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Key Markets & Headlines — Wednesday, June 24, 2026 · Key Markets & Headlines

• Key markets and headlines for today. The most market-moving story this morning centers on SpaceX, which has just completed a massive twenty-five billion dollar investment-grade bond sale. This marks the final step in replacing the costly debt that had previously financed Elon Musk’s twenty twenty-two acquisition of X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as the expensive loans and bonds issued by artificial intelligence lab xAI last year. If these entities had remained separate, they would have spent roughly one point eight billion dollars this year just to service a combined seventeen and a half billion dollars of debt. By folding these obligations into SpaceX and issuing new bonds, the company is now set to pay one point five billion dollars of interest annually on the new twenty-five billion dollar bond offering. The bonds were sold in multiple tranches, with coupons ranging from five point three five percent to six point six five percent, depending on the maturity. This move significantly lowers annualized borrowing costs and consolidates Musk’s sprawling ventures under a more favorable debt structure. Turning to equities and corporate news, there’s a flurry of activity across tech, retail, entertainment, and manufacturing. Agility Robotics is making headlines as it prepares to go public in a deal valuing the company at about two point five billion dollars. The company, which builds humanlike robots for manufacturing facilities and warehouses, is merging with Michael Klein’s special-purpose acquisition company, Churchill Capital Corp. Eleven, and will list under the ticker A-G-L-T. The deal is expected to raise over six hundred million dollars, including four hundred twenty million in cash from Churchill and more than two hundred million from a private investment in public equity, led by Foxconn. Agility’s flagship humanoid robot, Digit, is already in use at Amazon warehouses, logistics company QXO, car parts manufacturer Schaeffler, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. The company’s automation technology is seen as a key driver for efficiency in logistics and manufacturing. Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale is off to a slow start this year. According to a survey by market research firm Numerator, the average household had spent about eighty-nine dollars as of four p.m. New York time, which is down roughly sixteen percent from the same time during last year’s event. Shoppers are focusing on everyday items like trash bags, cat treats, and makeup remover. The event, now in its twelfth year, faces pressure as consumers expect steep discounts due to higher gas prices squeezing their budgets. Meanwhile, brands and merchants are struggling to meet those expectations because of their own rising costs and ongoing uncertainty about tariffs. In the world of entertainment, Ari Emanuel, cofounder of the Endeavor talent agency, is in advanced talks to buy ATG Entertainment, previously known as Ambassador Theatre Group, for four point five billion pounds, or about five point nine billion dollars. ATG owns around seventy venues in the UK and the US, including the Lyceum and Savoy Theatres in London and the Lyric Theatre on Broadway. Emanuel’s Mari group, created last year to acquire events-based businesses, is leading the bid. Alibaba is suing the US Department of Defense to be removed from a blacklist that labels the company as a supporter of the Chinese military. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose, Alibaba argues that the Pentagon added it to the list without substantial evidence or explanation, violating constitutional due process and the company’s right to free speech. The lawsuit follows a recent move by the Defense Department to accuse several major Chinese companies, including Alibaba, Baidu, and BYD, of aiding the People’s Liberation Army. Cerebras Systems, a newly public chipmaker, saw its shares fall about ten percent in late trading after issuing an annual sales forecast that disappointed investors. The company expects revenue in twenty twenty-six to be between eight hundred fifty-five and eight hundred sixty-five million dollars, slightly above analyst estimates. First-quarter sales jumped ninety-four percent to one hundred ninety-three point four million, but the company reported a net loss of fourteen million dollars. CEO Andrew Feldman highlighted that the biggest challenge is securing enough data center space, which is now limiting growth. The company is aggressively building out its own capacity, but these efforts will hurt margins by about ten to fifteen points this year. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has revealed new details about deals that never materialized, including confirmation that Disney held acquisition talks with Apple. According to Iger, the discussions did not progress far, with Apple showing little interest. Iger also reflected on Disney’s pursuit of the James Bond franchise and a past deal to buy Twitter at what he described as a very attractive price. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has withdrawn a bonus plan that could have paid him up to thirty-five billion dollars, citing the need to focus on GameStop’s operating performance and its proposed acquisition of eBay. The company plans to release more details about the eBay buyout this week, including a strategic rationale and operational plan for the combined companies. The withdrawn pay package had fueled speculation about the motivation behind GameStop’s fifty-six billion dollar takeover proposal for eBay, which the online auctioneer rejected in May. