Shares of GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. (GFS) surged 5.12% in pre-market trading, following the announcement of a significant federal funding initiative. The rally comes after the company signed a letter of intent with the US Department of Commerce for a proposed $300 million CHIPS Research and Development award.
The funding is designated to advance silicon photonics technology, a critical component for next-generation optical interconnects powering AI infrastructure. The award is part of a broader $874 million semiconductor R&D initiative, and as part of the arrangement, the Department of Commerce will receive approximately 1% equity in GlobalFoundries.
The positive momentum offsets a prior decline of over 10% across the two preceding sessions, which was attributed to broader semiconductor sector weakness. The company is also scheduled to report its second-quarter earnings on August 5.