Independent research on the U.S. markets, Baptista Research

Baptista Research

Independent research on the U.S. markets

Baptista Research is an independent financial research house focused on the U.S. markets. We provide equity research as well as credit research reports on the top-listed U.S. companies with most of our focus on technology, consumer goods and services, automobiles, industrials, oil and gas, pharma, and healthcare. Our research has served more than 3000 institutional investors including mutual funds, hedge funds, banks, family offices, and various buy-side firms. We operate a research subscription service where institutions, as well as retail investors, can have priority access to all our research. We also have a wide distribution of our research reports across some of the top global financial platforms. Apart from equity research and credit research, we also provide advisory services with respect to mergers & acquisitions (M&A), private equity/ venture capital fundraising, valuation reports, and investment management services for corporates.
Baptista Research is owned and managed by Ishan Majumdar, an ex-Venture Capitalist/ Investment Banker, a Chartered Accountant, and a Masters’ degree holder in Management from HEC Paris. Ishan has nearly a decade of experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs), Venture Capital Investing, Corporate Strategy, and Valuation in front-office roles at the likes of BNP Paribas CIB, Credit Agricole CIB, Groupe Danone, and TIW Private Equity. He has worked on and closed multiple acquisition deals, leveraged buyouts, and start-up investment transactions.

Equity Bottom-Up

Applied Optoelectronics / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Applied Optoelectronics has become one of the market’s most striking rediscovery stories, not simply because the stock rose 862% over the last 12 months, but because that surge unfolded while mainstream Wall Street coverage remained unusually thin.</li><li>The company was long associated with its 2017 collapse after a major customer pullback, years of losses, and a share price that fell to roughly $1.50 in 2022.</li><li>That history left a lasting stain on sentiment, even as the business began changing underneath the surface.</li></ul>

Applied Optoelectronics has become one of the market’s most striking rediscovery stories, not simply because the stock rose 862% over the last 12 months, but because that surge unfolded while mainstream Wall Street coverage remained unusually thin.The company was long associated with its 2017 collapse after a major customer pullback, years of losses, and a share price that fell to roughly $1.50 in 2022.That history left a lasting stain on sentiment, even as the business began changing underneath the surface.

Applied Optoelectronics Soared 862%—Why Did Wall Street Miss It?

Equity Long-Short, Semiconductors, Fabricated Knowledge

Douglas O'Laughlin

Equity Long-Short, Semiconductors

Fabricated Knowledge

Learn more about the world's most important manufactured product. Meaningful insight, timely analysis, and an occasional investment idea.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>To make my content readable, this is an optics-only earnings update.</li><li>I will discuss everything together and put together a high-level overview.</li><li>The specific things I am interested in are Marvell’s ZR and custom silicon.</li></ul>

To make my content readable, this is an optics-only earnings update.I will discuss everything together and put together a high-level overview.The specific things I am interested in are Marvell’s ZR and custom silicon.

Optics Earnings (FN, ANET, COHR, LITE, AAOI)

<ul><li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/entegris-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12493" rel="noopener">Entegris Inc (ENTG US)</a> - Memory spending is happening next year, but MSI remains weak.</li><li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/astera-labs-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:40921" rel="noopener">Astera Labs (ALAB US)</a> - This is now the second way to play a levered Trainium ramp, as they have extensive content with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/amazon-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:409" rel="noopener">Amazon.com Inc (AMZN US)</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lattice-semiconductor-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:7855" rel="noopener">Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC US)</a> - Standard kitchen sink; I like the stock long-term.</li></ul>

Entegris Inc (ENTG US) - Memory spending is happening next year, but MSI remains weak.Astera Labs (ALAB US) - This is now the second way to play a levered Trainium ramp, as they have extensive content with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN US).Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC US) - Standard kitchen sink; I like the stock long-term.

