From our partners at SmallCaps Daily
Gold Breaks Above $5,500 as Trust Becomes the New Currency — and Why Small-Cap NASDAQ Company SMX Is Emerging as the Infrastructure Play Behind the Precious Metals Rally!
As Gold and Silver Trade at Record Levels, SMX Is Positioning Itself as the Verification Backbone of a New Enforcement-Driven Metals Economy
Gold has surged to a record high above $5,500, and silver continues to trade near historic levels, driven by geopolitical risk, expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts, and persistent currency pressure.
Yet beneath the price action, a deeper structural shift is unfolding. Precious metals are no longer judged solely on scarcity and demand — they are now evaluated on verifiability.
Origin, custody, recycled content, and ESG compliance have moved from optional disclosures to enforceable requirements.
As gold rallies into this new era, companies built for transparency under scrutiny stand to matter more than ever. One of them is SMX (NASDAQ: SMX).
Gold’s Rally Is About More Than Price — It’s About Proof
Gold and silver have returned to the center of global capital flows as safe-haven assets, but today’s environment is fundamentally different from past cycles. Regulators, refiners, industrial users, and institutional investors are demanding verifiable proof of origin and custody, not reconstructed narratives.
Traditional paper-based systems struggle under audits, inspections, and cross-border enforcement. In precious metals, trust is no longer assumed — it is tested. This shift is creating a new kind of infrastructure demand, and it is exactly the environment SMX was designed for.
What Makes SMX Different: Infrastructure, Not Hype
SMX is a small-cap NASDAQ company quietly building something far more durable than a sustainability add-on. Its mission is to become a global standard for material verification, connecting physical materials directly to blockchain-enabled digital identities. Using patented molecular identity technology, SMXembeds an invisible, chemical-based “barcode” directly into materials themselves — including gold and silver. That identity travels with the material through refining, handling, recycling, and resale, creating continuous, tamper-resistant verification that does not rely on trust, paperwork, or intermediaries.
Silver as the Proving Ground
Silver is one of the most demanding environments for verification. It is heavily traded, tightly regulated, custody-sensitive, and intolerant of error. Substitution risk, undocumented recycling, and custody gaps are not theoretical — they carry real financial and legal consequences.
SMX’s technology was built for precisely this level of scrutiny.
Verification persists through repeated handling and inspection, making silver not just a use case, but a proving ground. SMX has designed its platform to pass where traditional systems fail.
Gold: Where Regulation, ESG, and Provenance Converge
Gold faces mounting pressure from ethical sourcing mandates, carbon accountability, recycled content requirements, and geopolitical oversight. As enforcement tightens globally, proof can no longer be retroactively assembled — it must exist at the material level.
SMX enables gold to carry its verified history from origin or recycling through refining and downstream use. Because identity is embedded directly into the metal and recorded on blockchain, verification is always present. As regulation escalates, systems that already meet enforcement standards gain relevance without needing to pivot.
From Verification Tool to Verification Platform
Most companies treat verification as a feature. SMX treats it as infrastructure.
The same core technology applies across precious metals, plastics, textiles, agriculture, electronics, and non-ferrous metals. Each deployment strengthens the platform and reduces friction for the next, allowing SMX to expand horizontally rather than chasing one-off verticals. This is how infrastructure scales — quietly, steadily, and with rising switching costs.
Why Regulation Is Becoming SMX’s Largest Catalyst
Markets shaped by regulation do not reward speed; they reward endurance. Enforcement does not arrive all at once, but once it does, participation requires compliance. SMX was built for inspection, not persuasion.
By embedding proof directly into materials, it aligns naturally with enforcement-driven markets where liability follows the supply chain. As sustainability rules shift from voluntary reporting to mandatory compliance, entire markets become addressable almost overnight.
A Trillion-Dollar Circular Economy Opportunity
The global circular economy is estimated at $4.5 trillion, and SMX is positioning itself as a foundational enabler. By allowing materials to carry verified data on origin, recycling history, and carbon impact, SMX transforms verification from a compliance cost into a measurable asset.
The platform even enables carbon and plastic credits to be directly linked to physical materials, aligning sustainability goals with economic incentives.
Why Investors Are Paying Attention Now
SMX is not an early-stage concept. Its technology has been operational at national scale for more than a decade,originally developed by the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission and deployed by the Israeli government.
Its leadership team brings deep experience in commercialization and global execution. While blockchain has already produced multiple billion-dollar companies at the digital layer, SMXrepresents a different opportunity: blockchain embedded directly into the physical economy, where materials like gold and silver demand absolute certainty.
