News & Updates
The latest news and updates from companies in the WLTH portfolio.
Anthropic passes OpenAI to become biggest AI startup in the world
Anthropic raised $65 billion in new funding at a $965 billion post-money valuation, the company said Thursday, making it the most valuable artificial intelligence startup in the world and surpassing rival OpenAI. The Series H round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital, with co-leads including Capital Group, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, GIC, ICONIQ, and XN. The raise also includes $15 billion of previously committed investments from hyperscalers, among them $5 billion from Amazon. Anthropic, maker of the AI chatbot Claude, has now exceeded its valuation of $380 billion in February by almost two-and-a-half times. Earlier this month, Anthropic's annualized revenue run rate surpassed $47 billion -- a figure the company had already revised upward from a $30 billion rate disclosed weeks prior, putting it roughly five times ahead of last year's annual pace. The company said a large portion of that growth has been driven by its AI coding tools, including Claude Code. "This funding will help us serve the historic demand we are experiencing, stay at the research frontier, and bring Claude to more of the places where work happens," Krishna Rao, Anthropic's CFO, said in a statement. Alongside the funding announcement, Anthropic unveiled Claude Opus 4.8, an upgrade to its Opus class of models with stronger performance across coding, agentic tasks, and professional work. The fundraising round also adds strategic infrastructure partners -- Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix -- whose involvement Anthropic said will help it scale compute capacity to meet growing demand. The company has recently signed agreements with Amazon for up to five gigawatts of new capacity, with Google and Broadcom for five gigawatts of next-generation TPU capacity, and with SpaceX for access to GPU capacity. Investor enthusiasm for the round had been building for weeks. Anthropic was exploring a large-scale capital raise aimed at expanding its computing infrastructure, with demand from outside investors running well ahead of the planned raise. At least one institution willing to write a check of up to $5 billion had been unable to secure a meeting with CFO Krishna Rao. A $122 billion financing round closed by OpenAI earlier this year established the ChatGPT maker's valuation at $852 billion. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by CEO Dario Amodei and colleagues who had previously worked at OpenAI.
Court order makes Discord add temporary child protections in Texas
The platform must change several default settings for Texas users. AUSTIN, Texas - The popular online messaging platform Discord is now temporarily required to add child protection features in Texas following a court decision. Discord restraining order The latest: The temporary restraining order (TRO) against Discord was secured after Texas AG Ken Paxton's office filed a lawsuit alleging "weak" safety settings and children being exposed to online predators. The new court order, announced by the AG's office on Friday, requires Discord to mmediately reconfigure four key default settings to their most protective state for all Texas accounts: * Blocking sensitive content rather than merely blurring it; * Disabling friend requests from "Everyone;" * Turning off direct-message social permissions; * And setting spam filtering to "Filter All." Discord is also required to change their language claiming safety, as well as suspend the automatic 90-day expiration of user violation records and preserve all enforcement and moderation data. It must also file a verified report within fourteen days disclosing its true default settings, the percentage of its workforce devoted to safety, and data on how easily banned users return. What's next: A hearing on the State's request for a temporary injunction is set for June 5, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. in Collin County District Court. What they're saying: "Discord designed a predator's paradise, switched off the safeguards by default, and looked Texas parents in the eye and called it safe. That is not negligence. That is evil dressed up as a safety policy," said Paxton in his Friday release. "A court ordered Discord to stop, and I will pursue this company with the full and unrelenting force of the law until every child in Texas is protected from the sick predators it invited in. Discord was warned again and again and did nothing. It will not get to ignore Texas." Texas vs Discord The backstory: Paxton's office filed the suit on Friday, May 22, following his office's investigation into the platform for "extremist" content after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. What they're saying: "Discord has allowed and invited all kinds of nihilistic violence and evil. My office is taking action to protect our nation's precious children from predators," said Paxton when announcing the litigation. "We live in a time where the dangers children face online have never been greater, and every parent in Texas deserves to know their child is protected." Paxton cited cases in which teens were allegedly assaulted or traumatized as a result of using the platform.
How Anthropic's Mythos pushed Bank of Italy to talk with tech companies over hacking risks
The Bank of Italy is proactively engaging with global AI firms, including Anthropic, to address escalating cybersecurity risks before advanced AI models enter the financial sector. Governor Fabio Panetta stressed that banks, not just tech providers, bear full responsibility for data and money safety, urging executives to invest in robust digital defenses and comprehensive emergency plans. The Bank of Italy has stepped up to tackle growing cybersecurity risks, launching urgent talks with global artificial intelligence (AI) companies before powerful new AI models are introduced to the financial sector. Speaking at his annual keynote address on Friday (May 29), Central Bank Governor Fabio Panetta revealed that the regulator has recently started discussions with national authorities, banks and their tech providers to get ahead of the potential dangers. The Bank of Italy's talks with companies like Anthropic are meant to ensure that these advanced systems are implemented safely and securely before they become widely available to the public. Governor Panetta made it clear that the responsibility for safety stops with the banks. If a bank chooses to outsource its technology to third-party tech providers, those companies carry the exact same burden of responsibility to keep data and money safe.
Three Humanoid Robotics ETFs Built for the Tesla Optimus and Figure AI Era Most Investors Have Never Heard Of
Humanoid robotics moved from concept videos to factory floors over the past 18 months, and three ETFs now offer materially different ways to play it: Themes Humanoid Robotics ETF (NASDAQ:BOTT), ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (NYSEARCA:ROBO), and the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (NASDAQ:BOTZ). Each captures the theme from a different angle, and only one is a true pure-play on the Tesla Optimus and Figure AI commercialization curve. BOTT is the newest and narrowest, launched in 2024 as the only pure-play humanoid ETF. ROBO has been the legacy industrial robotics fund since 2013. BOTZ sits in between, anchored by automation giants but quietly accumulating positions in the Korean and Chinese humanoid names that most U.S. investors have never opened a brokerage tab for. The humanoid commercialization curve The investable thesis stopped being speculative when humanoid units started showing up on payrolls. Tesla is ramping Optimus production, Figure is rolling out Figure 02 in commercial deployments, and Apptronik units are working alongside humans in Mercedes plants. The picks-and-shovels layer, AI chips, vision sensors, actuators, and industrial automation backbones, is already generating revenue regardless of whether any single humanoid platform wins. That split matters for ETF selection. A fund concentrated on the platform builders captures the upside if humanoids scale; a fund anchored in the enablers captures revenue today whether Optimus ships at 10,000 units or 1 million. The three funds below sit at different points on that spectrum. BOTT: the only pure-play in the category BOTT exists for one reason: there was no clean way to buy the humanoid theme as a single ticker until Themes ETFs launched it. The fund holds Tesla, Figure AI suppliers, and Boston Dynamics-adjacent names, which is the actual composition investors want when they search for "humanoid robotics ETF" and instead find that older robotics funds have a 10% weighting in chip equipment makers. The performance tells the story of how concentrated this exposure really is. BOTT is up roughly 35% year-to-date and has more than doubled over the past year, with shares trading around $56. That is the kind of return profile that comes from owning a small basket of names tied directly to a single narrative, not a diversified portfolio. The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and Themes Humanoid Robotics ETF wasn't one of them. Get them here FREE. The tradeoff is structural. BOTT is small, new, and concentrated. Liquidity is thinner than the legacy robotics funds, and the holdings overlap heavily with names that have already run hard on Optimus and Figure milestones. A delay in commercial humanoid deployment, or a single bad quarter from Tesla, would land harder here than in any other fund in the category. Investors choosing BOTT are buying the thesis in its purest form, which means accepting that the fund will trade like a leveraged bet on humanoid milestones.
