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Sectors

Sector Update: Tech

Technology stocks were flat to higher premarket Monday, with the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) inactive and the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) advancing by 1.2%.Nvidia (NVDA) has launched RTX Spark, a new AI chip that will feature in Microsoft (MSFT) Windows laptops and desktop personal computers. Nvidia stock rose past 2% and Microsoft shares were up more than 3% pre-bell.

$MSFT$NVDA
Asia Markets

US Equity Futures Rise Pre-Bell Despite Renewed US-Iran Clashes

US equity futures were edging higher pre-bell Monday despite the shaky Middle East ceasefire being tested once again by a new exchange of attacks, even as President Donald Trump stated that Iran wants to come to an agreement.Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.21% higher, S&P 500 futures were up 0.2%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.2% higher.The US said that it struck radar and drone sites in Iran after an American drone was shot down over the weekend. Iran then said it launched its own strike, while Kuwait reported that it intercepted incoming drone and missile fire."Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He has not yet decided on whether to move forward on an agreement to extend the ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.Among the companies reporting financial results this week are Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Broadcom (AVGO), and CrowdStrike (CRWD).Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 2.3% at $93.24 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.9% higher at $89.92 per barrel.The final S&P Global manufacturing purchasing managers index for May, due at 9:45 am ET, is seen coming in at 55.3, unchanged from its prior value, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.The May Institute for Supply Management's services index, due at 10 am ET, is projected at 53.0, versus 52.7 previously. The April construction spending report is also due at 10 am ET.In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.9% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.9% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.3% lower. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was down 0.3%, and Germany's DAX index was 0.6% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.In equities, Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) shares were up 2.4% and 3.6%, respectively, after Nvidia said it launched RTX Spark, a new chip for Microsoft Windows PC personal AI agents. Dell Technologies (DELL) stock was up 1.2% after the company said it launched its XPS 13 compact laptop. Salesforce (CRM) shares rose nearly 5% after the company said it plans to invest $2 billion in France through 2030 and expand its AI and cloud operations.On the losing side, Toyota Motor (TM) stock was down 3% after a Wall Street Journal report that the Trump administration is expected to propose a tweak to the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement that would require half of all automobile components and materials to come from sources in the US. Constellation Energy (CEG) stock was down 2.7% after the company said certain shareholders launched a public offering of 11 million of its common shares.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$AVGO$CEG$CRM$CRWD$DELL$MSFT$NVDA$PANW$TM
Stocks Rise Pre-Bell as Traders Monitor Middle East Developments, Await Fresh Labor Market Data
US Markets

Stocks Rise Pre-Bell as Traders Monitor Middle East Developments, Await Fresh Labor Market Data

The benchmark US stock measures were pointing higher before the opening bell Monday as traders assess the latest developments in the Middle East and await fresh labor market data later in the week.The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose 0.2% each in premarket activity, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.4%. The indexes finished Friday's trading session at new highs.The US and Iran exchanged messages over the weekend on amendments to a draft agreement that would extend their ceasefire and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg News reported Monday. Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said Sunday that both sides continued to propose amendments, but could ultimately reject each other's proposals, according to the report.In a social media post on Monday, Trump said that Iran "really wants to make a deal" and that it will be a "good one" for the US and its allies.Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday ordered the Israeli military to attack targets in Beirut, Lebanon.West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 3.6% to $90.53 a barrel before the open, while Brent inclined 3.1% to $93.96.Investors will be looking ahead to fresh labor market data later this week, beginning with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for April on Tuesday, followed by the ADP employment report for May on Wednesday. The Challenger Job Cut report and the government's nonfarm payrolls data, both for last month, are scheduled to be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.Treasury yields were trending upwards in premarket action, with the two-year rate increasing 2.3 basis points to 4.04% and the 10-year rate rising 1.4 basis points to 4.47%.Monday's economic calendar has the final Purchasing Managers' manufacturing index for May at 9:45 am ET, followed by the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index for the same month at 10 am.Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) advanced 2.2% pre-bell after the tech bellwether unveiled a new chip processor for Microsoft (MSFT) Windows laptops. Intel (INTC) dropped 5.1% while Adobe (ADBE) climbed 4.6%.Taylor Morrison Home's (TMHC) stock jumped 22% after the homebuilder agreed to be acquired and taken private by multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) in an all-cash deal with an equity value of about $6.8 billion.Broadcom (AVGO), Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) are some of the major companies scheduled to report their latest financial results later this week. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will release its earnings after the markets close Monday.Gold fell 1.3% to $4,535 per troy ounce, while bitcoin decreased 1.1% to $72,601.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$ADBE$AVGO$BRK.A$BRK.B$CRWD$HPE$INTC$MSFT$NVDA$PANW$TMHC
Wall Street's Equity Benchmarks Close Out May at Record Highs
US Markets

