String of acquisitions fuel biotech optimism

Micron, the best-performing member of the VanEck Semiconductor ETF this year, is jumping on Monday thanks to converting its biggest doubter on Wall Street into its biggest fan.

BNP Paribas Exane analyst Karl Ackerman went through with a rare double upgrade of the memory chip specialist to “outperform” from “underperform.” In the process, he more than doubled his price target on the stock to $270 — the highest among analysts surveyed by Bloomberg — from $100, which had previously been the lowest price target on the Street.

“We now fully embrace high-bandwidth memory (HBM) as a sustainable, separate growth vector, and we beleive we are in the early innings of a memory supercycle,” he wrote.

Separately, analysts at Evercore ISI also boosted their price target on Micron to $137 from $100.

IonQ is ripping higher in early trading after the quantum computing company announced “a significant advancement in quantum chemistry simulations.”

In particular, this demonstration, performed in collaboration with a major automotive manufacturer, was more accurate than classical computing in calculating “nuclear forces at critical points where big changes occur.”

Knowing how different compounds behave and respond to force has potentially very useful commercial applications because it helps us discern how those materials can best be designed and utilized for different purposes.

“This research demonstrates a clear path for quantum computing to enhance chemical simulations that are foundational to decarbonization technologies,” said Niccolo de Masi, chairman and CEO. “Our work goes beyond academic benchmarks. It demonstrates a practical capability that can be integrated into molecular dynamics workflows used across pharmaceuticals, battery, and chemical industries.”

IonQ is the most commercially advanced pure-play quantum computing company, generating over $52 million in revenues over the past 12 months, well more than D-Wave Quantum, Rigetti Computing, and Quantum Computing combined.

Now, is this the reason why IonQ (and its peers) are on a tear today? Maybe. There’s a big rebound in most speculative pockets of the market after Friday’s tariff threat induced a tumble.

At the very least, this is a useful excuse. Traders have been exceedingly happy to bid up shares of quantum computing companies on their long-term potential, often (ironically) through short-term call options.

Rocket Lab surged early Monday after Morgan Stanley analysts lifted their price target on the stock to $68 from $20, making them the high bidder among analysts covering the popular, but still money-losing, commercial space launch company.

The $68 target — right around where the shares are currently trading — is the highest among the 17 analysts tracked by FactSet.

And while Morgan Stanley analysts couldn’t bring themselves to upgrade the stock to a “buy,” leaving their rating at “equal weight,” they gave the stock a pretty bullish review, writing:

“We see a potential alternative to SpaceX in the making. The company is mirroring SpaceX’s footsteps in a number of respects, including scaling up rocket lift capacity, embracing booster reusability, and ultimately moving out on a constellation of its own (ala Starlink). Meanwhile, successive Electron launches and a growing manifest reinforce the company’s already-impressive track record. The market, in our view, is now taking valuation cues for RKLB from SpaceX’s implied valuation, which has grown from a reported ~$100bn at the end of 2021 to ~$400bn today.”

Rocket Lab shares have emerged as a favorite of retail traders this year, thanks to their gain of more than 150%. The stock is up roughly 600% over the last 12 months.

Broadcom is spiking in early trading after the chip designer announced that it’s collaborating with OpenAI to develop and deploy 10 gigawatts of custom AI accelerators for use across data centers.

The companies said these racks and systems will start to be in service in the second half of 2026 and fully completed by the end of 2029.

Broadcom soared during its Q3 earnings call when CEO Hock Tan said the chip designer booked a major new customer that the Financial Times later reported was OpenAI. However, CNBC is reporting that Charlie Kawwas, Ph.D. and president of the semiconductor solutions group for Broadcom, indicated that OpenAI is not that mystery $10 billion buyer.

There were no details on financial terms in today’s press release, though The Wall Street Journal says the new agreement is worth “multiple billions of dollars,” citing people familiar with the matter.

“The racks include Broadcom’s end-to-end portfolio of Ethernet, PCIe and optical connectivity solutions, reaffirming our AI infrastructure portfolio leadership,” said Kawwas in the press release.

“By building our own chip, we can embed what we’ve learned from creating frontier models and products directly into the hardware, unlocking new levels of capability and intelligence,” said Greg Brockman, OpenAI cofounder and president.

The calendar is telling me it’s fall, but it really feels like OpenAI announcement season. Just last week, the ChatGPT developer struck a megadeal that sees it get an up to 10% stake in Advanced Micro Devices, rounding out a series of massive commitments that will require the venture to find (and burn) much more cash.