AI 25 February 2026 - 4 March 2026

Applied Optoelectronics shares surged 21.7% to $102.51 Monday on heavy volume after Nvidia announced $2 billion investments in photonics suppliers. The stock traded between $93.78 and $110.00, with about 27 million shares changing hands. Investors focused on AAOI’s revenue outlook, production capacity, and a new $250 million at-the-market stock program.

Coherent Corp. shares jumped 15.4% to $298.91 after Nvidia announced a $2 billion investment and multi-year supply deal for advanced optics. Nvidia bought 7.8 million Coherent shares at $256.80 each and secured rights to additional product lines. Nvidia also struck a similar $2 billion optics agreement with Lumentum. Coherent’s stock touched $304 in after-hours trading.

Nvidia will invest $2 billion each in Lumentum and Coherent, securing multiyear supply deals for advanced data-center optics. Coherent shares surged 14%, Lumentum rose 8%, and Nvidia gained 3% in midday trading. A regulatory filing showed Nvidia bought 7.8 million Coherent shares at $256.80 each in a private placement.

Nvidia said Monday it will invest $2 billion each in Coherent and Lumentum, securing future supply of advanced photonics components. Coherent shares jumped 14% and Lumentum rose 8% in midday trading. Nvidia bought 7.8 million Coherent shares at $256.80 each in a private placement. The deals include multi-year purchase commitments and access to new product lines.

AMD shares fell 3.1% to $194.04 by mid-morning Monday, underperforming the broader chip sector after the company launched its Ryzen AI 400 desktop processors. Oil prices surged on Middle East conflict concerns, fueling inflation and rate worries ahead of key U.S. data. The Nasdaq dropped 1.53% at the open. AMD’s new chips target Microsoft Copilot+ PCs, with systems expected in the second quarter.

Nebius Group N.V. shares fell 13.05% to $91.19 Friday, with trading volume surging to 22.8 million shares. The drop followed CoreWeave’s announcement of a sharp increase in 2026 capital spending, raising sector-wide concerns over funding and margins. Nebius reported $2.1 billion in Q4 capital expenditures and expects 2026 revenue to reach $7–9 billion. CEO Arkady Volozh will speak at a Morgan Stanley conference on March 4.

AMD shares fell 1.72% to $200.18 Friday, extending losses as chip stocks and the Nasdaq declined. The drop followed AMD’s $250 million AI partnership with Nutanix and a supply deal with Meta that could reach $60 billion. Investors await AMD’s March 3 appearance at Morgan Stanley’s TMT conference for updates. A hotter U.S. producer price report also pressured tech stocks.

Meta shares fell 1.4% to $647.80 after reports of a multi-billion-dollar deal to rent Google’s AI chips. CFO Susan Li sold 55,702 shares for about $35.3 million. The Nasdaq opened down 1.15% amid AI spending concerns and higher-than-expected inflation. Meta also faces regulatory scrutiny in the EU and U.S. courts.

AMD shares fell 3.4% to $203.68 Thursday as semiconductor stocks dropped after Nvidia’s earnings. The decline followed news of AMD’s five-year AI chip supply deal with Meta, which includes a warrant for Meta to buy up to 10% of AMD at $0.01 per share. Investors are watching Friday’s U.S. inflation data and Broadcom’s results next week for further signals on AI spending.

Sandisk shares closed up 2.4% at $651.86 Thursday after a volatile week for memory stocks. SK hynix and Sandisk launched a joint effort to standardize “High Bandwidth Flash” for AI inference systems. Citron Research disclosed a short position in Sandisk, while director Miyuki Suzuki filed to sell 3,500 shares valued at about $2.2 million.

UiPath shares rose 0.2% to $9.96 in Thursday premarket trading after joining the Agentic AI Foundation as a Gold member. The company will work on open standards for AI agents as investors await its March 11 earnings. UiPath stock closed Wednesday down 1.6% at $9.94, with 52.5 million shares traded. Software stocks remain volatile amid scrutiny over AI monetization.

Intel shares fell 0.7% to $46.54 in premarket trading Thursday after a two-day rise. The move follows news of a multi-year AI inference partnership with SambaNova Systems, which just raised $350 million. Nvidia’s strong results failed to boost chip stocks broadly, with U.S. futures little changed. Intel stock remains 14% below its January 52-week high.

Intel shares rose 1.65% to $46.88 Wednesday, then slipped 0.2% after hours, following news of a multi-year AI collaboration with SambaNova. SambaNova raised $350 million in new funding, with Intel Capital participating. SoftBank will deploy SambaNova’s SN50 chip in Japan later this year. Intel’s stock remains 14% below its 52-week high.