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Honeywell spin-off Quantinuum stock surges on debut
Quantinuum stock surged 13.3% as the Honeywell spin-off was valued at US$17.63 billion (A$24.7 billion) in its Nasdaq debut on Thursday in one of the most closely watched listings in the emerging quantum technology sector. Shares in the United States-based company (NASDAQ: QNAT) opened at $68 and traded between $59.89 and $71.35 before closing at $60.38. "We believe we are ready for public markets," Quantinuum Chief Executive Officer Raj Hazra was quoted telling Reuters in this article. Qantinuum said in an announcement on Wednesday it had priced the “upsized” initial public offering (IPO) of 28 million shares of its Class A common stock to the public at $60 in the IPO, which raised $1.68 billion. It also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4.2 million shares of this stock to cover over-allotments at the IPO, less underwriting discounts and commissions. Analysts believe the investment case for quantum computing is largely driven by its long-term potential amid caution about the timeline for meaningful revenue generation, Reuters reported. “The support is meaningful because quantum computing is increasingly viewed as a strategic technology with implications for national securit
Hardware
Dell lifts outlook amid record revenue; shares surge
Dell has reported stronger-than-expected results for its latest earnings, with revenue growth soaring past estimates. The company reported record revenue of US$43.84 billion (A$61.08 billion), up 88% year over year, mostly driven by a growing demand for artificial intelligence. Markets were expecting $35.74 billion in revenue. Additionally, record non-GAAP diluted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $4.86, above the $2.96 expected and up 214% over the same period. Revenue for AI-Optimized servers specifically was posted at US$16.1 billion, up 757% year over year. In the wake of these strong results, Dell has updated its 2027 outlook to $60 billion, an increase of $10 billion. “I don’t think applying historical markets or historical views about the market and how it is going to act are appropriate today,” said Dell Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said on the earnings call. “We’re finding new uses…What is the value of adding intelligence into every workflow, every decision, every product, every customer interaction. I would assert the value is pretty darn high!” Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) stock traded 32.8% higher on Friday, closing at a record high of $420.91. The company's market c
Hardware
HP beats estimates for Q2; shares slip 0.9%
HP Inc. has announced an 11% increase in net earnings for the second quarter of the 2026 financial year (Q2 FY26) due to higher demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-optimised personal computers and business laptops. The technology company best known for selling computers, printers and other equipment said net earnings rose to $450 million in the three months ended 30 April 2026 from $406 million in the previous corresponding period (pcp). Diluted earnings per share rose 21% to 86 cents on net revenue, which grew 9% to $14.4 billion compared with the pcp.Source: HP Inc.“We delivered strong second-quarter results, with 9% revenue growth and even stronger earnings and free cash flow,” Chief Financial Officer Karen Parkhill said in a press release. “With two solid quarters behind us, we are executing with discipline in a dynamic environment and are strengthening our outlook for the fiscal year to reflect this.” Interim Chief Executive Officer Bruce Broussard said HP continued executing its future of work strategy through intelligent devices, edge AI and connected experiences while navigating rising commodity costs. “We introduced innovations across AI PCs, Z workstations, AI-powered print, and HP IQ that simplify wor
Hardware
AMD to invest US$10bn in Taiwan's AI chip industry
AMD will invest over US$10 billion (A$14.03 billion) into Taiwan’s artificial intelligence industry, it said today, with the goal of raising its capacity to build advanced chips. The company is working with Taiwan-based semiconductor assembly firms like ASE, SPIL, and PTI to develop its next-generation chips. Taiwan is the home of chip manufacturers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Foxconn. “As AI adoption accelerates, our global customers are rapidly scaling AI infrastructure to meet growing compute demand,” said AMD CEO and chair Lisa Su. “By combining AMD leadership in high-performance computing with the Taiwan ecosystem and our strategic global partners, we are enabling integrated, rack-scale AI infrastructure that helps customers accelerate deployment of next-generation AI systems.” These Taiwan investments will support the release of AMD’s Helios rack-scale AI platform in 2026’s second half, the company said. It is collaborating with Taiwan-based original design manufacturing partners Sanmina, Wiwynn, Wistron, and Inventec to build Helios-based systems. AMD also said yesterday that its next-generation Venice processor is ramping up production in Taiwan, using TSMC’s 2-nanometre p
Hardware
Super Micro posts revenue miss, issues strong guidance
