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Peter Diamandis, founder of the XPRIZE Foundation, joins ‘Squawk on the Street' discuss SpaceX's public debut last week, the possibility of a SpaceX-Tesla merger, criticism of Elon Musk's trillionaire status, and more.

HomeInvestingStocksMark HulbertMark HulbertThe biggest companies struggle to keep up with the stock market due to size alonePublished: June 15, 2026 at 4:15 p.m. ET

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk appears via video before the launch of the company's initial public offering on June 12. Photo: Getty ImagesAs the stock market digests SpaceX’s mega-IPO, investors would do well to remember that bigger is not necessarily better.

This relationship between size and stock-market performance has been largely overlooked in debates about whether SpaceX’s stock is an attractive investment. But history teaches us that stocks at or near the top of the market-cap rankings face stiff headwinds due to their size alone.

SpaceX shares jumped nearly 20% Monday in the Elon Musk-led rocket company’s first full day of trading following its record-shattering debut last week on the Nasdaq. 

About 120 million shares had changed hands by 12 p.m. ET Monday, after trading volume on Friday broke past 500 million shares – nearing Facebook’s debut in 2012, when nearly 580 million shares were traded.

The historic debut on Friday opened at $150 a share, making it the largest-ever IPO and immediately shooting the company’s valuation above $2 trillion. It closed up 19.6% at $192.45.

SpaceX leaders and guests celebrate the firm’s IPO last Friday on the Nasdaq MarketSite. REUTERS In Sunday posts on X, his social-media platform, Musk claimed that SpaceX “might be able to reach” roughly $1 trillion revenue in 2030 – and “I would be surprised if revenue is not greater than $1T in 2031.”

That would be a huge growth trajectory, after SpaceX reported $18.7 billion in revenue last year.

SpaceX is perhaps best known for its reusable rockets and ambitions to colonize Mars.

But the company also owns Starlink, Musk’s satellite internet service provider, which has become a major government contractor over the past few years – and was the sole profitable division in 2025.

In February, Musk merged SpaceX with his artificial-intelligence startup, xAI.

The company’s massive spending on AI has weighed on its profits – and Musk has shown no signs of planning to slow down.

In 2025, SpaceX lost nearly $5 billion as its annual capital expenditures hit $20.7 billion.

SpaceX’s record-breaking IPO made Musk the world’s first trillionaire. via REUTERS In just the first quarter of 2026, SpaceX’s spending hit $10.1 billion – with AI accounting for $7.7 billion. That dwarfed its total spending in the same period last year of $4.1 billion.

Yet last week’s IPO easily smashed records, sparking a debate over whether the stock – and the broader AI, space and tech industries – are being overvalued.

CFRA on Friday gave SpaceX a “sell” rating with a 12-month price target of $115, which is nearly a 29% drop from Friday’s closing price. It attributed the less-than-enthusiastic outlook to “the company’s extremely ambitious growth strategy, elevated valuation expectations and significant capital intensity.”

“Investors aren’t buying today’s fundamentals – they’re buying Elon Musk, Starlink, AI, space infrastructure and the belief that SpaceX will dominate industries that don’t fully exist yet. That’s exciting, but it also means expectations are getting very high,” Scott Martin, partner at Kingsview Wealth Management, told The Post.

SpaceX’s Starship rocket lifts off during a test flight from Starbase, Texas, on May 22. AP Photo/Eric Gay “Can the stock continue to rise? Absolutely. But after a nearly 16% jump on top of a record IPO, investors should recognize that a lot of future expectations are already being priced in.”

In a note ahead of the IPO, Morningstar analyst Nicolas Owns said the firm values SpaceX at just $63 per share – calling the stock “overvalued.”

Bloomberg's Bailey Lipschultz and David Bauer, head of equity capital markets Americas at JPMorgan, discuss SpaceX's success on the company's second day of trading after a record IPO Friday. Bauer said he sees a real 'investment thesis' driving SpaceX as the company contributes to reindustrializing America with 'new ecosystems' and the emergence of space as an industry.

