Arm $ARM faces a new regulatory risk in the US: according to Bloomberg, the FTC has opened an antitrust investigation into whether the British chip designer is attempting to illegally monopolize parts of the semiconductor market through the way it licenses its IP. Investigators are examining whether Arm plans to refuse or "worsen" licensing terms for its CPU designs — that is, whether it can selectively push certain players out of the market or force a more advantageous position.

On top of that, there is an ongoing dispute with Qualcomm $QCOM over the acquisition of the startup Nuvia, in which both sides accuse each other of breaching contracts and abusing their position; Arm has publicly called Qualcomm’s claims of alleged anticompetitive conduct "baseless" and purely tactical within a commercial dispute. For investors, it is crucial that a large part of Arm’s business rests on licensing its architecture to giants like Nvidia and Apple and on collecting royalties — any regulatory intervention in licensing policy (or a requirement to change commercial terms) could therefore have a direct impact on the company’s valuation and bargaining power.