New Claude model drops as Anthropic overtakes OpenAI
Anthropic closed a $65 billion funding round, launched a new Claude model and surpassed OpenAI For most of the artificial intelligence boom, the rankings felt settled. One company sat at the top of every most valuable startup list, and the assumption was that it would be the first to go public. The rest of the field no matter how fast growing or well funded was treated as talented competition waiting its turn. Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, announced it had raised $65 billion in a Series H funding round, vaulting it to a post-money valuation of $965 billion surpassing OpenAI's $852 billion valuation from late March to claim the top spot among AI startups worldwide, according to CNBC. The round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital. It included $15 billion in previously committed capital from cloud partners, among them $5 billion from Amazon. From $380 billion to nearly $1 trillion in a matter of months The scale of Anthropic's rise is difficult to overstate. The company was valued at approximately $380 billion in February meaning it has grown to roughly two and a half times that figure in just a few months, according to CNBC. To put the $965 billion number in context: only 21 national economies in the world generate more than $1 trillion in annual output, according to StatisticsTimes. Anthropic's valuation now places it just outside that group larger than the entire yearly economic output of countries like Belgium, Argentina or Norway. The company is less than five years old. The same day the funding was announced, Anthropic also launched Claude Opus 4.8, an upgrade to its flagship model. The company says the new model outperforms OpenAI's GPT-5.5 and Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro on benchmarks covering agentic coding, financial analysis and computer use, according to Yahoo Finance. Anthropic also says the updated model is designed to flag uncertainty more consistently and make fewer unsupported claims a feature the company is framing as improved honesty. The revenue story that changed everything Anthropic's path to a near trillion dollar valuation runs less through consumer recognition and more through business adoption. The company's annualized revenue run rate reached $47 billion this month, up from roughly $10 billion a year earlier a nearly fivefold increase, according to CNBC. Much of that growth has been driven by Claude Code, Anthropic's AI-powered coding assistant, which has gained significant traction among software developers and enterprise customers. For investors who had been skeptical about whether frontier AI labs could generate sustainable business revenue rather than simply burning through capital, those numbers served as a meaningful answer. Anthropic also says Claude is now the first frontier AI model available across all three major cloud platforms Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud a reach that gives it access to an unusually broad base of enterprise customers, according to Sherwood News. A two company IPO race with broad market implications The valuation shift matters beyond the private funding world because both Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to go public this year. OpenAI is reportedly preparing to file a confidential IPO prospectus, with a potential listing as early as September. Anthropic is understood to be working to beat its rival to market. For everyday investors, the stakes may already be closer than they realize. Anyone holding an S&P 500 index fund or a target date retirement fund likely already has indirect exposure to this race. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Nvidia have each tied significant portions of their market value to AI demand and Amazon alone has committed billions to Anthropic. When a private AI company's valuation jumps from $380 billion to $965 billion in a matter of months, it recalibrates how public markets price every company connected to the same technology wave. What comes next The company that files its IPO prospectus first will set the price benchmark against which the rest of the sector gets measured. A strong debut at or near current private valuations would likely strengthen confidence across AI-exposed public stocks. A weak one or any sign that the $47 billion revenue run rate is softening could have the opposite effect across a wide range of holdings. For now, Anthropic has made its case in the most direct way available to a private company: a record setting funding round, a new flagship model and a revenue trajectory that has left few skeptics with an easy rebuttal.
SpaceX stock: 7 things every investor should know ahead of the SpaceX IPO - The Gonzales Inquirer
SpaceX stock: 7 things every investor should know ahead of the SpaceX IPO The newly unveiled Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) S-1 registration statement delivers essential financial disclosures that potential investors must scrutinize before considering buying SpaceX stock. This filing officially lifts the veil on SpaceX's financials, detailing everything from its rapid Starlink subscriber growth to a massive, capital-intensive pivot into orbital artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Because this is a preliminary prospectus -- the regulatory filing companies submit before going public -- the final share price and size of the public float, which is the number of shares available to buy, are still blank. Investors will need to monitor subsequent announcements closely, as these missing figures will ultimately dictate the exact share availability, SpaceX's stock price, and SpaceX's valuation at debut. Prospective buyers should keep a close eye on the upcoming timeline as the company gears up for its historic market launch. The official executive roadshow is expected to begin June 4, which will lead directly to the final initial public offering (IPO) pricing on June 11. Trading is expected to officially commence the very next day, with the highly anticipated public listing on June 12. Below, The Motley Fool breaks down what investors need to know ahead of the SpaceX IPO. Key Points * SpaceX S-1 reveals a $4.9 billion loss in 2025, driven by heavy AI and Starship investments. * Elon Musk, who serves as CEO, CTO, and chairman of SpaceX, retains 85.1% voting power post-IPO, ensuring control over company decisions. * Starlink, SpaceX's profitable segment, shows slowing growth with revenue per user decreasing. SpaceX was not profitable in 2025, and the S-1 explains why While SpaceX posted a net income of $791 million in 2024, its new S-1 filing reveals a pivot to a $4.9 billion net loss in 2025 due to aggressive investment in the business. The loss does not mean the underlying business is faltering. The company's space and connectivity segments demonstrated their financial muscle, generating $6.6 billion in non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) and $6.8 billion in operating cash flow over the same period. Instead, the net loss stems directly from a $6.4 billion operating loss in its newly integrated AI segment and $3 billion in capital expenditures dedicated to developing the company's massive Starship rocket, totaling $20.7 billion. To cushion this intensive spending, SpaceX also holds 18,712 Bitcoin, purchased at a cost basis of $661 million, which had a fair value of $1.637 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. These metrics show that while the launch and satellite operations are engines of real cash, overall short-term profitability is being absorbed by the double-edged sword of scaling xAI and accelerating Starship simultaneously. Elon Musk controls 85% of the votes required to remove him as CEO and chairman The SpaceX filing continues a trend in tech IPOs toward founders taking steps to retain control. Post-offering, CEO Musk will retain 85.1% of the combined voting power preoffering, including 93.6% of the class B shares, which will elect 51% of the board as a separate class. Because of this structure, any attempt to remove Musk as CEO or chairman requires the approval of a majority of class B shares, effectively giving him absolute unilateral control over leadership. To raise future capital without diluting this tightly held power dynamic, SpaceX has also authorized the issuance of 10 billion nonvoting class C shares. It should also be noted that legal recourse for outside investors is severely limited. All shareholder disputes are funneled into mandatory ICC arbitration, stripping shareholders of their rights to class actions or jury trials. This framework means public