ToplineA suite of new artificial intelligence-powered features released by Meta on Monday will allow people to use Facebook as a search engine and content generation tool in such a way that could generate more than $10 billion in annual revenue for Meta if it takes off, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst.

The new Meta AI (Muse Spark) logo.

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Key FactsMeta launched “AI Mode” inside Facebook Search on Monday, which will answer search queries using Meta AI and return answers drawn from public content across Groups and Reels, rather than surfacing a “generic” list of search results, the company said.

The search tool is powered by Muse Spark, the AI model Meta debuted in April and the first major model developed by Meta Superintelligence Labs, which is headed by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang.

If the new tool is able to retain 1 billion users—about a third of Facebook’s monthly active users worldwide—and monetizes just 10% of daily queries, it could easily generate over $10 billion in annual revenue for Meta, according to Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak.

Monday’s rollout also includes new AI-assisted photo and video editing capabilities including collage cutout templates, video transition effects and photo presets that let users change their clothing, hair and accessories in photos.

Meta shares climbed nearly 5% to just short of $595 as of 2:45 p.m. EDT on Monday afternoon, though the stock is still down about 8% year-to-date.

WHAT WE DON’T KNOWHow exactly Meta’s new AI Mode is sourcing its search results. The company says it will “give you answers grounded in what people are saying publicly across our apps like in Groups and Reels,” but doesn’t address exactly how its algorithm is weighing sources or how it will combat misinformation, which has plagued Facebook for years. Forbes has reached out to Meta for more information.

Key backgroundMeta has been embedding its Meta AI assistant across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger for years, but Monday's launch is the first time the company has positioned AI as a direct replacement for Facebook's own search bar—putting it in more direct competition with Google. It was first reported in October of 2024 that Meta was working to develop its own search engine, but this is the first time that work has landed in front of everyday Facebook users. In the larger artificial intelligence landscape, Meta has fallen behind its peers after the flop of the flagship Llama 4 family of AI models, which caused Meta to largely abandon its open-source AI strategy. The company instead invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI (which included recruiting Wang) and launched its proprietary, closed-source AI system, Muse Spark. Investor sentiment in Meta has lagged despite the company’s massive AI investments, but Nowak has argued the new AI search tool could turn things around.

further readingForbesTech Industry Loses 123,000 Jobs This Year—AI Is The Most Cited Reason For LayoffsBy Mary Whitfill Roeloffs

ForbesMeta Layoffs Underscore The Real Price Of The AI RaceBy Dan Runkevicius

meta

The long-awaited SpaceX (SPCX +19.79%) IPO has arrived to much fanfare, with shares of the rocket company jumping nearly 20% in its first day of trading on Friday and the rally continuing on Monday. But now with that in the books, investors may be turning their attention to another highly probable event: a potential merger involving SpaceX and Tesla (TSLA +0.98%). Both companies are run by Elon Musk, they work on overlapping projects, and there's a lot of room for potential synergies if they combine.

Rumors of a possible SpaceX-Tesla merger have been growing in recent weeks. And here's why, particularly for Tesla, there may be motivation to get it done sooner rather than later.

Image source: Getty Images.

Tesla's growth story may not be as appealing anymore Although Tesla generates the majority of its revenue from automobiles and is technically an electric vehicle (EV) stock, it trades at an oversized earnings multiple because investors are bullish on its vision beyond just EVs. Robots and opportunities in artificial intelligence (AI) have been captivating investors in recent years, with the growth story persuading them to look past where the business is today and instead focus on the long-term vision.

However, that vision may not be as alluring anymore now that SpaceX stock is available. Between space, AI, and communications, there may be more compelling opportunities for investors with SpaceX than with Tesla. Tesla's stock is down around 9% this year and may suddenly not be as exciting a growth stock to own. While robotics is an intriguing and attractive growth opportunity, it may not be enough to convince investors to buy Tesla's stock, especially with its core EV business coming under pressure from growing competition.

