Being Exponential With Luke Lango
The future belongs to exponential thinkers.
This is your blueprint to thrive in it.
Being Exponential With Luke Lango
Palantir, Ascent Solar vs. Redwire & Cameco | Subscriber Q&A with Luke Lango
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this special Subscriber Q&A Edition of Being Exponential, Luke Lango answers your biggest investing questions, covering five companies across AI infrastructure, data ownership, space technology, and nuclear energy.
We begin with Applied Optoelectronics (AAOI) and whether it remains one of the strongest plays on the AI infrastructure buildout. As hyperscalers continue investing billions into AI data centers, Luke discusses the outlook for optical networking, connectivity, and AI hardware demand.
Next, we dive into Palantir (PLTR) and whether the AI software leader still has room to run. With growing government contracts, enterprise AI adoption, and its expanding Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), Luke explains where Palantir fits in the next phase of the AI revolution.
We also take a closer look at DataVault AI (DVLT) and its emerging role in AI data monetization.
One of this week's most requested comparisons is Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI) vs. Redwire (RDW). Luke compares the two space companies head-to-head, discussing space infrastructure versus space-based solar technology, commercialization timelines, risk profiles, and which company he believes offers the stronger long-term investment opportunity.
Finally, we wrap up with Cameco (CCJ) and why uranium remains one of the most compelling long-term investment themes. As AI data centers continue driving unprecedented electricity demand, Luke explains why nuclear energy could play a critical role in powering the next generation of artificial intelligence.
From AI infrastructure, space technology, solar innovation, nuclear energy, and enterprise AI to the week's top subscriber questions, this episode is packed with actionable insights for long-term investors.
🎧 Subscribe to Being Exponential with Luke Lango for weekly discussions on AI investing, tech stocks, macro trends, space innovation, clean energy, and exponential technologies.
Hello and welcome to Being Exponential. We will be answering subscriber questions today. With that in mind, please like, comment, subscribe. We will get to questions in future episodes. So, first off, Luke, we're gonna start with your thoughts on AAOI.
SPEAKER_00Uh AO AAOI, Applied Opto Electronics, has been hit pretty hard. I mean, very hard actually. Look at this chart right now. It's pulled up for you. We're down 46% off the highs, 47% off the highs. This matches the stock's biggest pullback since this uptrend really got started back in the summer of 25, since Liberation Day really. So 47% down matches that November 2025 pullback when we broke the 200 day moving average, actually. And so that is technically worrisome. I kind of drew out this. This is a big important level right here. This 127 level, that was the high from March of 26. We've broken that pretty emphatically. Uh 119 right now. That's that's worrisome. We're still maintaining the 200 day moving average, but we've lost the 50, we've lost the 100. So the technicals here are challenging, and that is worrisome. I don't like buying, I don't like catching falling knives, buying stocks that are just in free fall. I like to buy bounces. So I want for this, I want to wait for this one to bounce. But fundamentally, man, there's nothing not to like here. This is a company that's gonna grow revenues 125 this year to over a billion dollars, 160% next year to nearly $2.7 billion, and then more than 50% again the year after that to over $4 billion. Margins 30%, gross margins 30%, all the way up to about 40% by 2028. EBITDA is going to flip from a loss of 22 million last year all the way up to 500 million plus by 2027. This is a triple digit revenue grower with high triple-digit profit growth trading at just 34 times forward earnings. There is nothing not to like about that fundamental setup. This is a very, very, very attractively valued stock. So given a challenging technical backdrop and a strong fundamental backdrop, my two cents is this wait for the technicals to prove support and then buy on a bounce off that support. Don't catch the falling knife. That's my two cents on AOI right now.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Okay, let's move on to the next stock. Uh in question. So a subscriber asks, What is the buy zone for Palantir PLTR?
SPEAKER_00Uh so Palantir has been very challenged because of Sass Mageddon risks and overvaluation risks and all that crap. I the buy zone here is on until it retakes 150. That's that's my I mean, even 160 really, right? Like Palantir has been crashing, it's trapped under a downward sloping 200-day moving average, hit its head once, twice, three times, rejected all three times at that 200 until we, you know, as the old saying goes, nothing good happens below the 200-day moving average, until we retake that 200-day moving average. Commandingly, I'm not constructive on it. So buy zone a retake of the 200, which right now is 158. I would like to see a retake of that 155, 160 level and a hold above that, and then that would be a buy zone for it. I don't like to chase things that are just crashing below the 200.
SPEAKER_01All right, look, so another subscriber is asking about DVLT, Datava Vault AI. Uh, and any any thoughts there on that penny stock?
