Newsquawk Daily US Equity Opening News - Anthropic CEO calls for AI slowdown; ORCL's Ellison cancels USD 7.5bln share sale plan

DAY AHEAD:

• CENTRAL BANKS: ECB President Lagarde (neutral) gives a keynote in Austria (text released) and participates in a panel (no text).
• SUPPLY: US Treasury will announce a 10-30 year TIPS liquidity support buyback.
• WEEK AHEAD: Highlights include policy announcements from the FOMC, BoJ, BoE; inflation data from UK, Canada and Japan. Our week ahead preview is available in the Research Suite of the Newsquawk website.

TECH:

• Nvidia (NVDA), Anthropic - Anthropic is in talks to bring Nvidia in as an anchor investor for an IPO that could raise up to USD 100bln at around a USD 2tln valuation, Reuters reports. Nvidia is considering investing up to USD 10bln. The listing is expected before the November US midterm elections, though plans remain under discussion and could change.
• Anthropic - CEO Dario Amodei called for an immediate slowdown in frontier AI development, arguing that recent advances are outpacing the industry’s ability to understand and control the technology. He said slower capability growth could give researchers and governments more time to develop safeguards, citing accelerating recursive self-improvement. Elon Musk also backed Amodei’s position. President Trump however dismissed calls to slow AI development, saying the US leads China and should preserve that advantage; he said “whoever wins AI wins” and argued that some proposed guardrails are being pushed by “very negative forces” over risks he believes will not materialise.
• Anthropic - Anthropic has selected Nasdaq (NDAQ) for its potential IPO and is targeting an October listing, Business Insider reports. Co. has been estimated at a possible USD 2tln valuation, though the figure is not final. Anthropic has not yet publicly filed for the IPO, and must release financials at least 15 days before beginning its investor roadshows. Elsewhere, Anthropic told a small group of shareholders it expects an adj. operating profit this quarter, marking a second consecutive profitable period, FT reports; its gross margins exceed 80% before revenue-sharing payments to partners and AI-model training costs.
• OpenAI - CEO Sam Altman said the Co. will not go public in 2026, calling an IPO now ill-advised given AI safety concerns, Fortune reports. Altman said OpenAI will list when the business and broader societal conditions are ready, and confirmed the company has discussed pauses at new capability levels to allow additional safety and alignment work.
• OpenAI, SoftBank (SFTBY) - SoftBank secured a USD 11.87bln 2yr loan to support its OpenAI investment, above an earlier USD 10bln target, Bloomberg reports. SoftBank is also considering a USD 10-20bln bond sale, and plans to repay USD 25.9bln of a prior USD 40bln bridge loan on 15th September, the report notes.
• Oracle (ORCL) - Oracle Executive Chair and CTO Larry Ellison cancelled his 10b5-1 plan to sell USD 7.5bln of Oracle shares. No shares were sold under the plan, and Ellison has no other plans to sell Oracle stock. Separately, Oracle expects up to USD 2.1bln of restructuring costs under its 2026 plan as of 31st August, and subsequently added approximately USD 700mln of planned actions; the costs will be recorded in restructuring and other expense through completion of the plan.
• Samsung (SSNLF), SK Hynix (SKHY) - Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rejected Korea Electric Power’s proposal to prepay about KRW 25tln of electricity bills to finance grids for new technology clusters, Bloomberg reports. The plan, equivalent to roughly five years of bills, aimed to reduce Kepco’s reliance on bond funding. The chipmakers reportedly cited uncertainty over whether the semiconductor boom will persist.
• CrowdStrike (CRWD) - Filed for the potential sale of up to 2.12mln Class A common shares by selling stockholders. CrowdStrike is not selling shares under the prospectus, and will not receive proceeds from any sales.

FINANCIALS:

• European Stocks - Europe has now launched its consolidated tape covering equities and ETFs across 29 countries; the EuroCTP feed aggregates pre- and post-trade data to improve visibility across fragmented markets, Bloomberg reports. Regulators hope it will support liquidity and investor participation; critics however note the initial pre-trade feed will not identify venues generating the best bids and offers.
• EU Banks - EU financial services commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque rejected banks’ calls to split the bloc’s financial reform package. She said reforms to reduce fragmentation, cross-border barriers and regulatory complexity should be handled together. Bank leaders had urged faster simplification measures while allowing more time for contentious issues such as a European deposit insurance scheme.
• HSBC (HSBC) - Bloomberg reports that HSBC is preparing to search for a new CFO after Pam Kaur said she will retire in 2027. Potential candidates include internal executives Will McLane, Faisal Yousaf, Aileen Taylor, Barry O’Byrne, Jon Bingham and Jack Yang, alongside former HSBC executive Claire Baird; external names include William Chalmers, Jim O’Neil and Kavita Mahtani.
• Baldwin Insurance Group (BWIN) - Michael Dell’s family office DFO Management is in advanced talks to take The Baldwin Group private in a USD 7.7bln deal, FT reports. The proposed price is for USD 32.50/shr, around a 10% premium to Friday’s close. A deal could be announced as soon as this week if negotiations are completed.
• KeyCorp (KEY) - Narrows FY26 revenue view to up 8% from FY25 baseline of USD 7.51bln (prev. 7-8%).

