Robotaxis Drive Up Baidu

TSMC Surge; Samsung Strike

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co [TSM] reported that Q2 sales grew their fastest since 2022, climbing 40% and beating the analyst consensus of 35.5%. The chipmaker’s market cap briefly hit $1trn ahead of the report. Elsewhere, Elon Musk suggested in a post on X that his artificial intelligence (AI) company xAI will not expand its arrangement with Oracle [ORCL] to rent Nvidia [NVDA] chips for its data centre in Tennessee. Samsung Electronics’ [SSNLF] largest labour union has extended a three-day walkout into an indefinite strike.

Robotaxis Drive Up Baidu

As the popularity of its Apollo Go robotaxi grows in China, shares of Baidu [BIDU] climbed as much as 13% in Hong Kong, following on from an 8.5% spike in its US shares on Tuesday. Volkswagen [VWAGY] has warned that it may need to close Audi’s Brussels site, with a drop in demand for high-end electric vehicles (EVs) forcing the brand to cut its margin target. Zapp Electric Vehicles’ [ZAPP] share price climbed 68% after a report showed gas-powered car sales in China are falling faster than expected.

Big Tech Steps Back from OpenAI

“Over the past eight months we have witnessed significant progress from the newly formed board and are confident in the company’s direction,” Microsoft [MSFT] wrote in a memo announcing that it has renounced a board role at OpenAI: “We no longer believe our limited role as an observer is necessary.” Apple [AAPL] has said it won’t take up a similar role on the start-up’s board. Elsewhere, Apple reported a 21% rise in PC shipments in Q2, the biggest jump among its competitors.

With Lithium in the Doldrums, Albemarle Slumps

The US Chemicals company [ALB] was the S&P 500’s biggest loser on Tuesday: its share price fell to its lowest point since October 2020, down 70% from record highs in late 2022. The ongoing drop-off in lithium prices is to blame, reported Seeking Alpha. Baird analyst Ben Kallo lowered his price target from $170 to $127, anticipating a “weak Q2” report for the firm. UBS analyst Joshua Spector, meanwhile, dropped his target from $124 to $109.

TSLA: “Acting Like a Meme Stock”?

Tesla’s [TSLA] recent 80% rally has brought the EV maker to a 15.4% weighting in Cathie Wood’s flagship ARK Innovation ETF [ARKK]. Shares in Tesla logged their 10th consecutive climb on Tuesday, which led legendary bond market fund manager Bill Gross to post on X that Tesla was “acting like a meme stock”. The stock has even overtaken Nvidia [NVDA] on the Interactive Brokers [IBKR] trading platform, according to Seeking Alpha.