Super Micro Computer missed sales estimates last quarter amid customer readiness issues, though its shares spiked 18% due to strong earnings guidance. Net sales were US$10.24 billion, up from $4.60 billion one year ago but under LSEG consensus estimates of $12.33 billion. Earnings per share were $0.84, rising from $0.31 and passing estimates of $0.62. “Supermicro's transformation into a total datacenter infrastructure provider is accelerating,” said CEO and president Charles Liang. “Our margin recovery and the rapid growth of our DCBBS [Data Center Building Block Solutions] business demonstrate that our business remains robust. With the addition of our new U.S. manufacturing facilities in Silicon Valley, we are exceptionally well-positioned to meet the massive demand for various AI and enterprise verticals.” Supermicro’s weaker-than-forecast sales were impacted by customers’ readiness issues, Liang said on an earnings call, as some sites had not yet installed the required power and networking capacity. The company expects to receive this revenue in the coming quarters. Income from operations was $625.87 million, soaring from $146.78 million one year ago. Operating expenses grew from $293.44 million to $392.81 millio

Hardware
AMD data centre revenue surges, shares spike 16.5%
Advanced Micro Devices beat estimates last quarter due to surging revenue from data centre products, with shares jumping 16.5%. Earnings per share were US$1.37, up from $0.96 and passing LSEG consensus estimates of $1.29. Revenue grew 38% to $10.25 billion, above estimates of $9.89 billion. “We delivered an outstanding first quarter, driven by accelerating demand for AI infrastructure, with Data Center now the primary driver of our revenue and earnings growth,” said AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su. “We are seeing strong momentum as inferencing and agentic AI drive increasing demand for high-performance CPUs and accelerators.” Revenue for its data centre segment surged 57% to $5.8 billion, which it credited to high demand for its Epyc microprocessors and Instinct chips. Its client and gaming segment’s revenue rose 23% to $3.6 billion. Client revenue grew 26%, driven by AMD’s Ryzen processors. For the second quarter, AMD projects revenue of $11.2 billion, plus or minus $300 million. This is well above estimates of $10.52 billion. The company is also set to launch its Helios system, a server rack for artificial intelligence data centres, in the year’s second half. Meta and OpenAI ordered Helios racks in recent months,
Hardware
Micron, Sandisk up, memory crisis to persist: analysts
Shares in memory chip companies Micron and Sandisk continued their rally after Melius Research analysts projected that memory demand could remain high through 2030. The prices of memory components have soared in recent months due to high demand from artificial intelligence companies. Melius’ two-year price target for Micron is US$1,350, with analyst Ben Reitzes saying its shares could rise a further 41% in the next year. "The market will eventually be willing to pay more for the unusual durability of the margin and demand profiles that AI makes possible,” wrote Reitzes. “We are only in the early innings of this AI cycle and the need for memory has never been stronger.” Melius’ price target for Sandisk is $700. Reitzes projected that its shares will rise a further 36% in the next 12 months. Memory prices rose by 80-90% in the first month of 2026, Counterpoint Research found. Manufacturers like Micron are increasingly re-routing production towards high-bandwidth memory chips, which are used to train AI models. Micron (NASDAQ: MU) shares are up 567.7% in the past 12 months, while Sandisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) shares have surged by 3,216.4%. Micron’s share price closed 5.6% higher at $524.56, and rose a further 0.3% afte
Hardware
Qualcomm to build chips for OpenAI smartphone: analyst
Qualcomm has reportedly agreed to build processors for a new OpenAI smartphone, briefly sending its shares up 7%. Semiconductor company MediaTek will also work with OpenAI and Qualcomm to develop the chip, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The phone will be co-designed by China-based Apple supplier Luxshare. “Only by fully controlling both the operating system and hardware can OpenAI deliver a comprehensive AI agent service,” wrote Kuo. “The smartphone is the only device that captures the user’s full real-time state, which is the most important input for real-time AI agent inference.” “Smartphone hardware is already highly mature, so OpenAI can work with the supply chain to develop the device. On the business model side, OpenAI may bundle subscriptions with hardware and build a new AI agent ecosystem with developers.” Mass production of the device is expected in 2028, according to Kuo. Specifications and suppliers for the processors would also be finalised by late 2026 or early 2027. Qualcomm and MediaTek could benefit from long-term replacement demand under the partnership, Kuo said. While the companies have not publicly confirmed these plans, OpenAI acquired former Apple design head
Hardware
TSMC profit soars but flags future hit amid Iran war
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. beat estimates last quarter as its profit surged 58%, but flagged a potential future hit from rising material costs amid the Iran war. Revenue was up 35.1% to NT$1.134 trillion (US$35.90 billion), above LSEG SmartEstimates of $1.127 trillion. Earnings per share soared 58.3% to $22.08 (US$3.49). “Our business in the first quarter was supported by strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies,” said senior VP and CFO Wendell Huang. “Moving into second quarter 2026, we expect our business to be supported by continued strong demand for our leading-edge process technologies.” The revenue and earnings beats come as TSMC has reportedly begun hiking prices on its advanced chips. It told clients that it would raise prices for these chips from 2026 through 2029, per Taiwanese outlet United Daily News. The company’s gross margin was 66.2% last quarter, increasing from 58.8% one year ago. TSMC credited this to cost improvement measures, higher capacity utilisation, and a favourable foreign exchange rate. Its operating margin was 58.1%, up from 48.5%. Advanced technologies represented 74% of its total wafer revenue, rising slightly from 73%. Shipments of 3-nanometre chips ac