Market Beats | Unitree Robotics IPO Draws Massive Retail Demand in Shanghai Listing; Intel to Offer $15 Billion in Common Stock; Microsoft Plans Significant Boost in Next-Gen AI Chip Production; GameStop Considers Withdrawing $56 Billion Bid for eBay; US Investment Giants Near $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Partnership with Nvidia; Value Aligned Research Advisors Drops 44% in July; Jefferies Downgrades Apple to Underperform

—— Intel to Offer $15 Billion in Common Stock; Microsoft Plans Significant Boost in Next-Gen AI Chip Production; GameStop Considers Withdrawing $56 Billion Bid for eBay; US Investment Giants Near $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Partnership with Nvidia; Value Aligned Research Advisors Drops 44% in July; Jefferies Downgrades Apple to Underperform; Unitree Robotics IPO Draws Massive Retail Demand in Shanghai Listing

1. Intel to Offer $15 Billion in Common Stock

Intel Corp. said it will be offering $15 billion in common stock, taking advantage of renewed interest in its business prospects during the artificial intelligence data center boom.

The money will be used for general corporate purposes, Intel said in a statement on Monday. “Progress in emerging areas including physical AI, purpose-built silicon, advanced packaging and external wafers represent significant growth opportunities for Intel,” the company said. “The offering is intended to further enable Intel to pursue the growth opportunities ahead while maintaining a strong balance sheet and its commitment to an investment-grade rating.”

Intel shares have nearly tripled in value so far this year, to $101.65, as it works on a turnaround of its business. While it doesn’t lead in AI-specific chips, data center demand has increased sales of its central processing units. Sales in Intel’s data center segment soared 59% last quarter, more than double the pace of Intel’s overall revenue. Still, the company is working to line up significant outside customers for its factories.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Robert Schiffman wrote in a note that the proceeds provide “substantial capacity” to fund AI, foundry and other projects without adding leverage.

“Intel also reinforces a broader theme across AI infrastructure: rising investment doesn’t have to fall entirely on bondholders,” he said, drawing comparisons to Oracle Corp., SpaceX, Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

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2. Microsoft Plans Significant Boost in Next-Gen AI Chip Production

Microsoft Corp. is planning to “significantly” increase production of its next-generation AI chips, The Information reported on Monday.

The company is preparing to unveil its new Maia 300 chip this fall and has been in discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to secure manufacturing capacity for over 300,000 of the chips for delivery in 2027, the technology news site reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

A Microsoft manager declined to comment on specific production plans but said the company ultimately aimed to produce gigawatts’ worth of Maia chips, The Information reported.

Microsoft and its Big Tech peers have been seeking to reduce reliance on Nvidia Corp. by developing their own AI chips.

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3. GameStop Considers Withdrawing $56 Billion Bid for eBay

GameStop Corp., led by Chief Executive Officer Ryan Cohen, is considering withdrawing its $56 billion bid for eBay Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Cohen is considering proposing a partnership or joint venture that would enable eBay to leverage GameStop’s roughly 1,600 US retail locations, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. That could allow both to increase market share in high-margin categories such as trading cards and collectibles, the people said.

GameStop, as one of eBay’s largest shareholders, would seek representation on eBay’s board as part of any partnership, they added. Since its offer in May, GameStop’s stock has fallen 28% while eBay’s has climbed 7.6%. The $125-a-share offer was comprised of 50% cash and 50% in GameStop common stock.

EBay’s shares closed Friday at $111.98, giving it a market value of $49.8 billion. Including debt, it’s valued at almost $54 billion.GameStop’s shares were up 1.1% to $19.37 a share on Monday at 9:35 a.m. in New York trading, while eBay’s were up as much as 4.6% before falling back to $111.89, or up 1.7%.

GameStop hasn’t made a final decision and Cohen could still weigh other options, the people said. Representatives for GameStop and eBay couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The takeover bid was a bold move by Cohen after GameStop built a 5% stake in the far-larger ecommerce company. GameStop continued building that stake and, as of July 15, owned 9.75% of eBay, making it the company’s No. 2 shareholder, second only to Vanguard Group Inc. funds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

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4. US Investment Giants Near $500 Billion AI Infrastructure Partnership with Nvidia

A group of US investment giants are nearing a partnership with Nvidia Corp. on $500 billion in funding for the buildout of AI infrastructure, according to people familiar with the matter.

Apollo Global Management Inc., Blackstone Inc., BlackRock Inc., Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and KKR & Co. are among the firms in talks with Nvidia on the investment, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. A deal may be announced as soon as Monday, they added.

Representatives for the firms either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The Financial Times earlier reported on the lending effort. Nvidia shares extended declines in US trading. They were down 2.2% to $219.01 as of 1:32 p.m. in New York.

