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Hey there weekday warrior,
Here’s what’s on tap today… Anthropic just topped OpenAI, PCE is up bigly (spoiler: I mean that in the worst way possible), and TBD, but it looks like Iran might be settling down.
Enjoy the next 3 minutes and 56 seconds of blue-chip news and commentary.
Keep on snapping necks and cashing checks,
PS… thanks in advance for doing your part in helping keep TWC like the Fed (free and independent) by clicking on and checking out our advertising partners daily.
Largest language model
“You come at the king, you best not miss.” - Sam Altman, probably
Anthropic has taken the crown as the most valuable AI company in Silicon Valley. Dario & Co. just announced a $65B round at a $965B valuation, making it the biggest swinging AI play (Elon would like a word…).
Frenemy reminder: OpenAI was last valued at a mere $852B back in March after its latest $122B funding round.
For those of you keeping track at home, this is Anthropic’s Series H. Fun fact: if a company makes it to Z, Chamath Palihapitiya appears and forces them into a reverse merger with one of his SPACs.
The round nearly triples its most recent valuation. Back in February, Anthropic raised at a $385B valuation. Thank you for your service, tokenmaxxers.
But dethroning Sam Altman might not have even been Dario’s biggest W yesterday…
Claude also reported a $47B revenue run rate, up from $30B earlier this year.
Oh, and it released Opus 4.8. And is planning to (finally) roll out Mythos in the coming weeks. Yes, that’s the model so powerful that Anthropic has had to keep it largely under wraps. What’s the worst that could happen?
And to think, it’s all because of these Super Bowl ads…
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+ The inflation gauge formerly known as the Fed’s favorite (read: PCE) just dropped, and maybe your friend who has been steadily buying up gold from Costco was right all along.
Inflation just clocked its fastest pace in 3 years…
Over the last year, PCE jumped 3.8%. On the bright side, April’s 0.4% PCE increase was below expectations of 0.5% (sup, low expectations).
Meanwhile, the core variety of PCE logged a 0.2% increase for April (spoiler: 3.3% for the year). That’s the highest we’ve seen since November of 2023…
“But what about GDP?” - you, an optimist who I’m about to hurt, probably
Yesterday, the Commerce Dept. revised its GDP reading to a measly 1.6% for Q1…
Still, consumer spending jumped 0.5% in April because the average American didn’t hear no bell.
So, rate cut or nah?
Friendly reminder that last week’s Fed meeting minutes already pointed to the potential of a *whispers* rate hike, and traders are already pricing in the possibility for early next year.
+ The last time things were this good at Dell…
Shares of Dell $DELL ( ▲ 28.65% ) went parabolic after hours yesterday. DELL mooned just shy of 40%, bringing its YTD gainz to nearly 150%.
Not only did the computer maker beat easily on the top and bottom line, but it smashed its previous guidance for the ‘27 fiscal year.
Turns out Dell’s servers are a pretty, pretty important part of the AI industrial complex.
+ Peace loading…
More progress on the Iran War front. Negotiators (so, Marco Rubio) reached a 60-day ceasefire extension yesterday to begin talks about Iran’s nuclear program…
The deal appears to be waiting on #47’s desk for approval. Fingers crossed (unless you’re a Palantir or Lockheed Martin shareholder).
Oil traders were feeling pretty confident, though. Prices fell on the news (even after a quick morning price jump relating to some fresh US/Iran strikes…).
+ Oh, and speaking of autonomous AI-powered piss missiles with an insatiable thirst for blood…
Drone stonks ripped yesterday on a report that Donny Drones is in talks to purchase equity in drone makers on behalf of the Pentagon. Unusual Machines $UMAC ( ▼ 4.81% ), Kratos $KTOS ( ▼ 2.13% ), and AeroVironment $AVAV ( ▼ 6.19% ) all mooned.
Me explaining to my wife why we need to buy more drone stonks before the Iran war wraps up…
+ “Good luck with your layoffs, I hope your firings go really well.”
The web devs over at Wix $WIX ( ▲ 7.65% ) are so cooked. CEO Avishai Abrahami announced yesterday that the OG website builder platform would be unceremoniously dumping 20% of its workforce due to… do I really even need to say it?
Per Double-A, the “fast evolution of AI capabilities” (along with a shoutout to the exchange rate of the shekel vs. the dollar) is behind the decision to rip around 1k jobs off the market.
Shares *checks notes* dipped just slightly on the news, because I guess we’re all numb to it at this point.
> (Thursday) Starbucks says afternoon traffic is rising as turnaround starts to take hold // How have the biohackfluencers not put a stop to this afternoon coffee trend yet?
> (Thursday) Ferrari is raking in orders for new $640K electric vehicle despite furor over design, price tag, CEO claims // Ferrari to car snobs rn…
> (Thursday) Google Engineer Charged With Insider Trading on Polymarket // “Another one.”
> (Wednesday) Salesforce beats on earnings and revenue but full-year guidance comes in light // They know a thing or two about hitting a quota.
> It’s about d*mn time…
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On Wednesday, I asked, “If someone offered you a free exotic sports/supercar, what are you going with?”
20% of you said, “Porsche.” But I know everyone struggled with this decision.
Here’s what some of you guys had to say (and my response in italics)…
Aston Martin: “Good enough for 007, good enough for me.” I heard Bezos’s 007 will be driving a Prius.
Ferrari: “What’d you do?! I killed it. I killed the car.” Day Bow Bow… chick, chicka chicka.
McLaren: “I don't know much about this stratosphere of cars, I drive a 2009 Camry, but I do remember Elon wanted and bought a McLaren so it must be cool!” I hear you, but I'm not sure Elon should be the one setting the tone…
Porsche: “911 GT3 Touring. Can drive it to the office and then to the track.” As the Hulk would say… best of both worlds.
Lamborghini: “Lamborghini is the absolute goat of supercars and I will die on that hill.” Stay strong.
Here’s today’s question(s)…
Good news for those of us with fond memories growing up in the most fashionable Kohl’s styles: Kohl’s stock spikes 20% as slumping retailer says sales trends are improving…
Impressive stuff from Kohl's. Made me wonder... What is the GOATed department store for those of us firmly raised in the middle class?
+ US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday (S&P 500: +0.0%) after a volatile session but rose to record levels on Thursday with strong corporate earnings coming in (S&P 500: +0.6%). Scared money don’t make money.
🟢 (Thursday) Snowflake surges 37% toward best day ever on AI frenzy, fueling software rally // Cheat code: announce $6B in planned compute… stonk go up.
🟢 (Thursday) Best Buy stock climbs 15% on earnings beat as retailer aims to reinvigorate sales // Some are calling it the new GameStop…
🟢 (Wednesday) Abercrombie shares jump 12% on earnings beat, even as Iran conflict hits sales // Abercrombie and Best Buy crushing it like it’s the early ‘00s.
🔴 (Wednesday) Dick’s Sporting Shares Slip After Lower Outlook // Oh, I guess not all the ‘00s OGs are winning…
+ Oil prices plunged on Wednesday and settled mixed Thursday as traders tried to figure out whether we were making war or peace in Iran. Still don’t know.
+ The “smart” money (prediction markets) thinks there’s a 52% chance that Claude Mythos drops by the end of July. (Polymarket)
⏩ Today we’re keeping an eye on…
Slow day. Summer Fridays, amirite?
⏩⏩ On Monday…
+ Credo Technology, Hewlett Packard, and HIVE Blockchain drop earnings after hours
Oh, and one more thing…
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