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Super Micro dives after cofounder charged with allegedly smuggling AI chips to China

Super Micro Computer plunged over 25% in premarket trading on Friday after cofounder Yih-Shyan “Wally” Liaw, another worker, and a company contractor were charged by US prosecutors with allegedly conspiring to sell $2.5 billion worth of AI servers containing Nvidia chips to China, in violation of US export controls.

Super Micro was not named in the DOJ indictment, which was released on Thursday.

Prosecutors say the three charged suspects, including Liaw, used a pass-through company to place orders, making it appear the servers were meant for “legitimate commercial activity” while obscuring their actual “China-based end customers.”

Between 2024 and 2025, the pass-through company purchased roughly $2.5 billion worth of servers from Super Micro, including more than $510 million worth of US-assembled servers with Nvidia GPUs diverted to China between late April and mid-May 2025 alone, per the indictment.

Super Micro’s flagship products are servers integrating Nvidia GPUs, which have been subject to strict US export controls since 2022, preventing the sale of advanced AI chips to China without a license.

In a statement Thursday, Super Micro said it has placed Liaw and the other accused worker on administrative leave, and has severed ties with the contractor. While not named as a defendant in the indictment, the company said it has been “cooperating fully with the government’s investigation and will continue to do so.”

Nvidia said “strict compliance is a top priority” in a release, adding that it does not provide service or support for systems diverted illegally to China. Super Micro accounts for roughly 9% of Nvidia’s revenue, according to Bloomberg data.

Super Micro’s flagship products are servers integrating Nvidia GPUs, which have been subject to strict US export controls since 2022, preventing the sale of advanced AI chips to China without a license.

In a statement Thursday, Super Micro said it has placed Liaw and the other accused worker on administrative leave, and has severed ties with the contractor. While not named as a defendant in the indictment, the company said it has been “cooperating fully with the government’s investigation and will continue to do so.”

Nvidia said “strict compliance is a top priority” in a release, adding that it does not provide service or support for systems diverted illegally to China. Super Micro accounts for roughly 9% of Nvidia’s revenue, according to Bloomberg data.

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Matt Phillips1h

Planet Labs soars after earnings beat and positive analyst commentary

Planet Labs held on to huge post-earnings gains early Friday as analysts that cover the retail favorite issued largely upbeat reviews of its Q4 report released Thursday after the bell. Here’s some of their commentary on the satellite services company:

Wedbush (rating: “outperform,” price target: $40): PL is seeing major tailwinds in the geopolitical space, continuing to drive mission-critical demand globally. Total RPO came in at ~ $852 million (up ~106% y/y) with backlog of ~$900+ million (up ~79% y/y) highlighted by 9- figure deal with the Swedish Armed Forces which was the third 9-figure Satellite Services contract over the past 12 months totaling $500+ million across Sweden, Japan, and Germany, with management noting on the call that both deal count and average size in the satellite services pipeline has grown appreciably.”

Citizens (rating: “market perform,” price target: N/A): “In our view, Planet’s solid performance in the quarter and the significant revenue acceleration implied for FY27 reflect the company’s success in shifting to a satellite services model and leaning (heavily) into the needs of Defense & Intelligence segment customers. We believe this is the correct area of focus (for management and investors) and view some of the flashier announcements around Project Suncatcher (space-based data centers), or more recently, AI enabling a renaissance within Planet’s Civil and Commercial businesses as somewhat of a distraction.”

Clear Street (rating: “buy,” price target: $34): “While F2026 revenue grew 26%, non-defense verticals have lagged. Management signaled an inflection point, with use cases such as maritime awareness data poised towards gaining traction across finance, insurance, and supply chain, supported by a more tailored approach with LLM partnerships like Anthropic (private).”

There’s a reason the stock has built a strong retail following: it had already surged more than 500% over the past year, even before jumping another 20% after last night’s earnings.

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Claire Yubin Oh2h

FedEx jumps after boosting full-year profit forecast

FedEx is up more than 7% in early trading on Friday after the delivery company posted strong sales and boosted its full-year guidance in its Q3 earnings results, released Thursday.

For fiscal year 2026, ending May 31, the company raised its:

Revenue growth forecast, to be between 6% and 6.5% year over year, up from 5% to 6% previously and topping analyst estimates for 5.9% growth (compiled by Bloomberg).
Adjusted earnings per share (excluding certain costs, including a planned spin-off of the Freight segment), to be between $19.30 to $20.10, up from a previous range of $17.80 to $19.00.

FedEx also reported better-than-expected results for the quarter ended February 28, 2026, including:

Revenue of $24 billion, about 2% ahead of analyst forecasts of $23.5 billion.
Diluted adjusted EPS of $4.41, also above Wall Street estimates of $4.17.

