Editor's Note: Our colleague Louis Navellier manages a $1.1 billion portfolio — including $358 million in AI stocks. He called Nvidia before it went up 44,000%, Apple before a 36,000% rise, and Microsoft before its 60,800% climb. He predicted the 2008 crash in writing, documented by MarketWatch, called the dot-com bust, and called the 2020 Covid rally. Now, as Taiwan's biggest chipmaker pours billions more into American soil, he says the AI arms race just tipped in America's favor — and he's revealing the one stock positioned to benefit, for free. But you'll want to see it before September 29.

Dear Reader,

Last week, Taiwan Semiconductor — the company that makes the chips inside almost every AI system on earth, reported blowout earnings.

It beat revenue and profit expectations and raised its full-year growth forecast past 40%.

At least, that's the headline Wall Street ran with.

But, here's the one they buried:

TSM is putting ANOTHER $100 billion into U.S. chip manufacturing.

On top of the $165 billion it already committed.

That's $265 billion, from a single Taiwanese company, betting on American soil, in the middle of an AI arms race with China.

Ask yourself why.

I don't think it's about tariffs.

I think TSM knows something the rest of Wall Street hasn't priced in yet...

Something that's sitting behind a razor-wire fence in the mountains of Tennessee, at the same secretive government lab that built the atom bomb in 1945, American scientists are finishing work on a new AI mega computer.

President Trump himself compared it to the original Manhattan Project. This time, for AI.

I call it Golden Dawn.

And I believe Golden Dawn will be 283 trillion times more powerful than today's leading AI systems; span a territory larger than the state of Texas. And that can accelerate AI breakthroughs by 36,000%, potentially turning five-year timelines into five days.

When it goes live, I believe it will trigger a $100 trillion reset of the AI markets.

TSM's $100 billion bet isn't a coincidental... it's the smart money getting in position before the rest of the market understands what's coming... like we have seen time and time again.

Earnings season is only reinforcing the case. Analysts now expect S&P 500 profits to grow near 24% this quarter, with a real shot at topping 29% once the dust settles. That's some of the strongest earnings growth I've tracked in 40 years, and most of the credit goes to AI and chip demand.

Most investors are watching the score. I'm watching what's coming next.

I've identified one company — still relatively unknown, the same way Nvidia was unknown when I recommended it in 2016 at $2.51, split-adjusted, before it went up 44,000% — that I believe is positioned exactly right for Golden Dawn's launch.

I'm revealing it, down to the ticker, in a new free presentation.

Click here to see it now.

Regards,

Louis Navellier
Senior Quantitative Investment Analyst, InvestorPlace

P.S. Taiwan Semiconductor just told you where the smart money is going — $100 billion at a time. Golden Dawn is where I believe it's headed next.

Go here before September 29th for the full details, including the ticker — before I'm forced to take this down.

AeroVironment’s $465 Million Army Laser Win Expands Its Counter-Drone Opportunity

By Ryan Hasson. Posted: 9/3/2026.

Defense technology has been one of the market's most volatile and widely discussed themes in 2026, apart from artificial intelligence, of course. But gains across the sector have been far from evenly distributed.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is proof of that. While many of its peers have climbed, AVAV has fallen nearly 40% from where it began the year, leaving the drone and loitering-munitions maker as one of the sector's clear laggards. That is precisely what makes this week's news worth a closer look. The company just landed a landmark contract that could reframe the investment case, and the news arrives with the stock trading near its 52-week low.

A Landmark Directed-Energy Award

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A drilling crew near the Grand Canyon uncovered a clean energy well producing nearly eight times the output of Saudi Arabia's largest oil field, with potential to last two million years.

While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated federal credits for solar, wind, and EVs, this energy source was reclassified alongside oil and nuclear power and given eight years of tax credits. Google signed a 15-year contract, and Bill Gates committed $100 million.

One company controls the entire supply chain behind this discovery.

