BlockBeats reported on July 31 that a series of key premarket developments emerged ahead of the US trading session, touching semiconductors, major technology companies, a Bitcoin-holding firm, and Korean market regulation.
Burry increases bearish semiconductor positions
Michael Burry, the investor often associated with “The Big Short,” further increased his short position in Micron Technology (MU), with an average entry price of about $880. He also kept adding to his bearish exposure to Nvidia (NVDA) and expanded his short on the semiconductor ETF SOXX, at an average price of about $506.
Tesla China rejects report on a potential China business separation
According to The Wall Street Journal, Tesla advisers had begun discussing a separation plan that would carve out the company’s China business. The report said the arrangement was meant to pave the way for a potential merger with SpaceX.
Tesla China told reporters that the claim was “false.”
Situational Awareness drops about 67% in July
Situational Awareness, the hedge fund founded by Leopold Aschenbrenner, described here as an “AI stock god,” suffered major losses during July’s sharp sell-off in AI-related stocks. Its net asset value fell about 67% during the month.
As its positions pulled back sharply, the fund was forced to sell most of its stock holdings to raise cash and meet margin calls from lenders. A sizable portion of those holdings was taken over by Citadel, the firm founded by Ken Griffin.
Leopold said the fund would continue operating, would not exit the public equity market, and would learn from the loss.
Amazon beats on cloud revenue, rises more than 10% premarket
Amazon reported second-quarter cloud computing sales of $42.2 billion, up 37% from a year earlier and above expectations. Its stock rose more than 10% in premarket trading.
The company said capital expenditures this year are expected to reach $200 billion, mainly for AI and data centers.
Apple beats on revenue but fourth-quarter outlook disappoints
Apple released results for its third fiscal quarter, reporting revenue of $109.4 billion, ahead of expectations and up about 16% year over year. iPhone and Mac sales were strong.
Still, memory shortages pushed its fourth-quarter revenue guidance below expectations, while revenue from China and services also missed expectations. Apple shares fell more than 8% in premarket trading.
Strategy posts an $8.2 billion quarterly loss
Strategy reported second-quarter results showing a loss of $8.2 billion, compared with a $10 billion profit in the same period last year. The loss mainly came from unrealized book losses on its Bitcoin holdings.
Management has now made it a top priority to bring the price of STRC preferred shares back to par value.
Kioxia misses profit expectations
Kioxia posted first-quarter net profit of 842.17 billion yen, up from 18.28 billion yen a year earlier, but below the market estimate of 973.81 billion yen. Its ADRs fell nearly 6% in premarket trading.
Chinese immersion DUV chipmaking tool producer mapped out output plan
Shanghai Aishengna was identified as the manufacturer of China’s first domestically produced immersion DUV chip manufacturing tool. The company plans to produce about five units in 2026 and about 20 in 2027, with deliveries slated for SMIC, Hua Hong, and CXMT, among others.
Samsung executive buys shares, Doosan signs major acquisition deal
As Samsung Electronics shares have seen large swings recently, Roh Tae-moon, president of Samsung Electronics’ DX division and co-CEO, bought about 700 million won worth of company stock.
South Korea’s Doosan, the holding company of Doosan Group, disclosed on the 31st that it had signed a share purchase agreement with SK Group to acquire SK’s 70.6% stake in SK Siltron for 2.3 trillion won.
Korean single-stock leveraged ETF turnover slumps on day one of new rules
On the first day that South Korean financial regulators imposed restrictions on single-stock leveraged ETFs, turnover in the products fell to one-quarter of the previous day’s level.
Data from the Korea Exchange (KRX) showed that total turnover in 16 single-stock leveraged and inverse ETFs reached 3.3071 trillion won on the first day of the new rules, down 75.3% from 12.4485 trillion won a day earlier.