usdaed

The air around Palantir, naturally, grew thick with skepticism. The latecomers, those who measured fortunes in weeks instead of decades, muttered of overvaluation, of bubbles poised to burst. They saw only the ascent, the impossible climb, and failed to understand the peculiar gravity that held the company aloft. They spoke of multiples and ratios, of benchmarks and norms – the sterile language of those who believe the future can be contained within a spreadsheet. They didn’t see the currents shifting beneath the surface, the slow, deliberate construction of something…different.

It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? Everyone’s chasing yield, chasing growth, but actually finding companies that can consistently generate free cash flow feels like finding a decent avocado at the supermarket – increasingly rare and requiring a careful inspection. Keystone clearly thinks VFLO has those avocados. Or, well, the financial equivalent.

Back in twenty-one, there was talk of seven hundred and fifty million accounts by twenty-five. A grand ambition, laid out like a surveyor’s map across the future. It didn’t come to pass. The numbers stalled, climbed slowly, then flattened. Four hundred and twenty-six million in twenty-one, creeping to four hundred and thirty-nine by the end of twenty-five. A farmer doesn’t measure success in inches when he needs feet. It’s a small difference, perhaps, but in the vast fields of commerce, small differences can mean the difference between harvest and hardship.

So, naturally, the question arises: will Micron split its stock? Now, a stock split… it’s like taking a perfectly good bagel and cutting it into smaller pieces. You still have the same amount of bagel, but suddenly it feels like more. A psychological trick, really. And Wall Street loves psychological tricks. It’s how they convinced people tulips were worth a fortune.

Aehr, it must be understood, is not a creator of the gleaming devices that capture the public imagination. Rather, it is a craftsman of the tools by which those devices are judged – a provider of semiconductor test and burn-in solutions, ensuring the quality and reliability of the chips that power our modern world. For some time, its prosperity was tethered to the burgeoning market for Silicon Carbide (SiC) chips, driven by the initial, fervent rush toward electric vehicles. A boom, it seemed, destined to reshape transportation. Yet, as often happens with grand visions, the reality proved more measured. Automakers, faced with practical considerations and the recalcitrance of consumer demand, tempered their expectations. The initial fervor cooled, and Aehr, like a ship adjusting its sails to a changing wind, found itself compelled to seek a new harbor.

They reported earnings last night, beating expectations, which is good. But the 2026 guidance… well, it wasn’t exactly inspiring. Revenue was $9.07 billion, earnings per share $1.55. Solid numbers, really. Though, the earnings were slightly down from the previous year, blamed on a particularly nasty winter that delayed some plant work. Honestly, I’m starting to suspect winter is just a conspiracy orchestrated by HVAC companies. Still, they beat analyst expectations, which, in this market, feels like winning a participation trophy.

Their current retrenchment—a fall of twenty percent or more from recent, inflated peaks—presents a curious juncture. A moment, one might venture, for a discerning bottom-fisher, a collector of undervalued echoes. The resultant increase in forward yields—a palliative, if not a cure—offers a steady, if unexciting, rhythm against the erratic pulse of the market. It is, to be sure, a pedestrian pleasure, but one not entirely devoid of merit.

Shares bounced back a little—2.7% as of this afternoon, which, let’s be real, is just trying to look busy. Year-to-date, they’re down about 22%. It’s a good reminder that even the biggest companies can have a bad hair day. Or, in this case, a bad algorithm day.

A disposal occurred. Applied Digital and ARM Holdings, once deemed worthy of a fraction of Nvidia’s capital, have been released back into the currents. The logic of this release remains opaque. One assumes, naturally, a calculation of maximized return, yet the market rarely yields to such simple accounting. Instead, a new acquisition has been made – a stake in Intel, a legacy giant, now attempting a precarious rebirth. The stock, already exhibiting a peculiar buoyancy – a rise exceeding 7,000% since its initial offering – suggests a momentum not entirely explained by fundamental value. One wonders if the market operates on reason, or merely on the collective expectation of it.