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  • ☢️ A Disastrous Nuclear Plant Is Being Revived For Microsoft

☢️ A Disastrous Nuclear Plant Is Being Revived For Microsoft

+ Qualcomm Wants to Buy Intel

Good afternoon! Mark Zuckerberg is back to reigniting his ongoing feud with Apple’s CEO Tim Cook—this time on a podcast. During an episode of Acquired, Zuck said Meta’s “move fast and break things” approach is the polar opposite of Apple’s polished, slow-cooked product releases. While Apple takes its sweet time crafting its walled-garden gadgets, Meta throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. That’s how Zuckerberg explains Threads’ rollercoaster debut and the Metaverse’s $46.5 billion faceplant. But hey, Zuck’s net worth still soared by $58 billion this year, so he’s clearly not losing sleep.

The Zuck-Cook rivalry dates back years, with their philosophies clashing on everything from product releases to privacy. Apple, Cook argues, is all about privacy first, while Zuckerberg has embraced user feedback—even if it comes wrapped in failure. Meta’s CEO says Apple misses out on valuable lessons by waiting for praise rather than shipping and iterating. In Zuckerberg’s words, if you’re always waiting for applause, you’re “missing a bunch of the time when you could’ve learned useful stuff.”

MARKETS

*Stock data as of market close*

  • U.S. stocks had a mixed close on Friday as the rate-cut excitement fizzled out. The Dow inched up, barely squeezing out a record close at 42,063. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 took a 0.19% dip, and the Nasdaq didn’t fare much better, slipping by 0.36%.

  • Still, the markets managed to wrap up the week with some solid gains, thanks to Thursday’s rally. Investors were all smiles after Fed Chair Jerome Powell clarified that the recent rate cut was aimed at supporting the economy—not rescuing it. Add in some positive jobless claims data, and Thursday’s optimism carried over, even if Friday was a bit of a snooze.

STOCKS
Winners & Losers

What’s up 📈

  • Constellation Energy ($CEG) surged 22.29% after announcing plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and sell power to Microsoft for its data centers.

  • Vistra ($VST) increased 16.60% after announcing its plan to acquire the remaining 15% stake in its subsidiary Vistra Vision for nearly $3.25 billion.

  • CrowdStrike ($CRWD) climbed 8.10% following a bullish analyst note from Citigroup, which pointed to the company escaping the worst backlash from its July incident involving a software update malfunction.

  • Nike ($NKE) gained 6.84% after announcing a CEO change, with Elliott Hill set to replace John Donahoe in October.

  • Intel ($INTC) rose 3.31% as CNBC confirmed Qualcomm's approach to discuss a possible takeover.

  • GameStop ($GME) jumped 11.99%.

What’s down 📉

  • FedEx ($FDX) dropped 15.23% after reporting a significant quarterly earnings decline and lowering its full-year revenue forecast. CEO Raj Subramaniam cited weaker-than-expected industrial demand and a customer shift toward cheaper delivery options as profit pressures.

  • Trump Media & Technology Group ($DJT) fell 7.82% as the selling restrictions for former President Donald Trump and other early investors expired.

  • Novo Nordisk ($NVO) decreased 5.46% after disappointing trial results for its experimental obesity pill, monlunabant, which analysts deemed “underwhelming” compared to Eli Lilly’s orforglipron.

  • Chewy ($CHWY) declined 4.34% following an announcement of a $500 million stock offering by its largest shareholder, Buddy Chester. Chewy also plans to repurchase $300 million of shares from Chester.

  • ASML ($ASML) fell 3.97% after a Morgan Stanley downgrade, with the firm citing a balanced risk-to-reward ratio.

  • Rivian ($RIVN) slid 10.95%.

  • Snowflake ($SNOW) ticked down 3.29%.

NUCLEAR
Microsoft Powers Up AI With a Nuclear Comeback at Three Mile Island

Well, this is one headline we didn’t see coming. Microsoft is so hungry for energy to fuel its AI ambitions, it’s partnering with Constellation Energy to bring back the Three Mile Island nuclear plant — yes, the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. Constellation plans to invest $1.6 billion to reboot the plant’s Unit 1 reactor by 2028, and Microsoft has signed a 20-year deal to buy every watt of power it churns out. Looks like AI isn't just demanding your data — it needs a whole lot of juice too.