Nvidia has already inked hundreds of billions of dollars worth of deals with companies across the AI ecosystem, stoking concerns from some investors that the chipmaking giant is inflating demand and valuations across the industry through the circular nature of such agreements. The AI chipmaker has been in talks to backstop as much as $250 billion to help OpenAI lease computing power from a US data center project in what would be among the chipmaker’s biggest financing deals with a customer. A deal would help the ChatGPT creator lease capacity at the $500 billion, 10-gigawatt hub that SB Energy, a SoftBank Group Corp. subsidiary, is developing in Ohio, Bloomberg reported last month.

Nvidia was also in discussions to finance $350 billion of OpenAI’s purchases of its chips for the project, people familiar with the situation said at the time, asking not to be identified because the talks were private.

It wasn’t immediately clear which projects or companies the funding would back, the nature of the funding or whether the $500 billion represented new commitments or already existing ones.

Nvidia has accelerated its investments and partnerships with tech and AI companies in recent months despite growing concerns about its “circular” deals.

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5. Value Aligned Research Advisors Drops 44% in July

Value Aligned Research Advisors, a New Jersey-based hedge fund with a philosophy and portfolio similar to Leopold Aschenbrenner’s Situational Awareness, fell 44% last month, whipsawed first by general pressure on artificial intelligence stocks, then by the volatility triggered by upheaval at its better-known rival.

The losses pared the year-to-date returns for the $20 billion flagship AI Fund to 65% through July, according to a person familiar with the fund’s performance who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. It was up nearly 200% through June, according to an investor document seen by Bloomberg News. In total, the firm managed about $26.4 billion at the end of June, 16 months after launching its hedge fund. Founded by Ben Hoskin and David Field, Value Aligned Research Advisors focuses on stocks likely to benefit from what they called the rise of “transformative AI.”

Both VARA and Situational Awareness are part of a niche group of hedge funds focused almost exclusively on the AI industry and in companies building out AI infrastructure, data centers and power. They have seen their fortunes swing as leveraged and crowded bets on such companies were tested last month from a barrage of margin calls.

At the end of March, VARA shared 15 stocks with Situational Awareness, including top holdings such as CoreWeave Inc. and Bloom Energy Corp., according to regulatory filings. These common stocks make up about 93% of the value of the disclosed stock portfolio for Situational Awareness and about 27% of the same for VARA.

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6. Jefferies Downgrades Apple to Underperform

Apple Inc. was downgraded to an underperform rating at Jefferies, in the latest example of growing bearishness toward the company.

Analyst Edison Lee is concerned about the outlook for the company’s iPhone, especially Apple’s ability to drive higher average selling prices (ASPs) over time.

Supply-chain checks indicate that the company “has cancelled the 20th anniversary all-glass iPhone model due to poor production yield,” he wrote. “This shows that introducing new form factors in the iPhone to drive higher ASP is more difficult than expected.” A foldable iPhone, which Apple is expected to debut next month, “will now be the only key driver of higher ASP and margin” over the coming years, Lee wrote. However, skyrocketing prices for key components like memory chips will force a high price point for the product, and “we still believe such an expensive phone would be a niche product.”

There are now six firms that have the equivalent of a sell rating on Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That matches the highest number going back to 2012. Last month, KeyBanc Capital Markets cut the stock to underweight, citing concerns over both demand and valuation.

Jefferies previously had a hold rating on the stock, and further to the downgrade, the price target was lowered to $263.66 from $285.56. Apple shares closed at $313.33 on Friday.

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7. Unitree Robotics IPO Draws Massive Retail Demand in Shanghai Listing

The highly anticipated initial public offering of Yushu Technology Co., known as Unitree Robotics, drew huge demand from retail investors as China’s leading humanoid robot maker opened books in Shanghai.

The retail portion of the IPO was 5,526 times subscribed, with individual investors submitting 9.8 million orders, according to an exchange filing released on Monday.

The Hangzhou-based company sold 40.4 million shares at 150.8 yuan apiece, raising about 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) to become mainland China’s first publicly traded humanoid robot maker. The company is expected to debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market this month. The offering gives Unitree a market value of approximately 61 billion yuan. The high level of interest underscores the investor appetite for physical AI companies, one of Beijing’s strategic priorities. The strong subscription was also likely aided by backing from strategic investors including AI startup DeepSeek, reinforcing confidence in Unitree and the growing convergence of artificial intelligence and robotics.

About 20% of the shares for sale have been allocated to strategic investors including DeepSeek, a Tencent Holdings Ltd.-affiliated investment vehicle, and investment arms of major state-owned enterprises such as China National Petroleum Corp., China Southern Power Grid Co. and China Telecom Corp.

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