• Intel +25% this week after reports of a manufacturing deal with Apple. After years of being written off, Intel is suddenly back at the center of the AI + US chip manufacturing story. The stock is now up more than 200% in 2026.
• AMD +25% after a massive Q1 beat. Revenue jumped 38% YoY and Meta announced plans to deploy up to 6 GW of AMD Instinct GPUs. Markets are now treating AMD as a real alternative in AI infrastructure, not just a secondary player.
• Micron +37% as AI memory demand exploded. DRAM prices surged, HBM supply is reportedly sold out for quarters, and Micron hit fresh all-time highs. AI isn’t just about GPUs anymore, memory has become a major bottleneck.
• Stripe’s Radar blocked $4.4M worth of AI free-trial fraud in just two months. Abuse of AI free trials has surged 6.2x as users exploit compute-heavy products. Stripe is quietly becoming one of the biggest infrastructure winners of the AI economy.
Global Markets This Week
• U.S. markets hit fresh records again. Strong jobs data and earnings pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to another winning week, with the Nasdaq up 4.5%.
• Europe stayed positive despite renewed tariff threats between the U.S. and EU.
• Japan rallied hard on AI supply-chain momentum, with the Nikkei touching record highs before cooling slightly.
• China stayed policy-supported, while Hong Kong lagged as geopolitical tensions resurfaced.
• India saw a mixed tape: benchmark indices stayed resilient, midcaps hit fresh highs, but rupee weakness and rising oil prices kept pressure in the background.
To read more, click the link: Vested Shorts: Intel +25% on Apple manufacturing deal, AMD +25% on Q1 results, Micron +37% on AI memory frenzy, Stripe's Radar blocks $4.4M in AI trial fraud