The risk is that, in the near future, the U.S. market may see more affordable EVs enter the market, which could further strain its margins and growth prospects. And if its financials worsen in the process, the stock may head for an even greater decline. That downside risk could provide an added motivation for the company to merge with SpaceX soon, so that they can pool their resources and not compete with one another for investors' dollars.

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A merger could happen soon There have been reports that a merger between SpaceX and Tesla could occur as early as next year. And between Tesla's competitive position potentially eroding and SpaceX needing plenty of cash to fund its growth ambitions, a merger between the two companies may indeed make a lot of sense, especially given that the two businesses are working on Terafab, a giant chip factory, and other initiatives together.

While a merger is not guaranteed, it seems highly likely to happen. The good news is that if you want exposure to both of these stocks, you may only need to own one of them, as it may only be a matter of time before a merger takes place.

Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options: https://bit.ly/2v9tH6D. Alphabet (GOOGL) is a "tortoise and the hare" story, says Kevin Hincks, making the case that its more cautious approach to AI funding compared to other hyperscaler peers is bullish long-term for the Mag 7 company.

Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of common stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026. Microsoft describes itself as a “multinational technology conglomerate.”

For more information, submit a form, email attorney Phillip Kim, or give us a call at 866-767-3653.

The Allegations: Rosen Law Firm is Investigating the Allegations that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) Misled Investors Regarding its Business Operations.

According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Microsoft’s Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) Microsoft’s flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert graphics processing unit ("GPU") and central processing unit ("CPU") capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related research and development ("R&D"); and (4) as a result, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and Microsoft’s Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

What Now: You may be eligible to participate in the class action against Microsoft Corporation. Shareholders who want to serve as lead plaintiff for the class must file their motions with the court by August 11, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. You do not have to participate in the case to be eligible for a recovery. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member. For more information, click here.

All representation is on a contingency fee basis. Shareholders pay no fees or expenses.

About Rosen Law Firm: Some law firms issuing releases about this matter do not actually litigate securities class actions. Rosen Law Firm does. Rosen Law Firm is a recognized leader in shareholder rights litigation, dedicated to helping shareholders recover losses, improving corporate governance structures, and holding company executives accountable for their wrongdoing. Since its inception, Rosen Law Firm has obtained over $1 billion for shareholders.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/.

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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260615405006/en/

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Why: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, announces a class action lawsuit on behalf of purchasers of common stock of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) between May 1, 2025 and January 28, 2026, inclusive (the "Class Period"). A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 11, 2026.

So What: If you purchased Microsoft common stock during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement.

What to do next: To join the Microsoft class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/cases/microsoft-corporation/join or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than August 11, 2026. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

Why Rosen Law: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources, or any meaningful peer recognition. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved, at that time, the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Details of the case: According to the lawsuit, throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Microsoft's Copilot family of products had experienced significant brand positioning, user experience, usage, data siloing, computational capacity, organizational, and interoperability problems; (2) Microsoft's flagship proprietary AI model ranked well below competitors on a number of benchmark tests; (3) Microsoft needed to increase by billions of dollars its capital expenditures and divert graphics processing unit ("GPU") and central processing unit ("CPU") capacity away from fulfilling demand for its profitable Azure services in order to improve the competitive positioning of its critical Copilot family of products and increase its AI-related research and development ("R&D"); and (4) as a result, Microsoft had failed to convert a significant percentage of its commercial Microsoft 365 users to paid Copilot subscriptions and Microsoft's Copilot offerings had lost market share to rival products, a trend that was increasing. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. 

To join the Microsoft class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/cases/microsoft-corporation/join or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

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Contact Information:

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Boeing stock is showing exceptional strength. Why are BA shares rallying? Oil Prices Slide After Iran DealCrude prices tumbled nearly 5% on Monday after President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Iran had reached a peace agreement that ends their conflict and begins reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Oil has now surrendered about a third of the gains it accumulated when the war pushed prices toward $120 earlier this year.

Trump revealed the breakthrough on Truth Social, saying the deal was finalized and that he had authorized the unrestricted reopening of the strait along with the immediate lifting of the U.S. naval blockade. He urged ships to "start your engines" and let oil flow freely again.

