Micron, TSMC rise amid report that the Trump administration will not pursue equity stakes in exchange for CHIPS Act subsidies

Micron and TSMC are rallying following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration will not seek equity in these companies in exchange for subsidies received as part of the Biden-era CHIPS Act, which aimed to boost US semiconductor production capacity. The report cites a government official.

The WSJ previously reported that TSMC was considering returning those subsidies if the US government pushed for an equity stake.

However, based on recent comments from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the US government is still pursuing a 10% position in beleaguered chipmaker Intel.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, for his part, told reporters in Taiwan that “anyone who wants to buy TSMC stock is a very smart person,” calling the chip giant “one of the greatest companies in the history of humanity.”

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Sage D. Young2m

MARA surges on $1.5 billion acquisition of Long Ridge Energy, adding 1 gigawatt of potential power capacity

Bitcoin miners are continuing to position themselves beyond digital assets.

On Thursday, MARA Holdings, longtime bitcoin miner turned compute infrastructure firm, announced it will acquire Long Ridge Energy & Power LLC from FTAI Infrastructure for $1.5 billion, including the assumption of at least $785 million of debt.

The move, which aims to add more than 1 gigawatt of total potential power capacity, helps the firm capitalize on the AI boom. Shares of MARA Holdings jumped 9% on the news, with FTAI Infrastructure shares surging as well.

The acquisition includes a 505-megawatt combined-cycle gas plant in Hannibal, Ohio, and over 1,600 contiguous acres of land to support the build-out of an AI campus.

MARA’s newly acquired Hannibal data center “has already received inbound interest from multiple potential investment-grade AI/Critical IT tenants,” according to a Thursday press release. The firm expects construction to begin in the first half of next year.

“Power is the scarce input in AI,” Fred Thiel, MARA’s chairman and CEO, said. “With the planned addition of Long Ridge Energy, we are gaining control of a highly efficient, contracted energy platform that has a rare combination of large-scale power, land, water access, fuel supply and grid interconnection in a single location — assets that are increasingly difficult to replicate in today’s market.”

Luke Kawa1h

Caterpillar spikes as AI boom fuels demand for engines and turbines

Caterpillar is soaring in early trading after reporting Q1 results that crushed estimates.

The industrial bellwether reported revenues of $17.42 billion (compared to analyst estimates for $16.24 billion) with adjusted earnings per share of $5.54 (estimate: $4.63).

Behind every chatbot trying to figure out how many R’s are in strawberry is a data center in need of energy, and Caterpillar’s power generation business has been on a tear thanks to this demand.

“A record backlog provides a strong foundation for continued positive momentum,” Chairman and CEO Joe Creed said in the press release.

The industrial giant, like GE Vernova, is among the so-called “heavy assets, low obsolescence” companies that have been cashing in on the AI boom, rather than being disrupted by it.

The firm’s earnings report noted that in its power generation business, “sales increased in large reciprocating engines and in turbines and turbine-related services, primarily data center applications.”

Helena Cheng2h

Equinix drops after Q1 results disappoint and boost to full-year sales guidance falls short of expectations

Equinix is falling in early trading after reporting underwhelming Q1 results.

Revenue of $2.44 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.25 billion came in modestly below expectations, and the data center REIT’s full-year guidance wasn’t as sunny as analysts had anticipated.

Management cited strong demand from AI and cloud workloads, record bookings, and a growing backlog in raising its full-year outlook for sales to between $10.14 billion and $10.24 billion. However, the midpoint of that range still falls a little short of Wall Street’s $10.22 billion estimate.

The data center REIT had surged about 42% year to date going into earnings, making it the top performer in the S&P 500 REIT industry group. After outperforming peers by more than 30% in 2026, it seems investors had little appetite to forgive any missteps.

Rani Molla3h

Hertz surges after announcing autonomous fleet partnership with Uber

Hertz is up over 15% in premarket trading Thursday on news that its affiliated operating company, Oro Mobility, is partnering with Uber to manage autonomous vehicle fleets. That means Oro will support Uber’s autonomous Lucid robotaxis with “charging, maintenance, repairs, cleaning, and depot staffing” in the San Francisco Bay Area later this year.

The deal also expands into driver-led fleet operations, with Oro operating vehicles — and in some cases employing drivers — on Uber’s platform, a shift toward more centralized, fleet-based ride-share models.

Uber, which exited developing its own robotaxi technology in 2020, has recently positioned itself at the center of the robotaxi push through partnerships.

Hertz and Uber Partner to Power Autonomous Robotaxi and Driver-Led Fleet Operations

Uber, which exited developing its own robotaxi technology in 2020, has recently positioned itself at the center of the robotaxi push through partnerships.

Helena Cheng4h

Blue Owl jumps after posting better-than-expected Q1 fee-related earnings

Blue Owl Capital shares rose around 5% premarket after the company reported Q1 results that signal its broader business is resilient in the face of some stress in private credit markets.

The key numbers:

Assets under management of $314.9 billion (estimate: $315.4 billion).
Fee-related earnings of $393.6 million (estimate: $383.5 million).

Ahead of earnings, analysts flagged expectations for a softer quarter driven by weaker fundraising and elevated redemptions, particularly in Blue Owl’s retail-focused private credit vehicles. Those funds have been a key growth engine but also a pressure point as investors seek exit liquidity that the asset manager has been unwilling to provide in full. Based on the reaction, much of that concern may have already been in the price.

Shares of the stock have slumped more than 40% year to date, with Blue Owl emerging as a proxy for broader concerns across the $1.8 trillion private credit market. Redemption requests have surged in recent months, at one point exceeding 40% in one fund and more than 20% in another, forcing the firm to gate withdrawals and sell assets to return capital.

The pressure has also been amplified by the firm’s exposure to software borrowers, where investors are increasingly questioning how AI could reshape the industry’s earnings durability and loan performance.

During Blue Owl’s February earnings call, however, co-CEO Marc Lipschultz said there were no “red flags” or “yellow flags” in its tech portfolio.

Judging by the price action in recent months, and what its peers are saying, that statement might be overly optimistic. Earlier this week, publicly traded private credit fund Ares Capital Corp marked down the value of loans to three software businesses by up to $0.18 in its Q1 report, which helped push net unrealized losses up to $357 million.

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