Cracker Barrel soars, on pace for its best trading day ever after earnings beat
Report: OpenAI and Nvidia in talks to team up for 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio
Oscar Health continues its push higher after getting Barclays upgrade
Amazon just secured a massive $17.5 billion line of credit
Chewy reports Q1 results that narrowly beat estimates
Freight stocks fall as Amazon announces less-than-truckload offering for outside businesses
Latest News
- Half of the bitcoin supply in circulation is underwater for the first time since 2022
- Microcap stock Paranovus whipsaws after announcing plans for $195 million equity raise
- Tesla is now permitted to have 69 unsupervised Robotaxis on the road in Texas
- Super Micro plunges after announcing $7 billion in equity and equity-linked financing
Latest Stories
Cracker Barrel soars, on pace for its best trading day ever after earnings beat
Country-themed restaurant chain Cracker Barrel is soaring on Wednesday, on pace for its best trading day ever following an earnings beat on Tuesday afternoon.
The chain, known for its rocking chairs, little peg games, and various memorabilia featuring the American flag/Route 66/wagon wheels, reported Q3 sales of $797.4 million, beating Wall Street expectations of $776.7 million. It posted adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share, compared to the $0.48 per-share loss expected by analysts polled by FactSet.
Cracker Barrel also hiked its fiscal year revenue forecast to between $3.27 billion and $3.3 billion, up from $3.24 billion to $3.27 billion.
Those results have propelled the stock to gains of more than 26% on Wednesday, putting the chain on track to surpass its previous highest daily market gain of 25% in November 2008. Traders are pouring into the stock, with trading volumes up more than 6x their 30-day average.
As of Wednesday morning, Cracker Barrel shares are now up more than 80% in 2026.
Report: OpenAI and Nvidia in talks to team up for 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio
Fresh off scaling back ambitious plans for its Stargate data centers, OpenAI may be moving forward with a new plan: a 10-gigawatt data center in Ohio powered and backed by Nvidia.
According to a report by The Information, the new data center, built on federal land, would dwarf the largest data centers being built today in terms of computing power.
The facility would cost about $500 billion to build, and OpenAI would would own the equipment and be on the hook for 20 years of lease payments, which Nvidia would provide a backstop for, per the report.
If this sounds familiar, Nvidia and OpenAI did announce a similar deal back in September. Nvidia said it would invest as much as $100 billion in what CEO Jensen Huang called “the biggest AI infrastructure project in history,” which never came to fruition (though Nvidia did invest $30 billion in OpenAI). Per the report, this potential deal is a new plan.
OpenAI’s Stargate partner SoftBank is part of the plan as well. SoftBank’s SB Energy is providing financing for the project, and broke ground on the facility in March. The land on which the data center would be built is owned by the Department of Energy.
The facility would cost about $500 billion to build, and OpenAI would would own the equipment and be on the hook for 20 years of lease payments, which Nvidia would provide a backstop for, per the report.
If this sounds familiar, Nvidia and OpenAI did announce a similar deal back in September. Nvidia said it would invest as much as $100 billion in what CEO Jensen Huang called “the biggest AI infrastructure project in history,” which never came to fruition (though Nvidia did invest $30 billion in OpenAI). Per the report, this potential deal is a new plan.
OpenAI’s Stargate partner SoftBank is part of the plan as well. SoftBank’s SB Energy is providing financing for the project, and broke ground on the facility in March. The land on which the data center would be built is owned by the Department of Energy.
Oscar Health continues its push higher after getting Barclays upgrade
Oscar Health shares surged Wednesday, fueled by an upgrade from Barclays after the company reiterated its full-year guidance earlier this week.
The stock has rallied lately, up about 40% from its June 3 closing price and pushing to its highest levels since the hype days just after its IPO in March of 2021.
Barclays upgraded the insurer to “overweight” from “equal-weight” and raised its price target to $35 from $30, according to Investing.com. Analysts cited the company’s focused participation in the fast-growing Affordable Care Act market as an avenue for potential growth.
On Monday at a Goldman Sachs healthcare conference, Oscar reassured investors by reaffirming the company’s full-year 2026 financial guidance, according to a company filing.
The recent momentum comes after Oscar reported strong Q1 results in May. The company reported revenue of $4.65 billion, up from $3 billion for the first quarter of 2025, driven by higher membership and rate increases.