Wall Street's Equity Benchmarks Close Out May at Record Highs

US equity benchmarks reached new peaks on Friday, buoyed by a rally in technology stocks, while Wall Street logged its second consecutive monthly gains.The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 51,032.5, while the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 7,580.1. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 26,972.6. All three indexes notched back-to-back closing highs.Barring technology and financials, all sectors were in the red, led by consumer staples.Dell Technologies (DELL) shares surged nearly 33%, the best performer on the S&P 500. Late Thursday, the company reported record fiscal first-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's estimates amid a surge in demand for artificial intelligence-optimized servers. It raised its fiscal 2027 outlook.Dell is in a "strong" position to continue to outperform amid the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout, Wedbush Securities said in a note.NetApp (NTAP) jumped 22% after announcing its quarterly results, the second-biggest gainer on the S&P 500.Other tech names that showed notable gains included IBM (IBM), which advanced nearly 13%, Salesforce (CRM), and Microsoft (MSFT).SentinelOne (S) shares slumped 8.3%. The cybersecurity company delivered a solid first-quarter performance that appears to be sustainable amid strong underlying trends, BofA Securities said in a Friday client note.The brokerage attributed the sell-off to the company's "conservative" guidance that raises questions around growth durability. But BofA views the pullback as an attractive entry point for investors, citing underlying momentum.This month, the Nasdaq gained 8.4%, the S&P 500 climbed 5.1%, and the Dow advanced 2.8%."Markets have largely decided to move on from the conflict with Iran," said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 1% at $88.04 a barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent fell 1.8% to $91.99. The benchmarks were on track for monthly declines following four consecutive monthly gains."The market has increasingly priced in a resolution (to the US-Iran conflict) this week," ING Bank said in a report Friday. "Therefore, any confirmation of a deal that reopens the strait means that significant further downside is likely limited, particularly during the early stages of a ceasefire."In a social media post Friday, US President Donald Trump said he was heading to the White House Situation Room "to make a final determination" regarding the Middle East conflict. He also announced an end to the naval blockade of Iranian ports.Trump said that Iran must permanently forgo capabilities that lead to nuclear weapon development and allow unrestricted shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.Axios reported Thursday that the US and Iran had agreed to a memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire between the countries and begin talks on Tehran's nuclear program. However, Trump hadn't signed off on the deal, according to the report.US Treasury yields were mixed in Friday late-afternoon trade, with the 10-year rate little changed at 4.44% and the two-year rate falling 2.3 basis points to 4.01%.A sharp jump in Treasury yields following the Middle East conflict is unlikely to dampen investor appetite for equities, given corporate earnings growth and excitement surrounding artificial intelligence, Wells Fargo Investment Institute said in a note.Two Federal Reserve officials offered mixed views on whether the oil price shock could be considered transitory, with Michelle Bowman in favor of looking through such developments and Jeffrey Schmid saying inflation is too hot to ignore.Gold was last up 0.9% at $4,574.50 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.1% to $75.81 per ounce.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$CRM$DELL$IBM$MSFT$NTAP$S
Equity Markets Rise Intraday as Trump Sets Out Conditions For Iran Deal
US Markets

