Micron slipped on Thursday because a private company that has run about 2,000 wafers in its whole life said it can help end the memory shortage. That’s the trade. Kepler Computing came out of stealth this week with a ferroelectric composite material, a 3D scheme that stacks memory on top of logic, and GlobalFoundries as its manufacturing partner. The headlines called it Intel-backed. It is. It’s also AMD-backed and Gates-backed, and GlobalFoundries has money in it too. Intel Capital is one line on a cap table that has raised $468 million.

The Setup

Four quantum computing pure-plays — D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT), and IonQ (IONQ) — closed Thursday’s session up 33%, 30%, 19%, and 12% respectively on a single catalyst: a Department of Commerce announcement of $2.013 billion in CHIPS Act letters of intent across nine quantum firms. QBTS and RGTI each received LOIs of up to $100 million. QUBT and IONQ received nothing. All four moved as a single basket.