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At its heart, Nextpower is a peddler of precision. It builds the mechanisms that allow solar panels to follow the sun’s journey across the heavens, squeezing every last photon out of the day. It’s a bit like having a very attentive butler for your electricity.² This tracking isn’t just clever; it’s profitable. More sun equals more power, and in a world increasingly desperate for anything that doesn’t involve digging up ancient, grumpy carbon, that’s a very good thing indeed.

Look, I wasn’t buying the hype entirely. A bargain? Please. But attractive? Relatively. Like a rattlesnake in a silk bathrobe. Dangerous, yes, but with a certain… allure. A flicker of something REAL in a world drowning in synthetic garbage.

The explanation, as is so often the case, lies not within Nokia’s own management, but in the wider sphere of speculative enthusiasm. The present downturn originates with a sweeping sell-off of those companies most devoted to the pursuit of Artificial Intelligence, and led, with characteristic boldness, by Microsoft. It is a matter of some delicacy, naturally, to discuss such matters, but one cannot help but note the inherent risk in attaching undue importance to novelties.

Effective January 1st, a new series of directives has entered the operational phase. This is not a matter of simple adjustment, but rather a fundamental recalibration of expectations. The implications for those engaged in the development and deployment of AI – and, by extension, for those who allocate capital to such ventures – are becoming increasingly… defined. The year 2026 will not be marked by unbounded innovation, but by a rigorous accounting of processes and potential liabilities.

They increased their stake. That’s what filings are for, isn’t it? Signaling intent. A quarter-end bump of $7.26 million in value, factoring in price movement. It wasn’t a surge, but a steady hand reinforcing a position. Like adding another layer of felt to a worn poker table.

The prevailing wisdom, of course, clings to Nvidia as a moth to a flickering flame. They design the illusions, the shimmering mirages of artificial intelligence, but they do not conjure them from the earth itself. That labor, that quiet alchemy, falls to others. To Taiwan Semiconductor, a titan of understated power, a foundry where the very building blocks of the digital age are forged in the crucible of relentless innovation. They are the silent partners, the unseen hands that shape the future, and they ask for a modest recompense, a mere fraction of the spoils. It is said that the company’s engineers, generations removed from the sun-drenched rice paddies of their ancestors, dream in layers of silicon and gold, a language understood only by the machines themselves. The projections speak of a 60% compounded annual growth rate for AI chips, a figure that would make even the most jaded accountant raise an eyebrow. A mere 23.4 times forward earnings, they say. Almost…reasonable. A rarity in these times.

Apparently, Microsoft spent $37.5 billion on capital expenditures. Thirty-seven and a half billion! What are they doing with all that money? Building a solid gold data center? And then they have the nerve to admit demand for AI is exceeding capacity. Exceeding capacity! It’s like a restaurant bragging they’re too popular. Just prepare, people! That’s what planning is for.

If this arrangement materializes—and one should never underestimate the power of mutual self-deception—Intel’s foundry will experience a fleeting moment of relevance. A reprieve, if you will, from the inexorable march of TSMC. One imagines the celebrations will involve a single, flickering fluorescent bulb and a lukewarm cup of instant coffee.

The reports arrived, of course, filled with the usual cold pronouncements of Wall Street—record fourth-quarter earnings, a 13% surge in revenue, adjusted earnings per share leaping a startling 72%. But these numbers felt less like calculations and more like the inevitable unfolding of a long-foreseen plan, a reckoning of the sea’s bounty. They spoke of streamlining efficiencies, of course, but one could almost hear the shipwrights humming ancient songs as they shaped the company’s fate. Even the slight “miss” on Wall Street’s expectations seemed a mere formality, a fleeting shadow against the brilliance of the larger picture. The true revelation lay in the projections for 2026: a doubling of sales, an increase in capacity of nearly 7%, a promise of continued ascent on the waves of demand.