The Crypto Basic

AXT bStock fell sharply on Monday as the underlying Nasdaq-listed shares reversed part of their recent rally.

In a Binance market snapshot reviewed by The Crypto Basic, AXT bStock (AXTIB) was trading at $78.91, down 16.24% over 24 hours. The token had traded between $77.75 and $94.44, generating approximately $848,015 in daily volume.

AXT Inc. shares were quoted at approximately $78.58 at the same time, representing an intraday decline of about 11.3%. AXTI had closed Friday at $88.58.

A review of AXT’s investor-relations announcements and SEC filings found no new earnings report, material regulatory filing or company announcement preceding Monday’s decline. The available evidence therefore does not support attributing the selloff to a new company-specific event.

Instead, the price action shows AXTI surrendering part of an exceptionally large short-term gain. Investors also continue to assess previously disclosed risks involving Chinese export permits, AXT’s dependence on China-based manufacturing and the substantial increase in its share count following two public offerings.

AXT Stock Reverses Friday’s 17.84% Gain

Monday’s decline followed a 17.84% surge on Friday, when AXTI rose from $75.17 to $88.58.

The stock had advanced for three consecutive sessions and gained approximately 87.6% during the preceding two weeks. On Friday alone, AXTI traded between $78.50 and $89.48.

AXTI initially moved above Friday’s closing price on Monday before reversing and falling back toward the lower end of Friday’s trading range, according to market data for AXT shares.

This sequence confirms that Monday’s move erased part of the preceding rally. However, without a new corporate disclosure, the reason individual investors sold cannot be established definitively.

Despite the daily decline, Binance data showed AXTIB remaining 26.60% higher over seven days.

China’s Export-Permit System Remains AXT’s Main Operational Risk

AXT develops compound-semiconductor substrates made from indium phosphide, gallium arsenide and germanium. These materials are used in data-center connectivity, optical networking, telecommunications, lasers, sensors and other semiconductor applications.

Although AXT is headquartered in Fremont, California, its manufacturing facilities are located in China. The company has disclosed that its three wafer-substrate product families manufactured there require permits before they can be exported.

China added indium phosphide substrates to its export-control list on February 4, 2025. AXT began applying for permits after the application system opened the following month and received its first approvals in June 2025.

AXT has repeatedly identified the timing of these permits as a significant constraint on its international shipments.

In January, the company lowered its expected fourth-quarter 2025 revenue to between $22.5 million and $23.5 million because China’s Ministry of Commerce had issued fewer indium-phosphide export permits than anticipated. AXT ultimately reported quarterly revenue of $23 million.

Permit approvals improved during the first half of 2026, allowing the company to ship more products internationally. However, AXT stated in its first-quarter regulatory filing that it could not predict when individual applications would be reviewed and approved.

China accounted for approximately 70% of global indium production in 2024. The country has also subjected some indium-metal shipments to additional end-user checks and longer approval processes.

These are documented operational risks for AXT. However, the company did not disclose a new permit rejection or export restriction before Monday’s decline.

AXT Issued Approximately 18 Million New Shares

Share dilution is another established factor affecting AXTI’s ownership structure and per-share valuation.

In December 2025, AXT completed an offering of 8,163,265 common shares at $12.25 each. The total included the underwriters’ full option exercise and generated approximately $100 million in gross proceeds.

AXT returned to the equity market in April 2026 with a substantially larger offering.

The company initially sold 8,560,311 shares at $64.25 each, raising $550 million before underwriting costs and other expenses. Underwriters subsequently exercised their option to purchase another 1,284,046 shares at the same public offering price.

The additional purchase increased the April offering to 9,844,357 shares and raised total gross proceeds to approximately $632.5 million. Combined, the December and April transactions introduced 18,007,622 additional shares.

AXT said the April proceeds would primarily support the expansion of indium-phosphide production capacity at its Beijing Tongmei subsidiary. The company also identified research, product development, working capital and general corporate purposes as intended uses of the funds.

The April offering affected AXTI when it was announced and priced below the prevailing market price. However, it was completed months before Monday’s decline. It remains relevant to AXT’s outstanding share count and valuation but was not a new catalyst for the latest selloff.

Second-Quarter Results Improved Considerably

AXT’s latest financial results do not provide a negative explanation for Monday’s decline.

Second-quarter revenue reached $47.6 million, compared with $26.9 million in the preceding quarter and $18 million one year earlier.

GAAP gross margin increased to 44.9%, up from 29.6% in the first quarter and 8% in the corresponding 2025 period.