Microcap stock Paranovus whipsaws after announcing plans for $195 million equity raise
After soaring more than 2,000%, the stock crashed back down to earth on Wednesday.
The robots are coming... to help small businesses, actually
Labor shortages, not bots, are the bane of so-called blue-collar businesses.
Amazon just secured a massive $17.5 billion line of credit
Amazon has landed a $17.5 billion line of credit arranged by Citibank, according to a new SEC filing.
While the filing says the money is for “general corporate purposes,” the company is clearly on a global borrowing spree to fund its massive AI infrastructure investments, with $200 billion in planned capex this year. For perspective, that budget is larger than the entire GDP of most countries. This giant credit line comes shortly after Amazon shattered the record for issuance in Canada’s “maple bond” market.
The spending is so aggressive that credit rating agency S&P recently warned Amazon’s “leverage will increase substantially” and it will likely report negative free operating cash flow over the next two years to support the data center build-out. Yet, Amazon is rushing to borrow anyway, hoping to service a massive $364 billion cloud backlog.
Core inflation comes in cooler than expected
Inflation ticked up in May, but the key core inflation metric came in cooler than economists had expected, according to the most recent reading by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on Wednesday.
Consumer prices rose 0.5% month over month, with core inflation (which strips out volatile food and energy prices) rising 0.2%, slightly cooler than the 0.3% economists were expecting.
Year over year, prices increased 4.2%, the highest in three years, reflecting higher energy prices caused by the war in Iran. Stripping out food and energy, prices rose 2.9%. Both figures are right in line with what economists were penciling in.
S&P 500 Index futures, which had fallen earlier this morning amid escalating tensions in Iran, trimmed some of their losses after the report.
Expectations across various Fed-related prediction markets were largely unchanged following the report. The inflation report, paired with a surprisingly strong jobs report last week, seemed to solidify expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep rates steady at its meeting next week.
“The in-line headline CPI and subdued core inflation data give the Fed some breathing room to remain patient as the energy supply shock plays out,” Angelo Kourkafas, a strategist at Edward Jones, said in a statement.
Chewy reports Q1 results that narrowly beat estimates
Chewy shares whipsawed in premarket trading after the online pet retailer reported Q1 results that slightly surpassed earnings expectations and narrowly beat revenue estimates.
Key numbers:
Net sales of $3.36 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.43 (estimate: $0.41).
Just a few weeks ago, Chewy CEO Sumit Singh, while speaking at the JPMorgan Technology, Media & Communications Conference in late May, said that US consumers appear more financially stretched than they were at the start of 2026, Barron’s reported.
“Our first quarter results demonstrate the resilience of our business model and the strength of our execution, despite a more dynamic consumer backdrop,” Singh said in a statement.
Chewy did not issue a forward guidance update or a revised full-year outlook in its initial press release. Its stock has dropped roughly 39% year to date.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA rose 31.3% to $253.1 million. Gross margin improved 50 basis points year over year to 30.1%.
Chewy added nearly 200,000 net active customers in the quarter, expanding its total active user base to 21.5 million customers, a 3.6% year-over-year increase.
I didn’t make this up: Tesla currently has authorization for 69 unsupervised Robotaxis in Texas, according to the state’s database. That’s up from 42 — perhaps a reference to 420 — last month. While that represents growth, it’s far from the scale that CEO Elon Musk had promised.
And having permission to be on the road doesn’t mean the vehicles are actually in service.
The number of unsupervised Robotaxis has actually declined recently, despite the company’s highly publicized expansion, according to data from Robotaxi Tracker. The site has tracked 32 active unsupervised Tesla Robotaxis in the last month and just 23 in the last week.
Tesla and Musk, who once threatened to take the company private at $420, have long been fans of sophomoric numerology. You can’t actually tip in the Robotaxi app, but as a joke the company suggests tips of $0.69 or $4.20 — and if you tap them, it brings up a “just kidding” graphic.
Freight stocks fall as Amazon announces less-than-truckload offering for outside businesses
Amazon is escalating its attack on legacy logistics companies by opening less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping to outside businesses as part of its Supply Chain Services business announced last month.
Previously, businesses could largely only use Amazon’s LTL fleet to send bulk goods inbound to Amazon’s own facilities. Now, companies can use Amazon to ship partial truckloads anywhere in the US, including to rival third-party warehouses or direct to their own retail partners.