shareholders receive pure economic exposure to SpaceX's growth but no meaningful governance rights. This extreme voting concentration, zero-vote share structure, and restrictive legal environment underscore a vital reality for potential buyers: You aren't just investing in a company, you are explicitly buying into Musk himself. Starlink is the only profitable segment of SpaceX, but growth is slowing SpaceX's S-1 reveals that Starlink is its only profitable segment, generating $11.4 billion in revenue in 2025, even though its annual revenue growth slowed to 49.8% from 96.4% in 2024. Despite this deceleration, the division boasts exceptionally robust margins, recording GAAP operating income of $4.4 billion, a 39% GAAP operating margin, and a 63% non-GAAP segment-adjusted EBITDA margin. To feed this massive deployment, SpaceX utilized 122 of its 165 total Falcon launches in 2025 for internal Starlink missions, successfully propelling total subscribers to 10.3 million as of March 31, 2026 -- a 105% year-over-year increase. However, this rapid global expansion has diluted pricing power, causing average revenue per user (ARPU) to plunge from $91 a month in 2024 to $81 in 2025, and down to $66 in the first quarter of 2026. So while Starlink is highly profitable with strong margins, its average revenue per subscriber has fallen 27% in just over a year. This trend is critical for potential shareholders to track, as Starlink's cash generation is funding both the company's intensive Starship development and its massive AI investment cycle. The big question for the market is whether this declining ARPU will soon stabilize, and if the segment can continue expanding at a pace that will satisfy public investors. Anthropic is paying SpaceX $1.25B a month Investors found out earlier this year about a deal between SpaceX and Anthropic. The S-1 provided the details, most notably the $1.25 billion monthly compute fee Anthropic will pay through May 2029. The SpaceX AI segment generated $3.2 billion in revenue in 2025, and Grok reached 117 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of March 31, 2026. SpaceX also has the option to acquire AI firm Cursor at an implied equity value of $60 billion. The newly revealed Anthropic contract confirms there is genuine, large-scale commercial demand for SpaceX's AI compute infrastructure rather than just internal workloads. This deal serves as the strongest evidence that SpaceX's heavy tech infrastructure commands true market value, forcing prospective investors to decide whether the AI segment's steep losses represent a lucrative multi-year investment or an ongoing financial drain. The AI bet is enormous, and years from profitable SpaceX aggressively expanded its technological footprint in 2025, investing roughly $19 billion in AI as overall spending continued to accelerate. In total, the company reported a 2025 operating loss of $6.4 billion from AI, with $12.7 billion in AI capital expenditures (capex) and $5.1 billion in AI research and development. Additionally, the company recorded $9.1 billion in "other financings," representing AI infrastructure assets categorized as failed sale-leaseback transactions. This momentum carried over heavily into Q1 2026, when AI capex reached $7.7 billion. That number surpassed the company's full-year 2023 capex of $4.4 billion. SpaceX's space and connectivity businesses are both EBITDA-positive. Investors hope the AI segment can follow a similar path, but on a capital base roughly 10 times larger. SpaceX carries $29B in debt As of March 31, 2026, SpaceX's total debt stands at $29.1 billion, including a $20 billion bridge loan established in March 2026 to retire xAI's legacy debt. In the "Use of Proceeds" section of the S-1, SpaceX is focused on growth, noting investments in AI compute infrastructure, launch infrastructure, and satellite constellations. However, a separate liquidity disclosure reveals a stricter reality, disclosing that the $20 billion bridge loan must be repaid within six months of receiving IPO proceeds. This means that a highly meaningful portion of what investors are funding through the IPO is actually a massive debt refinancing rather than new operating investments. Further complicating the long-term capital outlook is a separate deal with EchoStar to acquire its wireless spectrum assets, set to close in November 2027. That deal includes the issuance of 261.8 million new Class A shares at $42.40 per share, plus up to $8.5 billion in cash. As a result of these heavy financial commitments and restrictive debt covenants, no dividends are planned for the foreseeable future. SpaceX dominates space launches, but it's betting the future on Starship SpaceX commanded more than 80% of the global mass to orbit in 2025, continuing an aggressive trajectory in which total payload mass surged from 1,210 metric tons in 2023 to 1,699 metric tons in 2024 and to 2,213 metric tons in 2025. This scaling is underpinned by extreme efficiency, with Falcon Heavy reducing launch costs to low Earth orbit to just $1,400/kg -- a 92% drop from NASA's historical average of $18,500/kg. Flight-proven boosters handled 157 of 165 launches in 2025, including a single booster reused 34 times. While this unmatched launch dominance provides the structural foundation for both Starlink's economics and the company's orbital AI ambitions, future growth hinges entirely on Starship, which received $3 billion in 2025 R&D and is targeting its first commercial payload delivery in the second half of 2026. This timeline carries intense pressure because Starship has not yet successfully delivered a commercial payload to orbit. The success of Starship could determine the success of the space business. The prospectus flags any potential Starship delay as the single most consequential risk to SpaceX's growth strategy. How should investors think about the SpaceX IPO? The prospectus confirms that SpaceX's core launch and satellite operations are robust, cash-generative engines, with the company commanding more than 80% of global mass to orbit in 2025 and Starlink generating $11.4 billion in connectivity revenue. But the steep 2025 net loss of $4.9 billion also shows the impact of growing investments into Starship R&D and a rapidly scaling AI infrastructure segment. On governance and leverage, the filing discloses an incredibly restrictive structure in which Musk controls 85.1% of the voting power, leaving public shareholders with economic exposure but no meaningful corporate governance rights. Furthermore, SpaceX carries $29.1 billion in total debt, including a critical $20 billion bridge loan used to retire xAI's legacy debt that must be repaid within six months of closing the IPO. While the final company valuation and exact equity dilution remain unanswered until pricing, it is clear that a meaningful portion of investor funds will immediately go toward debt refinancing rather than fueling fresh operational expansion. Ultimately, the prospectus frames SpaceX as a high-stakes combination of an unparalleled aerospace growth story and an early-stage, capital-intensive AI titan. The opportunity lies in the company successfully replicating its space profitability model across an AI infrastructure segment built on a capital base roughly 10 times larger. The challenge, like the challenge of reusable rockets and moon colonies, is formidable. But the opportunity is massive if SpaceX can execute from here. FAQ What does SpaceX's IPO prospectus say about its finances? SpaceX's prospectus revealed a highly complex financial picture. The document shows that while its core aerospace operations generate significant cash, the company has transformed into a massive, capital-intensive bet on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Is SpaceX profitable? SpaceX is not currently profitable, but it has been profitable in the past. The company posted a net loss of $4.9 billion last year, down from a net income of $791 million in 2024. What is Elon Musk's stake in SpaceX after the IPO? Musk will control 85.1% of SpaceX's voting power after the IPO, including ownership of 93.6% of a special B-class of shares. This story was produced by The Motley Fool and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
1 Stock Slated to Cash In on the SpaceX IPO
A SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is likely to come sometime in June. That will be a monumental day for the stock market, as it has never seen an IPO quite like SpaceX, which is reportedly aiming for a valuation of $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion. I'm intrigued by the IPO itself, but there are other companies that could cash in on it. One of them is Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). It owned about 6% of SpaceX as of the end of 2025, and if SpaceX reaches a $2 trillion market cap, that position would be worth around $120 billion. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue " Alphabet paid just $900 million for that stake back in 2015, so it will be a hugely profitable investment even if the market cap comes up somewhat short of SpaceX's most optimistic goals. But what will the tech giant do with its shares? That answer could be hidden in some guidance that Alphabet gave shareholders during its latestearnings call Image source: Getty Images. Alphabet needs money for its AI infrastructure build-out After a company debuts, there's normally a lockup period of 180 days that temporarily prevents early investors from selling. That way, the market isn't immediately flooded with excess liquidity that the company didn't plan on. SpaceX is doing things a bit differently: It has set up a rolling share-release schedule for the first 180 days after it goes public. After it reports its Q2 results, insiders will be able to sell up to 20% of their shares. At set intervals after that, the fraction of their holdings that pre-IPO investors will be allowed to sell will increase. After the full 180 days, they'll be able to sell all of it. (Those early release dates don't apply to CEO Elon Musk -- he has to hold on for the full lockup period.) So, Alphabet won't be able to fully liquidate its stake in the company until December at the earliest. During its first-quarter conference call, Alphabet told shareholders to expect that its 2027 capital expenditures will "significantly increase" from 2026's levels. This year, it plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion on capex. Over the past 12 months, it has generated around $174 billion in cash from operations, so essentially all of its cash flow is being consumed by its data center build-out. To fund a significant increase in 2027, management will need to either substantially increase its cash flow (and it did grow cash from operations by 27% in the second quarter), dip into the cash pile on its balance sheet, cut its dividend, dial down its share buybacks, issue debt, or find a new cash source -- which could be selling its SpaceX shares. My guess is that it will be a combination of all of these. However, by selling SpaceX shares, Alphabet will be able to raise cash without cutting existing programs or issuing debt. That would make that strategy a major win for shareholders. Should you buy stock in Alphabet right now? Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now... and Alphabet wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $465,733!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,313,467!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 985% -- a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors. See the 10 stocks " *Stock Advisor returns as of May 29, 2026. Keithen Drury has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
1 Stock Slated to Cash In on the SpaceX IPO
A SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is likely to come sometime in June. That will be a monumental day for the stock market, as it has never seen an IPO quite like SpaceX, which is reportedly aiming for a valuation of $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion. I'm intrigued by the IPO itself, but there are other companies that could cash in on it. One of them is Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL). It owned about 6% of SpaceX as of the end of 2025, and if SpaceX reaches a $2 trillion market cap, that position would be worth around $120 billion. Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue " Alphabet paid just $900 million for that stake back in 2015, so it will be a hugely profitable investment even if the market cap comes up somewhat short of SpaceX's most optimistic goals. But what will the tech giant do with its shares? That answer could be hidden in some guidance that Alphabet gave shareholders during its latest earnings call. Alphabet needs money for its AI infrastructure build-out After a company debuts, there's normally a lockup period of 180 days that temporarily prevents early investors from selling. That way, the market isn't immediately flooded with excess liquidity that the company didn't plan on. SpaceX is doing things a bit differently: It has set up a rolling share-release schedule for the first 180 days after it goes public. After it reports its Q2 results, insiders will be able to sell up to 20% of their shares. At set intervals after that, the fraction of their holdings that pre-IPO investors will be allowed to sell will increase. After the full 180 days, they'll be able to sell all of it. (Those early release dates don't apply to CEO Elon Musk -- he has to hold on for the full lockup period.) So, Alphabet won't be able to fully liquidate its stake in the company until December at the earliest. During its first-quarter conference call, Alphabet told shareholders to expect that its 2027 capital expenditures will "significantly increase" from 2026's levels. This year, it plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion on capex. Over the past 12 months, it has generated around $174 billion in cash from operations, so essentially all of its cash flow is being consumed by its data center build-out. To fund a significant increase in 2027, management will need to either substantially increase its cash flow (and it did grow cash from operations by 27% in the second quarter), dip into the cash pile on its balance sheet, cut its dividend, dial down its share buybacks, issue debt, or find a new cash source -- which could be selling its SpaceX shares. My guess is that it will be a combination of all of these.
1 Stock Slated to Cash In on the SpaceX IPO
A SpaceX initial public offering (IPO) is likely to come sometime in June. That will be a monumental day for the stock market, as it has never seen an IPO quite like SpaceX, which is reportedly aiming for a valuation of $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion. I'm intrigued by the IPO itself, but there are other companies that could cash in on it. One of them is Alphabet (GOOG 2.52%) (GOOGL 2.54%). It owned about 6% of SpaceX as of the end of 2025, and if SpaceX reaches a $2 trillion market cap, that position would be worth around $120 billion. Alphabet paid just $900 million for that stake back in 2015, so it will be a hugely profitable investment even if the market cap comes up somewhat short of SpaceX's most optimistic goals. But what will the tech giant do with its shares? That answer could be hidden in some guidance that Alphabet gave shareholders during its latest earnings call. Alphabet needs money for its AI infrastructure build-out After a company debuts, there's normally a lockup period of 180 days that temporarily prevents early investors from selling. That way, the market isn't immediately flooded with excess liquidity that the company didn't plan on. SpaceX is doing things a bit differently: It has set up a rolling share-release schedule for the first 180 days after it goes public. After it reports its Q2 results, insiders will be able to sell up to 20% of their shares. At set intervals after that, the fraction of their holdings that pre-IPO investors will be allowed to sell will increase. After the full 180 days, they'll be able to sell all of it. (Those early release dates don't apply to CEO Elon Musk -- he has to hold on for the full lockup period.) So, Alphabet won't be able to fully liquidate its stake in the company until December at the earliest. During its first-quarter conference call, Alphabet told shareholders to expect that its 2027 capital expenditures will "significantly increase" from 2026's levels. This year, it plans to spend between $180 billion and $190 billion on capex. Over the past 12 months, it has generated around $174 billion in cash from operations, so essentially all of its cash flow is being consumed by its data center build-out. To fund a significant increase in 2027, management will need to either substantially increase its cash flow (and it did grow cash from operations by 27% in the second quarter), dip into the cash pile on its balance sheet, cut its dividend, dial down its share buybacks, issue debt, or find a new cash source -- which could be selling its SpaceX shares. My guess is that it will be a combination of all of these. However, by selling SpaceX shares, Alphabet will be able to raise cash without cutting existing programs or issuing debt. That would make that strategy a major win for shareholders.
