SAP reported a strong 22% growth in cloud revenue, reaching €6.28 billion in Q2, surpassing analyst expectations. The company's cloud backlog, an indicator of future sales, increased by 26%, boosting investor confidence. Following these results, SAP's stock climbed over 6% in Frankfurt, signaling relief amid previous worries about AI's potential negative effects on the business. Despite some stock declines earlier, the positive cloud performance has reassured the market about SAP's growth prospects.
Intel's second-quarter 2026 revenue exceeded $16 billion, marking a 25% increase from the previous year and its fastest growth pace since late 2011. The company's adjusted earnings per share reached 42 cents, doubling Wall Street's estimate of 21 cents. While shares initially rose on the strong performance, they later declined during extended trading sessions. The surge was largely driven by a 59% increase in AI data center revenue.
Federal prosecutors arrested two Volkswagen engineers in San Jose, California, charging them with insider trading. Michael Stamp and Marcus Plank, who work at VW’s US operations, allegedly purchased Rivian stock before the company publicly announced its multibillion-dollar joint venture with the electric vehicle manufacturer. Each faces one count of federal securities fraud.
Anduril is reportedly in discussions to secure a new funding round that could elevate its valuation to approximately $100 billion, more than three times its valuation from last year, according to Reuters.
Alphabet, Google's parent company, posted impressive second-quarter earnings with $120 billion in revenue, marking its 12th consecutive quarter of strong financial performance. These results surpassed expectations despite delays in launching the advanced AI model Gemini Pro. Investors are closely watching how Alphabet’s significant AI investments impact its financials as the company increases its annual capital expenditure forecast to $200 billion, with quarterly spending doubling year-over-year.
Tesla's shares dropped more than 3% in after-hours trading following the release of its second-quarter earnings, which revealed profits well below Wall Street forecasts. The company's stock, already down around 14% this year, fell further after the report. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's attention seems divided as SpaceX, his rocket and AI venture, caught the spotlight with the largest stock market debut ever last month. This milestone made Musk the first trillionaire, though his net worth has slipped since then.
Amid a surge in AI startup investments, Corgi has rapidly raised funds through three consecutive rounds, reaching a notable $4 billion valuation. This rapid fundraising pace highlights Corgi's standout position in the competitive insurance technology landscape.
Startup funding has evolved dramatically from small investments to colossal billion-dollar-plus rounds. In 2026, about 60% of all global startup funding, roughly $320 billion, was allocated to rounds exceeding $1 billion, indicating a steep upward trend. The U.S. market is even more concentrated with 73% of funding flowing into megadeals, notably driven by AI leaders OpenAI and Anthropic, whose combined investments exceed half of the total. These mega rounds are not only growing in size but also frequency, with 23 billion-dollar rounds already closed in the U.S. this year, matching last year's record pace. Historically, billion-dollar venture rounds began with Uber’s $1.2 billion Series D in 2014, followed by prominent firms like SpaceX, Airbnb, and Lyft. While many of these companies have thrived, others like Argo AI and WeWork highlight the risks involved. The rise of these massive funding rounds signals a new era where investing huge sums in unicorns can bring high rewards but also considerable uncertainty. As companies like OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public, the potential returns and risks of these unprecedented mega rounds will soon become clearer.
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, shared that when considering candidates for major leadership roles, he pays close attention to one critical trait that often spells trouble for leaders.
French AI startup Mistral is in the process of raising several billion euros, targeting a valuation of €20 billion. Samsung is reportedly one of the key investors in discussions to participate in this funding round, according to the Financial Times.