AXT also returned to profitability:

• GAAP net income reached $11.1 million, or $0.17 per diluted share.
• Non-GAAP net income totaled $11.9 million, or $0.19 per diluted share.
• The company had reported a $7 million GAAP net loss one year earlier.

Management said AXT’s order backlog exceeded $100 million. The company also identified approximately $66 million of potential third-quarter revenue from orders for which export permits had already been received or were not required.

The second-quarter report was released on July 30, more than a week before Monday’s trading session, and therefore was not a new development behind the decline.

What AXT’s $87 Million Lumentum Agreement Represents

AXT also recently entered a long-term agreement to supply indium-phosphide wafer substrates to Lumentum.

Under the agreement, AXT will reserve production capacity for Lumentum through December 31, 2031. Lumentum agreed to provide two deposits totaling $87 million:

• An initial deposit of $43.5 million, due within 30 business days of the agreement.
• A second $43.5 million deposit whose timing and payment terms will be determined during 2028.

The deposits should not be treated as $87 million of immediate revenue. AXT stated that the funds will be applied as credits against future product shipments until the deposits are exhausted.

The Lumentum agreement supports the existence of long-term customer demand for AXT’s indium-phosphide products. However, it does not remove the export-permit requirements affecting shipments from China.

Why AXTIB Fell More Than AXTI

AXTIB’s displayed 16.24% decline was larger than AXTI’s approximately 11.3% intraday loss because the two percentages covered different measurement periods.

The Nasdaq percentage measured AXTI’s move from Friday’s official closing price. Binance’s percentage measured AXTIB’s performance over a rolling 24-hour period, including trading outside regular US market hours.

The actual prices remained closely aligned. AXTIB traded at $78.91 while the underlying AXTI price displayed by Binance was $78.577. That placed the token approximately 0.42% above the stock at that moment.

Binance states that bStocks are tokenized certificates issued by BTech Holdings Limited and backed one-to-one by corresponding US shares held through a regulated custodian.

AXTIB therefore provides economic exposure to AXT shares, but it does not give holders direct ownership of AXTI stock or conventional shareholder rights. Its round-the-clock trading also means the token can react while Nasdaq is closed.

What Can Be Confirmed About AXT’s Decline

No verified new AXT announcement preceded Monday’s selloff. The clearest description of the move is that AXTI and AXTIB reversed part of a powerful short-term rally after the underlying stock gained 17.84% on Friday and approximately 87.6% over the preceding two weeks.

The principal company-specific risks already documented by AXT include:

• Dependence on Chinese export permits for international shipments.
• Manufacturing operations concentrated in China.
• Backlogged orders that remain subject to permit approvals.
• Approximately 18 million shares issued through two public offerings since December 2025.
• Extreme volatility following AXTI’s extraordinary appreciation.

These factors remain important when assessing AXT’s valuation and risk profile. However, none was newly announced on Monday, meaning it would be inaccurate to present any single factor as the confirmed cause of the session’s decline.

AXT’s underlying business entered the selloff with improving revenue, margins, profitability and order demand. Monday’s drop therefore represents a sharp market reversal rather than a verified response to deteriorating second-quarter results or a newly disclosed operational setback.

Intel bStock came under selling pressure on Monday after the chipmaker announced a proposed $15 billion public offering of additional common shares, raising concerns about dilution and the supply of new Intel stock entering the market.

In an early Binance market snapshot reviewed by The Crypto Basic, Intel bStock (INTCB) was trading at $97.69, down 4.46% over 24 hours. The token had a displayed market capitalization of $9.24 million and $3.44 million in daily trading volume.

The decline closely followed Intel’s Nasdaq-listed shares. INTC closed Friday at $101.65 before falling to approximately $97.50 in early Monday trading, a decline of about 4%. Reuters linked the move to concerns that the offering would dilute existing shareholders.

Intel Announces $15 Billion Stock Offering

Intel announced on August 10 that it had launched a proposed $15 billion underwritten public offering of common stock.

The company expects to give the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $2.25 billion of shares. If fully exercised, the transaction could reach $17.25 billion before underwriting discounts, commissions and other expenses.

According to Intel’s preliminary prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the number of shares and public offering price had not been finalized when the document was filed.

Intel had approximately 5.043 billion common shares outstanding as of June 27. However, the offering’s exact dilutive effect cannot yet be calculated because Intel has not disclosed how many new shares it will issue or the price at which they will be sold.

Why Intel Stock Is Falling Today

The proposed offering is the primary catalyst behind Monday’s decline.

Issuing additional common shares increases Intel’s outstanding share count. As a result, each existing share represents a smaller percentage of the company unless a shareholder purchases additional stock to maintain the same ownership percentage.

