DeepSeek's AI Restricted by ‘Hundreds' of Companies Within Days
'Hundreds' of companies, particularly those associated with governments, have worked to block access to DeepSeek due to concerns about potential data leaks to the Chinese government and what they view as weak privacy safeguards, Nadir Izrael, chief technology officer of the cyber firm Armis Inc., said, referring to the startup's own clientele. Most customers of Netskope Inc., a service that companies use to restrict employee access to websites, are similarly moving to limit the service.
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Veteran analyst drops blunt 7-word take on AMD's China deal
Veteran analyst drops blunt 7-word take on AMD's China deal originally appeared on TheStreet. Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon isn't holding back on AMD's () new path to China's AI chip market. The tech giant struck an agreement with Washington, which effectively reopens sales of its high-end MI308 chips to Chinese customers. It does, however, come at a cost that's raising eyebrows on Wall Street. 💵💰💰💵 The change has the potential to do a lot of things, including shifting competitive dynamics, while setting a new tone for how U.S. chipmakers navigate future trade rules. Also, it opens up a Pandora's box on policy, precedent, and long-term strategy. For AMD, the stakes go beyond quarterly numbers, and Rasgon's pertinent take hints at broader industry consequences that could play out far beyond a single deal. Wall Street weighs pros and cons of U.S.-China AI chip deal The Trump administration struck what many would call an unusual agreement with China in a breakthrough for the AI chip market. The new deal allows Nvidia () and AMD to resume selling certain AI chips (Nvidia's H20 and AMD's MI308) in return, though, both giants need to pay 15% of those sales back to Washington. President Donald Trump had initially pushed for a 20% cut, with the revised stance showing that the approved chips don't compromise national security. Commerce has already begun issuing export licenses. The market reaction was mostly mixed. The bars see the arrangement as a 'pay-to-play' model, which sets a broader precedent for export-controlled sectors, likening it to an unofficial export tax. They warn it could significantly impede how businesses allocate capital and plan product strategies. Supporters, however, argue that gaining back access to the world's second-largest AI market outweighs the cost. Tight supply enables Nvidia to pass much of the 15% dent to customers, keeping margin erosion to a minimum while keeping China in its customer base. Nevertheless, the risks remain, especially if Beijing discourages approved chip purchases, undercutting demand. On top of that, legal and political hiccups over the constitutionality and long-term wisdom of the policy are also a possibility that can't be ignored. Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon: "Keeping 85% is better than zero percent" in AMD's China deal 'Keeping 85% is better than zero percent.' That's how Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon frames AMD's unique deal to resume AI chip sales in China, even if it entails giving up a sizeable revenue cut. As discussed earlier, the deal green-lights AMD's MI308 AI chip sales in China again after earlier export comes with a steep price tag, though: a hefty 15% of a sales cut that goes straight to Washington. Rasgon sees it mostly as a 'mixed bag.' On one hand, it gives AMD access to a rapidly growing market that's just too big to ignore. On the other hand, it could potentially slash 5 to 15 percentage points off gross margins for the affected products, potentially resulting in several hundred million dollars lost each year. Some of the hits could be passed along to consumers, but Rasgon warns that policy could be a big push for Chinese players like Huawei to supercharge their own AI chip development efforts. He also flagged a key tactical gap where Nvidia is designing export-compliant chips that could potentially avoid such fees, while AMD is yet to reveal any comparable China-specific products. For now, Rasgon is sticking with a Market Perform rating and $140 price target, which effectively reflects the current balancing act for investors. AMD posts record Q2 sales, eyes China as a second-half swing factor That said, it's imperative to recap AMD's mixed Q2 results, spurring investor sentiment in the process. It did post record revenue of $7.69 billion, up 32% from a year ago, while comfortably beating Wall Street estimates. However, its Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.48, while GAAP EPS was $0.54. The culprit was roughly an $800 million inventory and related charges linked to U.S. export controls on its MI308 data-center GPU. Strip those charges away, and the non-GAAP gross margin would have been roughly 54% instead of 43%. More News: Tesla just got its biggest break yet in the robotaxi wars with a key permit Bank of America drops shocking price target on hot weight-loss stock post-earnings JPMorgan drops 3-word verdict on Amazon stock post-earnings Zeroing in on specific segments, Data Center sales came in at $3.2 billion, up 14% year over year. A big part of that was its strong EPYC CPU sales, which efficiently offset GPU headwinds in China. Client sales hit a stupendous $2.5 billion, up 67% on Ryzen demand. Similarly, Gaming rose 73% to $1.1 billion, while Embedded sales were a downer, slipping 4% to $824 million. These results took AMD's free cash flow to a whopping $1.18 billion. For Q3, its management guided to about $8.7 billion in sales (±$300 million) and a 54% non-GAAP gross margin, excluding any MI308 sales to China. Nevertheless, China is set to be the wild card for the rest of the year. With the export licenses approved, AMD can now offset part of the fee through pricing, resulting in a stronger Q3 showing. Hence, the bigger picture is clear, which shows that operational strength remains, but China policy will help define AMD's trajectory for the remainder of the analyst drops blunt 7-word take on AMD's China deal first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 12, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared. Sign in to access your portfolio