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY:

• Amazon (AMZN) - Paused operations with cargo carrier 21 Air after an Amazon-branded plane crashed in Miami, killing five people, WSJ reports. Amazon said it notified 21 Air’s leadership of the decision on Sunday.
• Tesla (TSLA) - CEO Elon Musk said on X that the new Tesla Roadster will be unveiled on 1st October.
• Hyundai Motor (HYMTF) - Hyundai Motor put its Data Flywheel autonomous-driving system into full operation and outlined two development tracks. Nvidia (NVDA)-based Level 2+ vehicles are targeted for H1 2028 and Level 2++ for H2 2028, while proprietary Atria AI-powered Level 2++ vehicles are targeted for H2 2029.
• Stellantis (STLA) - Plans to invest more than EUR 1bln to design and build a new van in France; the company also signed a memorandum with Roshel for the sale of an unused Toronto-area factory for up to CAD 4.9bln. Separately, Unifor said collective bargaining talks with Stellantis have reached an impasse.
• Flutter Entertainment (FLUT), Lululemon (LULU) - Michael Burry sold his entire Flutter Entertainment position and invested most proceeds in Lululemon below USD 100, citing relative valuation and potential acquisition appeal. He also increased his Zoetis (ZTS) stake, calling it very cheap, while warning the shares could fall further.
• Airbnb (ABNB) - Reportedly establishes a USD 250mln fund to invest in housing construction, WSJ reports.

CONSUMER STAPLES:

• Whisky Makers - President Trump said he plans to remove the US 10% tariff on Irish whiskey. Trump said Irish golfer Lowry and Irish PM Martin had both raised the issue with him.
• L’Oreal (LRLCY) - Arizona sued L’Oreal and its US subsidiary, alleging they concealed cancer risks linked to hair relaxers and violated state consumer-protection laws, Reuters reports. The state seeks penalties, damages and warnings on sales. L’Oreal denies the claims and says its products are safe. The company also faces more than 12,000 similar lawsuits consolidated in federal court.
• Kimberly Clark (KMB) - Reportedly preparing asset sales in bid for EU approval of the USD 40bln Kenvue (KVUE) deal, according to source reports.

INDUSTRIALS:

• Boeing (BA) - Awarded a USD 13.4bln US Air Force contract modification adding Foreign Military Sales work, raising the total ceiling to USD 19.1bln. The programme includes Japan and Israel, with future partner countries also expected.
• SpaceX (SPCX) - SpaceX’s Nasdaq 100 weighting is expected to rise to about 2.8% from roughly 1.3% later this month; the increase reflects a larger free float as lockups expire and could trigger billions of dollars of buying by passive funds, Bloomberg says. Further weighting increases may follow as additional shares become tradable.
• Elmet (ELMT) - Announced USD 450mln committed investment from the US Department of War to accelerate ELMT's US manufacturing capabilities and expand agreements with key supply-chain partners. In other news, Elmet Technologies, subsidiary of Elmet, has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract by the Defense Logistics Agency to support the rebuilding of the US National Defense Stockpile and strengthen the long-term resiliency of the nation's tungsten supply chain; contract has a ceiling value of up to USD 2bln, including a guaranteed funded commitment of USD 150mln.

ENERGY:

• LNG Prices, Chevron (CVX) - Chevron Australia President Krishnamurthy said LNG prices are unlikely to fall over the next six months, with Australian LNG commanding a premium due to its proximity to Asia, Bloomberg reports. He said the US-Iran war has disrupted Qatari exports, while longer-term LNG demand remains strong, supported by AI-driven energy needs and increased interest in long-term supply contracts.
• Baker Hughes (BKR), Venture Global (VG) - Baker Hughes and Venture Global expanded their collaboration on US gas infrastructure. Baker Hughes will supply gas compression systems for Louisiana’s Cloud Connector Pipeline and four liquefaction blocks, comprising eight modules and Chart cold boxes, to support additional LNG production capacity at Venture Global’s Plaquemines LNG facility.

