TSMC Earnings Are Coming. AI Chip Demand and U.S. Export Curbs Are in Focus.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is set to report a surge in quarterly profit on the back of demand for artificial-intelligence hardware. However, proposed U.S. restrictions on exports of chips could cast a shadow over its December quarter results. The Taiwanese chip manufacturer reports quarterly results Thursday morning. It is expected to post a 55% rise in net profit to 370.64 billion New Taiwan dollars ($11.24 billion) for the quarter, according to the consensus estimate of 26 analysts in a FactSet poll. TMSC’s December-quarter revenue came to 868.5 billion New Taiwan dollars or $26.35 billion, based on its monthly figures. That was ahead of the 854 billion New Taiwan dollars forecast by a FactSet poll of analysts. The company previously said it expected quarterly revenue of $26.1 billion to $26.9 billion. While TSMC makes a variety of chips, the growth is likely to reflect strong demand for hardware to power AI systems. […]

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UnitedHealth to Report Earnings in Altered Landscape After Executive’s Killing

UnitedHealth Group is scheduled to report its financial results on Thursday, a month and a half after the killing of the head of its health insurance division. Recent months have raised other challenges for UnitedHealth, which is the largest healthcare company in the country, and has operations that touch virtually every corner of the healthcare system. It owns an insurer, a pharmacy benefit manager, a key software provider, and physician practices, among other businesses. In mid-December, President-elect Donald Trump threatened to “knock out” pharmacy-benefit managers from their role as middlemen in the drug market, a risk for UnitedHealth because its OptumRx is among the largest such companies. The healthcare news website STAT reported in late December that a number of Democratic U.S. senators were calling for a potential breakup of UnitedHealth. The advent of the Trump administration could bring other changes. Investors are anticipating a friendlier atmosphere for Medicare Advantage,

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ASML’s 4Q Orders Expected to Be in Line With Consensus

ASML Holding’s orders should be investors’ main focus when the Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker reports fourth-quarter results on Jan. 29, Citi analysts write in a research note. They estimate 4 billion euros in orders, roughly in line with consensus of 4.2 billion euros. The analysts say expectations remain subdued since the wider semiconductor industry is navigating a downturn due to sluggish demand for chips from some end-markets. They expect ASML to report a gross margin of 49.5%, in line with company guidance. ASML shares trade 0.4% lower at 709.80 euros.

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Nvidia Stock Slips. Why This Analyst Is Lowering Revenue Estimates for the AI Chip Maker.

Nvidia is trading toward the low end of its recent range, with Wall Street questioning whether the chip maker is facing manufacturing issues with its newest server racks. Nvidia shares were down 0.3% at $131.31 in premarket trading. The stock fell 1.1% on Tuesday and is marginally down over the past three months. The headline news for Nvidia this week has been the Biden administration’s proposal to impose AI chip restrictions that would apply caps on U.S. exports to more than 120 countries. However, a more important driver for the stock could be reports of issues with the manufacturing of its GB200 NV liquid-cooled rack systems, which contain dozens of its Blackwell chips networked together and is used to train and run AI models. “Blackwell GPU supply [is] ramping in line; however, low manufacturing yields are significantly limiting shipments of GB200 NVL racks,” wrote KeyBanc analyst John Vinh in a

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U.S. AI Chip Export Restrictions Threaten Nvidia’s Sales

The Biden administration’s latest bid to curb China’s access to the most advanced AI models and AI chips could have a major impact on the AI boom and its enablers, most prominently chip giant Nvidia. Nvidia’s shares fell about 2.6% in afternoon trading Monday. Other chip-maker and tech-company stocks traded lower on Monday, including Microsoft, whose shares fell about 1% and Apple, which was down about 1.3%. The restrictions, which rolled out Monday, put caps on how many chips can be exported to more than 120 countries around the world that are neither very close American allies nor U.S. adversaries. They also included provisions that could require the largest U.S.-headquartered tech companies to do most of their AI computing in the U.S. The curbs could hurt a strategy Nvidia calls “sovereign AI,” latching on to a trend where countries invest in domestic computing infrastructure to retain local control over the

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Tesla Poised to Make ‘Great Strides’ in Autonomous Vehicle Development, Morgan Stanley Says

Tesla (TSLA) is set to make “great strides” in autonomous vehicle development over time, with an initial introduction of its unsupervised AV fleet in cities likely next year, Morgan Stanley said in a note e-mailed Monday. In October, the electric vehicle maker unveiled prototypes of a two-seat vehicle called “Cybercab” and a 20-person vehicle, “Robovan.” Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the company’s stock to $430 from $400 following a review of Tesla mobility, or robotaxi, with the business seen contributing $90. The brokerage continues to see the EV maker’s stock as a top pick. Morgan Stanley said its base case calls for 7.5 million vehicles in the Tesla mobility fleet by 2040 and revenue per passenger mile of $1.46. Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) Waymo operates at $2.40 per mile, in line with Uber’s (UBER) US gross bookings, the brokerage said in a note to clients. “While we expect an

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Alphabet Stock Sees Raised Price Targets. It Isn’t All Bullish

