First Solar shines after UBS says new tax guidance brightens clean energy outlook

First Solar shares jumped 9% Monday after UBS named the solar panel maker a top pick, pointing to fresh IRS guidance that largely preserved 2030 tax credits for the industry. The decision clears a cloud that’s hung over the solar sector for more than a year.

UBS analysts said demand for US utility-scale solar projects is outpacing supply, fueled in part by Big Tech’s build-out of AI data centers with 100% clean energy targets. Analysts now see First Solar’s adjusted earnings growing to $32 per share by 2027, up from $12 per share last year.

The rally adds to momentum from earlier this month, when First Solar topped Q2 estimates and raised its full-year outlook. Rival Sunrun was also up about 8.4% Monday afternoon on the news and recently beat the Street’s forecasts amid record energy storage demand.

First Solar shares are now up 19% year to date.

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Max Knoblauch

Roblox climbs on Q3 bookings beat, company says it has paid out more than $1 billion to creators so far this year

The gaming platform reported its third-quarter earnings before the market opened on Thursday.

Luke Kawa17m

US mineral stocks soar on lack of full rollback of China’s rare earth export curbs

There’s a silver lining for US mineral stocks even after US President Donald Trump rated his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea a “12 out of 10.”

China is delaying the imposition of its planned onerous restrictions on rare earth shipments, which had caused Trump to countenance a “massive increase” in tariffs on Chinese imports earlier this month. However, there seems to be no full rollback of China’s rare earths curbs, as measures announced in April that limited the flow of seven rare earth minerals by requiring export licenses appear to remain in effect, per Reuters.

Shares of Critical Metals, USA Rare Earth, MP Materials, Lithium Americas, and United States Antimony Corp. are all meaningfully in the green in premarket trading. This group had come under severe pressure on Monday after top US and Chinese trade negotiators said they made substantial progress on ironing out some thorny issues, teeing up a positive result for the Trump-Xi meeting.

Andrew Bishop, global head of policy research at Signum Global Advisors, believes that China came out ahead in this trade deal as Xi “traded tangibles for intangibles,” writing that Beijing’s latest step-up on this file were “never-planned-to-be-enforced rare earth controls.”

Claire Yubin Oh36m

OpenAI has started work on an IPO that could value the company at $1 trillion

OpenAI is preparing for an initial public offering that could value the company as high as $1 trillion.

Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reports that the ChatGPT-maker is considering filing with regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, despite CFO Sarah Friar reportedly having previously told associates that the company was aiming for the year after.

The news comes just two days after the company completed its restructuring into a non-profit that has a controlling equity stake in its for-profit business.

Whilst the talks are obviously still in very preliminary stages, OpenAI is currently considering raising $60 billion, or likely more through the process, per Reuters’ sources — much needed capital to satisfy the flurry of deals the company has signed with chipmakers, and data center providers.

Having pledged to spend an eye-watering $1 trillion on advancing its AI models and products, but with a revenue run rate that’s currently closer to $12 billion, maybe OpenAI really is finding that there is a limit to what it can raise in the private markets.

OpenAI Anthropic revenue — Sherwood News

OpenAI’s annual revenue run rate is reportedly expected to reach ~$20 billion by the end of the year.

Exclusive: OpenAI lays groundwork for juggernaut IPO at up to $1 trillion valuation

The news comes just two days after the company completed its restructuring into a non-profit that has a controlling equity stake in its for-profit business.

OpenAI’s annual revenue run rate is reportedly expected to reach ~$20 billion by the end of the year.

J. Edward Moreno

Eli Lilly rises after earnings, sales blow past Wall Street’s expectations

The company sold $6.5 billion worth of Mounjaro in this most recent quarter, $1 billion more than the Street was expecting.

Hyunsoo Rim2h

Chipotle tumbles on weak sales outlook, as younger consumers pull back on burritos and bowls

Chipotle plunged more than 19% in premarket trading on Thursday after the company cut its annual sales forecast for the third time this year, warning that spending weakness could persist through 2026.

The burrito chain now expects same-store sales to fall by a low-single-digit percentage in 2025, down from its July guidance for flat sales and its February projection for "low to mid-single digit" growth.

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