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Trade Wars
Memory Chip Supply Crunch Will Last 2 More Years, JPMorgan Warns
The AI-driven memory chip crisis has a ways to go before its status is downgraded to business as usual. JPMorgan strategist Jay Kwon is making a double bullish call on the entire memory space. First, Kwon thinks the memory chip crisis is far from over. "Higher memory total addressable market driven by both pricing and volume, S-D shortage continues for the next two years," Kwon wrote in a note on Monday. "Memory demand broadening out from GPU to CPU appears to have been underestimated by investors (conceptually well known but actual S-D impact underlooked) and remains a key source of potential upward revisions to demand."
Second, with the crisis rolling on, Kwon thinks the summer swoon in memory stocks has ended. "After a strong four quarters of outperformance over the overall AI ecosystem, memory shares experienced a 25% correction in 3Q26 to date largely due to a peak-out sentiment amidst: a) series of near-term EPS expectation misses; b) slower-than-expected CSP AI capex spending; and c) mainstream memory content optimization.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Siemens’ Gas Turbine Backlog Nears 70 GW As Company Expands Manufacturing
Siemens Energy has brought approximately 30 additional units of medium-sized gas turbine manufacturing capacity online since 2025 amid record-breaking demand, executives told analysts last week during the company’s fiscal third-quarter earnings call. The company booked orders for 15 GW from its gas services division this quarter, with sales up 62% from this time last year to €10 billion ($11.6 billion). It shipped 6 GW of turbines during the third quarter, bringing its total gas services backlog to 69 GW, according to an earnings presentation.
With the additional capacity, Siemens Energy could deliver 15-16 GW of gas turbines this year. Christian Bruch, president and CEO of Siemens Energy, said lead times across the company now run three years or more. Siemens Energy has about 35 units of large gas turbine manufacturing capacity, with plans to add another 15 units in 2027. For medium-sized gas turbine capacity, it plans to add another 20 units on top of the 80 units it currently has, bringing its total to about 100 units by 2028, according to the presentation. The company also plans to expand its transformer and gas-insulated switchgear manufacturing capacity by about 50% by 2030. Siemens’ Grid Technologies division, which makes transformers and other products, had a €51 billion ($59 billion) order backlog as of June 30, Ferraro said.
Read more at Utility Dive
Century Aluminum Says Oklahoma Smelter On Track Despite Local Pushback
Century Aluminum’s Oklahoma smelter project is on track to break ground this year and begin producing hot metal by the end of 2029, President and CEO Jesse Gary said on an earnings call Thursday. The company, along with joint venture partner Emirates Global Aluminum, continued to make progress during the second quarter on project financing, energy contract talks and engineering details with Bechtel, Gary said.
He also noted that the project should qualify for the Trump administration’s recent onshoring incentive program, which allows approved companies to import a limited amount of primary aluminum at a tariff rate of 25% versus 50%. The Inola, Oklahoma, smelter project, expected to double U.S. primary aluminum production with annual capacity of 750,000 metric tons, would allow Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminum to import up to that amount per year at the reduced rate starting in 2027.
Read more at Manufacturing Dive
Delta's 787-10 Order Marks Shift From Airbus
For much of the past decade, Delta Air Lines stood apart from many of its global competitors by committing almost entirely to Airbus for its future widebody fleet. While other major carriers continued investing in both Airbus and Boeing long-haul aircraft, Delta Air Lines focused on expanding its Airbus A330neo and A350 fleets, arguing that the benefits of commonality outweighed the advantages of operating multiple aircraft families. It was a strategy that appeared settled, particularly after the airline canceled an inherited Boeing 787 order in 2016.
Fleet planning is never static - fuel prices fluctuate, passenger demand evolves, aircraft manufacturers develop improved variants, and airlines periodically reassess their long-term requirements. A decision that appears optimal in one decade may legitimately change as market conditions evolve. Nevertheless, it is difficult to ignore the symbolic significance of Delta Air Lines ultimately choosing the same aircraft family that it once decided not to introduce. While the Boeing 787-10 differs from the earlier 787 variants included in Northwest Airlines' inherited order, the decision still represents a return to the US manufacturer's highly successful widebody program after years of complete absence.
Read more at Simple Flying
Honda Is Letting an Indian Company Tata Technologires Develop Its Next Generation of Cars
Honda has outsourced the development of its new vehicle program to India-based Tata Technologies, which is owned by the same conglomerate that owns Jaguar Land-Rover (JLR), and also builds the world’s most efficient electric vehicles. The decision marks a significant change in operations for the Japanese automaker, which has historically kept its core engineering and platform development in-house or strictly within its legacy supplier network. Given Tata’s history of being able to develop versatile vehicle platforms that can underpin both internal combustion and battery electric products it makes sense for Honda to hand over development for its own multi-powertrain vehicle platform.