Equity Markets Rise Intraday as Trump Sets Out Conditions For Iran Deal

Equities on Wall Street rose intraday as President Donald Trump laid out conditions that Iran must agree to as part of a peace agreement.The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6% at 50,979.9 after midday Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 26,988.6. The S&P 500 added 0.3% to 7,584.8. All three indexes logged closing highs in the previous session.Barring technology and financials, all sectors were in the red, led by consumer staples.In a social media post Friday, Trump said he was heading to the White House Situation Room "to make a final determination" regarding the Middle East conflict. He also announced an end to the naval blockade of Iranian ports.Trump said that Iran must permanently forgo capabilities that lead to nuclear weapon development and allow unrestricted shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.Axios reported Thursday that the US and Iran had agreed to a memorandum of understanding to extend a ceasefire between the countries and begin talks on Tehran's nuclear program. However, Trump hadn't signed off on the deal, according to the report.West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 2.5% at $86.70 a barrel intraday, while Brent fell 2% to $91.81."While significant hurdles remain, the market is reacting to the prospect of a supply surge once hundreds of tankers loaded with crude oil and refined fuels are released from the Persian Gulf," Saxo Bank said in report Friday. "In the months ahead, however, demand to replenish depleted global inventories is likely to provide support, potentially lifting the price floor compared with pre-war levels."US Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the 10-year rate little changed at 4.44% and the two-year rate falling 2.7 basis points to 4%.A sharp jump in Treasury yields following the Middle East conflict is unlikely to dampen investor appetite for equities, given corporate earnings growth and excitement surrounding artificial intelligence, Wells Fargo Investment Institute said in a note.In company news, Dell Technologies (DELL) shares were up nearly 29% intraday, the best performer on the S&P 500. Late Thursday, the company reported record fiscal first-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street's estimates amid a surge in demand for artificial intelligence-optimized servers. It raised its fiscal 2027 outlook.NetApp (NTAP) surged 26% after announcing its quarterly results, the second-biggest gainer on the S&P 500.Other tech names were also notable gainers intraday, including Salesforce (CRM), which advanced 9%, IBM (IBM) and Microsoft (MSFT).Sentinelone (S) shares were down 6.3% intraday. The cybersecurity company delivered a solid first-quarter performance that appears to be sustainable amid strong underlying trends, BofA Securities said in a Friday client note.The brokerage attributed the sell-off to the company's "conservative" guidance that raises questions around growth durability. But BofA views the pullback as an attractive entry point for investors, citing underlying momentum.Gold was up 1.6% at $4,602.50 per troy ounce, while silver edged up 0.1% to $76 per ounce.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$CRM$DELL$IBM$MSFT$NTAP$S
Sectors

Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Late Afternoon

Tech stocks rose late Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gaining 1.3% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.5%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 1.4%.In corporate news, Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic has raised $65 billion in series H funding led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia Capital at a $965 billion post-money valuation, the AI firm said in a Thursday post on X. Amazon shares rose 0.8%.Microsoft (MSFT) is slated to release a suite of new homegrown AI models next week at its Build conference in San Francisco, The Information reported. It will unveil a coding model aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, the report said. Microsoft shares were up over 3%.Snowflake (SNOW) shares surged 37% after the firm raised its full-year product-revenue outlook on better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results and announced a $6 billion infrastructure-spending deal with Amazon.com's cloud platform.Nebius (NBIS) shares jumped past 8% after Situational Awareness, a fund led by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, reported a 5.6% stake worth nearly $2.6 billion in the company, Reuters reported.

$AMZN$MSFT$NBIS$SNOW
Sectors

Sector Update: Tech

Tech stocks rose late Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gaining 1.4% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 1.7%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 1.4%.In corporate news, Microsoft (MSFT) is slated to release a suite of new homegrown AI models next week at its Build conference in San Francisco, The Information reported. It will unveil a coding model aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, the report said. Shares were up over 3%.

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Wire

Market Chatter: Microsoft Poised to Release New Coding Model Next Week

Microsoft (MSFT) is slated to release a suite of new homegrown AI models next week at its annual Build conference in San Francisco, The Information reported Thursday.The company will unveil a coding model aimed at boosting the competitiveness of Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot, the report said, adding that it also plans to introduce new models specialized in tasks such as transcription, reasoning, speech, and image processing.The new suite of models will build on earlier homegrown models that Microsoft previewed earlier this year, according to the news outlet.Microsoft did not immediately respond to' request for comment.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $426.40, Change: $+13.73, Percent Change: +3.33%

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Wire

Update: Market Chatter: Microsoft Gets Compute Boost After IREN Borrows $3.6 Billion for Nvidia Chips

(Update with Microsoft's response to a request for comment in the second paragraph.)Data center builder and operator IREN borrowed about $3.6 billion this month to help fund a purchase of NVIDA (NVDA) graphics processing units to be used by Microsoft (MSFT) at a Texas data center, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.Microsoft declined to comment to.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $428.14, Change: $+15.47, Percent Change: +3.75%

