A TON OF THINGS HAPPENED IN THE STOCK MARKET TODAY.
Here's a full recap:
1. Dell $DELL says customer conversations around AI infrastructure are increasingly multi-year in nature, with 3-, 4-, and 5-year discussions already underway. The company said it is seeing budgets grow, spending shift toward AI, and expects to exit the year with a meaningful backlog heading into next year. The momentum is showing up in the numbers too: Dell beat revenue expectations by $8 billion, raised its FY revenue guide by $10 billion, beat EPS by 68%, and lifted its FY EPS guide by 25%. The stock was up 40% after hours.
2. Software stocks $PLTR, $ZETA, $DDOG, $SHOP, $SNOW, $NOW, $RDDT are surging on the same day Anthropic announced a massive new fundraise and released a new model. The “AI is destroying software” narrative may be starting to break as usually during a new Anthropic release, software names are punished.
3. Anthropic has raised $65 billion in a Series H round, valuing the company at $965 billion post-money. The financing was led by Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia, and includes $15 billion of previously committed hyperscaler investments, including $5 billion from Amazon. Anthropic also said its run-rate revenue crossed $47 billion earlier this month. For context, the company was valued at $380 billion in February after raising $30 billion.
4. Apollo $APO and Blackstone $BX are reportedly marketing a roughly $36 billion debt financing package to help fund Google TPU chips for Anthropic, according to Bloomberg. The deal would use a special purpose vehicle to purchase the TPUs and then lease them back to Anthropic for its AI infrastructure needs. Broadcom $AVGO, which works with Google on TPU development, is also reportedly helping backstop payments tied to the largest senior portions of the financing.
5. Axios reported today that U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached a 60-day MOU to extend the ceasefire and begin nuclear talks, though President Trump has not yet given final approval. The draft agreement would make shipping through the Strait of Hormuz “unrestricted,” require Iran to remove mines within 30 days, and gradually lift the U.S. naval blockade as commercial traffic is restored. The MOU also includes Iran committing not to pursue a nuclear weapon, with future talks expected to focus on highly enriched uranium, enrichment activity, sanctions relief, and frozen funds.
6. Cboe $CBOE has received SEC approval to offer extended-hours trading for certain stock options, with pre-market and post-market options trading set to launch on July 13.
7. The Trump administration is pursuing new funding deals with drone companies, potentially including equity stakes, in an effort to boost domestic production and bring down costs. The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital, which has $210 billion in lending authority, is reportedly vetting companies including Performance Drone Works and Neros Technologies. The push aligns with the Pentagon’s $1.1 billion Drone Dominance program, which aims to produce 300,000 low-cost attack drones $RCAT $KTOS $AVAV $ONDS by the end of 2027.
8. Robinhood $HOOD was up 10% today after Trump Accounts went live, a new type of tax-advantaged investment account designed to help eligible American children build long-term financial security from an early age. Under the plan, eligible children born from 2025 through 2028 would receive an initial $1,000 contribution from the U.S. Treasury, while family, friends, and employers could collectively contribute up to $5,000 annually.
9. Retail investors took profits last week, selling $1.1 billion in equities for their largest weekly outflow of the year after three straight weeks of buying. Single stocks drove the selling, with $1.7 billion in outflows, while equity ETFs still saw $571 million in inflows. Meanwhile, institutions bought $219 million and hedge funds added $686 million, reversing from $4.6 billion in sales the prior week. Overall, investors sold $1.9 billion of single stocks and bought $1.6 billion of equity ETFs.
10. Blue origin had an explosion today at a launch site, they wrote: "We experienced an anomaly during today's hotfire test. All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more." Elon Musk responded with "Sorry to see this, I hope you recover quickly," as Bloomberg also is reporting that $SPCX may be targeting a lower valuation from $2T to $1.8T. The IPO is set for June 12th.
11. U.S. preliminary Q1 GDP came in at +1.6%, below estimates of +2.0%. PCE rose 0.4% MoM versus 0.5% expected and 3.8% YoY, in line with estimates. Core PCE rose 0.2% MoM versus 0.3% expected and 3.3% YoY, in line with estimates. Initial jobless claims came in at 215K, slightly above expectations of 211K.
12. Investor home purchases fell 6% YoY in Q1 to the lowest level since 2020, according to Redfin, as higher rates, insurance, taxes, maintenance costs, and cooling rents pressured returns. The Bay Area was the exception, with purchases up 19% in San Francisco and 12% in San Jose, helped by AI-driven housing demand.
WALL STREET IS THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.