What's the Deal? Constellation, the U.S.'s biggest nuclear operator, plans to turn the once-shuttered Three Mile Island reactor into the Crane Clean Energy Center (a posthumous nod to former Exelon CEO Chris Crane). This marks a major milestone for both companies: Microsoft locks in a reliable, carbon-free energy source to fuel its AI data centers, while Constellation revives an aging reactor that couldn't compete with cheap natural gas and renewables. With AI's skyrocketing power demands, tech giants are scrambling for steady, green electricity.

A Nuclear Renaissance: This move taps into a broader trend: nuclear energy's comeback. After a wave of plant closures over the past decade, power-hungry industries like AI and EVs are driving renewed interest in these reactors. Nuclear plants, unlike wind and solar, run 24/7 — perfect for data centers that never sleep. Other tech giants like Amazon and Oracle are also turning to nuclear to keep up with their massive energy needs.

But It’s Not All Glowing... Rebooting a reactor isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. The plant needs major upgrades to its cooling system, turbine, and transformer, and still faces a long queue for grid connection approval from PJM Interconnection, the local grid operator. Plus, it’s got to pass stringent safety checks from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If everything goes smoothly (fingers crossed), Three Mile Island could be back online as soon as 2027.

Looking Ahead: AI is reshaping the world — and the energy grid along with it. As data centers keep popping up and consuming ever more electricity, the demand for clean, continuous power will only increase. Whether this sparks a true nuclear revival or just a few isolated reboots remains to be seen, but one thing’s clear: Microsoft is betting on nuclear to fuel its AI-driven future.

Brace yourselves, we might just be entering the AI-powered nuclear age.

NEWS
Market Movements

SEMICONDUCTORS
Qualcomm Wants to Buy Intel

Things are heating up in Silicon Valley! Qualcomm, best known for its mobile chip domination, is reportedly eyeing Intelfor a possible takeover, according to insiders. If successful, this would not only be one of the largest tech deals ever but could also mark a major shift in the semiconductor industry. Intel, once the top dog, has been sputtering with a steep 60% stock drop this year, while Qualcomm is ready to make moves.

The Plot Thickens: Intel’s got a lot on its plate – a major $1.6 billion loss this past quarter, layoffs, and restructuring, all while its market value plummeted from $290 billion in 2020 to around $90 billion. Talk about a fall from grace! Despite its struggles, Qualcomm sees a potential golden ticket in Intel's PC and server chip dominance, which could complement its own strength in smartphone chips.

But don’t start popping the champagne yet—this deal is far from certain. There’s always a little thing called antitrust scrutiny that could trip things up. Plus, Qualcomm might have to offload parts of Intel to make it work. Hey, no one said buying a $90 billion company would be easy.

Why Intel? For decades, Intel reigned supreme as the largest semiconductor company, but the rise of rivals like AMD, Broadcom, and NVIDIA has left the company in a tough spot. Intel’s CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has been on a three-year turnaround mission, but things haven’t exactly gone according to plan. Their recent efforts include trying to spin off their manufacturing business and landing a deal with Amazon for custom AI semiconductors. Still, Intel is struggling to regain its footing.

On the other side, Qualcomm has been expanding beyond smartphones, recently re-entering the desktop processormarket, especially with AI integration. This could make Intel's x86 chips an ideal addition to Qualcomm's arsenal.

Looking Ahead

If this deal goes through, it could shake up the global chip game. Qualcomm might finally get the manufacturing muscleit’s been outsourcing, but it’s a risky bet. Intel’s manufacturing issues are notorious, and fixing them is no small task. Plus, the deal would set the stage for a massive showdown between Qualcomm’s ARM chips and Intel’s x86 architecture—a battle that could reshape the industry.

Calendar
On The Horizon

Next Week

Now that the Fed has wrapped things up, we can focus on what’s coming next week—and it’s packed.

Monday serves up the latest manufacturing and services PMI numbers, Tuesday brings the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, and Wednesday is all about new home sales. On Thursday, it’s jobless claims and pending home sales.

Friday closes out with the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Fed’s go-to for inflation. While it’s lost a bit of its punch lately as the Fed shifts focus to the labor market, Powell and Co. are still keeping tabs on it.

Earnings:

Earnings season is cooling off a bit next week, but there are still some big names to watch:

Tuesday: Autozone ($AZO), Stitch Fix ($SFIX), KB Home ($KBH)

Wednesday: Micron Technology ($MU)

Thursday: Accenture PLC ($ACN), CarMax ($KMX), Costco ($COST), Vail Resorts ($MTN), BlackBerry ($BB)

NEWS
The Daily Rundown

RESOURCES
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