$MSFT$NVDA
Sectors

Sector Update: Tech Stocks Rise Thursday Afternoon

Tech stocks rose Thursday afternoon, with the State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gaining 1.7% and the State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor ETF (XSD) adding 2.2%.The Philadelphia Semiconductor index climbed 2%.In corporate news, Snowflake (SNOW) shares surged 38% after the firm raised its full-year product-revenue outlook on better-than-expected fiscal Q1 results and announced a $6 billion infrastructure-spending deal with Amazon.com's (AMZN) cloud platform.Data center builder and operator IREN borrowed about $3.6 billion this month to help fund a purchase of Nvidia (NVDA) graphics processing units to be used by Microsoft (MSFT) at a Texas data center, Bloomberg reported. Microsoft shares gained 3.2%, and Nvidia was up 0.4%.Nebius (NBIS) shares jumped past 8% after Situational Awareness, a fund led by former OpenAI researcher Leopold Aschenbrenner, reported a 5.6% stake worth nearly $2.6 billion in the company, Reuters reported.

$MSFT$NBIS$NVDA$SNOW
Wire

Market Chatter: Microsoft Gets Compute Boost After IREN Borrows $3.6 Billion for Nvidia Chips

Data center builder and operator IREN borrowed about $3.6 billion this month to help fund a purchase of NVIDA (NVDA) graphics processing units to be used by Microsoft (MSFT) at a Texas data center, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.The companies didn't immediately reply to a request for comment from.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $425.92, Change: $+13.25, Percent Change: +3.21%

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Wire

IREN Borrows $3.6 Billion for Nvidia GPUs Supporting Microsoft AI Data Center Deal, Bloomberg Reports

IREN Borrows $3.6 Billion for Nvidia GPUs Supporting Microsoft AI Data Center Deal, Bloomberg Reports

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Research

Research Alert: Msft: In-house Ai Models Offer Potential New Ways To Justify Higher Ai Spend/monetize Ai

CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:MSFT shares are up following reports (originally cited by The Information) that it will unveil a suite of in-house AI models at its Build developer conference next week, including a new coding model designed to enhance GitHub Copilot's competitiveness against rivals like Cursor and Claude Code. The lineup will also feature models specializing in reasoning, speech, transcription, and image generation. We view this strategic shift as a positive step toward reducing MSFT's dependence on external partners (its no-cost OpenAI agreement extends to 2032). Restrictions that previously prevented MSFT's internal AI team from developing top-tier models were renegotiated in April, enabling this development. MSFT plans to position these new models as more cost-effective alternatives to slightly more capable offerings from OpenAI and Anthropic. We believe this strategy should help MSFT lower operational costs for AI features within its Office applications while building competitive in-house capabilities for the long term.

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Wire

Dell Technologies Unit Wins $9.69 Billion US Navy Contract

Dell Technologies (DELL) unit Dell Federal Systems won a blanket purchase agreement with an overall estimated value of $9.69 billion from the US Navy under the Department of Defense Enterprise Software Initiative.The agreement will streamline software acquisition across the Defense Department, the intelligence community, and the US Coast Guard, according to a statement.The deal will allow clients to procure Microsoft (MSFT) software licenses, cloud subscriptions, and Software Assurance, according to the Department.

$DELL$MSFT
Wire

Snowflake Well-Positioned to Benefit From Rising AI Demand, Wedbush Says

Snowflake (SNOW) is a "strong" second-derivative player in the artificial intelligence revolution and is "well-positioned" to benefit from rising enterprise demand for AI applications as more workloads move to the cloud over the next 12 to 18 months, Wedbush Securities said in a company report Monday.The brokerage said it expects "another robust quarter" of growth when Snowflake reports fiscal Q1 results after the bell on May 27, as Wall Street's revenue estimate of $1.32 billion appears "conservative."Wedbush analysts cited continued strength in Snowflake's core data warehousing business and growing enterprise demand for secure, governed and auditable data infrastructure to support AI workloads.The brokerage also highlighted Snowflake's $9.77 billion remaining performance obligations backlog and its expanding customer base of more than 13,000 clients as indicators of future growth.Snowflake's "model-agnostic" platform allows enterprises to work with AI models from companies such as Amazon-backed (AMZN) Anthropic and Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI without re-architecting data pipelines, reinforcing its role as a "trusted" layer between enterprise data and AI systems, the brokerage said.Wedbush maintained an outperform rating on Snowflake, with a price target of $270.Shares of Snowflake were up 3.9% in Tuesday trading.Price: $178.97, Change: $+6.77, Percent Change: +3.93%

