Uranium Goes Critical

Hey Superheroes,

Markets are bracing for a potential policy shock next week as Australia’s inflation surged to 3.8% in December – well above the RBA’s 2-3% target range.

Major banks including CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac now unanimously forecast a 0.25% rate hike to 3.85% at the February 3 meeting, which would be the first increase since the RBA began cutting rates in 2025. 

Meanwhile, gold smashed through US$5,000 per troy ounce for the first time as haven demand intensified amid Trump’s Greenland tensions and global uncertainty coupled with increased de-dollarisation efforts by Central Banks . Here’s what moved markets this week.

Uranium Prices Surge Past US$100 

Gold wasn’t the only rock making noise.

Uranium stepped back into the spotlight, with prices pushing past US$100 per pound for the first time in two years.

The move came after the world’s largest physical uranium fund went shopping. The Sprott Physical Uranium Trust snapped up 500,000 pounds of uranium, raising US$214 million through a share issue and boosting its cash balance to US$323 million. With more buying expected, spot uranium jumped US$7.75 to US$101 per pound, its highest level since early 2024.

⚛️ ASX uranium stocks go nuclear 

That price pop lit a fire under local uranium names. This week, Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) climbed 22%. Boss Energy (ASX:BOE), NexGen Energy (ASX:NXG) and Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) have also popped.

It’s also been a rough ride for hedge funds betting against the sector. Boss and Paladin were among the ASX’s most shorted stocks last year, but both have rallied hard in 2026 so far. Boss is up 24% year to date with Paladin close behind at 37%.

Fund managers say larger, established miners could be best placed if the rally continues, as broader investors tend to favour familiar names over smaller, more speculative players.

💡 Nuclear demand gets a policy boost

Momentum has been building since last year, when Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cut red tape and fast-track reactor approvals, with a goal of 10 new reactors under construction by the end of the decade.

The U.S. government later unveiled plans worth US$80 billion to expand nuclear capacity, aimed at meeting surging electricity demand from AI data centres.

Big tech is already moving. This week, Meta announced it would pay glassmaker Corning up to US$6 billion over several years to supply fibre optic cables for its data centres, adding more fuel to uranium’s run.

Today, an estimated 10–15% of natural resources portfolios are allocated to uranium as governments lean into nuclear power and tech companies hunt for reliable, large-scale energy.

As always, prices can move quickly and sectors like uranium can be volatile. But for now, this long-quiet corner of the market is firmly back on investors’ radar.

Apple’s “Staggering” iPhone Moment 

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) kicked off its financial year with a bang, delivering a first-quarter result that beat expectations across the board. Revenue jumped 16% YoY to US$143.8 billion, sending shares up as much as 3% in after-hours trade.

CEO Tim Cook didn’t mince words, calling iPhone demand “simply staggering”. iPhone revenue surged 23% to US$85.3 billion, fuelled by strong uptake of the iPhone 17 range released in September. It marked a sharp turnaround from last year’s holiday quarter when iPhone sales dipped slightly.

🇨🇳 China drives the surge 

The standout came from Greater China, where sales rocketed 38% to US$25.5 billion. Apple notched a record number of iPhone upgrades in mainland China and saw double-digit growth from customers switching over from rival brands.

Apple’s active device base now sits at 2.5 billion iPhones, Macs and other devices globally, up from 2.35 billion a year ago. That growing base matters, because it sets the runway for Apple’s services and software business.

Elsewhere, iPad revenue rose 6% to US$8.6 billion, beating expectations with around half of buyers picking up an iPad for the first time. Services revenue climbed 14% to US$30.0 billion, driven by subscriptions and licensing.

Not everything hit the mark. Mac sales slipped 7%, despite the launch of new MacBook Pros with M4 chips. Wearables and accessories revenue also missed estimates, declining 2%.

💰 The AI spending question 

Apple spent US$2.37 billion on capital expenditure during the quarter, down from US$2.94 billion a year earlier. At the same time, research and development jumped to US$10.9 billion, up from US$8.3 billion.

Compared with rivals like Meta and Microsoft, Apple has been far more measured on AI infrastructure spending. Earlier this month, it confirmed a partnership with Google to use Gemini AI models as part of its Apple Intelligence rollout.

Despite questions around rising component costs – particularly memory prices pushed higher by AI-driven shortages – Apple still returned nearly US$32 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends over the quarter.

🔦 Some other things we’re shining the Spotlight on: 

AMAZON’S ACCIDENTAL OOPS MOMENT: Amazon delivered some tough news in an even tougher way, revealing plans to cut 16,000 corporate roles via a misfired internal email to AWS staff. Not ideal. The move marks the second major round of layoffs in three months, taking total cuts to 30,000 roles, or estimated close to 10% of its corporate workforce. Amazon pointed to AI adoption and post-pandemic right-sizing as the key drivers. 

CHINA’S AI RACE HITS WARP SPEED: Chinese AI firms are moving fast. Moonshot AI unveiled Kimi K2.5, claiming it outperforms leading U.S. models just three months after launching K2. Hours earlier, Alibaba rolled out Qwen3-Max-Thinking, while Baidu’s Ernie 5.0 pushed its shares to three-year highs last week. The strategy is clear: open-source, lower-cost models aimed at emerging markets, as U.S. players lean into premium pricing.

TESLA TRADES LUXURY CARS FOR ROBOTS: Tesla announced it will wind down production of its premium Model S and X next quarter, converting its California factory to scale up Optimus robot production, targeting 1 million units a year. Elon Musk called the decision “slightly sad”, but part of Tesla’s push toward an autonomous future. The company also reported its first annual profit decline, with revenue down 3% to US$94.8 billion. One long wait is nearly over though — the delayed Roadster is finally set to launch in April.

Keep up to date on the markets by following us on Instagram @superheroau.