Hundreds of investing and finance newsletters hit my (and maybe your) inbox every week. This is the best of the best.
This week, we bring you
- Netflix’s Streaming Gamble Pays Off
- CoreWeave’s Huge AI Data Deal
- Marathon’s Stealthy Crypto Shift
- AI Beats Shakespeare in Poetry Test
- Small Biz Law Ruled Out in AL
- Bitcoin Options Surge as Bulls Charge
- 3 Stocks To Consider
Thanks for reading.
Wyatt
Table of Contents
Netflix’s Streaming Gamble Pays Off
Netflix’s stock climbed 2% despite technical issues during the Tyson-Paul fight, pushing its year-to-date gains to 80%.
Netflix’s advertising strategy is proving successful, with half of new subscribers opting for the ad-supported tier and the platform reaching 70 million users in just two years.
Projected to add over 10 million new subscribers in Q4—more than double the previous quarter’s growth—Netflix is also making waves by transforming live streaming.
CoreWeave’s Huge AI Data Deal
Core Scientific and CoreWeave launched construction on a 100-megawatt data center in Oklahoma, marking a significant expansion in AI computing infrastructure.
The facility will host Nvidia GPUs for high-performance computing and AI workloads. This development comes during surging demand for AI computing capacity, with CoreWeave specifically targeting an undisclosed tech company’s artificial intelligence operations. Learn more about this massive AI infrastructure project.
Marathon’s Stealthy Crypto Shift
Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital has quietly begun mining Kaspa, a rising cryptocurrency with a $4.4 billion market cap.
Despite allocating just 1% of its 1,100-megawatt data center operations, the company has already accumulated $17 million worth of Kaspa. Once fully deployed, Marathon’s mining operation will control approximately 16% of Kaspa’s global hash rate.
AI Beats Shakespeare in Poetry Test
In a groundbreaking study from the University of Pittsburgh, AI-generated poetry fooled and was preferred over works by legendary poets like Shakespeare and Dickinson.
The study found participants could only identify AI-generated versus human-written poems 46.6% of the time – worse than random chance. AI-generated poems consistently rated higher across 13 different measures, including rhythm, beauty, and emotional impact.
See how AI is reshaping creative writing.
Small Biz Law Ruled Out in AL
The new Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) requires most small businesses with fewer than 20 employees to report their owners’ personal information to the Treasury Department.
The law has faced significant pushback from business owners concerned about privacy and regulatory burden. A federal court in Alabama recently ruled the CTA unconstitutional, though the ruling currently only applies to specific plaintiffs while the Department of Justice appeals.
Learn what this means for your business.
Bitcoin Options Surge as Bulls Charge
The launch of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust options saw overwhelming bullish sentiment, with 289,000 calls traded compared to just 65,000 puts.
Remarkable demand for leveraged Bitcoin exposure pushed the cryptocurrency to a record high of $94,000, with launch-day trading volume hitting 350,000 options—far surpassing the 145,000 seen during BITO’s debut three years ago. See how options trading is fueling Bitcoin’s rally.
What I’m reading
I get a lot of mail asking where I find all this good stuff. Here are a few of my favorite newsletters, all of which are free to subscribe to:
One-stop shop for the day’s biggest stories in the business of sports, music, and entertainment, sent daily.
Early Bird Stock Market News
Daily overview of the stories driving today’s market, every morning at 7AM.
Stock ideas
Here are three of my favorites from this past week.
Analysis provided by public.com.
Remember to always DYOR.
Northeast Bancorp ($NBN)
Bullish Case
- Strong Loan Purchase Performance:NBN purchased $808 million in loans at 90.7% of the unpaid principal balance in Q3.
- Growing SBA Loan Business: Partnership with Newity makes NBN the 5th largest SBA originator, with 766 loans totaling $82.4 million in Q3.
- Positive Stock Performance: NBN stock price has surged past $100, delivering a 20.8% IRR over a 7+ year holding period.
Bearish Case
- Interest Rate Risk: Reliance on brokered deposits and Federal Home Loan Bank advances for funding could pressure margins if interest rates shift unfavorably.
- Execution Risk in SBA Program: The recent Newity partnership for SBA loans marks a significant operational shift while addressing scaling challenges.
Red Cat Holdings($RCAT)
Bullish Case
- Army Contract Potential: Indicators suggest Red Cat will win the Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance T2 contract, with an estimated NPV of $300-400 million.
- Supply Chain Advantage: Reliable battery sourcing and emphasis on American-made components make it better positioned for steady military contracts.
- Production Scalability: Recent meetings with Futaba suggest preparation for large-scale production capabilities to meet potential military contract demands.
Bearish Case
- Financial Runway Concerns: RCAT may need $10-20 million before SRR revenue starts, with a $100 million shelf offering pointing to potential dilution.
- Contract Uncertainty: The actual size of the SRR program remains unclear, with estimates varying widely from $30 million to $100 million per year.
Lifecore Biomedical ($LFCR)
Bullish Case
- Significant Growth Potential: With doubled capacity and 35% utilization, LFCR can triple revenue with minimal investment.
- Margin Expansion Opportunity: Current EBITDA margins of 15% have a clear path to 25-30% through cost optimization and increased volume utilization.
- Industry Positioning and Valuation: Trading at <15x EV/EBITDA versus recent industry acquisitions at >25x while being well-positioned in the GLP-1 market.
Bearish Case
- Near-Term Growth Challenges: LFCR faces immediate headwinds from the largest customer Alcon’s destocking.
- Customer Concentration Risk: Heavy reliance on Alcon as a primary customer creates vulnerability, through mitigated by long-term contracts.
If you write amazing content and want to be featured, please send it through for consideration.
Cheers,
Wyatt
Disclosures
- There are affiliate links above; we’ll get a couple of bucks if you take action after you click.
- Nothing above is financial advice. DYOR, you filthy animal.
