📌 Top story — scroll down for more updates
Opening Bell
9:30 am
Wall Street is cheering the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with the Dow surging over 500 points in early Friday trade. The breakthrough followed Iran’s declaration that the vital commercial shipping lane is “completely open” after a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. This geopolitical de-escalation has pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to fresh gains, as the tech-heavy index tracks toward a 5.2% weekly win. President Trump’s optimistic signaling that the conflict is “ending pretty soon” is effectively removing the final layers of war-related risk premium from global equities.
Anthropic Heads to the White House
9:40 am
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is scheduled to meet White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles today, signaling a potential resolution to a heated standoff with the Pentagon. The friction centers on Mythos, a new AI model with advanced cybersecurity capabilities that the Trump administration now views as vital for national defense. While the Department of Defense previously severed ties with the AI lab over contract disputes, federal agencies including the Treasury and State Departments are reportedly seeking urgent briefings on the technology. This high-stakes diplomatic pivot highlights the government’s fear that restricting home-grown AI like Mythos would hand a decisive technological advantage to China.
- Project Glasswing Clearance: The government plans to deploy specialized versions of the unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model across major federal agencies for defensive operations. This move effectively overrides previous procurement hurdles to secure elite cyber tools.
- National Security Imperative: Proponents argue that blacklisting Anthropic is “grossly irresponsible” given the model’s ability to breach sophisticated defenses. The White House is now fast-tracking access to ensure domestic infrastructure remains resilient against state-sponsored digital threats.
iPhone China Shipments Surge 20%
7:25 am — AAPL +0.44% in pre-market trading
Apple (AAPL +1.66%) managed to grow iPhone shipments in China by 20% in Q1, the strongest growth in the key market among major peers, despite having to contend with supply chain disruptions and high memory costs.
- Apple’s 19% China market share is only marginally behind the top spot: Apple is currently only 1% behind Huawei in terms of market share in the country. Overall smartphone shipments fell by 4% in China for the quarter, indicating a difficult backdrop for Q2.
- Longtime Apple marketing chief set to retire: Elsewhere, Stan Ng – the marketing executive in charge of the Apple Watch, AirPods and home initiatives – is departing after 31 years at the business, marking another major figure stepping away.
Today’s Change
(1.66%) $4.37
Current Price
$267.76
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$3.9T
Day’s Range
$266.75 – $269.80
52wk Range
$189.81 – $288.62
Volume
401K
Avg Vol
47M
Gross Margin
47.33%
Dividend Yield
0.39%
This Morning’s Breakfast News
7:30 am — NFLX -9.99% in pre-market trading
Netflix (NFLX 10.60%) fell close to 10% in pre-market trading after results contained underwhelming guidance for the coming quarter, along with news that chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings would be stepping down.
- “Warner Bros. would have been a nice accelerant for our strategy, but only at the right price”: CEO Ted Sarandos said the departure of Hastings was unrelated to the failed pursuit of Warner Bros Discovery (WBD +0.06%), instead saying “he was a big champion of that deal.” Netflix banked a one-time $2.8 billion windfall from the breakup fee.
- Softer Q2 revenue and earnings projected: There was some disappointment the focus on increasing ad revenue and monetizing its user base isn’t going to deliver as strong results as previously anticipated, although the full-year revenue goal was maintained, indicating a 12%-14% growth rate.
ICYMI: Thursday’s Scoreboard
6:00 am — CASY unchanged in pre-market trading
Casey’s General Stores (CASY +1.05%) was the subject of the latest Scoreboard video.
Kering Taps Google to Launch Gucci Smart Glasses
5:15 am — GOOG +0.30%, META +0.20% in pre-market trading
French luxury giant Kering (PPRUY +3.91%) is preparing a high-tech makeover for its flagship brand, with CEO Luca de Meo announcing a partnership with Alphabet (GOOG +0.65%) to launch Gucci-branded smart glasses. Slated for a 2027 release, the wearables will likely utilize Google’s Android XR platform, positioning the duo to challenge the current market dominance held by the Meta (META +1.34%)-Ray-Ban collaboration. The move is a cornerstone of de Meo’s “ReconKering” strategy, which aims to revitalize the conglomerate by merging traditional Italian craftsmanship with cutting-edge AI and augmented reality.
- Targeting the Meta Throne: With Meta currently controlling over 80% of the AI eyewear market, Kering’s entry signals a shift toward the “premiumization” of wearables to drive higher margins.