Kraken Set to Launch First CFTC-Regulated Perpetual Futures for US Traders
Perpetuals trade alongside spot, margin and CME-listed futures on Kraken Pro, giving US traders a unified view of crypto derivatives in one interface. CHEYENNE, Wyo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kraken, one of the world's longest-standing, most liquid and secure cryptocurrency platforms, has set out plans to launch the first CFTC-regulated perpetual futures in the US in the next 30 days. Eligible US clients will be able to trade perpetual futures on Kraken Pro, giving them domestic access to the contract that drives most global crypto derivatives volume, integrated alongside spot, margin and CME-listed futures on a single interface. Perpetual contracts are derivatives that provide continuous exposure to an underlying asset without an expiration date, eliminating the need to roll positions. This enables clients to maintain uninterrupted market exposure with greater flexibility and operational efficiency than traditional futures contracts. Perpetuals are the most widely-traded derivatives in digital asset markets, with annual trading volume reaching over $60 trillion in 2025. Until now, US traders have had limited regulated options to access them, with most activity taking place offshore. Today's announcement sets in motion plans to bring that activity onshore through a CFTC-regulated venue. Per the filing submitted today, the contracts will be listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange recently acquired by Kraken's parent company, Payward. They feature continuous pricing, no expiration and an eight-hour funding rate, matching the conventional structure for crypto perpetuals, within the same futures wallet as Kraken's existing CME-listed contracts so traders can manage CME futures and crypto perpetuals positions side by side. Eligible clients will be able to trade a suite of major digital assets, including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC and AVAX. Kraken intends to expand the contract set and product functionality, including broader collateral options, over time. "US traders have been waiting for a regulated, domestic way to trade the product that defines global crypto derivatives markets," said John Palmer, Global Head of Derivatives at Kraken. "We're giving them that access alongside the spot and futures markets they already use on Kraken Pro. Perpetuals, spot, margin and CME-listed futures now sit on one interface, and that changes how US clients build and manage crypto positions." Today's news follows a sequence of US product releases over the past year. In July 2025, Kraken launched support for CME-listed crypto futures alongside its spot markets. Earlier this month, it launched CFTC-regulated spot margin trading for eligible US traders. Perpetuals are offered on Kraken Pro through NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC dba Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant. Kraken spot margin and perpetual futures are offered on and subject to the rules of Bitnomial Exchange, LLC, a CFTC Designated Contract Market (DCM). For more information, please visit https://www.kraken.com/features/futures. About Kraken Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing and most secure crypto platforms globally. Kraken clients trade more than 600 digital assets, traditional assets such as U.S. futures and U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and 6 different national currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, CHF, and AUD. Trusted by millions of institutions, professional traders and consumers, Kraken is one of the fastest, most liquid and performant trading platforms available. Kraken's suite of products and services includes the Kraken App, Kraken Pro, the Krak App, Kraken Institutional, Kraken's onchain offerings and the Ninja Trader retail trading platform. Across these offerings, clients can buy, sell, stake, earn rewards, send and receive assets, custody holdings, and access advanced trading, derivatives, and portfolio management tools. Kraken has set the industry standard for transparency and client trust, and it was the first crypto platform to conduct Proof of Reserves. It complies with regulations and laws applicable to its business, while actively protecting client privacy and maintaining the highest security standards. For more information about Kraken, please visit www.kraken.com. Futures trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for everyone. Losses may exceed the initial investment. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. View Risk Disclosure Statement. Brokerage services are provided by NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC d/b/a Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant and NFA Member (NFA ID: 0309379). View Disclosures.
Anthropic surpasses OpenAI with near-trillion dollar valuation
This story was originally published on CFO.com. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CFO.com newsletter. Anthropic, the maker of one of the trendiest tools in finance right now, Claude, said Thursday it raised $65 billion in Series H funding at a reported $965 billion post-money valuation, surpassing rival OpenAI and intensifying the race among AI companies to secure compute capacity and enterprise customers. The funding round, led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia Capital, comes as Claude continues expanding into accounting, forecasting, tax, audit and operational finance workflows inside large enterprises. In a LinkedIn post Thursday, Anthropic CFO Krishna Rao said the funding reflects "continued rapid growth in demand for Claude across enterprises and the people who use it for their everyday work." Rao added the company plans to use the capital to expand compute infrastructure, scale products and continue investing in AI safety and interpretability research. OpenAI and Anthropic's AI arms race continues The announcement follows recent public comments from OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar about the growing infrastructure demands tied to AI adoption. During a podcast appearance earlier this month, Friar described OpenAI as facing a "vertical wall of demand" while discussing how aggressively companies are pursuing access to compute. "There's not a lot of compute in 2026," Friar said while explaining how OpenAI is attempting to secure future infrastructure capacity years ahead of expected demand. "My job as a good CFO is always to create optionality," Friar added while discussing fundraising strategy, compute procurement and long-term capital planning. Friar also described enterprise demand accelerating rapidly across industries. "Our sales team has just run ragged at the moment," she said. "Everyone wants to talk to us about 'what can I do to transform my business?'" The banking industry has emerged as one of the largest areas of enterprise AI focus. "I have not talked to a single CEO of a bank that does not have this as their top priority currently," Friar added while discussing AI deployment conversations with financial institutions. Rao has outlined Anthropic's strategy in similarly expansive terms, but placed heavier emphasis on enterprise workflow integration and compute allocation efficiency. "The compute that we procure is the lifeblood of our business," Rao said during a recent podcast appearance of his own discussing how Anthropic allocates infrastructure across research, internal operations and customer demand.
Google engineer charged with using secret search data to make $1.2M on Polymarket
U.S. prosecutors slapped insider trading charges against a Google employee this week, alleging the software engineer used confidential company information to pocket more than US$1.2 million from prediction market platform Polymarket with bets on search trends. In a complaint unsealed in New York, authorities identified the employee as 36-year-old Michele Spagnuolo -- an Italian citizen residing in Switzerland who has worked for Google since 2014. Under the online name "AlphaRaccoon," they alleged, Spagnuolo used the company's 2025 "Year in Search" data before it was published to enter Polymarket wagers about the most trending Googled people of last year. This week's charges "reinforce a decades-old message: corporate insiders cannot use confidential business information to turn a profit in our markets," Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Wednesday. "Insider trading compromises the integrity of our markets, and the American people want this greed-driven conduct investigated and prosecuted." Spagnuolo allegedly made new Polymarket trades as Google's internal search data evolved, from October into December of last year. For example, per the complaint, Spagnuolo initially wagered that Kendrick Lamar -- who headlined the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show -- would top search trends for people last year. But after internal Google data showed that alt-pop singer D4vd was later leading the influx of searches, he placed new bets. D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, was charged last month with murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Using the prediction market's "yes" or "no" wagers, Spagnuolo also made a series of Polymarket trades about other individuals who would or would not rank in Google's 2025 search trends, the complaint said. And after the data was published on Dec. 4, the AlphaRaccoon account soon pocketed sizeable profits. An FBI investigation later traced its cryptocurrency payments. An attorney for Spagnuolo was not immediately identified. California-based Google confirmed to The Associated Press it had placed its employee on leave. "The employee accessed our marketing material using a tool available to all employees, but using such confidential information to place bets is a serious breach of our policies," a Google spokesperson said in a statement, adding the company was working with law enforcement and "will take the appropriate action." Polymarket reiterated it too worked closely with authorities. A spokesperson also touted that the company "is the only prediction platform to date whose cooperation has led to insider trading charges in the United States", and maintained blockchain trading, which Polymarket uses, is "transparent, traceable, and bad actors leave footprints." Spagnuolo is not first person to face insider trading charges spanning from Polymarket trades. Last month, the government also charged a special forces soldier who made over $400,000 from Polymarket trades betting on the downfall of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The solider allegedly used classified information ahead of January's U.S. military operation, which he was a part of. Such scandals have put the spotlight on a murky (and growing) world of speculative, 24/7 transactions now filling the internet. Prediction markets sell event contracts -- so they're also categorized and regulated differently from traditional forms of gambling. That's raised concerns about consumer protections, and legal battles over government oversight. President Donald Trump's administration has already thrown its support behind company operators, and sued several states over their regulation efforts. Meanwhile, the industry is scrambling to assure the public with new guardrails. Polymarket recently rewrote its rules to clearly state users cannot trade on contracts where they might possess confidential information, or could influence the outcome of an event. Spagnuolo is being charged with violating the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act, wire fraud and money laundering. He could face years of prison time.
