Happy Tuesday.
The build this week: Base Power unveiled a 39.2 kWh home battery built in Austin to back up houses and support the grid.
Underneath: Google's Oklahoma solar agreement, 18 missile-tracking payloads, rail infrastructure capital, and the strongest factory PMI since May 2022.
| S&P 500 | 7,600.50 | ▲ 1.48% |
| Semiconductors (SMH) | $545.46 | ▲ 0.91% |
| Industrials (XLI) | $183.16 | ▲ 1.85% |
| Aerospace & Defense (ITA) | $246.11 | ▲ 2.69% |
| Copper Miners (COPX) | $79.36 | ▲ 0.63% |
| Energy (XLE) | $58.79 | ▼ 1.28% |
The Lead
Base Power unveiled Base Core Monday, a next-generation home battery designed to keep a house running during an outage and send power back when the grid needs support. The 39.2 kWh system is now in production at Base Factory 1 in Austin.
Core holds roughly three times the energy of a typical home battery, according to Base. A single unit can provide up to 36 hours of backup with reduced electricity use, while two can reach 72 hours. It switches a home to battery power in 50 milliseconds and includes a generator port for longer outages.
The hardware is one half of the product. Base retains ownership, handles maintenance, and operates the battery as part of its power business. When the grid is stable, the system charges. When demand rises, Base can dispatch stored electricity. Revenue from that grid service helps subsidize the customer price.
That operating model makes the Austin factory more consequential. Base says it designs, builds, installs, and maintains Core itself. The company is joining battery manufacturing, electrical installation, retail power, software, and grid dispatch inside one platform. Every installation adds household backup and another controllable asset to a distributed fleet.
Base says Core is currently available in Texas and Illinois. That places Austin-made hardware into two very different operating environments, from Texas heat to Chicago cold, and gives the company a field test for national expansion. The system uses lithium iron phosphate chemistry and is rated to operate from minus 22 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
Core arrives with another billion dollars behind it. Base announced a new $1 billion Series D, valuing the company at $13 billion post-money less than a year after its previous billion-dollar round. TechCrunch reports Base is installing about 100 batteries a day and plans to double that pace by year-end. Core is being built at Factory 1, Base’s Austin pilot line inside the former Austin American-Statesman printing plant, which opened in October 2025. The new round makes the manufacturing test much larger: can Base turn fresh capital and a new product into faster U.S. battery output and a wider distributed power fleet?
Defense & Space
Anduril signed an MOU tied to a possible drone-boat production site at Baltimore County's Sparrows Point, where the company is considering a buildout worth hundreds of millions of dollars for manufacturing and testing.
Leidos will build infrared sensor payloads for 18 Sierra Space satellites supporting the Space Development Agency's Tranche 3 missile-warning and tracking layer.
Leidos extended its secure intelligence work for the U.S. Navy with a new contract covering classified operational support.
The FAA issued the amended type certificate for Boeing's 737 MAX 7, clearing a regulatory gate for the smallest member of the MAX family.
Tampa General and Hillsborough County Fire Rescue are preparing a whole-blood drone-delivery program designed to reach emergencies across 70 square miles in under three minutes.
Semiconductors & Electronics
HCLTech completed its acquisition of HPE's Telco Solutions business, adding network software, engineering staff, and systems that support more than one billion devices across 200-plus deployments.
Assail signed Qanapi to a five-year, $4.125 million contract for secure cloud and data-protection infrastructure.
BMO and REX Shares launched daily 3x long and inverse semiconductor exchange-traded notes on Cboe BZX under the SMHU and SMHD tickers.
Manufacturing & Automation
Resilience and Eli Lilly announced a $750 million Cincinnati-region expansion last Thursday to increase KwikPen production, adding at least 400 jobs with full operations expected in early 2027.
The Institute for Supply Management reported a July Manufacturing PMI of 55.6, the highest since May 2022, with new orders at 56.7 and production at 58.5.
Windings acquired North Iowa's Machine Tool Engineering, bringing CNC and Swiss machining in-house for motor assemblies serving aerospace and defense customers.
Triple-S Steel acquired Camden Yards Steel, expanding its steel-processing and distribution platform through a completed strategic sale.
White Cap completed its acquisition of Gierke Robinson, adding construction-supply locations serving eastern Iowa, western Illinois, and southwest Wisconsin.
Enzene launched a local-biomanufacturing suite that combines process development, modular production, and technology transfer for regional drug manufacturing.
Energy & Materials
Mariana Minerals raised a $310 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures at a $1.5 billion valuation to run software-managed copper and lithium mines in Utah and Texas.
RWE and Google signed a 15-year agreement for all output from a 155 MW Oklahoma solar project scheduled to start construction in late 2026 and operate in 2028.
Carrier completed the sale of NORESCO to Opterra Energy Services, moving the energy-services business to an LS Power portfolio company.
Mousterian and Samsung Heavy Industries signed an engineering contract for moored 50 MW floating data centers planned first for Texas and other U.S. locations.
Valar Atomics raised $1 billion in equity and secured a $200 million credit line to move toward manufacturing fleets of small modular reactors.
Supply Chain & Freight
InfraRed Capital Partners made a strategic investment in Rail Modal Group, backing a private inland intermodal network that links agricultural producers to export ports.
Wafra acquired an 899,080-square-foot industrial portfolio in Brownsburg, Indiana comprising three buildings near I-74 and Indianapolis International Airport.
Atlas Air Worldwide completed a 49% investment in Air Atlanta, an operator with 14 Boeing 747 and 777 freighters plus four passenger 777s.
Basic 3PL expanded specialized inventory infrastructure for products that need serial tracking, inspection, controlled handling, or nonstandard fulfillment.
Triunity won a program-management contract for Denver's Vibrant Denver bond program, supporting a citywide package of public capital projects.
Dealbook
Base Power raised a $1 billion Series D at a $13 billion post-money valuation as it launches Core and expands its U.S. home-battery fleet.
Mariana Minerals closed a $310 million Series B led by Khosla Ventures, bringing the software-focused mining startup to $400 million raised and a $1.5 billion valuation.
Valar Atomics closed $1 billion of equity led by Sequoia and a $200 million bank credit line to scale its nuclear manufacturing program.
Brewer Science completed its acquisition of Heraeus Epurio's semiconductor-chemicals business, including the Dayton production facility and supporting technical teams.
Windings bought Machine Tool Engineering to add North Iowa precision-machining capacity to its motor and generator manufacturing platform.
Triple-S Steel bought Camden Yards Steel, extending a regional steel-processing and distribution network.
White Cap bought Gierke Robinson, adding Midwest construction-supply inventory and locations.
Codis completed its acquisition of Catalent's Nottingham facility, adding spray-dry development and small-scale manufacturing to its contract-manufacturing network.
Vandemoortele USA completed the final phase of its Banneton Bakery acquisition, adding a New Jersey production operation to its U.S. platform.
Wafra bought three Brownsburg industrial buildings totaling 899,080 square feet and occupied by seven tenants.
Atlas Air Worldwide took a 49% stake in Air Atlanta and acquired aircraft through Titan Aviation for lease back to the operator.
InfraRed Capital Partners invested in Rail Modal Group to expand a private inland intermodal network serving agricultural exports.
Carrier sold NORESCO to Opterra Energy Services, an LS Power portfolio company; terms were not disclosed.
Back Thursday.