- Diversification Drive: The project is part of a broader push to scale Gucci’s non-core categories as Kering seeks to rebound from a period of cooling luxury demand in key global markets.
Today’s Change
(0.65%) $2.17
Current Price
$334.94
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$4.0T
Day’s Range
$333.58 – $335.47
52wk Range
$148.40 – $350.15
Volume
78K
Avg Vol
21M
Gross Margin
59.68%
Dividend Yield
0.25%
Top of the Morning
5:00 am
By Morning Show host Jim Mueller, CFA
Team Rule Breakers
How much do you think about risk?
What I actually mean is, how much do you think about what could go wrong with your investments?
The biggest mistakes I’ve made investing have happened when I lose sight of the downside.
“I know I’m right.”
“I’m going to make a ton of money!”
“This company is going down.”
Absolutes like that should come with flashing red lights and an audio voice over saying, “Danger, Will Robinson!” Because the moment you start thinking like that is the moment where you open yourself up to big losses.
4:15 am
By Morning Show host Alicia Alfiere
Team Rule Breakers
“A new research companion”
OpenAI has announced the release of GPT‑Rosalind. This model is named after the chemist, Rosalind Franklin, whose work was vital to the discovery of DNA.
The world of life sciences can be difficult, with the road from discovery to market potentially taking a decade or more…if it happens at all. According to the Chicago Booth Review, “… the average cost of creating a new drug is $1.4 billion, and more than 90 percent of drugs that enter clinical trials never make it to market.” That sounds frustratingly high. But some of that is the nature of science.
While AI can’t currently improve the success rate of clinical trials (some of that is just the nature of science), OpenAI believes it can help the life sciences industry in other ways. The company said of its new model: “By supporting evidence synthesis, hypothesis generation, experimental planning, and other multi-step research tasks, this model is designed to help researchers accelerate the early stages of discovery.”
Creating a model that can help the life sciences industry — which is largely recession resilient — isn’t a bad business idea. And also not a bad idea for a company that’s rumored to be preparing to go public (potentially by the end of the year).
Stress-testing a potential investing idea is all about asking the next great question. A few easy questions come to mind with this new model-what will customers pay for this? What will the competition be like, (can Anthropic develop something similar)? And, how much of that will be known when OpenAI does go public?
Uber Tightens Europe Grip With Delivery Hero Bet
4:45 am — UBER unchanged in pre-market trading
Uber (UBER +1.12%) is tightening its grip on the European food delivery market, agreeing to purchase an additional 4.5% stake in German rival Delivery Hero for approximately €270 million. The “opportunistic” deal with Dutch investment group Prosus (PROSY +4.67%) brings Uber’s total ownership to 7% following a previous $300 million investment in 2024. Prosus is offloading the shares to satisfy EU regulators after its €4.1 billion takeover of Just Eat Takeaway (JTKWY +0.00%) last year. This move highlights a broader trend of North American consolidation in the region, coming shortly after DoorDash (DASH +3.69%) completed its £2.9 billion acquisition of Deliveroo.
- Under-the-Radar Discount: Uber secured the shares at €20 each–a slight discount to the previous day’s close–leveraging regulatory pressure on Prosus to reduce its stake to single digits by August 2026.
- Activist Heat Rising: The investment comes as Delivery Hero faces pressure from hedge fund Aspex Management to oust its CEO and divest assets after an 80% share price collapse over five years.
Before the Opening Bell
4:00 am
Stock futures inched higher Thursday evening following President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The news has effectively neutralized the “war discount” on equities, with the S&P 500 recently breaching the 7,000 level to erase losses from the spring conflict with Iran. Speaking from the White House, the president expressed optimism that a permanent resolution is within reach following upcoming weekend negotiations. While energy prices have retreated from their $100-per-barrel peak as fears of a prolonged Strait of Hormuz closure fade, investors are rotating back into growth sectors. Financial giants like Bank of America (BAC +0.79%) and Morgan Stanley (MS +1.14%) have also bolstered sentiment with resilient quarterly earnings amid the regional volatility.
- The Energy Pivot: As geopolitical tensions cool, ExxonMobil (XOM 5.12%) and other oil majors have seen recent gains slip, with Brent crude dropping 10% toward the $95 mark.
- Safe-Haven Exodus: The VIX “fear index” hit a seven-week low below 18, signaling a massive shift in capital from gold and defensive assets back into the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
