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US blacklists more than 50 entities to restrict China’s growing AI capabilities. (00:21) GameStop (GME) rallies after saying it can use its billions in cash to buy Bitcoin. (01:53) Grab seeks up to $2B loan for possible GoTo takeover – report. (03:08)
This is an abridged transcript.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) from the U.S. Department of Commerce has added 80 entities to its blacklist. This includes over 50 from China and others from the UAE, South Africa, Iran, Taiwan and other countries.
The expanded blacklist aims to restrict China’s ability to develop or buy high-performance computing chips or quantum technologies for military applications, and to curb its “hypersonic weapons program.”
The addition of entities from South Africa aims to prevent use of U.S. items for training the Chinese military. The Iranian blacklist will look to stop the country from buying drones and related items, or developing ballistic missiles or unsafeguarded nuclear activities.
The newly blacklisted entities include 11 from China and one from Taiwan engaged in advanced AI, supercomputers, and high-performance AI chips for China-based end-users and closely linked to China’s military-industrial complex.
Another 13 entities from China were added for links to unsafeguarded nuclear activities and 27 more from the country for acquiring or attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items to support China’s military modernization.
In addition, seven entities from China were blacklisted for acquiring or attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items to advance Beijing’s quantum technology capabilities, and two were added were selling products already blacklisted, including Huawei and its affiliated entity HiSilicon.
American companies are barred from supplying to the blacklisted entities without government permits.
This marks the first expansion to the Entity List under the Trump administration. The previous Biden administration imposed sweeping blacklists on Chinese entities and export controls on semiconductors and supercomputers.
China’s semiconductor makers compete with US-based Micron Technology (MU), Nvidia (NVDA), Intel (INTC), Qualcomm (QCOM), AMD (AMD), South Korean tech firms Samsung Electronics (OTCPK:SSNLF) and SK Hynix. US companies have come under pressure recently with the rise of DeepSeek’s (DEEPSEEK) low-cost AI models.
GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) traded higher in post-market trading on Tuesday after disclosing its Q4 earnings report and announcing that it can start investing in Bitcoin (BTC-USD).
Revenue fell 28.5% year-over-year for the quarter that ended on February 1 to $1.28 billion.
The Grapevine, Texas-based company said selling, general and administrative expenses were 22.0% of sales, compared to 20.0% of sales a year ago.
GameStop (NYSE:GME) recorded net income of $131.3 million in Q3, vs. a net income of $63.1 a year ago. EPS was $0.30 for the quarter, vs. $0.08 consensus and $0.22 a year ago. On the balance sheet, GameStop (NYSE:GME) ended the quarter with $4.76 billion in cash and merchandise inventory was reported at $480.2 million vs. $632.5 million a year ago. GameStop (NYSE:GME) had long-term debt of $6.6 million at the end of the quarter.
Notably, GameStop (GME) announced that its board has unanimously approved an update to its investment policy to add Bitcoin (BTC-USD) as a treasury reserve asset.
GME is up 11% in premarket action.
Singapore-headquartered Grab (NASDAQ:GRAB) is seeking a loan of up to $2 billion to support its potential takeover of Indonesia’s GoTo.
Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday that the so-called bridge loan could have a tenor of about 12 months, and that Grab’s talks with banks were in the early stages.
The U.S.-listed ride-hailing and food delivery firm is also considering a bond or equity take-out after securing the bridge loan, the report added.
Grab, backed by Uber Technologies (UBER), has held on-and-off talks with GoTo (OTCPK:GTOFF), but a merger never materialized, partly because of antitrust concerns likely to arise from combining two of the biggest Southeast Asian tech companies.
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Catalyst watch:
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Shareholders with Intra-Cellular Therapies (ITCI) will vote on the acquisition offer from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Shareholders with Accolade (ACCD) will vote on the acquisition offer from Transcarent.
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CoreWeave (CRWV) is expected to start trading after pricing its IPO. The company plans to raise as much as $2.7 billion through the offering, with a valuation potentially reaching $26 billion. Nvidia (NVDA) is a backer of the hyperscaler startup.
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Dutch Bros (BROS) will hold its Investor Day event. The company plans to highlight its growth strategy. Shares of Dutch Bros have seen strong rallies in the past after presentations by management.
Now let’s take a look at the markets ahead of the opening bell. Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 0.4% at $69/barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.8% at $87,000.
In the world markets, the FTSE 100 is flat and the DAX is down 0.3%.
The biggest movers for the day premarket: Humacyte (NASDAQ:HUMA) -22% – Shares slid after announcing a public offering of 25M common shares, aiming to raise approximately $50M.
On today’s economic calendar:
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10:00 am Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari will host “Fed Listens” event conversation on labor market conditions, inflation, and how the Fed communicates and transmits monetary policy before the Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce Economic Summit.
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1:10 pm St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President Alberto Musalem will speak and participate in a moderated conversation on the U.S. economy and monetary policy before a Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce/Greater Paducah Economic Development luncheon.
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