The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly 20% of global crude shipments, and its closure since late February had added a significant war premium to energy markets. The agreement is scheduled to be formally signed Friday in Switzerland, which Trump said will coincide with the strait fully reopening once mine‑clearing operations are completed.

Cheaper oil reduces jet‑fuel expenses, one of the largest cost centers for airlines, which in turn supports demand for new aircraft.

Boeing Critical Levels To WatchBoeing has shifted back into a healthier trend setup. The stock now sits 5.1% above its 20‑day simple moving average at $219.28 and 5.3% above its 200‑day at $218.83, a configuration that usually signals buyers are stepping in at higher levels rather than fading strength. Price is also holding above the 50‑day and 100‑day averages, though the 20‑day still trails the 50‑day, showing the shorter‑term trend hasn't fully turned up yet.

RSI offers the clearest read on momentum right now. It sits at 49.18, essentially neutral, which suggests this move is more about repairing trend structure than entering an overextended phase. When RSI hovers near the midpoint, it often marks a transition zone where price needs follow‑through to confirm a shift from consolidation back into trend.

The chart has tight levels both above and below, which makes the next stretch of trading important for direction.

Key Resistance: $232.00 — a nearby ceiling that lines up with a round‑number zone where rallies have struggled, especially with price already stretched above several moving averages. Key Support: $221.00 — a close‑by pivot area near the 50‑day and 100‑day cluster where dip‑buyers may try to defend structure. Boeing's Benzinga Edge Rankings ExplainedThe Benzinga Edge scorecard gives a snapshot of how Boeing stacks up against the broader market across key factors.

Momentum: Neutral (Score: 42.9) — BA's trend profile is improving, but the score shows it hasn't yet shifted into clear leadership territory. The stock is stabilizing, but it's not acting like a dominant momentum name.

Value: Weak (Score: 27.58) — Boeing screens expensive relative to many peers, which puts more pressure on execution. When valuation runs rich, investors tend to demand cleaner results and steadier delivery performance.

The Bottom Line: Boeing's Benzinga Edge readout paints a mixed picture. Momentum is recovering and moving into the middle of the range, but the weak value score signals a premium‑priced stock. For long‑term holders, that usually means the chart can continue to grind higher, yet pullbacks may be sharper if sentiment cools or fundamentals don't keep pace with expectations.

BA Shares Are FlyingBA Price Action: Boeing shares were up 5.37% at $230.83 at the time of publication on Monday, according to Benzinga Pro.

Image: Shutterstock

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Alicia Yap, Citi's head of Pan-Asia Internet Research, breaks down where China's tech market stands amid global AI adoption. But despite all this heavy corporate activity, Citigroup warns that global investors are still treating China tech as "a source of funds," with Wall Street dumping local stocks to fund the global AI hardware trade.

Wall Street’s favorite market shorthand may need an upgrade. A new framework called the FAB 10 — Frontier AI & Big Tech 10 — is gaining traction among investors, and it could be the defining investing construct of the AI era.

MSFT stock is moving. See the chart and price action here. The term FAB 10 comes from Vanda Research, which coined it after Friday’s market action signaled a clear shift in investor focus.

“If the last few years were dominated by the ‘Magnificent 7,’ Friday was perhaps the clearest sign yet that investors are starting to focus on what we call the FAB 10,” Vanda said, according to CNBC. 

The Magnificent seven alone carry a combined market cap of roughly $22.62 trillion, with Nvidia leading at $5.13 trillion, trading at $211.96 a share Monday, up 3.30%. 

Meta is the session’s outperformer, surging 4.61% to $593.14 with a $1.51 trillion market cap, per Benzinga Pro.

The new additions are equally staggering in scale. SpaceX opened for trading on Friday at $150 per share and a $1.75 trillion valuation, ranking it among the top 10 publicly traded U.S. companies by market cap. 

OpenAI and Anthropic — both expected to go public later in 2026 — are valued at roughly $500 billion and $177 billion, respectively. 

