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Amkor rises after breaking ground on its new semiconductor packaging campus in Arizona, while increasing investment in the project to $7 billion

Amkor Technology Inc. soared in after-hours trading on Monday after announcing that it was breaking ground on its semiconductor advanced packaging and test plant in Arizona, while also increasing the investment in the facility to a total of $7 billion in collaboration with the US government.

The expanded investment will add an “additional cleanroom space and a second greenfield packaging and test facility,” creating a campus with “over 750,000 square feet of cleanroom space and as many as 3,000 high-quality jobs,” per the company’s press release. The plant will focus on “advanced packaging and testing technologies and will complement TSMC’s front-end wafer fabrication for full end-to-end semiconductor manufacturing.”

Located close to TSMC’s factories in Arizona, the proximity should reduce the need to send US-produced chips back to Asia for the final stages of production.

Amkor’s mega-plant was already set to be one of the most ambitious US-sited semiconductor packaging operations before the expansion, but the latest announcement raises the total project investment by more than $5 billion, backed by the Trump administration’s CHIPS for America Program.

According to the company, the “construction of the first manufacturing facility on the campus is expected to be completed in mid-2027, with production beginning in early 2028.”

Amkor’s mega-plant has already locked in Apple and Nvidia as customers, with Apple’s chief operating officer, Sabih Khan, saying:

“Factories across the United States are producing 19 billion chips for Apple this year alone, and Amkor’s new facility will package and test the Apple silicon produced at TSMC Arizona just down the road. We’re proud to invest in Amkor through Apple’s American Manufacturing Program, which is a key part of our $600 billion commitment to create jobs and accelerate innovation right here in the U.S.”

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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