Celebrating “another quarter of strong financial results,” in the press release the company’s management highlighted its main Express segment, improved by “higher U.S. domestic and International Priority package yields, continued cost savings from transformation initiatives, and increased U.S. domestic package volume.” The company is planning a spin-off of its Freight division into a new publicly traded company on June 1, 2026.

Often seen as something of a bellwether, owing to its billions of touchpoints across both consumers and enterprises, FedEx’s results may offer some light relief to investors that the American consumption machine is still on track.

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David Crowther3h

Stock futures dip after report Trump considering plans to occupy or blockade Kharg Island, drones strike Kuwait’s largest oil refinery

After a small relief rally yesterday afternoon, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is helping with US efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, risk assets like stocks are once again under pressure.

Futures on the S&P 500 are currently off 0.5%, a downturn seemingly catalyzed by a new report from Axios, which states that President Trump is exploring plans to “occupy or blockade” Kharg Island.

Citing four sources familiar with the matter, Axios highlights that any attempt to take Kharg Island — a small island of just 16 square kilometers that processes 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports — would put US troops more directly in the line of fire.

From a markets perspective, however, the most important detail might be the timeline, with Axios quoting one source as saying:

“We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations.”

Up to a month’s more strikes and disruption of global commodity markets before beginning a potentially risky land assault isn’t exactly what investors will want to hear currently, as Brent crude remains north of $110 per barrel after another Iranian drone attack on the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery in Kuwait, which processes about 730,000 barrels of oil each day, per Al Jazeera.

Trump mulls risky Kharg Island takeover to force Iran to open strait

Trump mulls risky Kharg Island takeover to force Iran to open strait

Citing four sources familiar with the matter, Axios highlights that any attempt to take Kharg Island — a small island of just 16 square kilometers that processes 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports — would put US troops more directly in the line of fire.

From a markets perspective, however, the most important detail might be the timeline, with Axios quoting one source as saying:

“We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations.”

Up to a month’s more strikes and disruption of global commodity markets before beginning a potentially risky land assault isn’t exactly what investors will want to hear currently, as Brent crude remains north of $110 per barrel after another Iranian drone attack on the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery in Kuwait, which processes about 730,000 barrels of oil each day, per Al Jazeera.

Tasha Matsumoto

Stocks close lower, trimming steeper losses as oil retreats

Oil prices fell after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country is helping with US efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz.

Grizzly bear growling USA.

markets

Stocks get a jolt as Netanyahu says Israel is helping US efforts to open Strait of Hormuz

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference that his country is helping with US efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, putting a jolt into stocks.

The S&P 500, which had been solidly negative for most of the day, turned slightly green after the remarks. The rebound lost a bit of steam shortly thereafter, but stocks still remained higher than they were before Netanyahu’s comments.

“Israel is helping, in its own way, in intel and other means, the American efforts to open the Strait of [Hormuz],” Netanyahu said, according to a video of the press conference.

Here are another few interesting headlines coming across from the presser, per Reuters:

*NETANYAHU: IRAN HAS NO CAPACITY TO ENRICH URANIUM OR MAKE BALLISTIC MISSILES AFTER 20 DAYS OF WAR

*NETANYAHU: CAN’T DO A REVOLUTION FROM THE AIR, THERE NEEDS TO BE A GROUND COMPONENT AS WELL

*NETANYAHU: ISRAEL ACTED ALONE AGAINST SOUTH PARS

*NETANYAHU: TRUMP ASKED US TO HOLD OFF ON FUTURE SUCH ATTACKS

And here’s how the market reacted instantly after his comments:

Stocks Slump as Energy Surge Fuels Inflation Fears: Markets Wrap

Stocks Slump as Energy Surge Fuels Inflation Fears: Markets Wrap

“Israel is helping, in its own way, in intel and other means, the American efforts to open the Strait of [Hormuz],” Netanyahu said, according to a video of the press conference.

Here are another few interesting headlines coming across from the presser, per Reuters:

*NETANYAHU: IRAN HAS NO CAPACITY TO ENRICH URANIUM OR MAKE BALLISTIC MISSILES AFTER 20 DAYS OF WAR

*NETANYAHU: CAN’T DO A REVOLUTION FROM THE AIR, THERE NEEDS TO BE A GROUND COMPONENT AS WELL

*NETANYAHU: ISRAEL ACTED ALONE AGAINST SOUTH PARS

*NETANYAHU: TRUMP ASKED US TO HOLD OFF ON FUTURE SUCH ATTACKS

And here’s how the market reacted instantly after his comments:

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