See the ticker behind this Grand Canyon energy breakthrough now

On Sept. 2, AeroVironment announced that the U.S. Army had awarded it a $464.8 million contract for its Enduring-High Energy Laser (E-HEL) program. Under the agreement, the company will produce dozens of its LOCUST X3 laser weapon systems over the next several years to defend against the small, low-flying drones that have reshaped the modern battlefield, a category the Pentagon labels Group 1 through 3.

What makes this more than just another defense contract is its historic nature. The award represents the first-ever production contract for directed-energy systems in U.S. history, marking the moment laser weapons officially graduated from prototype to full-scale production. The LOCUST X3 is a 30-kilowatt, platform-agnostic system designed to integrate with vehicles such as the Army's Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, and it builds on years of successful field testing. For AVAV, the contract validates the company's bet on directed energy and suggests it is beginning to pay off in a meaningful way.

What the Company Does

For those less familiar with the name, AeroVironment is a defense technology company best known as a pioneer in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and loitering munitions. Its Switchblade drones have become a staple of modern warfare, and the company has steadily expanded into counter-drone technology, an area of surging demand as militaries worldwide scramble to defend against cheap, proliferating aerial threats. The LOCUST award fits directly into that growing counter-UAS portfolio, adding a high-value production program to a business already anchored by a backlog of roughly $1.2 billion.

Fundamentals and Valuation

The fundamental picture is more mixed than the contract headline suggests, and investors should, as always, weigh both sides. AVAV generates nearly $2 billion in annual revenue, and analysts project earnings growth of close to 30% in the year ahead. However, the company is currently unprofitable on a trailing basis, having posted a net loss of roughly $265 million over the past 12 months. As a result, the stock trades at a forward multiple in the mid-40s rather than a trailing earnings multiple, which is not meaningful when earnings are negative. That forward valuation assumes the anticipated growth will materialize, leaving little to no room for disappointment.

The balance sheet offers some reassurance, with a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio slightly above 4. Those figures indicate no immediate short-term solvency issues and leave the company some room to fund its expansion. Production for the new contract will be supported by a $30 million investment in its Albuquerque, New Mexico, facility, announced earlier this year, suggesting that management had anticipated the ramp.

Institutional and Analyst Sentiment

Despite the beaten-down share price, the professional community remains overwhelmingly bullish. The stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating from the 24 analysts covering it, and the average price target of $266.68 implies a striking 81% upside from current levels.

Despite its clear year-to-date (YTD) underperformance, institutions appear to view AVAV as mispriced and a long-term opportunity. Over the prior 12 months, institutions have purchased $3.85 billion of AVAV stock, versus just $1.14 billion in sales. That resulted in an impressive net inflow and current institutional ownership of slightly more than 86%.

Catalyst Meets Caution

AVAV has begun the month with a complex yet intriguing setup: a beaten-down defense innovator that just secured a historic, first-of-its-kind production contract, with analysts pointing to substantial upside. Another major catalyst is just around the corner: The company is set to announce its Q1 2027 earnings on Sept. 9 after the market closes.

The central question raised by the LOCUST award is whether directed energy can become a meaningful new growth pillar for the company, and this contract is the strongest evidence yet that it can. The risks are just as real, though, from trailing losses and margin pressures to a share price that has spent the year falling. The LOCUST award does not erase a difficult year, but it gives investors a concrete reason to take a fresh look at a name the market had largely written off.

3 AI Optical Networking Stocks Positioned for the Data Center Buildout

By Nathan Reiff. Posted: 9/8/2026.

AI-driven networking companies have been waiting for a sign that could either extend the recent pullback or reinvigorate a bull run. However, Ciena Corp.'s (NYSE: CIEN) Q3 earnings report may raise more questions than it answers. Despite strong earnings and revenue, along with continued robust demand for AI and optical networking, shares fell after the report. The culprits may include expectations that margins could moderate after the company benefited from tariff refunds, as well as a broader reckoning with the industry's sky-high investor expectations.