SPEAKER_00Um, I just gotta be honest, I don't really know a bunch about Datava Vault. Uh, I don't mess around with 40 cent stocks all that much, actually, ever. Uh this is a company that says all the right things, but their news releases just feel like a drumbeat of hype PR. Um, and it's not really turning in into much tangible for them. The stock clearly, you look at the chart here, it's I mean, it's just beaten up and trapped below a 200-day moving average. You look at the the financials on it, we only have four million in cash on the balance sheet, and we're burning 115. Um, like or burning, sorry, free cash flow is is minus 24 uh last year. So we're burning through 6x the cash flow every year, even more 27 LTM. I bet I don't like it. There are much better plays out there in terms of uh AI infrastructure picks. You don't have to go, you know, looking for penny stones.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Okay. So uh let's move on to the next uh question here. So a subscriber is asking about uh red wire versus ASTI. Uh in terms of which one do you think Elon would pick as that infrastructure play for you know the SpaceX uh vertical?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, Redwire's got the proof. Redwire is the king of outer space solar. Redwire powers the International Space Station. Redwire has the contracts, it've been around for a long time. It's gonna be, I mean, I've been bullish on Redwire for a while, and I'm still bullish on it. I think the dip here is a pretty good opportunity. We're down back to the 200-day moving average, right around the 200 and the 100, both around 10-11 bucks. I think this I'm talking about buy zones. This is the buy zone for red wire. That 10-11 level is the buy zone for red wire. And so, I mean, I had previously identified 15 and we lost that. So that's not great, but we're still holding that 10-11 level, 200, 100-day moving averages, and I think that's the next buy zone. So 15 was the first buy zone, didn't hold it. 10-11 here is the next buy zone. If we don't hold that, then then you got to start questioning the bull thesis a little bit. But I think that we do hold 1011. And so you accumulated 15. Okay, you missed that opportunity. Now you accumulated 1011, and now we get a bounce back. So I think red wire over ASTING.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Okay. All right, and last but not least. So the last question we have here is a counter to one of the stocks we talked about last week, BWXT. So uh subscriber was wondering: is Camico a cheaper nuclear alternative to uh to buy?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I like Camico a lot because they have the Westinghouse stake. So Camico is a big uranium producer, and that that was our bold thesis initially on the stock. Just you know, uranium demand goes up as nuclear build-out happens. Uh, but the fact that they own, I believe it's 49% of Westinghouse, and Westinghouse recently won a massive contract with the U.S. government to build a whole bunch of new big reactors uh in the United States, gives us you kind of have this dual optionality on the stock, right? We have uranium producer and tethered to this massive US government-backed uh major nuclear reactor build-out uh in America. I like that setup. I think that's that's a great setup. You look at the the chart, pull that up right now. CCJ. None of this is to say, you know, anything against BWXT, but it is to say I like CCJ. Camiko is, you know, the technicals are challenged because we are losing that 200-day moving average. We lost it once, tried to regain it, lost it again. I don't like that action, but the fundamentals here are really, really strong. I think you got a lot of support between 90 and 100, and I think we do end up holding that support in this trend reverses course. If we lose that 95, 90 level, sorry, and we start slipping to 80 and even further below, then then the thesis gets challenged uh by the price action. But I like the fundamentals here. I think the technicals can improve given the strong fundamental backdrop. And so I am bullish on Camiko. But I would, I would, I would, I would, I would wait for the technicals to confirm the fundamental strains. And that's kind of what we're seeing across the board with a lot of the AI stocks right now is there's a lot of technical weakness. History says it's a buying opportunity, so get ready to buy, but do not buy until you get the technical confirmation of a rebound. You have to listen to the tape, you have to listen to the charts, you have to make sure you're not fighting the market. The best way to lose money in the market is to fight the market. Don't fight it, wait for it to confirm a rebound and then get in.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Yeah, don't catch those falling knives. All right, Luke. Uh, so that's the end of our questions for the week. Uh, is there anything you're looking forward to next week in terms of the the market?
SPEAKER_00Hopefully, looking forward to some green days. Geez, right?
SPEAKER_01Of course.
SPEAKER_00It's been it's been uh it's been painful. I mean, the first half of the year has been painful, but I mean we're seeing that as you know, the semiconductor complex of 100% in the first six months of the year. Oh my gosh, so we're down 10%. Okay, right? You're still up 90. Like, you know, just live with it. So, like it's um it's been tough. I hope that we get a bounce back soon. We need a bounce back soon because, like I said, kind of with the the buy zone for SMH and the buy zone for stocks, the buy zone for the big ETFs that track the AI infrastructure trade. Uh, the buy zone is 10 to 15% pullback. So we're in that zone. I'd hate to see us go lower than 15. If we break below 15% correction, then you got to start thinking, okay, what is the market seeing that maybe I'm not? Um, hopefully we don't have to have that conversation next week. And hopefully next week's conversation is more like, all right, now we're bouncing and now it's time to get into the game.
SPEAKER_01Excellent. Okay. All right. Uh, that is it for being exponential for the week. Uh, we hope you've had a good week. Hopefully, you've stayed cool on the East Coast. Um, that's it for us. We'll see you next week.