🕶️ AI in your face, literally

Good evening. Trump slapped tariffs on six more countries today (that’s 20 in total now) with rates as high as 30% kicking in August 1. The message from the White House? No deals, no delays. Still, investors are calling the bluff and betting most of it won’t stick.

⬆︎⬇︎ 1-day change
Market data: today’s market close

WINNERS

⬆︎19.78% AES

Power up the bidding war. AES is reportedly exploring a potential sale after catching the eye of infrastructure giants like BlackRock and Brookfield. The company supplies clean energy to tech titans like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, and now may become a target. With AI and crypto fueling power demand, power providers like AES are suddenly hot property. [Read more]

⬆︎5.64% EssilorLuxottica

Meta wants your glasses to talk back. It’s buying a roughly 3% stake in the eyewear powerhouse. EssilorLuxottica is the maker of Ray-Ban, Oakley, and licensed lines like Chanel and Ralph Lauren. The two companies have already teamed up on Ray-Ban Meta glasses. Meta’s endgame? Glasses that can project holograms and serve as your AI assistant. [Read more]

⬆︎2.88% Merck

Breathing new life into its pipeline. The drugmaker behind cancer blockbuster Keytruda just announced it’s buying Verona Pharma for $10 billion. The big prize: Ohtuvayre, Verona’s newly approved inhaled COPD treatment, the first of its kind in 20+ years. Merck is looking to reduce its reliance on Keytruda before its patent expires, and this deal gives it a foothold in chronic lung disease, with potential expansion into asthma, CF, and more. [Read more]

⬆︎1.80% Nvidia

No breaking news here, just a historic milestone. Nvidia is now the first public company ever to hit a $4 trillion market cap, surpassing both Apple and Microsoft. [Read more]

⬆︎⬇︎ 1-day change
Market data: today’s market close

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LOSERS

⬇︎1.56% UnitedHealth

Back in the hot seat again. The insurer is facing scrutiny from the DOJ over how it handles Medicare payments. Investigators are looking into whether the company boosted profits by logging diagnoses that result in higher government payouts, including sending nurses to patients’ homes for extra documentation. [Read more]

⬇︎3.01% Altria

Blowing smoke? The maker of Marlboro in the U.S. just got hit with a bearish call from Jefferies with an Underperform rating and a lower price target. The tobacco heavyweight is trying to shift away from declining cigarette sales and invest more in smoke-free products, but Jefferies thinks British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands are on stronger ground. [Read more]

⬇︎3.85% Alibaba

Raise now, swap later. Last week, we told you Alibaba was planning to raise cash through a $1.5B bond deal. Well, it’s official now. The Chinese tech powerhouse just completed the offering of zero-coupon exchangeable bonds linked to Alibaba Health, giving investors the option to swap them for shares down the line. No interest payments, just a long-term play. Classic Alibaba. [Read more]

⬇︎18.09% WPP

Cutting out the middleman. The world's largest advertising company just lowered its outlook for the year after clients started pulling back on spending. Brands are leaning into AI-powered tools instead of relying on traditional agencies. WPP insists AI is a tool, not a threat, and is betting on its own AI platform, WPP Open, to keep up in a digital-first landscape. [Read more]

⬆︎⬇︎ 1-day change
Market data: today’s market close

EXTRA

THE END

That’s it for today’s recap. We hope you found it valuable.

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