SpaceX to cut IPO value target to at least $1.8trn
SpaceX is currently targeting a valuation of at least $1.8 trillion in its initial public offering, according to sources familiar with the matter, as Elon Musk's company promising data centres in space nears its debut. Bloomberg News reported in April that the company was aiming for a valuation above $2trn. The rocket, data and artificial intelligence firm's target is settling lower after consultations with advisers and investors, the sources said, asking not to be identified as the information is not public. Details of an IPO, such as size and valuation, are typically adjusted ahead of pricing based on feedback from stakeholders, the sources said. SpaceX is seeking to raise as much as $75 billion, sources familiar with the matter have said, which would make it the biggest IPO of all time. The company's pitch to investors in its IPO filing on May 20 shows the company's evolution, from focusing on making reusable rockets and a profitable business providing satellite internet, to an AI services and infrastructure giant dreaming of orbital data centres and conquering a total addressable market of $28.5trn. SpaceX is expected to start formal marketing of its IPO as soon as Jun 4 and to price as early as Jun 11, Bloomberg News has reported. The trading timeline could be delayed by a matter of days, the sources said. Deliberations are ongoing and the company could decide to increase its target valuation depending on investor feedback during the marketing, the sources said. A spokesperson for SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
SpaceX awarded $6.45B in Space Force contracts ahead of IPO
SpaceX is headed toward what's expected to be the largest IPO ever next month, and now it has received a major boost from the Trump administration. On Friday, the U.S. Space Force announced it's giving SpaceX $4.16 billion as part of a contract to build satellites that will be part of a missile and air defense system that President Trump is calling the "Golden Dome." The announcement follows a separate contract the Space Force awarded to Elon Musk's company earlier this week worth $2.29 billion. That contract involves SpaceX building a communications network in low-Earth orbit. The contracts reinforce a disclosure that was detailed in SpaceX's IPO filing made public last week: the company is heavily dependent on government contracts. One fifth of SpaceX's revenue in 2025 came from government agencies. Musk poured around $300 million into helping elect Trump, and has remained close with the president. But SpaceX has also dominated the launch market over the last decade; it's not surprising the federal government keeps turning towards SpaceX for contracts like these. Still, the company warned investors in its IPO filing that its "business with governmental entities is subject to changes in policies, priorities, regulations, mandates, and funding levels."
Anthropic becomes most valuable AI firm after $65bn funding round
US tech company Anthropic has shot to the top of the Artificial Intelligence startup scene, becoming the most valuable player in Silicon Valley after raised an additional $65 billion in funding. The funding round pushes the company's valuation to a staggering $965 billion, above competitors including its chief rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Anthropic's value has nearly tripled since it was pegged at $380 billion in February. Competitor OpenAI, which triggered the current AI boom in 2022 with ChatGPT, was recently valued at $730 billion after its own funding round. A big part of this growth comes from the surging demand for Anthropic's Claude AI products, especially the coding assistant known as Claude Code. Anthropic said that it's now making annualized revenue of $47 billion, a notable rise from $30 billion earlier this year and around $10 billion in annual revenue last year. In other news, Anthropic also introduced its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4.8, along with Claude Mythos Preview, a cybersecurity tool that's currently being offered to a select group of enterprise clients.
Anthropic Scores $65B Funding Round Following Legal Victory
Anthropic announces a $65 billion funding round at a valuation of $965 billion, pushing it ahead of OpenAI in the artificial intelligence race. On Thursday, Anthropic said it had raised $65 billion in its latest funding round at a post-money valuation of $965 billion, bolstering the Claude chatbot company in the artificial intelligence race. More impressively, the latest valuation surpasses market leader OpenAI, which was last valued at $852 billion in March. Anthropic's valuation has more than doubled since February. It's the latest win for Anthropic, which just scored a legal victory this week in the vicarious liability claim filed against it by major music publishers, including Concord. The labels' copyright infringement case, which alleges that Anthropic committed DMCA violations and other infringement related to torrenting data and training its AI models, is still in motion. The same judge is presiding over both cases, and a third, separate action lodged against the company by BMG Rights Management. "Since our Series G in February, adoption has continued to grow across global enterprise customers, and our run-rate revenue crossed $47 billion earlier this month," Anthropic said in a blog post. The latest round was led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, Sequoia Capital, Coatue, and ICONIQ, among others. Strategic infrastructure partners Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix also joined in, alongside $15 billion of previously committed investments from "hyperscalers." That itself includes $5 billion from Amazon, which said in April it would invest up to $25 billion in Anthropic. Amazon also invested $8 billion in the company previously. According to investors and sources close to the matter, the company's pursuit of private funding coincides with its preparation for a public listing. Both Anthropic and OpenAI are eyeing the public market, possibly as soon as this year, to slurp up the valuable computational resources needed to power their existing services and train new models. Anthropic has actually struggled to meet demand, which has forced it to institute usage limits during peak hours and incentivize off-peak use by offering more resources during those times.
Anthropic becomes most valuable AI firm after $65bn funding round
US tech company Anthropic has shot to the top of the Artificial Intelligence startup scene, becoming the most valuable player in Silicon Valley after raised an additional $65 billion in funding. The funding round pushes the company's valuation to a staggering $965 billion, above competitors including its chief rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI. Anthropic's value has nearly tripled since it was pegged at $380 billion in February. Competitor OpenAI, which triggered the current AI boom in 2022 with ChatGPT, was recently valued at $730 billion after its own funding round. A big part of this growth comes from the surging demand for Anthropic's Claude AI products, especially the coding assistant known as Claude Code. Anthropic said that it's now making annualized revenue of $47 billion, a notable rise from $30 billion earlier this year and around $10 billion in annual revenue last year. In other news, Anthropic also introduced its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4.8, along with Claude Mythos Preview, a cybersecurity tool that's currently being offered to a select group of enterprise clients.