New shares can also dilute earnings per share if the capital raised does not generate a proportionate increase in Intel’s future earnings.

The market must additionally absorb as much as $17.25 billion in new Intel equity. Follow-on offerings are commonly priced below the prevailing market price to attract institutional demand, although Intel had not announced its final offering price at the time of publication.

Reuters reported that Intel shares fell more than 4% in early trading, likely because of shareholder dilution concerns.

Intel said it intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures and working capital. The company said the financing would help it pursue growth opportunities while maintaining a strong balance sheet and its commitment to an investment-grade credit rating.

J.P. Morgan Securities, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets are serving as joint book-running managers.

Why Intel Is Raising $15 Billion

Intel is increasing investment in manufacturing equipment, clean-room capacity, advanced packaging and external foundry services as it attempts to compete more directly with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

Following its second-quarter results, Intel increased its expected 2026 capital expenditures from $18 billion to more than $20 billion. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner also told Reuters that spending was expected to rise meaningfully again in 2027.

Intel attributed the additional investment to strong demand for data-center CPUs, purpose-built chips, advanced packaging and external wafer manufacturing related to the AI infrastructure expansion.

However, the company’s foundry operation continues to require substantial capital.

Intel Foundry reported $5.77 billion in second-quarter segment revenue, but approximately $5.47 billion came from transactions with Intel’s own product businesses and was eliminated from consolidated results. External foundry revenue was $293 million.

The division recorded a $2.09 billion operating loss, improving from a $3.17 billion loss one year earlier. Intel said substantially all of the foundry business currently supports its internal product operations, although it aims to build a larger external manufacturing business.

Apollo Transaction Added to Intel’s Funding Requirements

Intel also completed a costly transaction involving its Fab 34 manufacturing joint venture in Ireland.

On April 8, Intel repurchased Apollo-managed funds’ 49% interest in the venture for $14.2 billion, including transaction costs. Intel financed the acquisition using existing cash, short-term investments and a $6.5 billion term loan.

The term loan was repaid later in April using proceeds from $6.5 billion in newly issued senior notes, according to Intel’s second-quarter regulatory filing.

The proposed equity offering therefore comes during a period of unusually high manufacturing investment and financing activity.

Intel Stock Has Not Fallen Over the Last Six Months

Despite its recent correction, Intel has not been in a six-month downtrend.

Intel closed at $47.13 on February 10, 2026. Compared with the approximately $97.50 price recorded early on August 10, the stock had gained roughly 107% over six months. Intel bStock does not have a complete six-month trading history because Binance launched its bStocks platform on June 11.

The accurate description is that Intel experienced a powerful first-half rally before entering a correction from its June record. INTC reached a record closing price of $140.94 on June 22 and registered a 52-week intraday high of $142.35. At approximately $97.50, Intel shares were trading about 31.5% below that intraday high.

The recent weakness is therefore a correction following a major rally not a six-month decline.

What Caused Intel’s Decline From Its June Record?

Several developments explain why Intel shares have lost nearly one-third of their value since reaching their June high.

Broader Semiconductor Selloff

Intel shares nearly tripled during 2026 before the latest offering, significantly outperforming AMD, Nvidia and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

However, Reuters reported that Intel had already fallen more than 25% from its June 22 record close by the time it released its second-quarter results on July 23. That decline occurred amid a broader selloff in semiconductor stocks.

Intel’s rapid rally had also raised expectations surrounding its AI-driven revenue growth and manufacturing turnaround. Maintaining the higher valuation required continued evidence that Intel could convert strong demand into durable earnings and cash flow.

Capital Spending Increased

Intel raised its 2026 capital-expenditure outlook from $18 billion to more than $20 billion and said spending would increase meaningfully again in 2027.

Higher investment could expand Intel’s future manufacturing capacity. However, it also increases near-term cash requirements and delays the point at which the company’s factory expansion can generate sustainable free cash flow.

The new share offering confirms that Intel is willing to raise additional external capital to support that investment.

Foundry Losses Remain Substantial

Intel Foundry’s second-quarter operating loss improved year over year, but it remained substantial at $2.09 billion.

External customers generated only $293 million of the unit’s $5.77 billion in segment revenue. Intel disclosed that much of the external revenue increase resulted from Altera becoming an external customer after Intel deconsolidated the business in September 2025.

Investors are still waiting for Intel to demonstrate that independent chip designers will use its factories at sufficient scale to improve the economics of its manufacturing network.

Adjusted Free Cash Flow Remained Negative

Intel generated $7.01 billion in operating cash flow during the second quarter but reported adjusted free cash flow of negative $8.42 billion.

