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Luke Kawa7/10/25

TSMC dips despite posting surprisingly strong second-quarter sales

TSMC is slumping despite posting a pretty solid set of sales for the second quarter.

The world’s biggest chip supplier reports monthly sales figures, which effectively serve as an early window into its quarterly report (slated to be released on July 17). Its June sales numbers show that revenues totaled nearly NT$934 billion, ahead of the consensus estimate for NT$928 billion.

CEO CC Wei reaffirmed the company’s full-year guidance last month even as TSMC faces a stiff headwind from a surge in the Taiwanese dollar, which weighs on profitability. Analysts are saying that in light of the currency swing, these sales numbers are even stronger than they appear if you look at them in US dollar terms. (A US dollar buys about 29 Taiwan dollars at current rates, down from a recent peak of about 33 Taiwan dollars in early April.)

The results are kind of a microcosm of markets in 2025: the strength of the AI boom overwhelming broad trade-related risks.

That being said, shares were trading as much as 1.5% higher in the premarket, but gave up all those gains to trade 1% in the red in the regular session.

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RadNet tumbles after Hunterbrook Media calls it “the AI story that doesn’t add up” and investment arm announces short position

In investigating the company, “what emerged was a gap between story and substance: a Digital Health business that generates much of its growth by invoicing a different RadNet business line; a same-center sales metric seemingly juiced by undisclosed consolidations; financial disclosures that don’t add up; and insiders using the stock run-up to cash out,” wrote Hunterbrook authors led by Bethany McLean.

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Frontier sinks as longtime CEO, who regularly feuded with United, suddenly departs

Shares of ultra-budget airline Frontier are down more than 10% on Tuesday morning following the carrier’s announcement that it would replace its longtime CEO, Barry Biffle. Frontier President James Dempsey will fill in as interim CEO.

Biffle, who has been Frontier’s CEO since early 2016, will remain at the airline in an “advisory capacity” until December 31. The move is “not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices,” per a company filing.

Under Biffle, Frontier attempted to acquire rival Spirit twice since 2022 — both unsuccessful. Last week, the carrier’s shares dropped after Spirit’s pilots ratified a lower-paying contract in an effort to keep it afloat through its latest bankruptcy.

Biffle was a staunch defender of the ultra-budget model, which has been falling out of fashion in the US market in recent years. He’s regularly feuded with United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby over comments about budget airlines.

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Nuclear power startup Oklo clears another regulatory hurdle

Oklo said the Department of Energy’s Idaho office approved a safety plan for its proposed nuclear fuel production plant at the Idaho National Laboratory, a center of nuclear research and testing in the US.

The zero-revenue designer of smaller nuclear power plants was the first company to receive approval under the Department of Energy’s new Fuel Line Pilot Program, established by executive order from President Trump in May. The program is designed to speed up the approval process for domestic production of nuclear fuel, helping to reduce reliance on foreign sources of raw materials needed for nuclear power. The approval is “effectively granting permission to start facility assembly,” Oklo said in a statement.

Prior to the new fuel line program, the Department of Energy didn’t typically regulate the plans for private sector production of nuclear fuel, which was left to the Nuclear Regulatory Council, an independent regulator with a mandate to protect public health and safety.

Government approvals have been an important source of credibility for Oklo, whose shares have soared this year by almost 300% despite having no profits or sales.

The stock was recently down 1.7%.

Those approvals have drawn scrutiny, however, to the close connections between the company and the Trump administration, including the fact that the current secretary of energy, Chris Wright, served on the board of Oklo until he took office in February.

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Rezolve Ai soars after management boosts 2025 annual recurring revenue guidance by 33%

It’s been a rocky stretch for the AI trade as of late — but not so bad that surprisingly strong results can’t send a smaller company levered to the theme to the moon.

Shares of Rezolve Ai are surging, up more than 20% in early trading after a boost to its 2025 guidance.

Management said that December would be a record month for sales, which are poised to exceed $17 million, and that the company is on track to exit 2025 with annual recurring revenues of $200 million. That’s 33% above its previous guidance for a year-end exit rate of $150 million issued at the start of October. The company also reaffirmed its 2026 guidance that it would exit next year with $500 million in ARR.

Rezolve Ai specializes in agentic commerce tools and boasts partnerships with Microsoft and Google.

Reading in between the lines, management also clearly thinks its stock price should be higher based on this operational performance. Per the press release:

“Rezolve Ai currently has a market capitalization of under $1 billion. While the Company does not comment on valuation, management believes that the scale of its recurring revenue base, improving operating leverage, and visibility into future growth provide investors with a clearer framework for evaluating the Company’s long-term trajectory.”

This bullishness is also present in the options market, where over 23,000 calls have traded a little more than half an hour into the session versus a 20-day average of 6,373.

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