| | Hello and welcome to the Tech Stock Insider, the twice-weekly newsletter covering the biggest opportunities in the tech world. If you’re not looking for more emails from us, just click here to unsubscribe! | Today, we’ll look into the latest tech news, highlight some recent movers, and investigate an under-the-radar tech stock with potential. |
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| | | | Consumer Tech | Apple Rolls Out M4 MacBook Air with Power-Packed Upgrades | | Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has introduced the latest version of its MacBook Air, now powered by the M4 chip. The new models come in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes and offer improved speed, better graphics, and enhanced multitasking capabilities. | Apple claims the M4 chip delivers twice the performance of the M1-based MacBook Air while offering significant gains over older Intel-powered models. The laptops now support up to 32GB of memory, an upgrade from the M3’s 24GB limit. They also feature 10-core CPUs and 10-core GPUs, boosting power efficiency and responsiveness. | The new MacBook Air models come with Apple’s Center Stage camera, which keeps users in the frame during video calls. They now support two external displays when the lid is closed, with Thunderbolt 4 ports. Apple maintains up to 18 hours of battery life on a single charge. | A new sky blue color joins the lineup alongside macOS Sequoia 15.4. The MacBook Air also integrates Apple Intelligence, offering tools for content summarization, photo editing, and productivity enhancements. | Apple has lowered the pricing, with the 13-inch MacBook Air starting at $999 and the 15-inch at $1,199. The refreshed lineup is now available for purchase. |
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| | Artificial Intelligence | Alibaba Unveils QwQ-32B AI Model as China Backs Tech Growth | | Alibaba Group's latest release of an artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning model, known as QwQ-32B, resulted in a new upward move in its shares. The new AI model, with 32 billion parameters, is said to achieve performance levels comparable to the globally recognized DeepSeek's R1 model, which has 671 billion parameters. | The company's AI unit announced the news via a post on X, stating that the QwQ-32B demonstrated capabilities in mathematical reasoning, coding, and general problem-solving in benchmark tests. It performed close to top models such as OpenAI's o1 mini and DeepSeek's R1. | This comes as AI models are rapidly being adopted worldwide. The Chinese government pledged increased support for industries, including artificial intelligence, humanoid robots, and 6G telecom, on Wednesday. | The QwQ-32B model is accessible through Alibaba's chatbot service, Qwen Chat. Users can select from various Qwen models, including Qwen2.5-Max, which Alibaba touts as the most powerful language model in the Qwen series. | Alibaba’s cloud Intelligence provided a significant contribution to a strong jump in profit for the December quarter. |
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| | | | Software | MongoDB Projects Slower Atlas Growth in Latest Outlook | | MongoDB, the database software maker, saw its shares tumble following the release of its disappointing guidance. Revenue was reported at $548.4 million, surpassing the expected $519.6 million. Compared to the same period a year ago, the company's revenue increased by approximately 20% in the quarter that concluded on January 31, according to a company statement. | MongoDB said that it is experiencing slower growth than expected in new applications using its Atlas cloud-based database service. For the fiscal first quarter, MongoDB's guidance is for 63 cents to 67 cents in adjusted earnings per share on revenue of $524 million to $529 million. This is in contrast to the analyst expectations, which had expected 62 cents of per-share earnings and revenue of $526.8 million. | For fiscal 2026, MongoDB expects adjusted earnings per share of $2.44 to $2.62 and revenue of $2.24 billion to $2.28 billion. This would imply a 12.7% revenue growth, marking the slowest rate since the company went public in 2017. Analysts had been predicting earnings of $3.34 per share and revenue of $2.32 billion. |
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| | Recent Tech Movers | JD.com (JD) jumped after the Chinese e-commerce firm reported net revenue for the fourth quarter that beat the average analyst estimate. | Veeva Systems (VEEV) stock gained after the healthcare software company reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations and gave an outlook that is seen as strong. | Zscaler (ZS) shares are on the up after the security software company reported second-quarter results that beat expectations and raised its full-year forecast. | Don’t Overlook This Tech Stock | ON Semiconductor (ON) is in the spotlight after its proposal to acquire competitor Allegro Microsystems for $6.9 billion. The chipmaker’s bid has garnered a generally positive response from industry analysts, who see potential synergies between the two firms. | Analysts following the sector have largely reacted positively to the news, citing the potential for synergies between the two companies. This could potentially lead to increased efficiency and profitability for the combined entity in the future. | | Technology (Sponsored) | | | Forget rockets or brain implants… | Elon’s new AI product could be his biggest invention yet. | Jeff Brown tried it himself recently and caught his experience on camera. | Click here to see this footage because according to Tesla Magazine, this new product “could well shape the technological and economic future of our society.” |
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| | Don’t Overlook This Tech Stock | | | Everything Else | Yum Brands has invested $1 billion in digital and technology, with 500 U.S. Taco Bell locations using AI-enabled drive-throughs and an AI restaurant coach assisting managers with operational efficiencies. TSMC says its $100 billion U.S. investment, announced earlier in the week, will not affect domestic expansion, while U.S. President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on chips. Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI does not warrant a merger review, despite criticism from digital rights campaigners, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority concluded and therefore closed its investigation. Corning has partnered with U.S. solar manufacturers Suniva and Heliene to produce the only solar panel made entirely from American components, marking a significant step in strengthening the U.S. solar manufacturing sector against Chinese competition. Intel won the dismissal of a shareholder lawsuit alleging it concealed issues in its foundry business, which led to job cuts and a dividend suspension, contributing to a $32 billion stock decline.
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| | That's our coverage for today; thanks for reading! Reply to this email with feedback or any tech stocks you want me to check out. | Best Regards,
—Noah Zelvis
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