There is something unusual about this earnings season. Companies do not appear to have a demand problem. Increasingly, they are facing the opposite issue.
On 25 August 2026, a Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 8.86 seconds, faster than the fastest recorded human time, and then hit the padded finish barrier and fell. Three days earlier, at the same competition, another robot hit the barrier at the finish line and caught fire, unable either to stop itself or to put itself out. The first set of facts explains why investors have been piling into Chinese robotics stocks. The second explains why that enthusiasm may be running ahead of what the machines can actually do.
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Victoria’s Secret is back: a $100,000 investment has quadrupled since the Fashion Show’s return was announced. Each week, the Syz investment team takes you through the last seven days in seven charts.
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There is something unusual about this earnings season. Companies do not appear to have a demand problem. Increasingly, they are facing the opposite issue.
On 25 August 2026, a Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 8.86 seconds, faster than the fastest recorded human time, and then hit the padded finish barrier and fell. Three days earlier, at the same competition, another robot hit the barrier at the finish line and caught fire, unable either to stop itself or to put itself out. The first set of facts explains why investors have been piling into Chinese robotics stocks. The second explains why that enthusiasm may be running ahead of what the machines can actually do.
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