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Why this eponymous AI stock popped 50% (and isn't slowing down)
Why this eponymous AI stock popped 50% (and isn't slowing down) originally appeared on TheStreet. SoundHound AI () stock is living up to its name, and then some, with its stock soaring over 50% this week. The eponymous AI stock's rally is on a stupendous run, following a monster Q2 beat, raised guidance, with new deals spanning Chinese automakers to Red Lobster drive-thrus. It's the kind of run that has the bulls blinking at the speed. 💵💰💰💵 However, there's no single headline that explains it all. Instead, the rally is a culmination of multiple threads pieced together. For a company that was once dismissed as niche, the sudden uptrend is forcing investors to revisit their narratives. Why SoundHound's voice-first AI approach is resonating with investors SoundHound AI isn't trying to ape Alexa or Siri, but it's carving a unique niche where voice assistants actually do something useful. Its AI-powered technology powers everything from drive-thru order systems, customer-service bots, and in-car assistants for brands like Hyundai and goal is straightforward in delivering swift, natural-sounding responses that efficiently cut wait times, reduce labor costs, and keep the action going. That specialization makes SoundHound a 'voice-first' alternative to the Big Tech assistants, and 'even for small operations,' the platform delivers stellar economics. Its relationship with Nvidia adds to its technical horsepower. It's important to note that SoundHound was once an Nvidia-backed startup, where it held 1.73 million shares of SOUN stock, worth around $3.7 million at the end of December 2023. By the conclusion of last year, that same block would've been valued at close to $33.7 million. Nvidia cashed out in Q4 2024, though, a move confirmed in its Feb. 14, 2025, 13F filing. Nevertheless, SoundHound is still a key tech partner with Nvidia, integrating Nvidia's AI Enterprise stack, including NeMo and NIM microservices, into its next-gen in-vehicle assistant. Running on Nvidia DRIVE AGX, the system generates seamless responses with low latency, backed by robust retrieval-augmented generation for greater accuracy. That's a key edge for automotive use cases, where a split-second delay could impact the user. SoundHound AI posts record Q2, raises guidance on broad-based growth SoundHound AI's Q2 results were its strongest yet. Revenue surged 217% year over year to $42.7 million, blowing past expectations by about $10 million. On the bottom-line front, Non-GAAP EPS improved to a $0.03 loss, roughly $0.06 better than the Street's also raised full-year sales guidance to $160 million-$178 million, indicating an impressive run-rate heading into the second half of 2025. Moreover, growth wasn't limited to a solitary vertical. Its Automotive division surged after a major win with a large Chinese OEM, which plans to roll out SoundHound's in-vehicle assistant across multiple models worldwide. Moreover, its Restaurants segment posted 'breakthrough' momentum, with new logos like Red Lobster and Applebee's | IHOP, along with key renewals such as MOD Pizza. On the enterprise end, customer-service deployments grew at an encouraging pace in areas like financial services and healthcare. Also, it launched its powerful agentic AI platform 'Amelia 7,' powered by its Polaris speech foundation model, a move likely to increase cross-selling opportunities and deal sizes. Margins showed a conflicting picture with GAAP gross margins landing at 39% due to acquisition mix, while its liquidity remains healthy with $230 million in its cash till and zero debt at quarter-end. That gives SoundHound the flexibility to fund growth and scale new rollouts. Analysts shower SoundHound AI with praise after blowout Q2 SoundHound AI's latest quarter had Wall Street buzzing and, in many cases, raising their bets. Over the past week, the stock's up a superb 50%, skyrocketing 37.4% in the past month alone. Similarly, over nine months, the stock's up almost 49%. That said, Wedbush maintained its outperform rating and bumped its price target to $16 from $15, on the back of a greater confidence in the company's growth story heading into the back end of the year and beyond. Veteran tech analyst Daniel Ives showered praise on SoundHound AI after a blowout beat-and-raise quarter, with wins across the board. Also, the guidance bump was deemed conservative by Wedbush, pointing to strong demand across all verticals. More News: Tesla just got its biggest break yet in the robotaxi wars with a key permit Bank of America drops shocking price target on hot weight-loss stock post-earnings JPMorgan drops 3-word verdict on Amazon stock post-earnings Other firms joined in. Piper Sandler reiterated its neutral rating but lauded the better-than-expected profitability and gross margins. Similarly, DA Davidson hiked its target to $15, while Ladenburg Thalmann upgraded to buy and matched Wedbush's $16 call. As Dan Ives put it, SoundHound AI remains 'an underappreciated pure-play AI company taking share across all verticals.'Why this eponymous AI stock popped 50% (and isn't slowing down) first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 13, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 13, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
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Should Investors Hold or Fold Oracle Stock at a P/E Multiple of 36.7X?