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, will replace Verizon Communications in the Dow Jones Industrial Average effective before trading opens on Monday, June twenty-ninth. Verizon’s lower share price meant it had minimal impact on the price-weighted index. Meta is developing a prediction market application, internally known as Arena, designed to let users interact around live events such as sports games or politics. Unlike existing platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, Meta’s version will likely not involve real-money wagering. The product is still in development and is intended to complement Meta’s other social media offerings. In addition, Meta is launching lower-priced smart glasses under its own brand for the first time. The Meta Adventurer and Fury glasses are priced at two hundred ninety-nine dollars, which is eighty dollars less than the second-generation Ray-Ban Meta Wayfarer model. Meta is also introducing a three hundred ninety-nine dollar Starfire model in collaboration with Kylie Jenner, targeting a younger, fashion-focused demographic. The glasses are designed by Meta but produced by EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban and Oakley. These launches come ahead of Apple’s planned smart-glasses debut next year. In sports, Bill Foley, owner of the Vegas Golden Knights, is bidding to bring an NBA franchise to Las Vegas. Foley has hired Morgan Stanley to advise on the effort, and competition for a potential expansion team is expected to intensify. NBA owners voted in March to explore adding teams in Las Vegas and Seattle, which would mark the league’s first expansion in about twenty years. Expansion fees could reach as high as ten billion dollars, with the average NBA franchise valued at around five billion. Other potential bidders include NBA legend Magic Johnson and Avenue Capital Group founder Marc Lasry. Netflix is set to release its first original horror video game, Unhinged, on June thirtieth. The game is set in an abandoned apartment during a hurricane and features a cast including Zoe Kravitz and Sadie Sink. Netflix’s head of narrative games, Sean Krankel, said the goal is for customers to discover Unhinged, play it to completion, and then seek out more Netflix games, as the company continues to experiment with genres to keep users engaged. The National Hockey League has signed a term sheet with Houston-based billionaire Dan Friedkin, granting him exclusive rights to bring an expansion franchise to either Houston or Austin. Over the next six months, Friedkin and the league will explore which South Texas market is more feasible, based in part on the ability to build a new arena. The total investment, including the expansion fee and arena construction, would be three and a half billion dollars. Nike has hired David Denton as its next chief financial officer, luring him from Pfizer. Denton will take over as CFO on August seventeenth, replacing Matthew Friend, who will remain at Nike through September fourth. CEO Elliott Hill said in a memo that the company is on the right path but needs to move faster and stay close to athletes and consumers. Denton is expected to help drive these efforts. The PGA Tour has approved a two-tiered system starting in twenty twenty-eight, creating an elite Championship Series and a secondary Challenger Series. The Championship Series will feature expanded fields and include the twenty million dollar signature events, while the Challenger Series will have reduced prize money. Eligibility for the Championship Series will be determined by the top ninety players from the previous year, the top twenty from the Challenger Series, and other exemption categories. Neil Vogel, CEO of People, has accused Google of abusing its market power by using the same web crawler infrastructure for both traditional search indexing and AI products. Vogel argues that publishers have limited ability to opt out of AI usage without affecting their search visibility, and he predicts more confrontation than productivity with Google going forward. Ferrari has named Massimiliano Di Silvestre, formerly of BMW, as its new chief marketing and commercial officer. Di Silvestre will take over on July first, replacing Enrico Galliera, who held the role for more than sixteen years. The appointment comes at a sensitive time for Ferrari, following criticism of its new electric Luce model. Di Silvestre will be responsible for expanding profits while maintaining the exclusivity of the Ferrari brand. Rakuten is forming a roughly equal satellite joint venture with AST SpaceMobile this year, with Rakuten leading management. The new venture will compete directly with Japan’s three major carriers that rely on SpaceX technology. The satellite-to-smartphone service will launch in phases starting late this year, with nationwide coverage in Japan expected by fiscal twenty twenty-seven and potential global expansion to follow. SoFi is introducing an artificial intelligence tool called Composer by SoFi, which can generate bespoke trading strategies for retail investors. Customers can describe their market views in a sentence, test how the strategy would have performed historically, and decide whether to implement it. SoftBank is looking to invest in Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, to secure the electricity needed for its expansion into artificial intelligence. CEO Masayoshi Son told shareholders that having Tepco within SoftBank’s sphere of influence would help the firm build AI data centers, which require large amounts of power. SoftBank’s telecom unit has put itself forward as a contender to become the next owner of Tepco. Goldman Sachs has initiated coverage of Twilio with a Buy rating and a three hundred dollar price target. The firm is optimistic about Twilio’s ability to benefit from shifts in the customer service market and sees potential for expanding gross margins as higher-margin products grow. Menlo Ventures has announced three billion dollars in new funds, the largest raise in its fifty-year history, driven largely by its artificial intelligence portfolio, especially its stake in Anthropic. Menlo’s early investment in Anthropic, which led the company’s Series D round in twenty twenty-four, has grown significantly in value, with its stake now worth about fourteen billion dollars. Paramount’s one hundred ten billion dollar takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by Skydance is drawing scrutiny from European Union antitrust regulators. The EU is examining whether the deal could reduce the ability of filmmakers and producers to reach audiences in Europe, as well as whether it could limit creativity, cultural heritage, and language diversity. Paramount’s lawyers met with European Commission officials in Brussels this week, with a decision on whether to escalate the probe expected by July seventh. Walmart is making two major moves. First, it is acquiring French advertising-technology firm Vibe.co for one point four billion dollars. Vibe.co enables advertising through connected televisions, with a focus on small and medium-size advertisers. The deal includes a one point two billion dollar cash payout and around one hundred eighty million dollars paid to Vibe’s top executives, who will join Walmart’s advertising unit. This acquisition follows Walmart’s earlier purchase of connected-TV maker Vizio, as the company seeks to expand its advertising platforms and compete with Amazon. Second, Walmart has signed