The move comes as Honda overhauls its global product roadmap and seeks aggressive cost-cutting measures to address profitability following its first annual loss since its founding in 1948. According to Bloomberg, the Tata-engineered platform is being designed for versatility. It is expected to underpin multiple upcoming car models and is specifically intended to accommodate both conventional internal combustion engines and next-generation electrified powertrains, spanning hybrids and fully electric vehicles.
Read more at Autoblog
FedEx, Amazon Pursue Expanded Use Of Robotic Arms
FedEx and Amazon are ramping up the presence of robotic arms within their networks in a bid to boost productivity and limit strenuous employee tasks. On July 30, FedEx announced in a news release the deployment of Dexterity’s dual-armed Mech trailer loading systems at its Maryland-based Hagerstown Hub. The systems are powered by Foresight, Dexterity’s model that makes real-time decisions to optimize package placement during the autonomous loading process. The release said trailer loading has been historically difficult to automate and is one of parcel logistics’ “most physically demanding and challenging workflows,” requiring strength, endurance and real-time problem solving among employees handling the task.
Meanwhile, Amazon plans to more than double its fleet of robotic arms in 2026 as part of its push to expand automated technology to boost fulfillment network efficiency, SVP and CFO Brian Olsavsky said on a July 30 earnings call. The logistics giant has deployed more than 1 million robots across its network since 2012. Robotic arms the company uses include Cardinal, which lifts packages and places them in carts, and Sparrow, which moves products from containers to totes before packaging. Both technologies leverage AI and computer vision.
Read more at Supply Chain Dive
Boeing Sells Wisk, Insitu, SkyGrid to Archer Aviation For Equity Stake
Boeing agreed Monday to sell three subsidiaries — Wisk Aero, SkyGrid, and Insitu — to Archer Aviation in exchange for a stake in the eVTOL startup, the companies said. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, pending antitrust review. As part of the transaction, Boeing will take a nearly 20% stake in Archer and receive warrants in the company. Boeing can also nominate a director to Archer's board. The plane maker will retain access to Wisk's autonomous flight technology through a separate collaboration and technology-sharing arrangement.
The three units bring different capabilities to Archer. Wisk has designed and flown six generations of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, logging more than 1,700 flight tests over 16 years, the company said. SkyGrid has built an air traffic management platform for automated airspace. Insitu designs and manufactures uncrewed aircraft systems used in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, with its technology deployed by the armed forces of 35 nations. Insitu generates more than $200 million in annual revenue, the company said. For Boeing, the sale continues a divestiture strategy under CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the role in August 2024. Ortberg has made clear that returning Boeing to health means directing resources toward its commercial aircraft, defense, and space divisions.
Read more at Yahoo Finance
Hanwha Offers to Buy Builder of U.S. Navy Ships
South Korea’s Hanwha has made a nonbinding offer valued at more than $1 billion to buy Austal USA, a builder of ships and submarine parts for the U.S. Navy. Australian shipbuilder and defense contractor Austal said the potential deal for its U.S. subsidiary is valued at between $1.05 billion and $1.2 billion. The acquisition would provide Hanwha with Austal’s Mobile, Ala., shipyard and access to major contracts that include some of America’s most sensitive naval programs.
The yard in Mobile specializes in building ships for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy. It also supplies submarine modules to General Dynamics Electric Boat for the construction of Virginia‑ and Columbia‑class submarines. Austal USA employs about 3,500 workers and includes other assets such as repair facilities in San Diego, Calif. Hanwha is seeking to grow its commercial and military shipbuilding ambitions in the U.S. as President Trump is trying to revitalize domestic shipbuilding.
Read more at the WSJ
Maps Show US Forecast for Fall as El Niño Strengthens
El Niño is expected to reshape weather patterns across the United States this fall, bringing a mix of heavier rainfall, drought changes, warmer temperatures and varying risks of flooding and tornadoes, according to AccuWeather forecasts. The outlet’s meteorologists say the fall outlook is being largely shaped by a strengthening El Niño, which can alter precipitation patterns and drought prospects across the U.S.
Wetter-than-normal conditions are highlighted across much of the Southwest, including parts of California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, while another broad zone of increased rainfall is shown from the western Gulf Coast through the lower Mississippi Valley and into the Southeast, including areas around Houston, Mobile and Atlanta. In contrast, the Pacific Northwest is marked for less snow and rain, and a drier pattern is also forecast from parts of the Great Lakes into the Northeast. Warmer-than-average conditions are projected across a wide stretch of the northern Plains and upper Midwest, with another warm area shown along the Southeast coast and Florida.
Read more, see the maps at Newsweek
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