Activists Shake the Boardroom, Diagnostics Gain Momentum, and the FDA Slams the Brakes

Activists stole the spotlight today after a major governance push sent one small-cap retailer flying, while a diagnostics name rallied on accelerating revenue momentum. On the flip side, biotech took a hard hit after the FDA threw a major regulatory curveball.

A fast-growing cybersecurity provider reports a $70M+ multi-year backlog across government and enterprise clients.

Its platform applies AI-driven monitoring and threat blocking designed to
protect critical digital assets in real time.

Management says contract visibility is improving as agencies modernize legacy systems and prioritize resilience.

Learn more here.

U.S. stocks climbed as strong gains in big tech pushed the S&P 500 back to record highs, helping markets shrug off fresh concerns about political pressure on the Fed. Investors also stayed optimistic ahead of key CPI inflation data and the start of Q4 earnings season.

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) is making one of its boldest operating moves yet, deepening its partnership with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) through a new AI co-innovation lab and a commitment to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years.

The new lab, opening in the Bay Area by the end of the first quarter, will bring Lilly scientists and Nvidia AI engineers together.

The goal is simple: to collapse the distance between idea, experiment, and insight. When discovery moves faster, everything downstream feels the impact.

AI Stops Sitting on the Sidelines

Lilly is moving past AI as a support tool. This builds directly on its AI factory initiative, which aims to create the largest pharma-focused supercomputing platform in the industry.

By pairing massive compute with real lab data, Lilly is turning AI into a core discovery engine.

If you think drug timelines cannot shrink much further, this partnership is challenging that assumption head-on.

Pharma Starts to Look Like Tech

This partnership reshapes perception. Lilly is positioning itself as a technology-powered drugmaker, not a legacy pharma catching up.

As competition heats up across obesity, oncology, immunology, and neuroscience, Lilly is betting that compute and data will matter as much as chemistry.

And when you watch where the next generation of medicines comes from, this is what building advantage early looks like.

QXO (NYSE: QXO) just upgraded its ambition in a big way, locking in an additional $1.8 billion of new financing and pushing total recent funding to $3 billion.

The financing, led by Apollo Global Management and Temasek with backing from PGIM, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, and Iconiq, comes in the form of convertible perpetual preferred stock.

That structure matters. It gives QXO long-duration capital designed for acquisition execution, not short-term financial optics.

Scale Starts With Staying Power

Building products is still dominated by regional players. Rising tariffs, supply chain localization, and labor pressure are making that model harder to sustain.

With this capital in place, QXO can move when others hesitate.

If you have watched consolidation cycles before, you know the winners are the ones who can keep buying when markets feel uncomfortable.

Beacon Was the Opening Move

QXO already showed intent with its $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply. That was not a one-off.

The fresh capital positions the company to pursue additional large targets across roofing, construction materials, and specialty distribution.

When opportunities surface, QXO does not need to wait, renegotiate, or syndicate, and you can see how that speed becomes an edge.

This financing marks the moment QXO shifts from newcomer to consolidator.

And if you are tracking how industries actually get reshaped, this is what commitment looks like before the map changes.

The Fed is easing. Liquidity is expanding.

Large institutions continue increasing crypto exposure as regulation turns more favorable.

Historically, mid-term election cycles support policies that lift markets—and this consolidation phase may be laying the groundwork for a major move.

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Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has crossed the $4 trillion market value mark, and this moment is about far more than bragging rights.

It signals a structural shift in how the company is built, how it grows, and how markets now understand its future.

Alphabet is no longer being valued as an advertising company with side projects.

Artificial intelligence has moved to the center of the operating model, reshaping everything from consumer products to enterprise software and cloud infrastructure.

AI Becomes the Spine of the Business

Alphabet has repositioned itself as a supplier of core AI infrastructure, not just applications.

The partnership that embeds Google’s Gemini models inside Apple’s AI ecosystem cements that role.

This is Alphabet selling intelligence at scale, quietly becoming part of how other platforms think and operate.

If you are tracking power shifts in tech, platform placement like this matters more than product launches.

Cloud Stops Being the Underdog

Google Cloud is no longer a side story. AI workloads, long-term enterprise contracts, and demand for Google-designed chips have turned it into a central growth engine.

Advertising continues to throw off durable cash even as AI reshapes search and content. That cash funds the next wave.

The $4 trillion milestone reflects more than scale. It reflects resilience, reinvention, and control across data, compute, and intelligence.

Alphabet is not just bigger. It is more structurally important than ever, and that is why this moment matters.

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Lulu's Fashion Lounge Holdings, Inc [LVLU] $12.15 (+79.47%)

Lulu’s jumped after activist investor Friedland Enterprises disclosed a 5% stake and demanded sweeping governance reforms and strategic alternatives to unlock shareholder value.

Biodesix Inc [BDSX] $8.10 (+48.35%)

Biodesix rose after posting strong preliminary 2025 results, with revenue beating the top end of guidance and Lung Diagnostics growth accelerating on higher test volumes and reimbursement gains.

One Stop Systems Inc [OSS] $10.45 (+29.49%)

One Stop Systems climbed after announcing a $1.2 million pre-production order from a new U.S. defense prime for ruggedized computing systems tied to Army combat vehicles.

Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc [ATRA] $5.88 (-56.99%)

Atara fell after the FDA issued a new Complete Response Letter for EBVALLO, arguing the single-arm ALLELE trial is no longer adequate for accelerated approval despite previously accepting that framework.

Novabay Pharmaceuticals [NBY] $13.44 (-29.85%)

NovaBay slid as traders took profits after its recent explosive spike, with valuation concerns rising as the stock screened sharply “overvalued” versus DCF estimates following the surge.

Lexeo Therapeutics Inc [LXEO] $8.12 (-22.96%)

Lexeo dropped after interim gene-therapy data for LX2020 came in less convincing than hoped, with investors focusing on high-dose liver lab elevations and a Grade 3 sustained VT event.

Record cash levels signal more than caution—they signal a lack of value in familiar markets.

As inflation pressure builds, capital is moving toward assets built to protect purchasing power.

Gold producers are trading far below historical norms, despite strong margins and rising demand from governments worldwide.

One miner is uniquely positioned for the next policy-driven surge.

The window before this shift becomes obvious is still open.

See the details while pricing remains disconnected.

That's it for today! Please, write us back, and let us know what you think of the Closing Bell Roundup. We're always eager to hear feedback!

Thanks for reading. I'll see you at the next open! 

Best Regards,
— Adam G.
Elite Trade Club

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