That figure requires context. Intel’s calculation included $12.22 billion in net partner-contribution payments, largely reflecting the company’s manufacturing partnership transactions. Consequently, the negative figure was not solely the result of Intel’s regular operating performance.

The company nevertheless reported strong underlying results. Second-quarter revenue increased 25% to $16.1 billion, while non-GAAP net income reached $2.2 billion, or $0.42 per diluted share.

Intel’s $11.03 billion GAAP net loss also requires context. The result included a $12.53 billion mark-to-market loss related to a derivative liability associated with Intel shares held in escrow for the US government. It was an accounting loss rather than an equivalent cash outflow from Intel’s operations.

Why Intel bStock Is Following INTC Lower

INTCB’s decline is not being driven primarily by an independent cryptocurrency-market event.

Binance states that bStocks provide one-to-one economic exposure to underlying US-listed shares held in regulated custody. INTCB is therefore designed to follow movements in Intel’s share price.

Because bStocks trade around the clock, INTCB can react to corporate announcements before the Nasdaq regular trading session opens. That helps explain why the token moved alongside Intel’s premarket shares following the offering announcement.

INTCB remains a tokenized certificate rather than direct ownership of Intel stock. It does not provide voting rights and carries additional issuer, custody, liquidity, technology and regulatory risks. Binance also states that bStocks are not available in the United States or to US persons.

Intel Stock and INTCB Outlook

The proposed $15 billion stock offering was the primary catalyst behind Monday’s decline in Intel shares and INTCB. The transaction will increase Intel’s outstanding share count, although the exact dilution percentage cannot be determined until the company announces the offering price and number of shares.

Intel’s broader correction from its June record reflects a combination of a semiconductor-sector selloff, higher capital requirements, continuing foundry losses and uncertainty over when its manufacturing expansion will generate sustainable free cash flow.

However, Intel’s six-month performance remains strongly positive. Even after the latest decline, the stock was still trading at more than twice its February 10 closing price.

The offering does not demonstrate that Intel’s operational turnaround has failed. Second-quarter revenue increased 25%, data-center and AI revenue climbed 59%, and both GAAP and non-GAAP margins improved considerably.

It does demonstrate that executing Intel’s foundry and AI-manufacturing strategy will require substantial additional capital. Existing shareholders will now face dilution as the company raises funds to finance that expansion.

SanDisk bStock is currently the only tokenized security in Binance’s bStocks lineup with a market capitalization above $100 million, placing it ahead of the tokenized versions of SpaceX, Circle, Micron Technology, Tesla and several major US exchange-traded funds.

In the Binance market snapshot reviewed by The Crypto Basic, SanDisk bStock (SNDKB) was trading at $1,225.79, with a market cap of $101.71 million and $29.55 million in 24-hour trading volume.

SpaceX bStock ranked second with a market cap of $88.66 million, followed by Circle Internet Group at $73.02 million and Micron Technology at $66.06 million.

However, SNDKB’s position does not necessarily mean it is Binance’s most actively traded or most widely held tokenized stock. Its lead primarily reflects a combination of SanDisk’s high share price, SNDKB’s circulating supply and the underlying stock’s extraordinary rally in 2026.

What SanDisk bStock’s $101.71 Million Market Cap Represents

A tokenized stock’s market capitalization is generally calculated by multiplying its current price by its circulating token supply.

Based on the Binance figures:

$1,225.79 × approximately 82,975 SNDKB tokens = $101.71 million

The $101.71 million figure therefore represents the combined market value of the SNDKB tokens in circulation. It does not represent the total equity value of Sandisk Corporation, which is considerably larger.

According to Binance, bStocks are tokenized securities issued by BTech Holdings Limited, a Binance group affiliate. Each token is backed on a one-to-one basis by the corresponding underlying security held with a regulated custodian.

SNDKB holders receive exposure to the economic performance of Sandisk shares, including dividend-related adjustments. However, the certificates do not provide direct ownership of Sandisk stock or conventional shareholder rights.

SanDisk’s High Share Price Gives SNDKB an Advantage

SNDKB is not leading because it has the largest circulating token supply.

SpaceX bStock’s $88.66 million market cap and $136.35 token price imply a circulating supply of approximately 650,238 SPCXB tokens. That is nearly eight times the estimated number of SNDKB tokens in circulation.

However, each SNDKB token was valued at more than $1,200, compared with approximately $136 for SPCXB. This high per-token value allows SNDKB to produce a larger market capitalization with substantially fewer circulating units.

