Trade Alert: Top Names + Talking Cars

A bullish options bet on a new addition to our top ten names: an AI company that enables cars to converse with drivers. Plus, two bonus trades.

Screen capture via the video below.

Living In The Future

Forty years ago, the NBC TV series Knight Rider featured an AI-powered talking car called KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) that conversed with its driver.

Today’s top names trade is on a company that enables cars to listen and talk to you, like KITT did.

A Fresh Top Names Catalyst Play

Over the last few months we’ve highlighted several picks‑and‑shovels stories in AI infrastructure and nuclear fuel. Today’s top‑names list served up a very different angle: software that talks—and listens—inside the car. In addition to being a Portfolio Armor Top Name, this stock is also favorite holding of at least one account on our Market Watchers X list.

This company is an independent provider of conversational‑AI and speech‑recognition stacks for global auto OEMs. If you’ve ever asked your dashboard to find the nearest coffee shop or turn the seat warmers on, chances are you were already using its code. You just didn’t know it.

Why it’s back on our radar

• Emerging‑market win: The company recently broke a year‑long silence on new deals, announcing it will power the generative‑AI voice assistant for an upcoming electric SUV line from a fast‑growing Asian automaker. The OEM itself isn’t a household name in the U.S., but it sold over 500k vehicles last year and is ramping exports.

• Gen‑AI monetization finally visible: Earlier this year, the stock spiked after splashy demos with Nvidia’s (NVDA 0.00%↑) DRIVE team. The hangover since then wasn’t a verdict on the tech; it was simply the market realizing license fees don’t show up until builders lock their model‑year software. Q2 results showed those deferrals starting to convert into revenue.

• Clean‑up catalysts ahead:

  • Early August: next earnings, where even a small top‑line beat plus a raised FY guide will confirm the inflection.

  • Mid‑September: expected ruling in a patent spat with a big consumer‑electronics firm; a win removes a liability overhang.

  • Year‑end: 2027 model‑year freeze at CES—prime time for Tier‑1s to lock in speech stacks for high‑volume badges.

• Index‑flow tailwind: The name was just added to several Russell Growth indices effective July 1. Passive rebalancing continues for another week or so, providing a steady bid.

What could go wrong

The biggest near‑term risk is yet another delay in OEM software‑freeze dates. This is still the car business, where a supply‑chain hiccup in one component can push a launch window out a quarter. A secondary, but real, concern is dilution, though after the spring “at‑the‑market” sale management says they now have >12 months of runway.

How we’re playing it

Below the paywall, we’ll share defined‑risk structure we’re using to capture a move higher in the stock as these catalysts line up. In addition, we have two bonus trades today:

1. A bullish bet on one of our recent top ten names that’s down double digits today on news related to President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”. This one is also a favorite on our Market Watchers X list. Market Watchers are still bullish on it, saying the aspect of the bill bringing it down doesn’t apply to our company as much as it does to competitors, and the fundamentals and technicals on this one (an impeding golden cross) are still bullish.

2. A bullish bet on a stock highlighted by a momentum options trader on our Market Watchers X list. For this one, I consulted with our friend David Janello, PhD, CFA of SpreadHunter to get us a trade with a bit better odds of cashing.

Details below.

Today’s Talking Car Top Names Trade