The alpha Brief: Insights on Quant Investing and the alpha Brief Portfolio (aBP)

Our three stocks to watch this week capture different stages of the AI value chain. Vertiv addresses one of AI's increasingly important constraints which is power availability while Lam Research supplies the equipment needed to manufacture advanced semiconductors and Microsoft provides the cloud and software layer through which AI can ultimately be monetized.

AI's latest rally wasn't driven by a single stock. It spread across three critical bottlenecks that power the entire AI ecosystem: connectivity, storage, and compute. This week, I look at MaxLinear, Sandisk, and AMD. I believe that , these are the companies helping define the next phase of the AI buildout.

The original thesis strengthened as Mt. Holly completed its restart, Grundartangi returned close to full production, and Jamalco’s new turbine came online.

Dell's Q2 FY2027 revenue reached $47.0 Bn and non-GAAP EPS reached $7.04, beating pre-quarter consensus by about 4% and 43%, respectively.

Marvell delivered Q2 FY2027 revenue of $2.739 Bn, up 37% y/y and 13% q/q. Non-GAAP EPS reached $0.94, while data center revenue rose 46% y/y to $2.172 Bn

Newmont remains a Strong Buy in my view as the market continues to focus on a temporary 2026 production slowdown while ignoring the company's exceptional cash generation, net-cash balance sheet, and aggressive share repurchase program. With Ahafo North ramping up, major projects advancing, and the stock trading at just 13x forward earnings, investors appear to be valuing Newmont on trough-year results rather than its improving 2027 earnings and production outlook

I am downgrading RTX from STRONG BUY to HOLD. I like the company more after earnings, but I do not see enough valuation support to keep the old rating.The downgrade is not a verdict against the business. In fact, Q1 and Q2 strengthened almost every operating pillar in the original thesis. The problem is expected return.

NVIDIA’s fiscal Q2 2027 revenue rose 106% Y/Y to $96.2Bn, while non-GAAP EPS reached $2.22, beating consensus of $2.09 thus why I am maintaining a strong buy rating.

I am maintaining a buy on VICR's since it's 2Q FY2026 revenue of $143.4Mn beat the $138.4Mn consensus by 3.6%, while gross margin rose to 58.0% and diluted EPS of $1.04 beat consensus by 59.5%.

TSMC, NextEra, and Merck are three of the market's most misunderstood giants. Each dominates its industry, delivers strong earnings, and generates real cash flow — yet each trades under the shadow of a single narrative: Taiwan risk, utility skepticism, and Keytruda's patent cliff. The risks are real, and the market isn't wrong to price them in. The question is whether it's pricing in too much. This piece argues that these aren't broken companies they're strong ones wearing wr

I am retaining my Strong Buy rating on Phillips 66 following its second-quarter 2026 results. In my previous analysis, I argued that better refining execution, a growing Midstream business and disciplined capital allocation were making Phillips 66 less dependent on favorable refining cycles. Q2 strengthens that thesis because those structural improvements are now meeting an exceptionally supportive refining environment.

Par Pacific delivered $2.97 Bn of revenue, $571.3 Mn of adjusted EBITDA, and $10.10 of adjusted EPS in Q2 2026. Revenue and EPS beat the public consensus figures of $2.40 Bn and $8.22, respectively.

Q2 Adjusted Earnings reached $9.8 Bn, Adjusted EBITDA was $20.7 Bn, and CFFO reached $21.4 Bn. Free cash flow was $17.5 Bn, helping net debt fall from $52.6 Bn in Q1 to $41.8 Bn and gearing decline to 18.7%.

I am maintaining a Buy rating because recent results confirm that demand recovery, margin expansion, and cash-flow improvement are occurring faster than initially expected.

The investment question is therefore changing from “Who sells the accelerator?” to: “What becomes scarce when the industry tries to deploy accelerators at scale?”

AI infrastructure remains a major theme, but the opportunity extends beyond GPUs. Custom silicon and high-speed optical connectivity are becoming increasingly important as data centers scale and AI workloads require greater computing power and faster movement of data.

Lockheed Martin's stock has largely lagged the broader defense sector in 2026, but the underlying business continues to strengthen. Record backlog levels, accelerating missile-defense demand, and raised full-year guidance suggest investor sentiment remains more pessimistic than the fundamentals warrant. With over $7 billion in projected free cash flow, I believe LMT remains an attractive long-term defense holding

When I last covered Ituran, my thesis was simple: investors were valuing it as a telematics hardware company while overlooking its recurring revenue engine. Since then, subscriber growth has grown, OEM partnerships have expanded, and the company has delivered another set of record financial results. But the market still values Ituran more like a device manufacturer than a subscription based mobility platform. I believe that disconnect continues to create a compelling long ter

Second-quarter revenue increased 92% y/y to $7.8 Bn, while adjusted EBITDA increased 191% to $3.5 Bn. The quarterly net loss narrowed from $1.0 Bn to $541 Mn. More importantly, growth is increasingly diversified across Connectivity, AI and Space.

The biggest question is no longer whether the refining thesis has worked, but how long it can last. Distillate inventories, crack spreads and refinery utilization will be critical indicators as we decide whether to maintain exposure or become more defensive.