Ceasefire Talks Intensify as Trump's Hormuz Deadline Looms
Stocks are moving higher today, albeit with volatility, amid last-ditch ceasefire efforts in the U.S.-Iran conflict, with Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey pushing to broker a 45-day pause before Trump's Tuesday 8 p.m. deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Fighting continued over the weekend, with Iran launching missile waves at Israel, Kuwait and the UAE while Israel destroyed Iran's largest petrochemical facility. More than 5,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in late February.
The Billion-Dollar Burn Behind ChatGPT and Claude
Confidential financial documents shared ahead of recent funding rounds reveal the staggering economics of frontier AI development. OpenAI expects to spend $121B on compute in 2028 alone, projecting losses that would surpass any public company in history, even as revenue nearly doubles. Anthropic faces a similar trajectory, though its path to break-even arrives sooner. Both companies strip training costs from one profitability measure, but when added back, neither expects to break even for years. Anthropic is reportedly weighing an IPO as soon as October, while Microsoft (MSFT) backed OpenAI is still debating the timing internally.
BlackRock Takes Aim at Invesco's Nasdaq 100 Monopoly
BlackRock (BLK) has filed a preliminary prospectus for an ETF tracking the Nasdaq 100 Index, ending Invesco's (IVZ) near-exclusive grip on U.S.-listed funds tied to the tech-heavy benchmark. The planned fund, expected to trade under the ticker IQQ, would compete directly with IVZ's $374B QQQ and $70B QQQM. Nasdaq (NDAQ) framed the move as "expanding access" and said it remains committed to its partnership with Invesco. BLK edged down -0.1% and IVZ fell -0.7% in premarket trading.
AppLovin Leads Mobile Ads, but Rivals Are Closing In
AppLovin's (APP) dominance in mobile gaming advertising remains intact, but analysts warn competition is quietly building. APP commands the largest share of mobile gaming ad spend by a wide margin, with its MAX, Adjust, and AXON platforms forming the strongest walled garden in the space. However, Meta Platforms (META) has been steadily reclaiming iOS share of voice in gaming over the past six months, and Unity (U) is narrowing the gap through its Runtime integration, which would feed granular game-level telemetry into its ad models.
Molson Coors Enters Top-Five RTD With Monaco Buy
Molson Coors Beverage Company (TAP) closed its acquisition of Atomic Brands, adding Monaco Cocktails to its U.S. beyond-beer portfolio and establishing TAP as a top-five supplier in the fast-growing ready-to-drink cocktail segment. Monaco, launched in 2012, holds a 5% share of RTD singles and is sold in over 70K U.S. retail locations, with particular strength in convenience stores. Analysts project a roughly 1% revenue lift for TAP from the deal, and see the acquisition supporting the company's return to its low single-digit medium-term sales algorithm.