662 Billion Reasons To Worry: Moody's Raises AI Data-Center Funding Fears As Apollo Shops Huge Anthropic Debt Deal
Unless you have lived under a rock for the last year (or month), you will know that the explosive growth of artificial intelligence is fueling a massive infrastructure buildout. In a chart book published nearly simultaneously with Moody's report, Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok worked to put the enormity of data center spending into perspective. With total capital expenditure on data centers estimated at roughly $646 billion, or about 2% of U.S. GDP, Slok noted that is roughly equivalent to the GDP for Singapore, Sweden, and Argentina. Defense spending in 2025, meanwhile, was around $917 billion. However, as Moody's warned this week, the aggressive financing structures supporting this explosive growth are creating significant systemic risks that could ripple across global credit markets and the broader economy. The most recent example of this buildout - and its coincident debt-funding - is the $36 billion debt financing package currently being shopped by Apollo Global Management and Blackstone to enable Anthropic's large-scale acquisition of Google's custom TPU chips. As Bloomberg reports, this complex, high-leverage deal - partially backed by Broadcom - underscores how private equity and specialized financiers are channeling enormous capital into AI hardware and data centers through layered debt instruments. The move would mark one of the largest-ever private credit deals and also the biggest chip-financing debt transaction. It aims to tap Broadcom's credit quality to provide computing-power access to Anthropic, which just eclipsed rival OpenAI in valuation (and its ecosystem has been dramatically outperforming)... While such deals accelerate AI capacity, they also concentrate risk. More concerning is the scale of hidden liabilities across the industry. According to Moody's Ratings, the five major U.S. hyperscalers (Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Oracle) have accumulated approximately $662 billion in future data center lease commitments that have not yet commenced. Combined with other commitments, the total undiscounted future lease exposure reaches $969 billion. To put the scale of this hidden obligation into perspective, Moody's accounting analysts David Gonzales and Alastair Drake calculated that the unrecorded $662 billion is equivalent to 113% of these five hyperscalers' most recent adjusted debt. These obligations remain entirely off-balance-sheet under current accounting rules, despite representing binding long-term liabilities. But as Gonzales told Fortune in a statement that it's "not as if [these hyperscalers] have have avoided a liability through structuring," characterizing the $662 billion at issue as "yet to be on the balance sheet," rather than missing. "More accurately," he added, "they have not yet received the services to trigger this liability as of this time, but they will." This accounting deferral masks the true leverage in the system. As these leases activate over the next decade, they will migrate onto balance sheets, potentially weakening credit profiles, elevating leverage ratios, and increasing refinancing pressures. While the AI infrastructure boom promises transformative productivity gains, Moody's is basically highlighting that the current funding model - reliant on massive off-balance-sheet debt and complex private financing - builds hidden vulnerabilities into the financial system. Regulators, investors, and policymakers should closely monitor these exposures. Heightened Systemic Concerns * Contagion Risk: Heavy interdependence among hyperscalers, private credit funds, and infrastructure investors means distress at a few large players could rapidly spread through debt markets and counterparty exposures. * Concentration & Interconnectedness: A small group of tech giants and a limited pool of specialized financiers dominate this financing. Any material setback in AI monetization or power availability could create correlated losses across the sector. * Broader Market Impact: The $662 billion in off-balance-sheet exposure represents a delayed but massive claim on capital markets. In an economic downturn, forced deleveraging or asset fire sales could amplify volatility, tighten credit conditions, and affect investor confidence well beyond technology. * External Amplifiers: Power grid constraints, regulatory hurdles, and geopolitical supply chain risks further compound the fragility of these highly leveraged bets. In a stressed scenario - such as slower-than-expected AI revenue growth (the end of tokenmaxxing), rising energy costs, or higher interest rates - the simultaneous activation of these liabilities could trigger widespread credit rating downgrades and liquidity strains. Specifically, Moody's warned that these opaque accounting practices mask the true economic risk facing the tech industry. While leasing reduces upfront capital investments, carrying such massive future commitments severely limits a company's financial and operating flexibility, especially if AI industry conditions change rapidly. Because these liabilities are hidden, Moody's concluded, in its own jargony way, that it is considering new ways to look at this issue. "The accounting liability is unlikely to reflect certain plausible future scenarios ... With this in mind, we will continue to assess cash exposures and debt-like adjustments as time progresses and the dates of new leases draw nearer. We may make a nonstandard adjustment to Moody's adjusted debt based on our expectation of likely cash outflows." Without greater transparency and more resilient capital structures, the race for AI supremacy risks generating systemic stress that could undermine broader economic stability.
The SpaceX IPO Frenzy Is Creating 2 Very Different Bets
An impending liquidity event is forcing a seismic shift in capital allocation. The anticipated initial public offering of SpaceX, with valuations projected to eclipse $1.5 trillion, is acting as a massive gravitational force, pulling institutional and retail interest into the entire space economy. As capital floods the sector, a distinct divergence is emerging. While retail investors chase headline-grabbing momentum, a deeper analysis of market internals reveals where sophisticated capital is placing its strategic bets. The space infrastructure sector currently features two distinct companies navigating the same macro tailwind. One is a high-velocity momentum play fueled by a powerful narrative and a significant short squeeze. The other is a mid-cap logistics specialist whose stock chart is being overshadowed by an explosive anomaly in its options chain, signaling a quiet but aggressive accumulation by institutional players. Understanding the fundamental differences between these two paths is critical for investors looking to position for the expected upcoming sector-wide re-rating. High Altitude, Higher Risk It's impossible to ignore the recent parabolic move in AST SpaceMobile NASDAQ: ASTS. AST SpaceMobile has been a standout performer, surging on the powerful narrative of its direct-to-cell satellite technology. A landmark joint venture with telecom giants AT&T NYSE: T, T-Mobile NASDAQ: TMUS, and Verizon NYSE: VZ provides a compelling commercial validation story, while a scheduled mid-June triple satellite launch creates a tangible catalyst. This combination has sparked the beginnings of a short squeeze, with elevated short interest fueling AST SpaceMobile's ascent. A look under the hood, however, reveals a more precarious situation. The valuation of AST SpaceMobile appears detached from its current financial reality. AST SpaceMobile trades at 660 times sales, a multiple that relies entirely on flawless execution in the future. The most significant risk was recently disclosed in a Form 8-K filing that many investors may have overlooked: a $1 billion convertible senior note issuance. This capital raise, while necessary for funding intensive satellite deployments, introduces a severe overhang for common stockholders. Convertible notes are a form of debt that can be converted into equity, creating a future supply of shares that dilutes the ownership stakes of current investors. This overhang often acts as a ceiling on a stock's price, as traders anticipate new supply entering the market. Furthermore, the specter of launch provider bottlenecks represents a tangible macro headwind. Any delay in the Bluebird satellite deployment could puncture the momentum premium and trigger a swift reversal, leaving investors who bought into the hype exposed. Quiet Accumulation, Explosive Implications In contrast to the loud, retail-driven rally in AST SpaceMobile, a more subtle and arguably more strategic move is unfolding in Redwire Corp NYSE: RDW. While its 27% single-day stock price spike is impressive, the