Let me take a trip back to 1999.

Kurt Warner was literally bagging groceries in Iowa. Dude was making $5.50 an hour stocking shelves after getting cut from the NFL. Then the Rams gave him a shot. One injury later, he’s their starting QB… throwing laser beams, winning the Super Bowl, and flipping the script from a nobody to MVP in a matter of months.

That’s the energy right now with Blaize, a tiny AI company you’ve definitely never heard of… until it went from footnote to front page on Friday and ripped 50% higher (not to be confused with Lebron’s pizza company).

All the sudden attention is thanks to a $120 million contract bringing its AI tech to smart cities across Asia. For instance, Blaize makes chips (not Doritos… AI ones). Specifically, they build Graph Streaming Processors (GSPs), which are designed for edge computing… processing data in real time, right where it’s being collected (think: traffic lights, cameras, utility sensors), instead of relying on some faraway server farm with bad WiFi. 

And now, that tech is getting deployed in smart city projects across India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and China through a deal with Starshine Computing Power Technology Ltd., an infrastructure firm out of Asia.

The agreement will bring in at least $120 Million in revenue over 18 months, starting in Q3 of 2025. CEO Dinakar Munagala says this is the beginning of actual AI infrastructure at scale. He’s targeting a $112 billion opportunity in Asia, and Blaize wants to be the power under the hood.

Ironically enough, it’s what happened before the announcement that’s making me scratch my head. With less than 10 minutes to go before Thursday’s market close, a pair of massive trades went up on Blaize… the busiest trading activity all month.

And this isn’t their first late-game surprise. Back on June 27th, another volume spike happened right before the bell. The next day Blaize announced a $56 million purchase order. The stock jumped 28% twice in three weeks. Right before news drops. Coincidence? You tell me.

Even crazier… those trades went off on the bid side. That usually means sellers… so either someone fumbled a bag… or someone knew something, and didn’t want to leave a fingerprint. Either way, it belongs in the “huh, that’s convenient” file.

So, is this for real? Well, Blaize actually has tech, a real customer, and a very not-meme contract that will generate actual revenue. That’s more than we can say for half the AI space right now.

But, don’t let the 50% pop fool you… Blaize is still picking gravel out of its teeth. The stock’s down 80% year-to-date and 73% over the past 12 months.

As for Wall Street? The consensus is a “Moderate Buy,” with two analysts leaning bullish and one waving the red flag. What’s more interesting is the average price target, which implies a potential 114.5% upside from here. That’s not nothing... but it also assumes this contract is the start of a real turnaround, not only on the shoulders of a well-timed headline. If Blaize can string together more wins like this, the upside case holds water. If not, this might go right back to being a forgotten ticker buried in your watchlist.

At the time this article was published Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in article.