MATERIALS:

• Carbon Standards - The EPA is expected to rescind Biden-era carbon standards for coal and gas power plants, Bloomberg reports. The rules required existing and future fossil-fuel plants to deploy emissions-reduction technologies including carbon capture. The agency also plans a separate proposal to repeal the finding that power-plant greenhouse gases pose a threat under the Clean Air Act.

HEALTHCARE:

• Medicare - Trump’s Medicare drug-pricing policy could push pharmaceutical companies to raise prices or restrict access outside the US, according to a study in The Lancet. Researchers estimated matching Medicare prices to other wealthy countries could save USD 11.6bln across two pilot programmes, falling to USD 3.3bln if 17 drugmakers with White House pricing deals are exempt.
• Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Apollo Global Management (APO) - Apollo is in talks to acquire Johnson & Johnson’s DePuy Synthes orthopaedics unit at a valuation near USD 20bln, Bloomberg reports. A deal could be reached within weeks, though talks may fail or another bidder could emerge. J&J could also pursue a public spin-off.
• Pfizer (PFE) - Pursuing European governments for USD 2.2bln allegedly owed under pandemic-era Covid-19 vaccine contracts, WSJ reports. To recover the money, Pfizer is targeting funds used to pay air-traffic controllers, highlighting unconventional collection tactics in its dispute over unwanted vaccine purchases.
• AstraZeneca (AZN) - SERENA-4 Phase III trial of Etcamah (camizestrant) in combination with palbociclib did not meet the primary endpoint of progression-free survival, though a numerical improvement was observed in first-line treatment of ER-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer patients. The trial compared the Etcamah combination against anastrozole plus palbociclib.
• Roche (RHHBY) - Said collaborator MediLink’s Phase III TAISHAN-302 trial of Tam-Peli met its primary overall survival endpoint in relapsed small-cell lung cancer, reducing death risk by 54%. Tam-Peli also improved progression-free survival and response rates versus topotecan. China’s NMPA has accepted the NDA for filing.
• GSK (GSK) - GSK licensor Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group said the Phase III ARTEMIS-008 trial met its primary overall survival endpoint in relapsed small-cell lung cancer. Risvutatug rezetecan reduced death risk by 54% versus topotecan, with median overall survival of 18.5 months versus 10.3 months after 12.2 months’ median follow-up. Separately, GSK reported positive Phase I/II ARROS-1 results for Jideytro in TKI-naive ROS1-positive NSCLC. Among 94 patients, objective response rate was 94%, including 15% complete responses, with 12-month progression-free survival of 90%. All patients with measurable brain metastases responded, and GSK plans a supplemental US NDA this year for first-line use. Elsewhere, GSK said it will be closing its flu vaccination factory in Dresden, Germany, due to the slowing demand for its egg-based flu vaccines.
• Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) - Said partner Akeso’s Phase III HARMONi-2 interim overall survival analysis showed ivonescimab significantly improved survival versus pembrolizumab in first-line PD-L1-positive NSCLC, with a hazard ratio of 0.73. Ivonescimab also maintained an acceptable and manageable safety profile consistent with previous Phase III studies.

GEOPOLITICS:

• Middle East - Saudi Arabia closed its East-West pipeline following attacks. Analysts note that the pipeline can carry about 7mln b/d, and prolonged disruption could force output cuts. Additionally, Iran’s planned unveiling of a temporary Strait of Hormuz shipping lane agreement was postponed after Oman delayed a Gulf foreign ministers’ meeting at regional countries’ request; Bahrain declined to participate, citing recent Iranian-backed attacks on Gulf sites.
• Ukraine - President Trump urged Ukrainian President Zelensky to stop strikes on Russian diesel refineries, saying they were worsening global fuel shortages.
• US-China - President Trump said he is not worried Chinese President Xi will cancel a planned Washington visit later this month. China had reportedly warned it could scrap the visit if the US approved new arms sales to Taiwan.

MACRO:

• Fed Hikes - White House adviser Hassett said the administration would fully support whatever decision Fed Chair Warsh and the committee make on Wednesday. Hassett added that he and President Trump see no reason for an interest-rate hike. Trump reiterated that the US should have the world’s lowest interest rates, arguing that US economic strength should justify lower rates regardless of the Fed’s formulas.
• Yuan - Chinese regional FX regulators are urging banks to raise clients’ yuan hedging ratios and set business targets, Bloomberg reports. Banks are offering better terms and flexible structures, while some SAFE branches provide subsidies. China’s hedging ratio was 36.84% in July, while FX derivatives used for hedging exceeded USD 1.6tln in the first seven months, up over 40% Y/Y.