Happy Wednesday. GoPro is the latest company embarking on an artificial intelligence pivot. Its shares surged 40% yesterday after the company announced a merger and said it would expand into the data center and defense markets.
Stock futures are mixed this morning following Wall Street's down session yesterday.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. On alert
The U.S. and Iran continued to trade strikes yesterday. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that it successfully launched another round of strikes on Iranian targets, which reportedly prompted retaliatory attacks by Tehran on Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.
Here's what to know:
- West Texas Intermediate futures jumped above the $90 per barrel mark after yesterday's strikes, hitting levels not seen since late July.
- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC's Brian Sullivan that more than 17 million barrels of oil crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, which he said was the most since the start of the Iran war.
- Meanwhile, the global bond market sell-off is continuing this morning. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit its highest level since November 2023 as traders continued to worry about rising oil prices and their impact on inflation.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attempted to play up the U.S. bond market's performance despite the yield spike, saying yesterday that it's "been the best-performing bond market among major countries in the world."
- Still, the combination of rising yields and oil prices on Tuesday led the stock market to its third straight losing day.
- Follow live market updates here.
2. Going to the chapel
Tech takes center stage today at the G20 Innovation Ministerial in North Carolina. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic Co-Founder Tom Brown and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are among the guests at the conference in Chapel Hill, which will be led by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios.
The confluence of AI leaders comes as backlash to the technology and its data centers continues to intensify. In comments following the G20 finance ministerial yesterday, Bessent said AI companies "have done a horrendous job, horrendous job of explaining themselves to the American people."
3. Mark your calendars
Lutnick told CNBC's "Squawk Box" this morning that the Trump administration is working on a framework for semiconductor tariffs, and that "all of the companies know they're coming."
The commerce chief also blamed Canada for the breakdown in tariff talks between the two North American neighbors, saying that Canadian negotiators added "crazy ideas to the mix" hours before the deadline. "They blew it up for political reasons only," he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday fired back at the Trump administration: "When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade, stop trying to be tough and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions" about trade, Carney said.
4. Dell-t a good hand
Dell shares are up nearly 9% before the bell after the computer maker blew past analyst expectations for the second quarter. The company also hiked its forecast for the 2027 fiscal year, citing strength in its AI server business.
As CNBC's Jordan Novet writes, Dell's post-earnings move could signal further runway for a stock that's already up more than 230% this year. "There's an old Texas saying I may have just made up... If you keep growing EPS 200%+ y/y something good will happen," CEO Michael Dell wrote on social media following the report.
Elsewhere in tech: Palo Alto Networks beat the Street's expectations as concerns around AI risks heightened demand for its cybersecurity tools. Palo Alto also unveiled plans to buy AI agent startup Console, its latest in a string of acquisitions.
5. Stan's Angels
Stan Kroenke is expanding his sports empire. The Kroenke Sports & Entertainment owner said yesterday that he is purchasing a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Angels from the Moreno family.
In a press release, Kroenke called the Angels a "storied franchise" and said he looked forward to an "exciting future" with the organization. A source told CNBC that the transaction values the Angels and its regional sports network at $4 billion.
With the addition of a baseball team, KSE would have ownership in every major professional sport. Its current roster of teams includes the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. KSE was valued at more than $26 billion, according to a CNBC report from June.
The Daily Dividend
In an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick this morning, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel called Alphabet a "significant player" in AI. The conglomerate added $17 billion of Alphabet shares in the second quarter, it said in a filing earlier this month.
— CNBC's CJ Haddad, Anniek Bao, Sean Conlon, Hugh Leask, Kevin Breuninger, Spencer Kimball, Matt Peterson, Chris Eudaily, Jordan Novet, Samantha Subin, Dan Mangan, Michael Ozanian, Jessica Golden and Tobias Burns contributed to this report.
Luke Fountain assisted in the production of this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.