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Yiwen Lu

Chipmaker Qorvo tumbles as Android-makers turn to cheaper chips

Shares of Qorvo were down more than 23% in early trading Wednesday, after the chipmaker warned of an industry-wide shift from its more advanced chips to lower-tier alternatives in its latest earnings.

Qorvo makes tiny computer chips for wireless devices like smartphones, iPads, and Apple Watches, in particular to support 5G deployment. Customers in the Android 5G market, however, have recently shifted to using lower-tier chips, a market that Qorvo does not participate in. That could result in Qorvo losing between 20% to 30% of a $1 billion market, the company said.

“While the flagship and premium tiers are holding up well, the mix in the mid- and entry tiers has shifted towards entry-tier 5G at the expense of mid-tier 5G,” Qorvo CEO Robert Bruggeworth said during an earnings call. The trend, which is not expected to reverse, will negatively impact Qorvo’s 2025 revenue and margins. 

The company forecasted adjusted earnings for the next quarter to be between $1.10 and $1.30, while analysts projected $1.39. 

Despite this bleak market output, Qorvo was able to beat Wall Street expectations in its latest quarter. The company reported earnings per share of $1.88 on $1.05 billion sales, above analysts’ estimates for EPS of $1.85 on sales of $1.03 billion.

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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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