All three major US stock indexes were up in late-morning trading Friday despite long-dated Treasury yields continuing their ascent.
In company news, Broadcom (AVGO) is in talks with a group of lenders to raise as much as $100 billion in debt for an AI chip financing deal, Bloomberg reported late Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The proposed financing could include a senior-secured tranche of $60 billion to $70 billion that Broadcom would partially guarantee, along with a roughly $30 billion junior debt tranche, the report said. Blackstone (BX) and Apollo Global Management (APO) are in talks with Broadcom to participate the deal, which is expected to help companies like Anthropic gain access to chips and other AI infrastructure, the report said. Broadcom shares were up 1.3% around midday.
Nvidia (NVDA) is in advanced talks to invest in data center power developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure, with an announcement possible coming as soon as Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the deal. The AI giant is expected to invest several hundred million dollars, though the exact deal terms couldn't be learned, the report said, citing the people. Separately, Nvidia denied an early report by The Information that it intends to start shipping a language processing unit customized for Chinese customers by the end of the year. Also, the company and South Korean AI chip designer Rebellions are in preliminary talks about potential collaborations, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Lastly, Nvidia has agreed to pay $6 billion to license AI model-development software from Poolside and hire 109 workers involved in developing its Laguna AI model, The Information reported late Thursday, citing a Newcomer report. Nvidia shares were down 0.1%.
Walmart (WMT) said Friday it will add Tap to Pay technology to payment options at some Walmart stores and Sams Club locations starting Monday. The retail giant will roll out the feature to all US stores and clubs by the end of the year and to fuel stations by the middle of next year, it said. Walmart shares were down 1.0%.
Apple (AAPL) paid $17 billion in taxes to Ireland in 2025, 40% of its worldwide total and driven significantly by an EU court order in 2024 requring the tech giant to pay 13 billion euros ($15.19 billion) in back taxes, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing filings. The EU's top court ruled that Ireland had granted Apple "unlawful aid" that resulted in a tax rate of under 1%, the report said. Apple shares were nearly flat.
Price: $368.75, Change: $+4.72, Percent Change: +1.30%