$AMZN$MSFT$SNOW
Update: Rising US Borrowing Costs Won't Slow Massive AI Data-Center Buildout as Potential Profit Outweighs Spending
US Markets

Update: Rising US Borrowing Costs Won't Slow Massive AI Data-Center Buildout as Potential Profit Outweighs Spending

(Updates with comments from Morgan Stanley starting in 13th paragraph.)Rising interest rates won't stop companies such as Alphabet's (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) from spending enormous amounts of money to build artificial intelligence data centers because the potential profit far outweighs slightly higher borrowing costs, according to industry analysts.The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasuries rose to 4.58% on Thursday from 3.96% on Feb. 26 as investors worry that rising inflation could prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. Earlier this week, the rate reached its highest level since January 2025. That affects borrowing costs for AI hyperscalers that are on track to spend $800 billion in capital expenditures this year and an additional $1 trillion next year.Rates will rise and inflation will remain a concern as the war in Iran will keep oil above $80 a barrel until February, Peter Tchir, head of macro strategies at Academy Securities, said in an interview with. Still, the expected revenue gain from AI products and services is at this point outweighing concerns that rising rates will dampen the data-center buildout, benefiting companies in and adjacent to the AI space including real estate investment trusts, he said."Right now, the profitability of these data centers and AI, and the perceived profitability, just means that they're not really going to be constrained by 50 or 100 basis points in yield," Tchir said. "These are fairly large bets that this is going to work, and it's going to work in a huge scale, in which case borrowing at 5%, 7% or 9% will turn out kind of trivial."It costs $45 billion to $50 billion to build out 1 gigawatt of data-center capacity, said Mandeep Singh, global head of technology research at Bloomberg Intelligence. SpaceX revealed in its initial public offering prospectus this week that it's renting one of its data centers to Anthropic for $1.25 billion a month, or about $15 billion a year."If it costs $50 billion to build an AI data center, and you're able to generate up to $15 billion in revenue in year one, then it takes three and a half years to get your investment back, and then obviously you'll make returns from year four onward," Singh said in an interview.Analysts agreed that benchmark borrowing costs will continue to rise this year."The bond market is a little bit freaked out, we're seeing inflation and risk in the current environment putting a lot of pressure on longer duration Treasury yields to get to very high levels," Elizabeth Templeton, senior product manager for fixed-income indexes at Morningstar, said in an interview. "Seeing the 30-year yield at 5.1% this week, the highest since 2007, is certainly an indication that there's some worry in the markets right now around inflation. That could certainly continue to impact the 10-year the rest of this year."Smaller AI companies including CoreWeave (CRWV) and Nebius (NBIS) could be affected more by the rise in borrowing costs than hyperscalers Amazon, Google and Microsoft, Bloomberg's Singh said. Those companies and others have already sold $300 billion in debt to fund their AI investments this year, according to Bloomberg News. CoreWeave and Nebius didn't respond to a request for comment.Still, the scale of AI borrowing is so large that it can't be ignored, said Kevin McPartland, an analyst at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. Debt deals that are already underway shouldn't be affected, he said."It doesn't take much of a move when you're talking about billions of dollars of financing to really change the economics," he said. "The devil's advocate would be: These are literally the largest companies in the world that have an incredible amount of free cash flow, and so these are not two- or three-year plans, these are five- and 10-year plans, in which case I'm sure they've modeled out the risk of everything, from interest rates to other geopolitical issues," McPartland said."If you're committed for 10 years to spending tens or hundreds of billions, of course you don't want the cost of financing to go up, but maybe the answer is some short-term slowdowns, but no long-term change in strategic planning."Investors should stay exposed to AI but be more selective, Morgan Stanley analysts said Friday in a note to clients.Increased borrowing costs have led to an uptick in rotation across equities, exposing some weakness in AI-aligned companies, the analysts said. Still, AI earnings were "resilient," volatility is contained, and valuations support staying exposed to the sector. the note said."The recent adjustment does not look like a classic risk-off episode or a wholesale defensive rotation," Morgan Stanley said. "It is better characterized as a selective unwind of crowded AI-led momentum exposure, with higher yields providing an additional tailwind to value."The two main data center REITs -- Equinix (EQIX) and Digital Realty Trust (DLR) -- have been refinancing debt and financing their development at roughly the current level of interest rates for the last couple of years, Jeffrey Langbaum, senior REIT analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence, told.That's dented their earnings growth but hasn't deterred them because the returns they generate from the developments outpace the debt costs, he said. Equinix and Digital Realty didn't respond to requests for comment."The returns they are getting on their developments are well in excess of the costs of capital," he said. "My thesis is that even if overall demand shrinks, they should still be able to get their share because they're keeping the size of their development business at a manageable level and not getting out over their skis and trying to expand too far too fast."Equinix sales in the second quarter that ends on June 30 are pegged at $2.58 billion and adjusted funds from operations are estimated at $11.24 a share, according to estimates compiled by FactSet. If realized, that would be up from $2.26 billion and $9.91 a share, respectively, in Q2 2025.Digital Realty Trust revenue in the second quarter is projected by analysts in a FactSet survey at $1.65 billion, while adjusted funds from operations are seen at $1.80 a share. Sales in Q2 last year were reported at $1.49 billion and AFFO was $1.68 per share.Data-center REITs are seeing a tailwind from momentum behind artificial intelligence expansion, Wells Fargo Investment Institute analysts John Sheehan and Amanda Martinez said in a note to clients earlier this month.REITs have a diverse range of offerings including colocation, which allows for multiple users, from hyperscalers to smaller companies, at a single location and interconnection, which means lower-latency connections and better tenant retention, as "particularly notable features" of some data-center buildouts, the analysts said."We are favorable on the data-center REITs subsector as we believe it possesses durable growth prospects, attractive margins, and solid pricing power," Sheehan and Martinez said in their note. "We also view the sub-sector as an attractive route for gaining exposure to the AI theme within the real estate sector, particularly as AI use cases continue to expand and support sustained demand and pricing power."Academy's Tchir said he expects the 10-year Treasury yield to rise to 5% in the next few months, and that investors are rewarding AI capital spending."We're almost in what I call free money stage, where if you announce $10 billion to spend, your stock goes up $20 billion, so why wouldn't you announce spending?" he said. "We are so underinvested in data centers and AI that even if your project turns out not to be as good as you thought, it's still going to do well, because someone needs that compute right now, and for the foreseeable future."Matthew Leising and Tim WeatherheadPrice: $383.20, Change: $-4.46, Percent Change: -1.15%

