It’s a story we’ve seen over and over again: Investors rabidly guzzle AI stocks, realize they’re overvalued, start to question everything, and spiral.

Just look at SpaceX, which tumbled 20% over the last five days, following a $20 billion bond sale. The carnage soon spread to semiconductor stocks, including memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung, which both lost roughly 12% on Tuesday. And AI heavyweight Alphabet continues to sink as researchers depart for competitors.

Investors were hoping that today would be a new day, and memory chip company Micron would single-handedly turn the narrative around after reporting blowout numbers for Q3:

• Revenue quadrupled from $9.3 billion a year ago to $41.26 billion.
• The company is now projecting revenue of $50 billion for the current quarter, a wildly steep jump from the $11.3 billion it reported last year.
• Micron popped 15.81% today.

The stellar quarter was thanks to AI titans’ massive rush to build datacenters: Micron continues to capitalize on the huge demand for a small supply of memory chips, its core product. The good news also provided a boost to fellow memory maker Sandisk, which soared 22% today.

The flipside

But despite a fantastic report from one of the key players in the AI industry, tech stocks took a bearish turn this afternoon. The problem is that even as certain corners of the AI trade boom, the same shortage that’s making chips more lucrative is also making end-products more expensive.

Just take a look at Apple, which plummeted 6.15% today for its worst day since April 2025, after the company announced it was raising prices on the MacBook and iPad. The culprit, of course, is the soaring costs of memory chips and storage—the very same supply and demand equation that’s reinvigorating the AI infrastructure trade and boosting Micron.

Apple didn’t rule out raising prices on more products, either: “The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” the company said in a statement.

Things aren’t all blue skies for memory chip makers, either. SK Hynix is planning a $30 billion listing on the Nasdaq next month, making the stock more accessible to US traders, which could ultimately hurt its competitor Micron.

It’s beginning to seem like the AI trade is less like a rising tide that lifts all boats, and more like a battle to the death.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• BlackBerry popped 19.95% on stronger-than-expected quarterly results driven by growth in automotive software and secure communications.
• Qualcomm jumped 3.79% after reporting great earnings yesterday, including a forecast for $15 billion in new datacenter revenue.
• Kymera Therapeutics gained 16.62% after completing enrollment in a Phase 2 trial for its eczema treatment.
• Bio-Techne surged 20.04% after Merck agreed to acquire the company for $11.3 billion, a 24% premium to its prior close.
• McCormick climbed 1.67% thanks to strong consumer demand that helped deliver earnings and revenue beats.
• Acuity advanced 17.64% on better-than-expected earnings powered by rapid growth in its Intelligent Spaces business.

What’s down

• Palantir Technologies fell 5.49% to a fresh 12-month low, leaving the stock nearly 50% below its November 2025 peak.
• Microsoft slipped 3.49% after announcing price increases of up to $150 for select Xbox consoles.
• Hertz Global dropped 10.67% after pricing a 37 million-share stock offering.
• ARS Pharmaceuticals tumbled 24% after its neffy nasal spray failed to secure new major commercial insurance coverage.
• Wendy’s fell 6.74%, giving back earlier gains as its meme stock momentum faded.

Following in the footsteps of a longtime leader is no easy task—just ask Greg Abel, Josh D’Amaro, and John Ternus. But soon, there might be a new face in the top office at JPMorgan.

In a filing today, the biggest bank in the US dropped a few bombshells. First, it revealed that Marianne Lake, the head of JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking, is planning to retire. Lake was the top pick to one day replace CEO Jamie Dimon, but the spotlight has suddenly shifted to two other candidates. All eyes are now on Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who have been elevated from co-CEOs of JPMorgan’s commercial and investment bank to co-presidents of the entire firm. Petno will be in charge of the commercial and investment bank, while Rohrbaugh takes the reins of the consumer and community banking division.

“The promotions of Messrs. Petno and Rohrbaugh to Co-Presidents and sole CEOs of the Firm’s two largest businesses are part of the Board’s ongoing succession planning designed to ensure continued exceptional leadership at the highest levels of the company,” the bank said in a statement.

It’s the latest twist in Wall Street’s favorite guessing game: Who will take over for Jamie Dimon? Dimon’s been in charge of JPMorgan for 20 years now, and at 70 years old, he has begun to fend off a rising tide of questions about his retirement. Many thought that longtime associate Daniel Pinto was the heir apparent, but his departure last year meant Lake was the favorite.

Now, two new top contenders have emerged from the rest of the pack. But only one may become one of the most powerful men on Wall Street—and the entire planet.—MR

The Supreme Court just handed Bayer a major legal victory in its yearslong Roundup battle, ruling 7-2 that the company cannot be held liable under state law for failing to include a cancer warning on the herbicide’s label.

The dispute dates back to Bayer’s $63 billion acquisition of Roundup maker Monsanto in 2018. Soon after, Missouri gardener John Durnell sued the company, claiming the herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma and should have included a cancer warning. His case became the first in a wave of tens of thousands of similar lawsuits, fueled by a 2015 determination from the World Health Organization’s cancer agency that glyphosate, an active ingredient in Roundup, is “probably carcinogenic.”

At the heart of the ruling was federal labeling law. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that Roundup does not require a cancer warning, and because federal law governs pesticide labels, states generally cannot require companies to add warnings that conflict with the EPA-approved label.

The company also had support from the Trump administration, which championed glyphosate production as a national security priority and ordered increased domestic production back in February.

A turning point

Today’s decision removes a major source of uncertainty for investors. The Roundup litigation has cost Bayer more than $10 billion, with the company settling roughly 130,000 claims; about 60,000 remained outstanding as of February, helping drag Bayer shares down 14.14% over the past five years. But the stock surged 17.24% today—its biggest one-day gain since 2003.

The ruling also strengthens Bayer’s position in a separate effort to resolve current and future claims. Earlier this year, the company proposed a roughly $7.25 billion class-action settlement. While that still requires court approval, today’s decision should make a favorable outcome more likely.

“The US Supreme Court decision is good for science, farmers, and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation. It should help significantly contain the Roundup litigation after nearly a decade of legal battles,” Bayer said in a statement.

Bayer is finally seeing its legal strategy bear fruit, and investors are here for the harvest.—SY

• Retailers like Walmart and Dollar Tree are starting to receive tariff refunds.
• Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of bestselling Meta exposé Careless People, is suing Meta over its attempts to stop her from talking about the book.
• IBM said it created the smallest chip ever.
• Beleaguered private credit firm Blue Owl is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Anthropic accused e-commerce giant Alibaba of “illicitly” using its model.
• US airlines are still keeping airfares 15% higher than last year despite the fuel crisis fading.

Earnings announcements: With the earnings season winding down, it should come as no surprise that nobody’s got any new numbers to report tomorrow.

Economic reports: The week wraps up with the final reading of the consumer sentiment index for June, courtesy of the University of Michigan.

Everything else: Amazon’s Prime Day event concludes, and from the numbers we’ve seen so far, it’s going to be a banner year for online sales.