a long-term contract to buy nuclear power for the first time. The deal involves purchasing one hundred seventy-six megawatts of power from a nuclear plant in Illinois owned by Constellation Energy over a fifteen-year period. This is enough power to serve about one hundred fifty thousand homes. Walmart, which has pledged to eliminate net carbon emissions from its US operations by twenty forty, will also receive the environmental attributes associated with the nuclear energy. The deal allows Constellation to expand the plant’s capacity by thirty megawatts. XLight, a startup developing advanced lasers for semiconductor manufacturing, is in talks to raise three hundred fifty million dollars from investment firms, just weeks after receiving substantial investment from the US Department of Commerce. Now, turning to macro and policy developments. Abu Dhabi’s MGX has raised close to fifty billion dollars from regional and global investors to accelerate spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and technology. The capital came from regional sovereign wealth funds, global pension funds, and large institutional investors. This is one of the largest dedicated AI investment vehicles ever and marks the first time Abu Dhabi has raised money at this scale from its global network. On the geopolitical front, former President Donald Trump said that Iran will only be able to use funds released from frozen accounts to purchase food and medical supplies from the US. This is part of ongoing peace negotiations, with both sides saying talks are making progress. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the negotiations as conditional and performance-based, with the US offering incentives and consequences. Iran claims that twelve billion dollars of its frozen funds are set to be released in two equal installments as part of the talks. In the energy sector, the US Energy Department has announced seventeen and a half billion dollars in low-interest loans for utilities to finance equipment orders for the Westinghouse AP one thousand nuclear reactor. The loans are intended to speed up construction of ten reactors in the US, with the hope that new AP one thousands could come online starting in twenty thirty-five. Seven utilities have already signed letters of intent for the five available project loans. In Washington, the Senate Judiciary Committee is tentatively planning a July twenty-eighth hearing with top tech executives to address online child safety and AI-related risks. The hearing, led by Chairman Chuck Grassley, is part of a bipartisan push to advance child safety legislation in Congress. Expected participants include Instagram head Adam Mosseri, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, and potentially Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel and TikTok US executive Adam Presser. Shifting to event-driven news and dealmaking. EG Group, a gas station and convenience store operator backed by TDR Capital, has confidentially filed for a US initial public offering that could raise about one billion dollars. The company is considering a valuation of around nine billion dollars, with a potential listing as soon as July. EG Group’s decision to list in the US is another setback for the UK stock market, which has struggled to attract new IPO candidates. Shares of Edgewell Personal Care, maker of Schick razors, rose nearly eighteen percent after the company rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners. The offer, at thirty dollars a share, was deemed too low by Edgewell’s board. The company’s shares have already risen thirty-three percent this year. Morgan Stanley’s seven billion dollar private credit fund, North Haven Private Income Fund, is capping investor withdrawals at five percent, allowing less than half of the redemptions shareholders requested in the second quarter. Investors asked to redeem eleven point six percent of their shares, up from ten point nine percent in the first quarter. More than half of the repurchase requests were from investors who didn’t get their money out in full in the prior three months. German drugmaker Stada, owned by CapVest Partners, is exploring a potential purchase of Cooper Consumer Health from its private equity owners, in a deal that could value Cooper at around six billion euros, or six point eight billion dollars. Cooper manufactures personal care and health products under brands like Baccide, Dermafresh, and Salviagalen. Prologis, the world’s largest owner of industrial real estate, has made a sixteen point six billion dollar takeover approach for UK peer Segro, which was turned down by Segro’s board. Prologis offered Segro shareholders a twenty-five percent premium to the company’s closing price, but Segro’s board unequivocally rejected the proposal. Prologis is urging Segro shareholders to encourage the board to engage in discussions. SK Hynix, the South Korean chipmaker, is expected to file with Korea’s financial regulator for an offering of American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs, as the next step toward a US listing. The ADR sale could raise up to ten billion dollars, with some industry estimates putting the size of the offering as high as twenty-six billion dollars. The regulator’s review could be completed by July third, raising expectations that trading may begin as early as next month. Cybersecurity company Varonis Systems is exploring options including a potential sale after receiving takeover interest from private equity firms such as Blackstone, Thoma Bravo, and Vista Equity Partners. Varonis shares jumped as much as twenty-three percent on the news, closing up seven point one percent in New York trading, giving the company a market value of about four billion dollars. Now, let’s take a look at some notable charts and data points. In the United States, analysts at Apollo point out that the Federal Reserve must be watching a key chart showing analogs that remain too hard to ignore, though the specific details of the chart weren’t provided in the source. Despite recent strength in the US dollar, surveys indicate that the percentage of bullish investors remains very low, according to Strategas. Same-store retail sales in the US continue to show exceptional strength, with a ten percent year-over-year increase for the week ending June twentieth, based on data from Koyfin. In credit markets, there’s been a sharp decline in oil prices over the past month, but this has not been matched by a corresponding drop in short-term yields, according to Strategas. That wraps up the key markets and headlines for today. Thanks for listening.