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Oncolytics Biotech (NASDAQ: ONCY) isn't looking like your typical small-cap biotech anymore. While plenty of early-stage companies live and die by a single headline, ONCY is steadily putting together a much bigger story. The company has already secured FDA Fast Track designation for pelareorep in second-line RAS-mutant MSS metastatic colorectal cancer, recently announced a Type D meeting with the FDA to discuss a potential registration-directed pathway for its REO 033 trial, and continues expanding enrollment across multiple clinical sites. Add in encouraging durability data that has exceeded historical benchmarks in difficult-to-treat colorectal cancer, and ONCY is a company that's moving toward meaningful regulatory execution. What also makes ONCY stand out is that management appears focused on building a long-term oncology platform, not simply advancing a single therapy. The company recently secured U.S. patent protection covering pelareorep's commercial manufacturing process through 2044, with additional intellectual property potentially extending beyond that, while early combination data suggests pelareorep could strengthen the effectiveness of targeted cancer therapies across multiple indications, including colorectal and pancreatic cancer. With momentum, expanding clinical programs, growing patent protection, and multiple catalysts expected over the coming months, ONCY is beginning to assemble the kind of foundation that deserves Wall Street's attention. Discover why ONCY is becoming one of the most closely watched emerging immunotherapy stories!
Further Reading from MarketBeat.com
TSMC’s Price Hikes Could Show Which AI Chip Stocks Have Real Pricing PowerAuthor: Jeffrey Neal Johnson. First Published: 7/24/2026. 
Key Points
- TSMC plans base price increases of 5% to 10% and a 10% to 15% surcharge on excess high-performance computing orders starting in early 2027.
- NVIDIA and Broadcom are positioned to absorb or pass along these cost increases due to dominant packaging allocations and high customer switching costs.
- Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm face potential margin compression because their price-sensitive markets limit their ability to pass on rising foundry costs.
- Special Report: 3 AI stocks to buy before August 2026
The semiconductor industry has spent the last few years operating like a rising tide lifting all boats, fueled by an insatiable global appetite for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. That indiscriminate tide is beginning to recede, revealing structural differences in how individual chip designers defend their profitability. The next phase of technology investing is not just about identifying end-market demand; it requires uncovering absolute pricing power. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) (TSMC) is finalizing negotiations for a series of base-price increases ranging from 5% to 10% across both its advanced and mature nodes, scheduled to take effect in early 2027. The undisputed foundry leader also plans to introduce a distinct 10% to 15% surcharge for high-performance computing orders that exceed a customer's initial volume commitments. Showing Their Hands: Pricing Power Divides the Board
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This development fundamentally alters the playing field. When raw manufacturing costs rise across the board, only designers with irreplaceable products can pass those costs on to end users without destroying demand. The upcoming price hikes validate the monopoly-like leverage TSMC holds at the leading edge. These price adjustments create a permanent divide between resilient fabless designers and those highly vulnerable to margin compression. Investors must pivot their analytical focus. The critical variable is no longer simply identifying total addressable market expansion; it is carefully monitoring corporate commentary on gross-margin sustainability and manufacturing-cost pass-through mechanisms ahead of the 2027 adjustments. The $30,000 Wafer and the Advanced Packaging BottleneckTo understand the gravity of these pricing adjustments, investors need to consider the sheer capital intensity required to push the boundaries of physics. Manufacturing logic at the atomic level requires extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment, with each machine costing hundreds of millions of dollars. TSMC is currently ramping up its two-nanometer node, and the underlying economics are staggering. The manufacturer commands roughly $30,000 per two-nanometer wafer, representing a 50% premium over the preceding three-nanometer generation. Despite this extreme cost structure, customer demand remains highly inelastic. Tape-outs for two-nanometer designs have already quadrupled the pace seen during the three-nanometer cycle, with manufacturing yields rapidly stabilizing between 70% and 80%. This aggressive scaling requires an immense capital-expenditure budget, which management recently raised to $62 billion to $64 billion for 2026. The expanded budget targets the two-nanometer ramp, global fabrication expansion and the rapid expansion of advanced packaging facilities. Advanced packaging, specifically Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS), has become the true bottleneck in the supply chain. This complex manufacturing process allows multiple processor elements to be tightly integrated onto a single substrate, dramatically increasing data-transfer speeds. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO) possess the market share and balance sheets needed to secure this scarce capacity. NVIDIA alone has locked down approximately 60% of the advanced-packaging expansion for the 2026 and 2027 production years. This structural dominance heavily insulates margins for the top-tier players. Because NVIDIA and Broadcom provide mission-critical infrastructure with incredibly high switching costs, they are uniquely positioned to absorb a 10% foundry increase or pass it directly on to hyperscaler clients. Their enterprise customers prioritize performance and deployment speed over unit cost, granting these fabless designers significant pricing power. A Weak Hand: Margin Compression Risks EmergeThe narrative takes a darker turn for organizations lacking that dominant market share. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) faces a starkly different reality as it seeks to break NVIDIA's grip on the data center. Securing roughly 11% of the packaging allocation, Advanced Micro Devices is operating at a structural volume disadvantage. Advanced Micro Devices frequently competes on price to incentivize clients to adopt its ecosystem. If baseline manufacturing costs jump by 10% and the designer is forced to pay a 15% premium for out-of-band volume requests, passing those costs along becomes a grueling exercise. Doing so risks sacrificing the very price advantage that enables competition, meaning Advanced Micro Devices will likely have to absorb the blow internally, leading to direct margin compression. Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) confronts similar margin pressures within the mobile and consumer-electronics ecosystems. Unlike enterprise data centers, smartphone original equipment manufacturers operate on razor-thin margins and aggressively resist component inflation. Qualcomm relies heavily on consumer discretionary spending, making it incredibly difficult to dictate terms when foundry costs jump. Hardware engineers operating in highly commoditized or price-sensitive environments face a difficult reckoning as 2027 approaches. A Royal Flush: Record Revenue and Stable YieldsWhile clients navigate these impending cost increases, TSMC itself sits in an enviable position of absolute leverage. The fundamental metrics for TSMC remain structurally robust, highlighted by a staggering 40.88% return on equity and net margins exceeding 50%. Second-quarter 2026 earnings report results set a new historical benchmark. Revenue climbed 36% year over year to $40.2 billion, with gross margins expanding to 67.7%. High-performance computing now accounts for 66% of total revenue, while advanced nodes comprise 77% of total wafer revenue. Management responded to this strength by raising full-year 2026 revenue growth guidance to more than 40%. Despite this pristine fundamental backdrop, TSMC experienced a 15% pullback in July. Third-quarter gross-margin guidance of 65% to 67% signaled slight near-term margin dilution, driven entirely by the heavy depreciation costs associated with the steep two-nanometer production ramp. The broader sector sell-off was driven primarily by U.S. election-year political rhetoric regarding defense commitments and the threat of stricter export controls. Geopolitical headlines consistently create transient volatility that can obscure core business realities. By enforcing base-rate hikes and out-of-band volume surcharges, TSMC is proactively defending its gross margins against the heavy financial burden of global expansion and raw-material inflation. TSMC is actively monetizing its position as the single critical chokepoint in the physical build-out of the artificial intelligence ecosystem. Corporate insiders appear to recognize the disconnect between the geopolitically driven pullback and TSMC's underlying pricing authority. Mid-July filings revealed targeted open-market buying from several corporate insiders. Those holding shares of designers with deeply loyal customers and highly differentiated silicon could see their portfolios weather the storm, while cautious investors might prefer to wait on the sidelines before investing in companies overly exposed to price-sensitive end markets and the 2027 foundry invoices come due. |