$AMZN$CRWV$DLR$EQIX$GOOG$GOOGL$MSFT$NBIS
Wire

Market Chatter: OpenAI Must Produce Testimony From Trial Win Over Musk for Separate Litigation

Microsoft-backed (MSFT) OpenAI must produce testimony from its recent trial win over Elon Musk and X.AI as part of separate copyright litigation against OpenAI, Bloomberg reported, citing court documents.Depositions from top OpenAI and Microsoft executives could reveal inconsistencies regarding the commercial nature of OpenAI's use of copyrighted works, the report said, citing the documents.Microsoft and OpenAI didn't immediately reply to requests for comment from.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $419.57, Change: $+0.48, Percent Change: +0.11%

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Wire

OpenAI Must Produce Testimony From Trial Victory Over Musk in Copyright Suits, Bloomberg Reports

OpenAI Must Produce Testimony From Trial Victory Over Musk in Copyright Suits, Bloomberg Reports

$MSFT$TSLA
Wire

Market Chatter: Activision Shareholders Reach $250 Million Settlement Over Microsoft Acquisition

Activision Blizzard shareholders reached a $250 million settlement of a lawsuit in which they alleged they were shortchanged by Microsoft (MSFT) and former Activision executives when the software giant acquired the company in 2023 for $75.4 billion, Reuters reported Friday, citing a late Thursday filing in Delaware state court.Microsoft didn't immediately reply to a request for comment from.(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)Price: $418.65, Change: $-0.44, Percent Change: -0.11%

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Wire

Activision Shareholders Reach $250 Million Settlement Over Microsoft Acquisition, Reuters Reports

Activision Shareholders Reach $250 Million Settlement Over Microsoft Acquisition, Reuters Reports

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