That means legacy carriers must now compete against Amazon’s 80,000 trailers, 24,000 containers, and its highly automated network.
“The feedback from Amazon selling partners using our LTL service was clear: the technology, visibility, and reliability were exactly what they needed — and they wanted to use it more broadly,” Jim Ruiz, director of Amazon Freight, said in the press release.
Industry heavyweights like Old Dominion Freight, XPO, and Saia all fell on the news. FedEx, which recently spun off FedEx Freight, is also down.
That means legacy carriers must now compete against Amazon’s 80,000 trailers, 24,000 containers, and its highly automated network.
“The feedback from Amazon selling partners using our LTL service was clear: the technology, visibility, and reliability were exactly what they needed — and they wanted to use it more broadly,” Jim Ruiz, director of Amazon Freight, said in the press release.
Industry heavyweights like Old Dominion Freight, XPO, and Saia all fell on the news. FedEx, which recently spun off FedEx Freight, is also down.
Super Micro plunges after announcing $7 billion in equity and equity-linked financing
Super Micro Computer fell around 9.5% at one point before the bell Wednesday after announcing $7 billion in equity and equity-linked financing plans late on Tuesday, as the company looks to raise funds to satisfy increased demand for its advanced AI servers.
In a press release, SMCI outlined plans to issue $1.25 billion in common stock and $3.75 billion worth of depositary shares, which reflect fractional interests in the company’s newly issued convertible preferred stock, as part of its underwritten public offering, in addition to selling up to $2 billion of shares in an at-the-market offering slated to start no earlier than the third quarter of 2026.
Super Micro stated that a portion of the funds would be used for the “purchase of components to satisfy the AI orders that the Company has received in recent weeks for its advanced AI servers,” disclosing that it has received $39 billion in AI server orders from more than 20 customers in the last few weeks.
United States and Iran trade retaliatory strikes, escalating war and rattling ceasefire
The war in Iran is heating back up. Overnight, both sides have been trading hostilities in a series of retaliations to other retaliations.
It marks the most robust escalation in combat since the April 8 ceasefire announcement.
Oil prices were little changed, with Brent crude futures down 0.48% as of 5:30 a.m. ET. At the same time, S&P 500 futures were down nearly 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had slipped 1.18%, as the escalations compounded a broader AI sell-off.
Travel stocks, like United Airlines and Royal Caribbean, which got a boost on Tuesday as oil prices fell, lost some of those gains in premarket trading. Meanwhile, oil giants such as Chevron and Exxon ticked higher and chipmakers such as Arm Holdings and Micron continued to slip.
The escalation ladder began ratcheting back up when Iran shot down an American helicopter with a drone while it was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, a US official told NBC News. US forces then conducted strikes in Iran’s Qeshm Island, Sirik, Jask, and Bandar Abbas, according to Al Jazeera. In response, Iran attacked a US fleet in Bahrain, Al Jazeera also reported.
“The Iranians are trying to make clear that any attack on them would be responded to, regardless of the size and the scope,” Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in the US told Al Jazeera. “Now, of course, whether they are seeking to escalate the situation or de-escalate remains to be seen, and it will be very much measured by how they calibrated their response by attacking these US bases.”
The scope of the strikes and counterstrikes broadened out as of early Wednesday morning in Iran. Kuwait activated its air defense systems to intercept strikes, its army announced.
Mohamed Vall, a reporter for Al Jazeera reporting from inside Iran, described “a lot of activity in terms of air defence by the Iranians, and they talked about the downing of a helicopter, an American MQ-9 [drone] over Bushehr. So that gives you an idea about the scope of these attacks and counterattacks, or these retaliations across the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf region tonight.”
Iran’s IRGC also reported targeting a hangar for American F-35 jets in Jordan, Al Jazeera reported.
Oil prices were little changed, with Brent crude futures down 0.48% as of 5:30 a.m. ET. At the same time, S&P 500 futures were down nearly 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had slipped 1.18%, as the escalations compounded a broader AI sell-off.
Travel stocks, like United Airlines and Royal Caribbean, which got a boost on Tuesday as oil prices fell, lost some of those gains in premarket trading. Meanwhile, oil giants such as Chevron and Exxon ticked higher and chipmakers such as Arm Holdings and Micron continued to slip.