Still, Ciena's report offers a fresh read-through on AI networking demand that may be helpful for investors seeking diversified exposure. While Ciena provides optical networking systems and platforms, rivals Lumentum Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: LITE) and Coherent Inc. (NYSE: COHR) offer optical components and transceivers. While it is not the strongest buy signal, Ciena's report does suggest that the recent sell-off may have improved the risk/reward calculation for these companies.

A Closer Look at Ciena's Earnings

Trump goes "all-in" on Grand Canyon energy breakthrough (Ad)

A drilling crew near the Grand Canyon uncovered a clean energy well producing nearly eight times the output of Saudi Arabia's largest oil field, with potential to last two million years.

While the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated federal credits for solar, wind, and EVs, this energy source was reclassified alongside oil and nuclear power and given eight years of tax credits. Google signed a 15-year contract, and Bill Gates committed $100 million.

One company controls the entire supply chain behind this discovery.

See the ticker behind this Grand Canyon energy breakthrough now

Ciena's top and bottom lines were strong on paper, with adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.11 on nearly $1.7 billion in revenue. Both figures comfortably exceeded analysts' expectations. Adjusted operating margin climbed to 22.5%, a company record. EPS growth was particularly notable, coming in 215% higher than the figure from one year ago.

Demand continues to significantly outpace supply, resulting in a backlog of $8.5 billion for Ciena, an increase of $800 million from last year. The company expects that trend to continue and projects a backlog of more than $10 billion by the end of the fiscal year. This helped drive a forecast for 30% year-over-year revenue growth in fiscal 2027.

What May Be Behind Ciena's Plunge

After all that good news, Ciena shares still fell in the hours immediately following the earnings release and remain down more than 15% over the five days surrounding it. Digging deeper into the report, in-line guidance for fiscal Q4 may not have met analysts' lofty expectations for the company's growth trajectory. In addition, just two major customers accounted for 42% of the firm's quarterly revenue, leaving it highly vulnerable if one or both clients shift their business elsewhere or reduce their orders.

Notably, Ciena's most recent share-price drop is somewhat unique compared with the broader industry. One of the company's primary competitors, Arista Networks (NYSE: ANET), is down just 1.8% over the last five days. Looking out over the last month, CIEN shares have plunged 22%, while ANET is actually up nearly 1%. This may suggest that Ciena's recent performance has resulted from company-specific factors rather than industry-wide weakness.

Lumentum and Coherent: A Different Perspective on the Industry With Unique Benefits

Both Lumentum and Coherent are between earnings cycles as of early September, leaving investors waiting for the latest updates on their financial performance. However, these firms offer a different perspective on the industry thanks to their unique positions in the value chain. Both companies market photonic tools for use in AI-cluster connectivity applications. Demand across the space has been stellar, but questions remain about whether that frenzied pace can continue.

Hyperscaler spending on photonics is robust, with some estimates placing AI hyperscaler capital expenditures at $500 billion or more this year alone. Because Lumentum and Coherent provide vital hardware for these applications, they have strong potential as pick-and-shovel plays that can benefit from industry-wide demand. Virtually all companies in the space will need their products.

The shift toward 800G and 1.6T optical interconnects in the coming years may be a major driver of continued demand for both companies. These technologies allow companies to significantly expand bandwidth to support larger clusters and connectivity tools. At this point, 800G is the primary volume product, but investors with a longer time horizon will expect 1.6T to become increasingly important to hyperscalers in the years ahead.

Amid this widespread technological upgrade, Lumentum may be the stock to watch. It is the purest-play photonics firm on this list and may therefore be best positioned to benefit from upgrades at scale. On the other hand, Coherent has broader exposure that includes lasers used for industrial and semiconductor manufacturing, compound semiconductor materials and other applications.

All three companies enjoy bullish forecasts from analysts across Wall Street, but investors will want to distinguish among them based on their different roles in the ongoing data center buildout. Ciena's latest earnings report may signal some turbulence, but the company has plenty of strengths. Lumentum and Coherent, on the other hand, may be poised for significant gains as their products become even more vital.