Two firms covering Alphabet stock raised price targets on the parent of Google and YouTube. Stifel analyst Mark Kelley boosted his price target on $Alphabet-C (GOOG.US)$ $Alphabet-A (GOOGL.US)$ to $225 from $200 while maintaining a Buy rating. The new price target indicates a potential upside of 17% from the stock’s previous close on Friday. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo analysts led by Ken Gawrelski increased their price target on shares to $190 from $187, and reiterated an Equal Weight rating. Wells Fargo’s new target indicates 1% downside from Friday’s close. Kelley wrote that Alphabet is “a dominant leader in search and ad-supported online video.” He added the company has a “long-term growth opportunity” fueled by artificial intelligence and digital advertising. In addition to Google Gemini, the company’s flagship chatbot and AI assistant, Alphabet offers a fleet of tools for businesses including AI-powered ad solutions. Despite the abundance of AI tools on the

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The White House Just Issued New AI Chip Export Limits; Nvidia Stock Is Lower.

The White House on Monday announced new restrictions on artificial intelligence exports that will impact companies including Nvidia. The restrictions, impacting companies including Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, were consistent with Bloomberg’s report last week on what was coming. Nvidia shares (NVDA) fell 3% as AMD stock (AMD) dipped 2% in premarket trade. The broader market also is weaker on concerns over how many interest-rate cuts the Federal Reserve will make this year. Under what’s called the interim final rule on artificial intelligence diffusion, most countries will be subject to caps on chip orders. The White House said the restrictions will not applies to 18 key allies and partners, and countries and entities that meet high security and trust standards can apply for higher status. Countries that do not will be able to buy the equivalent of 50,000 advanced GPUs per country, a White House fact sheet said.

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Snap Won’t Win From a TikTok Ban. Take It From This Social Media Editor

By Nick Devor TikTok’s pending ban in the U.S. will leave its 170 million stateside users with hours of time to spend on other apps. Competing social media platforms are eager to get their share, but the attention won’t be spread evenly across the social media landscape. TikTok is a unique animal — one I’ve become well acquainted with as Barron’s social media editor. I’m responsible for posting my colleagues’ work to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snap, so I have plenty of experience with how these platforms work, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. I’m not sure investors are fully up to speed on those idiosyncrasies. Snap stock, for instance, jumped as much as 7% Friday following a Supreme Court hearing that left traders thinking that justices wouldn’t stop the ban. In fact, for months, Snap has been cited as a major beneficiary of a TikTok ban. I can

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AI Robot Trader Outperformed in 2024. Nvidia, Tesla, and Broadcom Are Some of Its Favorites.

By Elsa Ohlen Artificial intelligence’s rise to become the hottest topic around has hardly escaped anyone’s attention. And the technology may prove to be a winner in investing. SoftBank-backed Qraft Technologies is one company that is betting that AI can deliver in investment and portfolio management. The South Korean fintech has around $60 million in assets over three exchange-traded funds: AMOM, QRFT and LQAI, all powered by AI based on different investment strategies. AMOM uses a momentum-factor strategy. That means it targets stocks that have outperformed in the past on the assumption they will continue to rise. Its biggest holdings are, unsurprisingly, Nvidia (9.2%), Tesla (7.7%), Broadcom (7.1%), and Meta Platforms (4.1%), all of which had impressive runs in 2024. AMOM gained 36% in 2024, while its benchmark, the iShares Edge MSCI USA Momentum ETF, gained 32%. QRFT, a more defensive ETF, holds some 40% of its assets in healthcare,

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ASML Orders Likely to Ramp Up From 1Q

ASML Holding is expected to report higher orders starting in the first quarter compared to recent months, thanks to large clients like Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Jefferies analysts write in a research note. The analysts expect the Dutch semiconductor-equipment maker to post orders of 3.6 billion euros for the fourth quarter of 2024. However, they say these should climb to a range of 5 billion euros to 6 billion euros from the first quarter of 2025. The analysts cited an increase in orders from TSMC as well as the prospect that Samsung might soon be able to supply its high bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia as potential boosts for ASML. ASML shares trade 0.5% lower at 720.80 euros.

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Nvidia’s Lead Expands, Analyst Says: ‘AI Demand Remains Very Strong’

NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) has grown to being among the largest companies in the world due to its AI chip dominance. One analyst sees the Santa Clara, California-based company’s lead expanding. The Nvidia Analyst: In a note published Thursday, Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya reiterated a Buy rating for Nvidia with a price target of $190. Main Takeaways: Arya’s semiconductor team hosted Nvidia CFO Colette Kress for an investor meeting in Las Vegas. Arya is more confident in Nvidia as an “AI incubator.” “NVDA’s unique/highly leverageable silicon/system/software platform is spawning new growth engines in physical AI/robotics, onpremise AI workstations (Project Digits), AI PC, autonomous driving (Uber, Toyota partnership) – no other merchant or ASIC rival can match this,” the analyst said. Arya noted other positive signs for the company’s flagship Blackwell chip. “Overall, the tone for AI demand remains very strong across both Hopper and new Blackwell platforms,” the analyst said. “Hopper run rate is

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