Weekly Recap & Briefing –  Iran War Risk, Energy Shocks and Catalyst Trading (Feb 23–27, 2026)

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The new week opens with markets forced to reprice global risk after coordinated US–Israel strikes on Iran and retaliatory missile attacks on US bases across the Gulf and on Israel itself. Oil and shipping risk premia jump, while gold and defense stocks rediscover their role as hedges. At the same time, AI and chips are coming off a volatile stretch after Nvidia’s “beat and fade” reaction, Rocket Lab posts record revenue and backlog, and small-cap biotech continues to trade on single-name catalysts rather than broad factor flows. This recap looks at where we are, how the Iran conflict feeds into energy and risk assets, and which names go on the watchlist for the coming days across defense, energy, space, biotech and AI.

IREN Ltd ( $IREN )

IREN

IREN Limited, formerly Iris Energy, is rapidly transforming itself from a cyclical Bitcoin miner into a vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider, combining long-duration power contracts, hyperscale data centres and multi-year GPU cloud deals with blue-chip counterparties. The next phase of the story is all about execution: how fast the company can switch its asset base to AI, how stable those cloud revenues become and how it balances growth ambitions with leverage and dilution.

AtaiBeckley Inc. ( $ATAI ) Building a late-stage psychedelics platform Updated March & 2025

AtaiBeckley

AtaiBeckley is no longer just “another psychedelics stock”: after the combination between atai Life Sciences and Beckley Psytech, the company now controls one of the most advanced late-stage pipelines focused on interventional psychiatry for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD). The three flagship assets — BPL-003, VLS-01 and EMP-01 — are all in Phase 2 or entering Phase 3 planning, which puts AtaiBeckley structurally ahead of most early-stage psychedelics peers still working through small, single-site trials.

BigBear.ai Holdings Inc ( $BBAI )

Bigbear

BigBear.ai is trying to turn years of work in defense intelligence, mission planning and logistics optimization into a scalable AI platform story, boosted by large capital raises and the acquisition of generative-AI partner Ask Sage. Revenues are meaningful and the cash cushion is large, but the path from contract wins to durable, profitable growth remains complex and execution-dependent.

SKYX Platforms Corp ( $SKYX ) Smart Ceiling Plugs

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SKYX Platforms is trying to turn a seemingly boring standard – the ceiling light socket – into a plug-and-play infrastructure layer for lighting and smart-home devices, backed by dozens of patents, distribution partnerships and collaborations with larger technology players. Revenue growth is strong and the product vision is ambitious, but the business is still loss-making and depends on external capital, disciplined execution and a long time horizon.

Americas Gold and Silver Corp ( $USAS ) Record production and the 2026 Inflection

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Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (NYSE American: USAS / TSX: USA) is a Toronto-based junior silver producer with three active mining assets in the United States and Mexico. After years of restructuring, the company has entered a genuine inflection phase: FY2025 silver production reached a record 2.65 million ounces (+52% YoY), the Q3 FY2025 adjusted EBITDA turned positive for the first time, and analyst consensus revenue forecasts for FY2026 have been revised up by +265% to $383 million.

Mannkind Corp ( $MNKD ) after the Tresmi shock

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A first full-scope look at MannKind after Q4 2025 results and United Therapeutics’ new soft-mist treprostinil product (“Tresmi”), with focus on revenue mix, 2026 catalysts, balance sheet, insider and institutional positioning, analyst expectations and retail sentiment around the latest 35–40% drawdown.

BlackSky Technology Inc ( $BKSY )

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Q4 2025 delivered record quarterly revenue and a sharply narrower net loss, while management doubled down on Gen-3 very-high-resolution satellites and real-time AI analytics. At the same time, the new $100 million at-the-market equity program changed the risk-reward for equity holders. This report puts the latest numbers, the 2026 guidance and the capital structure into context, with a focus on how BKSY fits into the broader “Golden Dome” and space-defence narrative we follow at Merlintrader.