Markets
markets
Max Knoblauch

Gaming stocks rebound from sell-off as analysts dismiss Google’s new AI project as merely “a one-minute-long walking simulator generator”

Investor fears about the impact of Google’s Project Genie on the broader gaming market may have been an overreaction, analysts at mBank said in a note on Monday.

According to analyst Piotr Poniatowski, Friday’s sell-off was “unjustified.”

Unity Software shed 24%, Roblox lost 13%, and Take-Two closed down 8% heading into the weekend. All three are up at least 3% on Monday.

Project Genie, Google’s new generative-AI prototype, can create interactive worlds from a text or image prompt, and users are already testing its ability to recreate copyrighted worlds. But, as Poniatowski noted, interactivity within those generated worlds is very limited:

“Control is limited to movement and jumping. Users cannot perform complicated actions such as crouching, climbing, dodging, evading, shooting, etc. It is simply moving and jumping around the generated world. There are no NPCs, no interactions and no depth. As of writing, Project Genie is essentially just a one-minute-long walking simulator generator.”

The note mirrors a post on X by Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg on Friday, in which the exec said models like Google’s are “unsuitable on their own for games that require consistent, repeatable player experiences.”

Gaming stocks plunge following release of Google’s AI tool that can create playable, copyrighted worlds

Gaming stocks plunge following release of Google’s AI tool that can create playable, copyrighted worlds

Unity Software shed 24%, Roblox lost 13%, and Take-Two closed down 8% heading into the weekend. All three are up at least 3% on Monday.

Project Genie, Google’s new generative-AI prototype, can create interactive worlds from a text or image prompt, and users are already testing its ability to recreate copyrighted worlds. But, as Poniatowski noted, interactivity within those generated worlds is very limited:

“Control is limited to movement and jumping. Users cannot perform complicated actions such as crouching, climbing, dodging, evading, shooting, etc. It is simply moving and jumping around the generated world. There are no NPCs, no interactions and no depth. As of writing, Project Genie is essentially just a one-minute-long walking simulator generator.”

The note mirrors a post on X by Unity CEO Matthew Bromberg on Friday, in which the exec said models like Google’s are “unsuitable on their own for games that require consistent, repeatable player experiences.”

More Markets

See all Markets
Max Knoblauch

Airline stocks climb as oil prices retreat on easing US-Iran tensions

West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell more than 5% on Monday, following President Trump’s comments over the weekend that Iran was “seriously talking” with the US — a sign that tensions between the countries could be easing.

That drop-off boosted major US airlines, which stand to benefit from lower fuel costs. Shares of carriers including Frontier, United Airlines, JetBlue, and Delta Air Lines were all up in the mid- to high single digits.

markets
Luke Kawa

An options trade to benefit from a potential turnaround in beaten-down Palantir after earnings

Palantir Technologies, the richly valued AI darling, hasn’t been immune from the persistent waves of selling that have drowned software stocks.

Last week, the stock broke below its 200-day moving average for the first time since August 5, 2024, and ended January with its lowest close since July. Needless to say, the defense data and AI software company has rarely traded worse heading into an earnings report, with its Q4 results due out after the close on Monday.

“It appears that expectations coming into this earnings print are lower than they have been in the last year or so,” Dean Curnutt, CEO of Macro Risk Advisors, wrote. “And this potentially sets the shares up for post-earnings volatility and directional follow-through to the upside.”

His recommendation:

  • Buy call options with a strike price of $162.50 that expire on Friday;

  • Sell the same amount of calls with a strike price of $182.50 that expire on Friday.

As of the time of recommendation, the potential payout on this trade was roughly 10.5 to 1.

Curnutt noted that when Palantir has been this beaten-down ahead of earnings, shares have usually performed very well thereafter.

Palantir Pre/Post Earnings
Source: Macro Risk Advisors

“As of right now, PLTR T-3 move is -11%,” he concluded. “If you look at the last 8 quarters in the attached table, the only 2 times where the T-3 was negative (8/6/24 and 11/5/24), the T+5 moves were +22% and +45% respectively.”

Claire Yubin Oh
Elon 🤝 Elon 
5h
SpaceX’s planned $1.5 trillion IPO is on track to be gargantuan enough

But a potential merger with xAI or Tesla would create a Musk-centric megaplanet.

US-SPACE-AEROSPACE-SPACEX-STARSHIP
markets
Luke Kawa

Rare earth stocks surge on report the US will launch a $12 billion critical minerals stockpile

Rare earth and critical minerals stocks are soaring as Bloomberg reports that President Donald Trump will soon launch a $12 billion initiative to stockpile critical minerals.

Think the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but for the likes of gallium, cobalt, and lanthanum.

MP Materials, USA Rare Earth, Critical Metals, NioCorp, and United States Antimony Corp. are all soaring in premarket trading on this report.

The purpose of this project, reportedly dubbed “Project Vault,” is to secure a sufficient domestic supply of these strategically important materials for the private sector. Three commodities trading houses and more than a dozen companies (including Google, General Motors, and GE Vernova) are said to be participating in this venture.

Here’s how the mechanics would reportedly work:

“Under the arrangement, companies that make an initial commitment to purchase materials at a specified inventory price later — and pay some up-front fees — will be able to present Project Vault with a shopping list of preferred materials they need.

The project, in turn, will seek to procure and store the materials, with the manufacturers charged a carrying cost for the expenses associated with interest on the loan and holding the elements.

Manufacturers will be allowed to draw down their material stash as long as the firms replenish them. In the case of a major supply disruption, they will be able to access all of it, the officials said.”

The Trump administration has invested in many critical minerals stocks, most recently USA Rare Earth, in a bid to bolster North American output. China currently dominates the production and processing of many strategically important minerals, which are used in everything from fluorescent lights and EV batteries to semiconductors. Access to rare earths was a particularly contentious issue as the US and China ironed out a trade agreement late last year.

Hyunsoo Rim, David Crowther
SHIFTING SANDS 🥇🥈
6h
Gold and silver resume their sell-off after Friday’s meltdown

Last week’s historic wipeout came after Trump's Fed chair pick spooked markets, reversing part of a yearlong rally that had pushed prices to record highs.

Gold and silver glitter paint

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC.
©2026 Sherwood Media, LLC