Earnings: ENTG, ALAB, LSCC, SITM, QCOM, MCHP, WOLF, ARM, ACLS, AAOI, ANET, LITE, COHR

Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

<div><ul><li>Water Tower AI Flow Index. We monitor ~400 public companies across tech and AI for performance and AI-related news flow. Last month (ending 2/28), the WTR AI Index was down 0.6% M/M versus the S&amp;P 500 Index (down 0.9%), the Russell 2000 Index (up 0.2%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 2.3%).</li><li>Within the WTR AI Flow Index, declines in Software, Internet &amp; Data Services, and Other Industries were not completely offset by gains in Semiconductor and Other Tech.</li><li>Software (22% of the index) was down 12.0%, while Semiconductor (17% of the index) was up 13.9%, Internet and Data Services (7% of the index) was down 12.8%, Other Tech (24% of the index) was up 13.0%, and Other Industries (30% of the index) was down 5.3%.</li></ul></div>

Water Tower AI Flow Index. We monitor ~400 public companies across tech and AI for performance and AI-related news flow. Last month (ending 2/28), the WTR AI Index was down 0.6% M/M versus the S&amp;P 500 Index (down 0.9%), the Russell 2000 Index (up 0.2%), and the Nasdaq Index (down 2.3%).Within the WTR AI Flow Index, declines in Software, Internet &amp; Data Services, and Other Industries were not completely offset by gains in Semiconductor and Other Tech.Software (22% of the index) was down 12.0%, while Semiconductor (17% of the index) was up 13.9%, Internet and Data Services (7% of the index) was down 12.8%, Other Tech (24% of the index) was up 13.0%, and Other Industries (30% of the index) was down 5.3%.

AI Flow Index : Sailing a Sea of Companies in AI - 2 March 2026

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

Circle Internet Group / Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>We remain bullish since our 4/22/25 Compass, and we will maintain our bullish outlook as long as market dynamics remain healthy and the S&amp;P 500 (SPX) is above 6028-6059.</li>
<li>For now, we continue to expect support to show up at the 4-month uptrend, which generally coincides with the 20-day MA.</li>
<li>Speculative growth themes (quantum,nuclear, hydrogen, space, robotics, drones, data centers, solar, biotech, WGMI,ARKK,ARKQ,ARKX,ARKW,ARKG, etc.) have been rolling, and we've been recommending them in this section every week for 1+ months.</li>
</ul>


We remain bullish since our 4/22/25 Compass, and we will maintain our bullish outlook as long as market dynamics remain healthy and the S&amp;P 500 (SPX) is above 6028-6059.
For now, we continue to expect support to show up at the 4-month uptrend, which generally coincides with the 20-day MA.
Speculative growth themes (quantum,nuclear, hydrogen, space, robotics, drones, data centers, solar, biotech, WGMI,ARKK,ARKQ,ARKX,ARKW,ARKG, etc.) have been rolling, and we've been recommending them in this section every week for 1+ months.


Downgrading Financials to Underweight; Growth Themes Galore; Health Care Breaking Out

United States

Applied Optoelectronics Inc. manufactures advanced optical semiconductor devices. The Company designs and produces diode lasers, photodiodes, transceivers, photodetectors, analog lasers, and optical subsystems. Applied Optoelectronics caters to the fiber optic communication, telecommunication, satellite broadcast, and wireless sectors.

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Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI US)

Applied Optoelectronics Soared 862%—Why Did Wall Street Miss It?

Applied Optoelectronics has become one of the market’s most striking rediscovery stories, not simply because the stock rose 862% over the last 12...

Baptista Research

Optics Earnings (FN, ANET, COHR, LITE, AAOI)

To make my content readable, this is an optics-only earnings update. I will discuss everything together and put together a high-level overview.

Fabricated Knowledge

Earnings: ENTG, ALAB, LSCC, SITM, QCOM, MCHP, WOLF, ARM, ACLS, AAOI, ANET, LITE, COHR

What a week (I’m a bit late on this)! I wanted to give a quick overview of all the companies that reported last week. Lattice Semiconductor -...

Fabricated Knowledge

AI Flow Index : Sailing a Sea of Companies in AI - 2 March 2026

Water Tower AI Flow Index. We monitor ~400 public companies across tech and AI for performance and AI-related news flow. Last month (ending 2/28)...

Water Tower Research

Downgrading Financials to Underweight; Growth Themes Galore; Health Care Breaking Out

Downgrading Financials $XLF to Underweight; Growth Themes Galore: quantum, nuclear, hydrogen, space, robotics, drones, data centers, solar,...

Vermilion Research

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