Oracle ORCL stands at a critical juncture as its stock trades at a price-to-earnings multiple of 36.7 times, significantly above its historical average of 26.8 times over the past decade, and the Zacks Computer-Software industry average of 35.32x. While the software giant's aggressive pivot to cloud infrastructure and AI has driven impressive growth, the elevated valuation raises important questions for investors contemplating their next move in 2025. Cloud Momentum Versus Rich Valuation The company's transformation from traditional database software to a cloud infrastructure provider has yielded remarkable results. Oracle reported fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter revenues of $15.9 billion, representing an 11% year-over-year increase, with cloud infrastructure revenues surging 52% to $3 billion. CEO Safra Catz projects even more aggressive expansion ahead, forecasting cloud infrastructure growth to accelerate from 50% in fiscal 2025 to more than 70% in fiscal 2026. This momentum has attracted major clients, including Meta and Chinese retailer Temu, while partnerships with the Cleveland Clinic and the UAE's G42 for AI healthcare platforms demonstrate Oracle's expanding reach beyond traditional enterprise Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 revenues is currently pegged at $66.6 billion, suggesting growth of 16.02% from the year-ago quarter's reported figure. The consensus mark for fiscal 2026 earnings is pegged at $6.73 per share, up 0.1% over the past 30 days. Oracle Corporation Price and Consensus Oracle Corporation price-consensus-chart | Oracle Corporation Quote The company's involvement in the high-profile Stargate AI infrastructure initiative alongside OpenAI and SoftBank further validates its strategic positioning in the artificial intelligence revolution. Oracle plans to invest more than $25 billion in capital expenditures in fiscal 2026, more than triple its fiscal 2024 spending of $7 billion, reflecting management's confidence in sustained these growth catalysts, Oracle's current valuation presents a compelling case for patience. The stock's forward P/E ratio has expanded dramatically from its recent lows, now trading at levels not seen since the dot-com era. At 36.7 times earnings, Oracle commands a premium valuation that exceeds the sector average by a considerable margin. This elevated multiple leaves little room for error, particularly if growth rates fail to meet management's ambitious projections or if broader market conditions deteriorate. ORCL's P/E Ratio F12M Ratio Depicts Premium Valuation Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Cloud Market Competition and Stock Performance Oracle faces formidable competition in the cloud infrastructure market, where Amazon's AMZN AWS commands 30% market share, Microsoft's MSFT Azure holds 20% and Alphabet GOOGL-owned Google Cloud captures 13% in second-quarter 2025, per recent data from Amazon continues dominating through AWS scale advantages, Microsoft benefits from seamless enterprise integration, and Google leverages AI expertise, Oracle differentiates through competitive pricing and superior database integration. The company's recent partnerships with OpenAI and involvement in high-profile projects suggest that Oracle can carve a profitable niche despite trailing Amazon, Microsoft, and Google in absolute market of Oracle have gained 52.3% so far this year, outperforming the Zacks Computer and Technology sector's growth of 14.6%. Shares of Microsoft, Google and Amazon have returned 25.6%, 7.4% and 0.9% year to date, respectively. Year-to-Date Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Strategic Position for Patient Investors For existing shareholders, holding Oracle stock appears prudent given the company's strong competitive position and robust growth trajectory. The recent 25% dividend increase to 50 cents per share quarterly provides additional income while investors wait for the growth story to unfold. The company's remaining performance obligations of $138 billion offer substantial revenue visibility, supporting the long-term investment new investors might benefit from exercising patience. Oracle's fiscal third-quarter results in March 2025 disappointed investors when the company missed analyst expectations, demonstrating that execution risks remain despite favorable long-term trends. The stock's poor year-to-date performance suggests market participants are already recalibrating combination of accelerating cloud growth, strategic AI partnerships, and massive infrastructure investments positions Oracle well for the future. Yet at current valuations, the stock offers a limited margin of safety. Investors should monitor upcoming quarterly results closely, particularly cloud infrastructure metrics and cash flow generation, to assess whether the premium valuation remains justified. For now, existing shareholders should maintain positions while prospective buyers await more favorable entry points that better balance Oracle's undeniable growth potential with valuation discipline. Oracle currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report Oracle Corporation (ORCL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