Micron Technology provides another useful comparison. MUB was trading at $884.77 with a $66.06 million market cap, implying a circulating supply of approximately 74,663 tokens. Its supply was relatively close to SNDKB’s, but Micron’s lower underlying share price left MUB about $35.65 million behind SanDisk bStock.

A high nominal share price does not make a company fundamentally more valuable. However, because one bStock tracks one underlying share before any multiplier adjustments, the price of that share directly affects the token’s market capitalization.

SanDisk Stock’s 2026 Rally Lifted SNDKB

The most important contributor to SNDKB’s valuation has been the performance of the underlying Sandisk stock.

Sandisk shares had rallied nearly 470% in 2026 before the company released its latest earnings, according to Reuters.

Because SNDKB is structured to track the economic performance of Sandisk shares, the rally sharply increased the value of each token already in circulation. The token can temporarily trade at a premium or discount because it remains available around the clock, including when US stock markets are closed, but its one-to-one conversion mechanism is designed to keep it aligned with the underlying security.

SanDisk’s performance separates it from bStocks whose underlying companies have larger token supplies but have not recorded comparable share-price appreciation.

AI Storage Demand Has Transformed Sandisk’s Business

Sandisk’s rally has been supported by rising demand for flash storage used in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $8.97 billion, up 51% sequentially and 372% from the same quarter a year earlier. Full-year revenue reached $20.25 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 175%.

Sandisk also reported that full-year data-center revenue increased 437%. During the fourth quarter alone, data-center revenue reached $2.98 billion, more than double the $1.47 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.

The company attributed its revenue growth to higher pricing, increased volumes and a shift toward higher-value customers. AI data centers require substantial storage capacity for training data, inference workloads and other computing operations, supporting demand for enterprise solid-state drives and NAND flash products.

Sandisk has also moved more of its business toward long-term customer agreements. Reuters reported that the company had eight agreements with six customers worth at least $93.9 billion, with a median duration of four years.

Meanwhile, Sandisk’s board approved an additional $14 billion share-repurchase program, taking its remaining authorization to $15.5 billion, according to the company’s fiscal fourth-quarter results.

Despite the strong results, Sandisk shares fell nearly 8% in extended trading after the earnings release as investors assessed the company’s profit outlook. The reaction highlights the high expectations already reflected in the stock following its 2026 rally.

Market Cap Does Not Equal Trading Activity

SNDKB’s leading market capitalization should not be confused with having the highest trading volume.

In the same Binance snapshot, SNDKB generated $29.55 million in 24-hour volume. By comparison, the Invesco QQQ bStock recorded $50.54 million, while SpaceX bStock generated $45.71 million.

Market capitalization measures the value of the tokens currently in circulation at the latest market price. Trading volume measures the value exchanged over a defined period. A token can lead by market capitalization while other assets experience more active trading.

SNDKB’s $101.71 million market cap therefore reflects the value of its circulating supply rather than proof that it has the most users, holders or market liquidity.

Why the Ranking Could Change

SpaceX was the closest challenger in the reviewed snapshot, with its market capitalization approximately $13.05 million below SNDKB.

The rankings can change through two main factors:

• Movements in the price of the underlying securities.
• Changes in the number of bStock tokens issued or redeemed.

SanDisk’s position is therefore not permanent. SNDKB’s market cap would decline if Sandisk shares weakened or if tokens were redeemed. Conversely, growth in its circulating supply or further gains in the underlying stock would increase its tokenized market value.

The company also remains exposed to the historically cyclical NAND memory industry. Changes in storage pricing, AI infrastructure spending, production capacity or profit margins could affect both Sandisk shares and SNDKB.

SanDisk bStock Outlook

SNDKB’s position above $100 million comes from a powerful combination: an underlying share price above $1,200, approximately 83,000 circulating tokens and a major appreciation in Sandisk shares during 2026.

The milestone is not evidence of an independent, crypto-driven SNDKB rally. Instead, it demonstrates how quickly the market value of a tokenized-stock product can expand when the underlying equity delivers exceptional returns.

SNDKB gives eligible investors access to 24/7 trading, fractional exposure and blockchain withdrawals through BNB Smart Chain. Nevertheless, it remains a tokenized certificate rather than direct ownership of Sandisk stock.

Binance also states that bStocks are geographically restricted and are not available in the United States or to US persons.

For now, Sandisk’s AI-storage growth, elevated share price and circulating token supply have placed SNDKB at the top of Binance’s bStocks market. However, with SpaceX bStock approaching $90 million in the reviewed snapshot, the ranking could change as token prices and circulating supplies fluctuate.