A Bigger Piece of the OpenAI Pie

A Bigger Piece of the OpenAI Pie

OpenAI employees will be able to cash out shares worth $1.5bn in a tender offer to SoftBank [SFTBY], CNBC reported; the offer will be open until December 24 for eligible current and former employees. This move aligns with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s aim to expand his stake in Microsoft-backed [MSFT] OpenAI, which was valued at $157bn after a $6.6bn funding round in October, in which SoftBank invested $500m. Elsewhere, OpenAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) video tool Sora was briefly leaked online, amid concerns the model could exploit creatives, according to the Financial Times.

Robotaxi Stock IPOs at Top of Range

Pony AI [PONY] raised $260m in its US IPO, pricing shares at $13 each, at the top of its range, Bloomberg reported. This values the self-driving tech firm — co-located in Silicon Valley, Beijing and Guangzhou — at $4.5bn, reflecting strong interest in both autonomous driving and Chinese listings. Founded in 2016, Pony AI operates robotaxis and trucks across the US and China, with permits for fully driverless, fare-charging taxis in parts of cities including Beijing and Shenzhen.

It Seems CrowdStrike Has Been Forgiven

The cyber security firm [CRWD] surpassed $4bn in ARR and reported strong Q3 results, with EPS of $0.93 beating estimates of $0.81 and revenue of $1.01bn exceeding the $983m forecast, Seeking Alpha detailed. Despite Q4 EPS guidance of $0.84–0.86 being just shy of the $0.87 estimate, its revenue outlook, with a midpoint of $1.035bn, exceeds projections. In short, the firm appears to have recovered from its summer outage, maintaining an almost perfect retention rate.

Does a Buffet Sell-off Spell Trouble for Nu Bank?

Brazilian neobank Nu [NU] is reportedly considering moving its legal base to the UK, following talks at the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro. However, NU stock has cooled following a mixed earnings report and news that Warren Buffet slashed his Nu stake by 19% in Q3 — the first time he has sold the stock since its IPO in December 2021. OPTO explores why many analysts are still bullish about Latin America’s hottest fintech, and compares its financials and products to key regional competitors.

Smartphone Sales Bounce Back; Apple Doesn’t

New figures from market tracker IDC show that global smartphone sales rebounded 6.2% in 2024 after two years of decline, but Apple [AAPL] saw just 0.4% growth. Despite this, Apple remains the profit leader, with an average selling price over $1,000, compared to Android rivals at $295. Growth was driven by pent-up demand and the opening up of regions that previously had lower penetration, where affordable Android devices excelled. Apple is expected to perform better in 2025 as market dynamics evolve, according to Bloomberg. 

Buoyant Hynix Boosts Dividends

SK Hynix [000660:KS] plans to raise dividends by 25%, pledging ₩1,500 per share annually from 2025–27, totaling $720m per year. The move reflects its growth in AI memory chips; it has outpaced Samsung Electronics [SSNLF] as Nvidia’s [NVDA] top supplier of high-bandwidth memory for AI training. SK Hynix hinted at potential earlier shareholder returns if business performance exceeds expectations, capitalizing on its dominance in a booming market.

This Clean Energy Stock is Up 210.68%. How?

American Superconductor’s [AMSC] share price performance has been electric this year. The stock has surged 210.68% year-to-date and is up 269.76% in the past 12 months. AMSC’s gain is in stark contrast to the ProShares S&P Kensho Cleantech ETF [CTEX], which has been trading flat over the past year and is down 14.94% year-to-date. On Foresight, the OPTO Substack channel, we take a deep dive into what has been powering AMSC stock’s recent gains and ask whether it can maintain this momentum.