The escalation ladder began ratcheting back up when Iran shot down an American helicopter with a drone while it was patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, a US official told NBC News. US forces then conducted strikes in Iran’s Qeshm Island, Sirik, Jask, and Bandar Abbas, according to Al Jazeera. In response, Iran attacked a US fleet in Bahrain, Al Jazeera also reported.
“The Iranians are trying to make clear that any attack on them would be responded to, regardless of the size and the scope,” Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in the US told Al Jazeera. “Now, of course, whether they are seeking to escalate the situation or de-escalate remains to be seen, and it will be very much measured by how they calibrated their response by attacking these US bases.”
The scope of the strikes and counterstrikes broadened out as of early Wednesday morning in Iran. Kuwait activated its air defense systems to intercept strikes, its army announced.
Mohamed Vall, a reporter for Al Jazeera reporting from inside Iran, described “a lot of activity in terms of air defence by the Iranians, and they talked about the downing of a helicopter, an American MQ-9 [drone] over Bushehr. So that gives you an idea about the scope of these attacks and counterattacks, or these retaliations across the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf region tonight.”
Iran’s IRGC also reported targeting a hangar for American F-35 jets in Jordan, Al Jazeera reported.
Report: Google is backstopping Anthropic’s $35 billion data center deal
Google and Anthropic have always had close ties. The search giant invested early in the maker of Claude, which boosted Google’s investment returns last quarter.
But the two companies appear to be closer than we knew. According to a new report from Bloomberg, it turns out that Google is backstopping $35 billion worth of data center leases for Anthropic.
Last fall, Anthropic announced that was getting into the data center business, pledging $50 billion in a partnership with Fluidstack.
The revelation adds to concerns of so-called “circular deals,” which could lead to a domino-like collapse if one company fails.
Last fall, Anthropic announced that was getting into the data center business, pledging $50 billion in a partnership with Fluidstack.
The revelation adds to concerns of so-called “circular deals,” which could lead to a domino-like collapse if one company fails.
Airlines, cruise lines rise as oil prices ease
Travel stocks are climbing on Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate crude futures down more than 3.4% as of 3 p.m. ET, largely on traders’ hopes for an improving situation with Iran.
The New York Times reported that American officials think Iran could agree to a 15-year suspension of uranium enrichment. Crude futures had spiked briefly on Tuesday following President Trump’s Truth Social post that the US must respond to the downing of a US Apache helicopter by Iran, but prices remain lower on the day, boosting US travel stocks.
Shares of Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue were all up at least 4% an hour before market close. Cruise lines Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean were similarly up. Travel companies have been rocked by higher fuel costs in the months since the war in Iran began.
DraftKings soars after reporting $1.3 billion in trading volume on its prediction markets
It’s soccer summer, Knicks in five, baseball’s back, and everyone watching the game is looking down at their phone. After launching a prediction market platform in December, DraftKings is ready to ride this wave. And on Tuesday, the traditional sports betting company announced it actually had something to show for it.
Consumer trading volume in the month of May grew 24% to $1.3 billion and total trading volume increased 34% to $3.1 billion, according to a DraftKings SEC filing. Investors responded by lifting the stock 10% on Tuesday.
FanDuel parent company Flutter Entertainment was also trading higher.
Both sports betting companies reported upbeat earnings last quarter, besting Wall Street expectations, and have gained over the past month following declines of 49% and 23% since January, respectively.
DraftKings and FanDuel have both struggled as Kalshi and Polymarket encroach on their customers. Sports betting has been key to the growth of prediction markets, making up 39% of total trading volume on Kalshi and 80% on Polymarket since July 2024.
Rivian dips on R2 launch day as shoppers point out “out of control” lease prices
Rivian is sinking on Tuesday, the launch day of its highly anticipated R2 SUV.
The EV maker’s shares are down more than 7% on Tuesday afternoon, erasing a chunk of the gains they raked in during their recent 10-day winning streak.
Aside from a broad market sell-off and some selling the R2 launch news, online chatter also reveals some customer disappointment with lease prices for the new model. The performance trim lease prices are listed at $829 a month on Rivian’s site, close to the monthly price of the more expensive R1S. A Reddit post referred to those rates as “out of control” and “a huge disappointment.”
The R2 was announced as a lower-cost $45,000 SUV but is launching at higher-trim levels priced closer to $60,000. Rivian’s larger R1S starts at around $77,000. Rivian has implied annual R2 deliveries of between 20,000 and 25,000 units this year.