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A model of a processed 200 mm silicon carbide SiC power wafer (Michaela Stache/Getty Images)

A tiny semiconductor company is more than doubling after becoming an Nvidia supplier

The seal of approval is sending shares of Navitas Semiconductor soaring.

Luke Kawa

A tiny semiconductor company with fewer than 300 employees is mooning after receiving the biggest blessing any firm in the industry could dream of: earning a place in Nvidia’s supply chain.

“We are proud to be selected by NVIDIA to collaborate on their 800 HVDC architecture initiative,” Navitas Semiconductor CEO and cofounder Gene Sheridan said in a press release on Wednesday evening. “We appreciate that NVIDIA recognizes our technology and commitment to driving the next generation of data center power delivery.”

Shares are up about 170% as of 8:00 a.m. ET.

A post on Nvidia’s technical blog on Tuesday called Navitas a key silicon provider in its new data center infrastructure push.

“Today’s racks in AI factories rely on 54 V DC power distribution, where bulky copper busbars shuttle electricity from rack-mounted power shelves to compute trays. As racks exceed 200 kilowatts, this approach begins to hit physical limits,” like space constraints, massive amounts of copper, and inefficient power conversions, per the post.

Nvidia’s looking to leverage Navitas’ integrated circuits and silicon carbide semiconductors to help improve on these fronts.

Two musings on this:

1) How in the world isn’t some algorithm scraping all of Nvidia’s corporate sites for mentions of companies and taking positions in stocks that had no previously disclosed relationship with the semi designer giant?!?! That developer blog, again, was published on Tuesday. Shares of Navitas were down on Tuesday and down again on Wednesday before Thursday’s surge. Navitas had never been mentioned on any of Nvidia’s technical or corporate blogs, or anywhere else on its site for that matter, before the Tuesday post.

2) More of an aside, on how fickle success can be: take a peek at Wolfspeed. The company cratered this week after filing for bankruptcy, and its fall from grace was certainly exacerbated by Tesla’s decision a couple years ago to use less silicon carbide semiconductors in manufacturing electric vehicles. Now, silicon carbide chips are playing a key role in another company more than doubling.

The Torrance, California-based Navitas went public in 2021 via the SPAC boom.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

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US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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