Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
📈 Micron rides the AI memory wave
🥈 Silver's dramatic fall from record highs
⚖️ DOJ targets Big Oil over pump prices
🛢️ Iraq weighs a dramatic OPEC exit
💾 SK Hynix eyes a landmark US listing
Plus: 🌍 7 macro news, 🏢 6 corporate news, 💰 4 deal flow, and 📑 5 research & reports.
📰 Top News
| 📈 Micron rides the AI memory wave LINK |
- Micron's fiscal third-quarter revenue more than quadrupled to $41.46 billion from $9.3 billion a year earlier, beating the nearly $36 billion LSEG consensus, as the AI boom lifts memory demand and sends the stock up 16.4% premarket.
- AI data center buildouts by hyperscalers have reduced memory supply for smartphones and PCs, creating an imbalance that raised prices, while Micron signed 16 long-term agreements expecting $22 billion in financial commitments and guided current-quarter revenue to about $50 billion versus $11.3 billion prior year.
- The earnings lifted global tech stocks, reversing the week's selloff as Qualcomm rose 12%, Intel nearly 6%, AMD 3.6%, and Nvidia 1.5% premarket, with RBC reiterating Outperform on roughly 40% of revenue from minimum-price contracts limiting margin risk.
| 🥈 Silver's dramatic fall from record highs LINK |
- Silver collapsed more than 50% from its all-time high of $121, falling below $60 after surging from $47 in barely a year, marking one of the sharpest reversals in decades.
- The crash traced to Iran tensions lifting oil prices and stoking inflation to its fastest pace since 2023, which dismantled rate-cut expectations, lifted real yields and drove the dollar to a one-year high, making yield-less silver a liquidation target.
- Gold held in the low $4,000 range as silver broke twice as hard given its dual monetary and industrial role, while the six-year supply shortage widened to a 46-million-ounce annual deficit yet failed to support prices.
| ⚖️ DOJ targets Big Oil over pump prices LINK |
- President Trump has directed the Department of Justice to investigate the largest oil companies, accusing them of "gouging" customers by failing to drop pump prices commensurate with the sharply lower crude prices they are paying.
- Trump issued the message on Truth Social, arguing oil prices are "dropping like a rock" while gasoline prices are not declining fast enough, and saying he wants the DOJ to immediately start looking into the disparity.
- Crude prices are moving lower in early trading, with WTI and Brent under pressure, though both benchmarks remain much higher than pre-war levels despite retreating from the highs of the Iran crisis.
| 🛢️ Iraq weighs a dramatic OPEC exit LINK |
- Iraq, OPEC's second-largest producer, is weighing an exit from the cartel if the organization rejects Baghdad's plan to raise its oil production quota in line with some other members, government sources told Shafaq.
- Iraq proposes boosting oil exports to compensate for production and sales losses incurred since the war began, while estimating that exceeding its quota would bring an expected decline in global oil prices amid higher supply in the near to medium term.
- Any decision would likely follow Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's planned mid-July Washington visit, with an Iraq exit a bigger blow than the UAE's withdrawal effective May 1, 2026, in an economy where petroleum sales still account for 90% of state budget revenues.
| 💾 SK Hynix eyes a landmark US listing LINK |
- SK Hynix plans to raise as much as $29.4 billion through a Nasdaq listing, marking what would be a record-breaking U.S. stock market debut for the South Korean chip giant via American depositary receipts.
- Shares surged 11% on Thursday after the company said it would issue 17.79 million new shares as ADRs, an offer that could raise 45.45 trillion won ($29.65 billion), with trading expected to begin July 10.
- SK Hynix said the listing would broaden its investor base and elevate its status, as it ramps up AI chip investment via its Yongin cluster, set to begin operations in 2027, and a $4 billion Indiana packaging plant.
🌍 Macro News
- The Dollar Index hit 101.63 after a $1.3 trillion tech selloff. LINK
- U.S. new home sales fell 7.3% in May, missing all forecasts. LINK
- All 32 large banks passed the Fed's annual stress test. LINK
- Gold fell nearly 4% and silver dropped nearly 6% Wednesday morning. LINK
- Europe's heatwave pushed electricity prices to multi-year highs Tuesday. LINK
- The UK will cut tariff-free steel import quotas by 51% from July. LINK
- China's auto industry keeps gaining ground on global rivals, AlixPartners says. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Germany is on track for its third-highest first-half M&A total in 20 years. LINK
- Qualcomm shares jumped 15% after doubling its 2029 non-handset revenue target. LINK
- Rheinmetall shares fell 17% after Berlin reportedly scrapped a frigate program. LINK
- Amazon will invest an additional $13 billion in AI and cloud in India. LINK
- BTIG initiated Take-Two with a buy rating ahead of GTA 6 preorders. LINK
- Amazon and Alphabet sold debut Canadian dollar bonds without standard roadshows. LINK
📈 Stocks
💰 Deal Flow
- Eli Lilly completed its $7.8 billion acquisition of Centessa Pharmaceuticals. LINK
- Qualcomm agreed to acquire AI software firm Modular for about $4 billion. LINK
- Walmart will pay $1.4 billion to acquire ad-tech firm Vibe.co. LINK
- InMode shares rose 10% after receiving an unsolicited $16.20-per-share takeover bid. LINK
📑 Research & Reports
- Morgan Stanley nearly doubled its 2026 China humanoid robot shipment forecast to 50,000. LINK
- BlackRock recommended 1% to 2% Bitcoin exposure in diversified portfolios. LINK
- About $55 billion of India's renewable energy assets face climate damage risk. LINK
- AAVE token surged 15% after Standard Chartered set a $3,500 price target. LINK
- AI investment is rising among executives but enterprise operating models lag behind. LINK