problem. Gaining Market Share Astera Labs reported that their PCIe switches and Smart Cable Modules are in fact gaining market share, and so it seems that their innovation is powering differentiation and a strong value proposition. In early May, the company announced their 320 Lane Scorpio X-Series Smart Fabric Switch, which they describe as "the industry's largest open, memory-semantic fabric switch engineered to improve token economics and support large scale-up clusters with minimal latency." This new switch is already shipping to hyperscalers, and therefore demand for Astera Labs' state-of-the-art conne...
Malaysia’s most powerful Islamist party has cut ties with a former electoral ally, blowing open a bitter feud within the country’s main opposition bloc as several key elections loom. Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang announced late on Monday that the party’s central working committee had decided to “terminate political cooperation with Bersatu”, endorsing an earlier deci...
Malaysia’s most powerful Islamist party has cut ties with a former electoral ally, blowing open a bitter feud within the country’s main opposition bloc as several key elections loom. Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) president Abdul Hadi Awang announced late on Monday that the party’s central working committee had decided to “terminate political cooperation with Bersatu”, endorsing an earlier decision by its Syura Council, the party’s highest religious decision-making body. The partnership had...
years/iStock via Getty Images Thesis We were the first ones to cover the Militia Long/Short Equity ETF ( ORR ) on the Seeking Alpha platform back in 2025, when we highlighted for retail investors the exciting long/short hedge fund that had been packaged in the ETF format. In that article, we talked about the founder and main portfolio manager, his philosophy and track record, as well as the portfo...
years/iStock via Getty Images Thesis We were the first ones to cover the Militia Long/Short Equity ETF ( ORR ) on the Seeking Alpha platform back in 2025, when we highlighted for retail investors the exciting long/short hedge fund that had been packaged in the ETF format. In that article, we talked about the founder and main portfolio manager, his philosophy and track record, as well as the portfolio construction for ORR and its very high expense ratio, which had a quirk. After a year of public data being available, we are going to revisit ORR (which is one of our portfolio holdings as well), and articulate why we are downgrading this ETF to 'Hold' and our updated view. 'Hedge-Fund' Light ETFs Are a Very Special Breed For investors who are new to the field, 'hedge-fund' vehicles are basically funds with very wide mandates. In terms of the legal aspect and funds incorporated as hedge funds, some of them do have specific areas of focus in the capital markets and are disclosed as such (fixed income versus equity hedge funds, etc.). When it comes to the ETF product, a 'hedge fund' type ETF basically has an open mandate. ORR states the following on their website: The Militia Long/Short Equity ETF pursues a higher turnover, fundamental long-short global stock selection strategy. This is as open as one can get in terms of objectives. In fact, ORR pursues a total return strategy, where it tries effectively to make as much money as possible for investors. If the manager feels the S&P 500 ( SPX ) is a good bet, they can go long the index. Conversely, if the manager feels the S&P index is overvalued, he can short it. These types of vehicles are very hard to analyze, and investors should mostly rely on analytics and follow the development of an ETF and their trading style. Having owned this name since last year and having kept a close tab, we are going to talk about what we see. Current Portfolio The current portfolio has kept the same theme from last year, namely being at the ...
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images At a glance Performance The Portfolio returned -4.62% (gro S s) and the S&P 500® Index returned -4.33%. Contributors/detractors Stock selection in the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors detracted from relative performance. Stock selection in the information technology and industrials sectors contributed. Outlook Our differentiated investment approach ai...
ismagilov/iStock via Getty Images At a glance Performance The Portfolio returned -4.62% (gro S s) and the S&P 500® Index returned -4.33%. Contributors/detractors Stock selection in the consumer discretionary and healthcare sectors detracted from relative performance. Stock selection in the information technology and industrials sectors contributed. Outlook Our differentiated investment approach aims to provide equity diversification for clients, along with returns not tied to an index or the broader economy. Portfolio review We remain excited about opportunities around AI, and our conversations with companies across the ecosystem have reinforced our view that demand for AI compute will continue to exceed supply for the foreseeable future. This should fuel ongoing capital investment and opportunities for companies, especially those operating in critical bottlenecks around infrastructure, memory, optical, and power. Such companies include Vertiv Holdings, a top relative contributor for the first quarter. Vertiv is an essential supplier of cooling, power management, and rack systems to AI data centers. It has delivered strong earnings growth, with its orders backlog more than doubling on a year-over-year basis. It has continued to expand its market reach and capabilities through strategic investments, especially in liquid cooling technologies, and it announced a new partnership with NVIDIA ( NVDA ) to develop advanced solutions to support high-density data centers. Shares rose further on news that Vertiv's stock will be added to the S&P 500 Index, which may draw additional investor attention to the stock. Lumentum ( LITE ) Holdings, another outperformer, is a leading supplier of optical components critical to AI-driven data center networking. The company has several avenues for revenue growth, including sales of optical transceivers, which support the transmission of data through optic cables by transmitting electrical signals into light. It also has a strong foothold ...
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the broader semiconductor sector recovered from a sharp selloff during the previous trading session.
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after the broader semiconductor sector recovered from a sharp selloff during the previous trading session.