Morgan Stanley raises Micron's price target from $1,050 to $1,200

Hong Kong GF Securities’ Head of Overseas Tech Research Jeff Pu has released a research note downgrading Dell’s stock rating from “Buy” to “Hold”. The key driver: Dell’s share price has rallied 200% since its last earnings report, and 200% since Pu upgraded the rating in October. Its current valuation exceeds 20 times its 2028 fiscal year expected earnings per share (EPS), leaving limited upside potential. Pu pointed out that SMCI holds stronger competitiveness in the AI server segment, and is expected to secure more NVL72 rack orders for SpaceX’s 2027 gigawatt (GW)-scale AI data center construction. Furthermore, the analyst flagged rising risks associated with direct ODM partnerships. Large AI infrastructure clients including SpaceX and CoreWeave are evaluating the option of collaborating directly with ODMs such as Quanta, Hon Hai, and Pegatron, which could bypass branded server integrators like Dell, further compressing the market share and profit margins of traditional vendors. Separately, Dell’s traditional PC business is also facing headwinds: ODM foundry shipments are weak, with next quarter’s volumes projected to decline sequentially, and overall growth momentum has slowed.

According to a Business Insider report citing sources familiar with the matter, Tools For Humanity, the developer of Worldcoin, launched two separate investigations last year, both led by external law firms, targeting alleged improper use of funds by executives and suspected violations in its Thailand operations respectively. Relevant executives are accused of approving payments of millions of US dollars to a foreign firm. The funds were not used for normal business purchases or service fees, but to artificially inflate the market price of its cryptocurrency Worldcoin. In addition, Tools For Humanity's Thai partner turned out to be a suspect in an internationally wanted "pig butchering" scam. Meanwhile, regulators in multiple countries around the world have raised serious questions about Tools For Humanity's iris scanning and data collection practices.

Xuan Changneng, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China, stated that China’s high-quality development of anti-money laundering (AML) work has entered a new stage, with remarkable achievements in combating money laundering and related illegal crimes. In 2025, the number of nationwide cases sentenced for the crime of money laundering under Article 191 of China’s Criminal Law exceeded 2,000. China has intensified crackdowns on professional money laundering, virtual currency-related money laundering, and cross-border money laundering activities, while improving the quality and efficiency of investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of money laundering crimes. The article notes that criminal syndicates exploit differences and loopholes in legal systems, regulatory rules, and other aspects across countries and regions to conduct arbitrage, using various methods such as nominee accounts, fund wash trading, and virtual currencies to conceal fund flows, posing new challenges to global financial supervision and law enforcement. It also stresses the urgent need for countries to strengthen cross-border coordination and cooperation in areas including intelligence sharing, case investigation, and asset recovery.

Micron's better-than-expected earnings report will face market scrutiny tonight. According to Bitget market data, as of press time, Micron itself surged nearly 18% in pre-market trading, while its hyperscaler clients including Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Google all saw minor pre-market declines. Optical communication stocks on the hardware supply side also rallied broadly: GLW rose 6.81% pre-market, AAOI gained 3.59%, and COHR climbed 4.08%. Qualcomm, meanwhile, projected that the annual revenue of the data center AI component market will exceed $15 billion by fiscal 2029, with its own stock up 10% in pre-market trading.

Since June, two research reports from Standard Chartered have sparked brief FOMO for altcoins UNI and AAVE. On the 16th, Standard Chartered’s research report covered Uniswap for the first time, projecting that its UNI token could surge 40 times from its current ~$2.70 to $100 by the end of 2030. In response, UNI rallied over 20% in a single day. Although the token price later pulled back, it still rose around 10% from the level when the report was released. A week later, Standard Chartered issued another bullish call on DeFi token AAVE. Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s head of digital assets research, projected AAVE could rise to $3,500 by the end of 2030, a roughly 50x increase from its current ~$70 level. Since the announcement, AAVE has rallied by over 10% at its peak. BlockBeats noted that the phrase “Standard Chartered’s bullish calls, market follows” signals that the altcoin cycle may have entered a new phase of “institution-driven narrative speculation”. Going forward, Standard Chartered-style research reports are likely to become one of the key catalysts for the DeFi sector. The short-term pump is essentially narrative-driven capital chasing, not an immediate improvement in fundamentals. Long-term success, however, will still depend on the protocol’s actual revenue and value capture capabilities.

Société Générale has raised its year-end 2026 target for the S&P 500 index from 7,300 points to 8,000 points.