The Bottom Line
As gold breaks above $5,500 and silver continues its historic run, markets are demanding more than belief — they are demanding proof.
SMX does not need to convince the market of its relevance; it is already aligned with where regulation, enforcement, and capital are moving. From precious metals to plastics, SMX is turning verification into infrastructure. And infrastructure, once embedded, tends to last.
Special Report
5 Stocks to Buy in February: Last Year’s Winners Aren’t Done Yet
By Thomas Hughes. Publication Date: 1/29/2026.
Summary
- Many of 2025’s top-performing stocks remain well-positioned for 2026 as key trends continue to strengthen.
- Analysts broadly expect double-digit upside for these names, with several positioned to challenge or set new highs.
- Forward expectations may still be conservative, leaving room for a cycle of outperformance and upward revisions as catalysts play out.
2026 is well underway and off to a bullish start. The S&P 500 and other major indices are ending January at record highs, and the Russell 2000 (INDEXRUSSELL: RUT), which tracks small-cap stocks, is leading the charge. The main point: the sector rotation seen over the past 18 months is accelerating. While tech and big tech remain central to the outlook, leadership is broadening to include a wider range of names and risk profiles. Five stocks that led in 2025 still have momentum heading into 2026—and February could offer better entry points.
Advanced Micro Devices Approaches NVIDIA-Like Inflection
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) is ending January up more than 25% from its early-month lows. The move, which confirms support at last year’s key resistance level, reinforces the growth outlook implied by the MI450 launch. That launch, scheduled for later in the year, could produce an NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)-like outcome: a triple-digit surge in datacenter revenue and potentially systemwide growth.
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Based on forecasts, the stock appears to be trading at a deep discount to analysts’ estimates, which may be conservative. Sentiment is nevertheless bullish, with numerous January coverage initiations, a firming Moderate Buy rating, and rising price targets. Sentiment trends suggest the stock could reach the high end of the range—roughly 35% upside as of early 2026—and that high-end targets may be raised further by year-end.
Amprius Technologies Cements Production Capacity Ahead of Q4 Release
Amprius Technologies (NYSE: AMPX) is up about 50% from recent lows as investors prepare for its Q4 FY2025 earnings release, slated for late March. The report is expected to confirm a strengthening order pipeline, ramping production, and a clearer pathway to profits.
Recent news includes the addition of three South Korean battery manufacturers to its production alliance, putting Amprius ahead of schedule and well on track to meet its goals for cost reduction and lower cash burn. Analysts are optimistic, rating the stock a Moderate Buy with roughly 35% upside toward the critical resistance level near $12.
Credo Technologies Pulls Back Into Buying Opportunity
Credo Technologies (NASDAQ: CRDO)is pulling back, presenting a clear buying opportunity. The retreat runs counter to accelerating operational results and improving analyst trends. MarketBeat data show that coverage increased significantly over the trailing 12 months, sentiment firmed to Buy from Moderate Buy, and price targets trended higher.
The stock is up about 5% month-over-month in January, while consensus estimates are up nearly 200% year-over-year, implying roughly 70% upside, with many forecasts targeting the high end of the range. A potential catalyst is the Q3 FY2026 report, scheduled for early March. Credo remains central to advanced datacenter technology, AI and model inference, which should support continued strength.
Bloom Energy Blossoms Under Data Center Demand
Bloom Energy (NYSE: BE) makes low-emission, high-efficiency fuel cells that are well-suited for targeted applications, including data centers where traditional grid connections can be a constraint. Its technology enables quick, lower-cost deployment and operations. While not ideal for the largest sites, rising demand is driving revenue growth and improving margins.
Bloom Energy accelerated sequential and year-over-year growth to more than 50% in Q3 and is expected to sustain high double-digit growth into Q4 FY2025 and 2026. Profit growth should outpace revenue, supporting a rapidly improving analyst outlook. The 26 MarketBeat-tracked analysts currently rate the stock as a Hold, but coverage has increased substantially over the past year, sentiment is firming (verging on Moderate Buy), and the consensus price target has risen sharply—by roughly 400%. Though it has lagged the market, January forecasts point to about 20% upside this year.
Applied Digital Breaks Out After Solid Results
Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD)delivered Q2 FY2026 results that the market clearly welcomed, with revenue nearly doubling year-over-year and beating consensus estimates. The strong quarter reinforced a bullish outlook that includes the completion of its second campus, expected to start coming online this year.
The second campus is largely sold out, and new contracts—such as one with CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV) —suggest demand will require a third campus sooner rather than later. Analysts reacted positively, with coverage initiations, upgrades, and price-target increases pointing toward the high end of the range and implying as much as 50% upside from the breakout point.
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