If you’ve been living unplugged (in which case, good for you), let us remind you that the market is staring down three monster IPOs: SpaceX, targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation, is set to debut this Friday, while Anthropic confidentially filed for an IPO last week, reportedly targeting a $1 trillion valuation. Not to be outdone, just yesterday OpenAI also confidentially filed to go public. Here’s what we know about OpenAI’s bid:

• OpenAI did not disclose the size or terms of the offering, and didn’t lay out a timeline for listing in the stock market. Reuters reported that the company is eyeing a valuation of up to $1 trillion.
• OpenAI’s venture capital investors are set for the biggest windfall. Those big winners include Khosla Ventures, Microsoft, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Now that Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX are all approaching the starting gate, the $3.6 trillion question remains: Is there room in the market for not one—not two—but three blockbuster IPOs?

Ready, set, trade: The first to list will soak up a significant portion of the demand from both frantic retail investors and deep-pocketed institutional investors. Meaning most analysts think the market can handle the SpaceX IPO, according to the New York Times. But two other rival AI giants debuting the same year leaves little room for error as they court investors. After all, both institutional investors and retail traders have finite capital to deploy and concentration limits to respect.

Heated rivalry

Between Anthropic and OpenAI, it’s tempting to focus on whose logo is superior (Claude, obviously). But investing is based on balance sheets, and the metrics that matter are revenue and net profit, according to Pitchbook VC analyst Emily Zheng.

Except that right now, Anthropic and OpenAI are both on track to lose billions of dollars. In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is set to burn more cash than any other company…ever. Anthropic’s financials look slightly more solid: The company is reportedly headed for its first profitable month in June—a milestone that OpenAI is far from—and has taken a big slice of the enterprise market. OpenAI, meanwhile, is seen by some as a “retail meme trade,” Breakout Point Managing Director Ivan Cosovic told Dealbook. But given how quickly these companies can swap pole position, that dynamic could flip yet again.

It’s also bigger than Sam vs. Dario: If one debut fails to meet expectations, it fuels ominous bubble allegations for the whole market.

Keep in mind: Historically, investors who get the offer price do see higher returns, according to data from the Wall Street Journal. But that doesn’t mean you have to rush to invest if you have a long-term horizon: “It’s important to realize there’s typically a six-month lockup period before existing investors can sell their shares,” Zheng said in an interview late last month. “So I’m usually looking at how the stock price performs after that period as well, because I think that’s a better determinant of investor conviction and long-term share price performance.”

There’s only one way to find out: The starting pistol fires Friday as SpaceX goes public.—LB

🟢 What’s up

• Nuvalent surged 39.28% after GSK agreed to acquire the cancer-drug developer in a $10.6 billion deal.
• J.M. Smucker jumped 10.45% as better-than-expected quarterly earnings outweighed a softer sales outlook.
• DraftKings popped 11.34% as its prediction market business reported strong growth in trading activity, with annualized consumer volume rising 24%.

What’s down

• Apple slid 2.64% as its AI ambitions failed to excite investors.
• Cybersecurity company SailPoint fell 11.48% as slowing growth expectations overshadowed a modest earnings and revenue beat.
• Marvell dropped 7.61%, giving back some of the gains sparked by its upcoming addition to the S&P 500.
• United Natural Foods declined 10.28% despite reporting results largely in line with expectations, as investors focused on its narrowed full-year profit outlook.
• Vail Resorts fell 4.52% after reporting weaker ski-pass sales and cutting full-year guidance.
• Redwire tumbled 15.19% on plans to sell up to $500 million of stock through an at-the-market offering program.
• Chipmakers AMD, Micron, and Qualcomm fell 3.02%, 1.41%, and 5.67%, respectively, while AI infrastructure names Coherent, Lumentum, and Corning dropped 11.44%, 8.22%, and 7.25% as a broader tech selloff swept through the sector.

If you’ve ever needed to buy a bar of gold, a 72-pound block of cheese, multiple at-home saunas, or a $1.50 hot dog and soda, you already know the appeal of Costco. More importantly, so do millions of shoppers.

The warehouse giant just posted its strongest stretch in over a year. Comparable sales for May, adjusted for elevated gas prices, increased almost 9%. Why? The retailer sticks by its tried-and-true formula: cheap—well, everything—including gas. These days especially, discounted fuel pulls drivers in and sends them straight down the store aisles. Costco also just dropped prices on Kirkland Signature home goods and groceries, doubling down on the value prop that keeps members coming back.

But Costco is still under pressure. Its stock is down about 11% from its mid-May high, and the sector overall is suffering from jittery consumer sentiment and from Wall Street preferring to throw its money into tech stocks. (Rival Walmart also slid after its earnings report last month.) Still, while investors may be distracted chasing AI, consumers are laser-focused on those discounts. And those hot dogs.—AC

South Korea’s stock market just delivered a plot twist worthy of a K-drama.

The Kospi plunged 8% yesterday, marking its ninth-worst trading day in the past 45 years, before rebounding 8.18% today, as investors rushed back into the market.

Much of the rally has been fueled by retail investors, many of whom are amplifying their bets with borrowed money. Retail investors have poured an estimated $70 billion into Korean equities this year, while leveraged positions climbed to a record $39 billion in May.

At the center of the frenzy are South Korea’s AI darlings: Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Both companies recently surpassed market capitalizations of $1 trillion, and together account for roughly half the Kospi index. New ETFs offering concentrated exposure to the pair have only pushed more money into the same two names.

The bull case

Wild swings are hardly new for South Korea’s stock market. Earlier this year, the Kospi experienced its largest one-day reversal on record, falling 12% on March 4 before rebounding 9% the following session. The market has been here before—during the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the dot-com crash, the Global Financial Crisis, and the Covid pandemic.

Some investors worry that today’s volatility resembles the early stages of previous market crises, especially given how heavily the market depends on just a handful of companies. But many analysts argue the latest pullback looks more like a positioning adjustment: As Korean stocks surged, global fund managers were forced to cut positions to keep allocations within risk guidelines.

At the same time, many on Wall Street still see more room to run. Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs lifted its Kospi target to 12,000 and maintained an overweight rating. The bank also boosted its earnings growth forecasts for both 2026 and 2027, arguing that demand for AI memory chips continues to outpace supply.

But that outlook is tenuous: Samsung and SK Hynix are deeply tied to the same AI spending cycle that has powered US tech stocks higher. If enthusiasm around AI begins to fade, or if US tech shares stumble, South Korea’s market could feel the impact quickly. Also on watch: whether the Bank of Korea hikes rates as the won continues to slide against the dollar.

For now, though, it’s just another day in Busan.—SY

• President Donald Trump says Iran shot down a US Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, and vowed to retaliate.
• Existing home sales jumped 3.2% in May—the strongest pace since December and far above forecasts.
• Social Security’s trust fund is now projected to run dry earlier than expected. Here’s the new insolvency date, plus how much monthly checks will get cut by.
• JPMorgan Chase announced it will roll out long-run autonomous agents by the end of this year.
• Say goodbye to the co-founder title: New research finds more entrepreneurs than ever are going it alone.

Earnings announcements: AI bellwether Oracle releases earnings.

Economic reports: The hotly awaited CPI report drops, with inflation expected to top 4%.

Everything else: Game 4 of the NBA Finals tips off.