real story lies in Redwire's options market activity. Redwire recently experienced a 176% surge in call option volume, a statistical aberration that points toward institutional positioning. Drilling into the specifics of the options chain, block purchases have been heavily concentrated in the out-of-the-money June 2026 $25 and $30 call strikes. This is not speculative froth; it's a targeted bet by sophisticated traders on a significant near-term price move. This activity has caused the put/call ratio to collapse to an extremely bullish 0.18, indicating that for every put option being bought to hedge or bet on a decline, more than five call options are being purchased in anticipation of a rally. This institutional conviction is anchored by two fundamental catalysts: major new contracts with NATO and a follow-on order from the U.S. Army for unmanned drone systems. The options activity suggests that smart money is using these confirmed revenue streams as a foundation for leveraging into Redwire, viewing it as a prime vehicle to capture the broader sector re-rating sparked by the SpaceX IPO. Fuel in the Tank: Why Redwire's Balance Sheet Matters The divergence extends directly to the financial health and corporate structures of the two businesses. Where AST SpaceMobile is taking on significant debt, Redwire boasts a defensive balance sheet with a minimal debt-to-equity ratio of just 0.08. This financial stability provides a margin of safety that is increasingly attractive in a capital-intensive industry. Redwire has also undertaken a critical corporate governance maneuver that has unlocked the door for wider institutional ownership. In May 2026, private equity partner AE Industrial Partners voluntarily converted all its outstanding Series A Preferred stock into common shares. This move simplifies Redwire's capital structure and, most importantly, eliminates the obligation to pay preferred dividends. By removing this liquidity overhang, the common stock becomes a far more appealing asset for large-scale investment funds that may have previously been deterred. This, combined with the recent addition of former U.S. Space Force executive Frank Calvelli to the Board of Directors, signals a clear alignment with the lucrative and growing defense sector. Your Pre-Flight Checklist for the Space Sector The current environment in the space infrastructure sector offers a clear case study in market dynamics. The explosive price action in AST SpaceMobile stems from a powerful story meeting a short squeeze, but it carries substantial valuation and dilution risks. Redwire presents a different profile, one where institutional capital is making a leveraged bet backed by a clean balance sheet and tangible contract wins. For investors, the path forward involves looking beyond the headline price moves. Some may want to monitor the open interest in Redwire's June 2026 call options as a real-time indicator of institutional sentiment. A cautious approach might involve waiting to see if any insider buying emerges to confirm management's conviction following the recent stock surge. For those tracking AST SpaceMobile, attention should be paid to any further details on its convertible note and official confirmation of its launch schedule, as these represent the most immediate potential headwinds. The space economy is breaking out, but the most durable gains may be found where fundamental strength, not just momentum, is leading the way. Should You Invest $1,000 in Redwire Right Now? Before you consider Redwire, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Redwire wasn't on the list. While Redwire currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
3 Space Infrastructure Stocks Gaining Momentum Ahead of the SpaceX IPO
The space sector has been one of the most exciting areas of the market in 2026, and the excitement is only building. Reports that SpaceX could file its prospectus as soon as this week, ahead of a potential June IPO, have injected fresh momentum into a sector already generating compelling stories of its own. A potential SpaceX listing at a rumored valuation of $1.75 trillion would be one of the largest IPOs in history. And in the lead-up to that moment, capital is flowing into space infrastructure names that stand to benefit most from the sector's continued expansion. Three names in particular are worth paying close attention to right now. Intuitive Machines: The Lunar Infrastructure Play Intuitive Machines NASDAQ: LUNR is one of the most established names in commercial lunar services. The company provides end-to-end lunar mission capabilities through NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. It is building what could become critical cislunar infrastructure through its $4.82 billion Near Space Network Services contract. That contract alone, first announced near the end of 2024, represents multi-year recurring revenue visibility at a scale few space companies can match. More recently, on May 18, the company announced that it had won a $20 million NASA contract for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera and ShadowCam. The stock is up 100% year to date, driven by both sector excitement and genuine fundamental progress. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $186.73 million, with a record backlog of $1.1 billion. Management has guided 2026 revenue of up to $1 billion. Investors should be clear-eyed about the setup, however. Q1 results missed both revenue and earnings per share (EPS) estimates, and the stock's consensus rating is Hold across 13 analysts, with a price target of $28.45, implying downside from current levels. Short interest of 28.15% reflects meaningful skepticism. For investors with a longer-term horizon and conviction in the lunar economy, the story remains compelling, though, and definitely worth keeping on watch. Redwire: Space Infrastructure With a Defense Tailwind Redwire NYSE: RDW designs and manufactures mission-critical hardware for civil, national security, and commercial space markets. Its offerings include deployable solar arrays, antennas, robotic arms, and in-space manufacturing systems. It sits across a wide range of government and commercial space programs and benefits directly when sector spending accelerates. The stock is up close to 85% year to date, thanks to the sector-wide momentum, improving fundamentals, and a rapid pace of contract wins. Q1 2026 revenue grew 57.9% year over year to $96.97 million, and the record backlog of $498 million grew 71% year over year. This week, Redwire announced a new multi-year contract to deliver NATO's next-generation Penguin Mk3 tactical UAS, and the company is participating in SOF Week 2026. Institutional ownership is impressive, with inflows of over $1.2 billion over the prior 12 months, compared to just $24 million in outflows. Analysts hold a consensus Moderate Buy rating, with a price target of $14.22, which is close to recent prices. For investors focused on the multi-year trajectory of a company supplying hardware across both defense and space programs, the fundamental momentum is difficult to ignore. Voyager Technologies: The Commercial Space Station Play Voyager Technologies NYSE: VOYG is the most forward-looking name on this list. The company operates across three segments: Defense and National Security, Space Solutions, and Starlab Space Stations. That third segment is what sets it apart. Voyager holds a majority stake in Starlab, the commercial space station being developed to succeed the ISS upon its decommissioning in 2030. The stock is up over 40% year to date and trading near a major area of resistance and potential breakout inflection point. Q1 results showed a record backlog of $275 million, up 54% year over year, with management raising its full-year 2026 revenue guidance. Most recently, Voyager deployed Red Hat Enterprise Linux on its LEOcloud Space Edge infrastructure on the ISS, an early proof-of-concept for the in-space computing capabilities Starlab is being designed to offer at scale. TD Cowen initiated coverage of this stock on April 20 with a Buy rating, citing Starlab's optionality as a key differentiator. Citigroup, most recently, boosted its target from $36 to $44, which reflected almost 30% upside potential at the time. Overall, the consensus across 13 analysts is Moderate Buy, with a price target of $41.36, implying moderate upside. The 2030 ISS decommissioning creates a structural demand driver for Starlab that is largely independent of near-term market sentiment, making Voyager one of the more interesting long-term stories in the sector right now. Should You Invest $1,000 in Intuitive Machines Right Now? Before you consider Intuitive Machines, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Intuitive Machines wasn't on the list. While Intuitive Machines currently has a Hold rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
