Shares in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning specialist Brainchip Holdings Ltd (ASX: BRN) are charging higher today and now trade up 12.25% at 55 cents.
In fact, Brainchip shares have been on the upward trajectory for over a month now, having surged 42% off a low in mid-October.
After trading sideways for a week or two as we rolled into November, the Brainchip share price spiked again following a company announcement on Tuesday.
Why don't we take a closer look at what's been squeezing the juice for Brainchip shareholders recently.
What's the go with Brainchip's share price lately?
Brainchip advised on Tuesday that functionality and performance testing of its AKD1000 production chips has been completed.
Results were positive, as the chips showed better performance than the original engineering samples provided.
For some context, in the quest to develop its "Akida Neuromorphic System-on-Chip (NSoC)", Brainchip tested a production version of its AKD1000 chip with several applications.
These 'neural network' functions included object classification, keyword spotting and spiking neural networks.
Brainchip attributes the improved performance of its chips to a better layout and minor design changes, made after analysing previous testing results.
As a result, the chips are "now being integrated into complete PCIe and Mini-PCIe boards, which are being shipped to early access customers for further testing.
Investors had a delayed reaction to the announcement of about 1 day, however sent its shares flying thereafter.
Since the announcement on Tuesday, the Brainchip share price has roared 14% to its current levels.
What other catalysts are there?
The update builds on previous momentum Brainchip obtained with its technologies last month, including with its AKD1000 chips.
Brainchip advised last month that it will now be taking orders for two of its Akida AI processor development kits.
These kits include the X86 Shuttle PC development kit and the Raspberry Pi development kit – both of which integrate the AKI1000 chip.
Aside from this, it was also awarded another patent from the US Patents and Trademarks Office for "spontaneous machine learning and feature extraction" over its Akida chip.
Essentially the patent allows the Akida chip to learn in real time, versus relying on training from sample data and populations.
The company acknowledges that protection over its intellectual property (IP) is a key competitive advantage to help shareholders realise value.
Brainchip now has five foundational patents under its belt to help achieve this result and to drive sales volumes into the future.
Investors have responded positively to both announcements and have piled into Brainchip shares over the past few weeks.
The trend appears to be continuing today as well. The total volume of Brainchip shares exchanging hands today is 14,558,325 – over 100% above its 4-week average.
Brainchip share price snapshot
The Brainchip share price has climbed over 59% in the last 12 months after rallying a further 28% this year to date.
Both of these returns are ahead of the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO)'s return of around 16% this past year.
