Tech 5: NVIDIA Becomes Second Most Valuable Company, GameStop Volatile as Roaring Kitty Returns
As anticipation of full approval for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) builds, VanEck has raised its price projection for Ethereum to over US$20,000 by 2030.
Meanwhile, ASML (NASDAQ:ASML) has been making waves with its groundbreaking new technology that’s capable of producing semiconductors with lines significantly smaller than the previous generation, and emails between Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) obtained by CNBC troubled investors of the electric vehicle (EV) maker.
And Roaring Kitty made a “roaring” comeback, which likely contributed to price movements of GameStop stock reminiscent of the meme stock frenzy of 2021.
Stay informed on the latest developments in the tech world with the Investing News Network’s round-up.
1. Roaring Kitty returns, NVIDIA beats Apple
It was a hectic week for GameStop (NYSE:GME) as Roaring Kitty, the trader also known as Keith Gill, returned to Reddit. After three years of silence following his role in sparking the GameStop meme stock rally in 2021, Gill revealed substantial GameStop holdings worth US$115.7 million in a Reddit post on Sunday (June 2) night, leading to significant price volatility.
On Thursday (June 6), GameStop rallied to US$46.85 after Gill announced that his first live stream in almost four years would be on Friday (June 7) at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Ahead of Gill’s livestream on Friday, GameStop released its Q1 earnings, showing that net sales were 28.76 percent lower compared to last year — the company had originally planned to release the report on June 11. GameStop also filed to offer 75 million new shares. Its share price tumbled 25 percent on Friday, and trading was halted multiple times as investors reacted to the new developments.
NVIDIA overtook Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the second most valuable company in the world behind Microsoft on Wednesday (June 5), when its share price surged 4.77 percent to close at US$1,244.40, bringing the company’s valuation to the US$3 trillion mark. Elon Musk’s announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Tesla would spend between US$3 and US$4 billion on NVIDIA hardware in 2024 was considered to be a factor.
This week also saw NVIDIA’s long-awaited stock split, which was announced on May 22. Investors holding shares of the tech giant at the end of trading on Thursday received nine additional shares following Friday’s close. The share price will be adjusted to reflect the split when the market reopens on June 10.
Shares of ASML rose 6.3 percent on Wednesday after encouraging comments made by the company’s chief financial officer Roger Dassen were cited in a Jefferies analyst report. According to Reuters, Dassen forecasts “significant” orders from TSMC for ASML’s lithography tools, which are used in the fabrication of integrated circuits in computer chips. The report also says that the company sees booming demand for AI chips to continue into 2026.
2. VanEck predicts US$22,000 Ethereum price by 2030
Following the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granting initial approval of spot Ethereum’s exchange-traded funds (ETFs), VanEck’s head of digital research Matthew Sigel has raised his price projection for the world’s second largest cryptocurrency to a best-case scenario of US$22,000 by 2030, up from US$11,800 projected in May 2023.
In a June 5 blog post , Sigel wrote “Driven by a strong value proposition to entrepreneurs, the Ethereum network is likely to continue its rapid market share growth from traditional financial market participants and, increasingly, Big Tech. Should it do so while maintaining its dominant position among smart contract platforms, we see a credible path to US$66 billion in free cash flow to token holders supporting a US$2.2 trillion asset, or $22k per coin, by 2030.”
Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler engaged in a conversation with CNBC on June 5, where he addressed their highly anticipated full approval, indicating that the process would likely require a considerable amount of time. The approval of S-1 registration statements, which outline crucial details regarding the proposed ETF, is one of the final steps in the regulatory process.
3. Musk redirects Tesla chips to X and xAI
Emails obtained by CNBC show that Elon Musk told NVIDIA to send H100 AI processors meant for Tesla, including a previous order worth US$500 million, to his other companies X and xAI, which are privately held.
During Tesla’s Q1 earnings call in April, Musk told investors he would be increasing the number of active H100s to 85,000 — up from 35,000 — this year, and posted a few days later that Tesla would spend US$10 billion on training and inference AI, “primarily in car.” Delaying the orders will likely delay the development of the supercomputer needed to accomplish this pricey ambition, a notion not lost on investors, who have sent Tesla’s stock price down by over 3 percent this week.
In response, Musk claimed that Tesla’s AI infrastructure development is on track and that the company had no immediate need for the chips. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk said, “Tesla had no place to send the NVIDIA chips to turn them on, so they would have just sat in a warehouse.
“The south extension of Giga Texas is almost complete. This will house 50k H100s for FSD training.”
In other Tesla news, the EV maker has upgraded its in-car navigation software on Chinese models, introducing features such as lane-level guidance and new features meant to reduce user reliance on smartphones.
4. ASML, Imec open new lithography lab
On Monday (June 3), ASML announced the opening of the High NA EUV Lithography Lab, in collaboration with research firm Imec, in Veldhoven, the Netherlands. The lab will provide an early development platform for semiconductor manufacturers, giving them access to ASML’s newest chipmaking machine.
The High NA EUV lithography machine, which costs 380 million euros, has a higher numerical aperture (NA) of 0.55, compared to 0.33 in the current EUV models. The higher NA allows it to capture light at wider angles so it can print smaller features onto the chips, thereby increasing performance while reducing power consumption. With the announcements, ASML said it anticipates high-volume manufacturing with High NA EUV technology to happen in 2025 or 2026.
According to sources for Reuters, the company expects to deliver the first machine to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (TW:2330) sometime this year, and the company has orders for more than a dozen more from customers including Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), Samsung (KS:005930), SK Hynix (KS:000660) and Micron (NASDAQ:MU).
5. Alphabet to face anti-competition lawsuit in UK
London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), the parent company of Google, must face a lawsuit brought on by Ad Tech Collective Actions worth up to 13.6 billion pounds. The collective, which represents tech publishers based in the United Kingdom, alleges that Google engaged in anti-competitive practices and abused its dominance in the online advertising market, resulting in the loss of business to other companies.
In May, the tech conglomerate had appealed to CAT to block the lawsuit because it was “incoherent” and failed to explain how Google’s practices directly impacted other enterprises. However, the CAT’s ruling said that the case could proceed to trial, a date for which has yet to be set.
Some of the tech sector’s biggest players, including Google, Apple and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), have been the subject of ongoing scrutiny and have faced several antitrust and anti-competitive allegations in recent years.
This latest case is the second major lawsuit brought against Google this year. In January, the company was sued by the US Department of Justice and eight state attorneys general for anticompetitive practices to maintain its dominant position in the ad tech market.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.