Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ Finpresso.
In today's newsletter:
🎬 Paramount closes $110B Warner Bros merger
🛢️ Brent tops $100 on claimed Aramco strike
📉 US trade deficit surges to $105.6B
⚡ AMD plans big AI chip supply boost in 2027
🚀 SpaceX seeks $40B to buy Nvidia chips
Plus: 🌍 11 macro stories, 🏢 11 corporate stories, and 📑 6 research & reports.
| 🎬 Paramount closes $110B Warner Bros merger LINK |
- Paramount has completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, forming a combined entertainment company called Skydance that ranks among the largest mergers ever struck.
- The tie-up merges the Paramount+ and HBO Max streaming services and networks including CBS, CNN and MTV, and hands Skydance franchises such as "Game of Thrones" and the DC Universe, with projected annual revenue of nearly $70 billion.
- Skydance Class B shares begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker "SKYD," after settlements with a coalition of U.S. states and a Hollywood writers' union cleared the main legal hurdles.
| 🛢️ Brent tops $100 on claimed Aramco strike LINK |
- Brent crude pushed above $100 a barrel after Iran-aligned Houthi rebels claimed a missile and drone strike on a Saudi Aramco facility in Riyadh over the weekend, reigniting fears over Middle East oil supply.
- Yemen's internationally recognized government on Sunday launched operations to retake Houthi-held territory, including much of the western coast along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the chokepoint linking the Red Sea and Suez Canal to Asia-bound shipping routes.
- The escalation threatens Saudi exports just as the Yanbu Red Sea port resumed crude loadings; with Houthis barring Saudi-linked vessels, cargoes rerouting around Africa's Cape of Good Hope could add roughly a month to delivery times for Saudi crude in Asia.
| 📉 US trade deficit surges to $105.6B LINK |
- The U.S. trade deficit widened to $105.6 billion in August, the largest monthly gap since March 2025, as imports outpaced exports and the figure overshot the $102 billion consensus estimate.
- The gap grew 13.7% from July, driven by a jump in goods imports, with industrial supplies led by crude oil and gold and semiconductor-heavy capital goods accounting for most of the increase.
- Despite the monthly spike, the cumulative deficit through August was down about 20%, or $138.2 billion, from a year earlier, though Oxford Economics expects AI-linked high-tech equipment imports to keep import growth strong into 2027.
| ⚡ AMD plans big AI chip supply boost in 2027 LINK |
- AMD will "substantially increase" its supply of AI chips in 2027, CEO Lisa Su told reporters in Taipei, after already ramping output through 2026 to chase what she called very high demand.
- Su said AMD needs more advanced wafer capacity to keep up and is now planning three to five years ahead, though she declined to confirm whether manufacturing partner TSMC discussed a potential investment in Texas.
- The commentary points to sustained AI-chip demand "for the next several years," the window investors watch as AMD competes for a bigger slice of a market still dominated by Nvidia.
| 🚀 SpaceX seeks $40B to buy Nvidia chips LINK |
- SpaceX is seeking to raise $40bn in a financing led by Apollo Global Management to fund a large order of Nvidia chips, deepening Elon Musk's bet on the chipmaker for his AI ambitions.
- The package would split into about $10bn in bank loans and $30bn in investment-grade debt, with Pimco among lenders in talks; the BBB rating lets insurers and pension funds buy in, and the deal is expected to close in 2027.
- Investor caution lingers: SpaceX's $25bn bond sale after its June IPO sold off over debt and spending worries, with its 2056 bonds now near 85 cents on the dollar and yielding close to junk levels.
🌍 Macro News
- IMF chief says AI, energy costs and debt threaten weak growth. LINK
- Fed will shift bank supervision from regional presidents to Washington officials. LINK
- EU weighs broad corporate tax to raise revenue from US tech giants. LINK
- UK appoints six banks to lead first digital government bond sale. LINK
- EIA raises oil forecasts as tight supplies and Iran risks threaten flows. LINK
- Euro hits 17-month low as French fiscal worries rattle markets. LINK
- ECB warns Europe needs digital euro to prevent fragmented private payment systems. LINK
- Fed's Daly says AI demand, tariffs and energy costs may prolong inflation. LINK
- Africa launches homegrown ratings agency to challenge dominant US firms. LINK
- Treasury yields rise as investors await auction and Fed minutes. LINK
- S&P 500 sets record despite oil shocks and rising borrowing costs. LINK
🏢 Corporate News
- Lambda seeks up to $4 billion at $14.5 billion valuation. LINK
- Uber buys ezCater for $2.3 billion, expanding Uber Eats services. LINK
- Micron agrees to pay $600 million to settle Netlist patent dispute. LINK
- HubSpot cuts 660 jobs as it restructures around AI-driven customer outcomes. LINK
- Marvell shares jump after company raises 2028 revenue forecast to $20 billion. LINK
- OKX raises undisclosed funding at $25 billion valuation. LINK
- FICO owner Fair Isaac cuts nearly 15% of staff in AI restructuring. LINK
- Intel remains involved in Musk's chip project amid separate TSMC talks. LINK
- Capitolis raises $220 million at $1.9 billion valuation. LINK
- Anchorage Digital buys Routable to connect digital assets with cross-border payouts. LINK
- McKesson and CD&R advance talks to buy Option Care above $5 billion. LINK
📈 Stocks
| ▲ Biggest winners |
| Ciena rose 14% after beating Q4 earnings and revenue expectations. LINK |
| Constellation Energy Corporatio rose 12% after a report said Alphabet is close to a multiyear nuclear power agreement with the company worth $1 billion or more. LINK |
| Fabrinet rose 8% after record Q4 revenue of $1.316 billion beat guidance. LINK |
| ▼ Biggest losers |
| Seagate Technology Holdings fell 9% after Bloomberg reported Seagate and Toshiba are competing to acquire TDK's magnetic-heads division. LINK |
| Guardant Health fell 9% after Illumina announced plans to re-enter the liquid biopsy market. LINK |
| 10x Genomics fell 17% after a regulatory filing disclosed proposed insider share sales. LINK |
📑 Research & Reports
- JPMorgan again leads bank AI rankings, ahead of Capital One and RBC. LINK
- Flash loan attacks drained $1.211 billion from DeFi platforms in 72 incidents. LINK
- Five trading days generated more than half of Bitcoin's three-year gains. LINK
- Euro-area banks eased securities-financing and derivatives terms for a fourth quarter. LINK
- Global supply chain pressures hit a four-month high in September. LINK
- Wall Street firms' first-half trading profits already topped prior full-year forecast. LINK