Capital Rotation The catalyst for the reframe is capital rotation. 

Investors aren’t abandoning tech — they’re expanding their definition of it. The Magnificent 7 captured the first wave of the AI trade. The FAB 10 may define the next one.

Photo: Shutterstock

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) (“JPMorganChase” or the “Firm”) will hold an Investor Day in New York City on Monday, February 22, 2027, with presentations given by members of executive management.

A live audio webcast and presentation slides will be posted on the day of the event to www.jpmorganchase.com under Investor Relations, Events & Presentations. Dial-in information and a more detailed agenda will be provided at a later date.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorganChase had $4.9 trillion in assets and $364 billion in stockholders’ equity as of March 31, 2026. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

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A Ford automobile logo is seen during the New York International Auto Show Press Preview in New York City, U.S., April 16, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

SummaryCompaniesFord said it needs a license because US-developed software is installed into vehicles in ChinaSoftware bans start with 2027 models, while hardware restrictions begin with 2030 modelsUpcoming hardware restrictions expected to be more difficult for industryDETROIT, June 15 (Reuters) - Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab and other automakers are scrambling to obtain U.S. government authorization to continue ​selling models that have been in U.S. showrooms for years, but have recently come under fire as part of a ban on Chinese ‌software in connected vehicles

Ford has asked the U.S. Commerce Department for authorization to continue importing its China-built Lincoln Nautilus SUV, the company confirmed to Reuters. The model is among a small handful of Chinese imports that automakers already had been selling in the U.S. prior to the government restrictions.

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The Nautilus’ software is developed in the U.S., but installed into the vehicle in China, requiring government ​approval to continue selling it in the United States, Ford said.

Ford is among the automakers navigating a complex and opaque licensing process, which is exposing ​the extent to which the U.S. auto industry has intertwined its supply chains with China.

The rules include a ban on most ⁠Chinese-developed and -maintained software and cover companies with significant Chinese ownership. Lawmakers have proposed making the rules even tougher.

They were adopted in January 2025 under President Joe Biden, based on ​national security concerns linked to the ability of vehicles to collect sensitive data on American owners, and have been kept in place under the Trump administration.

The software prohibitions ​take effect for model year 2027, and separate restrictions on hardware take effect for model year 2030. Ford said it will likely start importing 2027 model year Nautilus vehicles in January, so it has several months to secure an authorization.

HARDWARE BAN POSES BROADER COMPLICATIONSWhile the software ban has become a headache for some automakers on certain models, it is preparing the industry for the ​much more difficult task of decoupling the U.S. auto hardware supply chain from China.

“Hardware restrictions are likely to be more cumbersome and require more time for automakers ​to adapt,” researchers at the Rhodium Group said in a study.

Some automakers are already making the costly push to rewire their supply chains away from China. General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab set a deadline ‌for some ⁠suppliers to scrub their own supply chains of parts from China by 2027, Reuters reported.

Volvo Cars (VOLCARb.ST), opens new tab, majority-owned by China's Geely [RIC:RIC:GEELY.UL], said in May it received an authorization, though it said it still must meet the rule's specifications across its lineup sold in the U.S. The company confirmed it needed a specific authorization because of its ownership structure.

The Commerce Department does not publish specific authorization applications or decisions, leaving unclear how many automakers have sought similar relief. The Commerce Department did not respond to requests for ​comment.

Other automakers that may need to apply ​for a license are Polestar (PSNY.O), opens new tab, which ⁠is majority-owned by Geely, and GM, which builds the Buick Envision in China. Earlier this year, GM said it is moving production of that model to a Kansas plant starting in 2028.

Both companies declined to say whether they had submitted an application for ​an authorization. Polestar said it is working with the U.S. government to meet the new rules.

PARTS SUPPLIERS ALSO NAVIGATING BANThe ​rule is also affecting ⁠parts suppliers. A group representing suppliers said before the rules were finalized that it may be difficult to extricate aspects of software and hardware developed by teams around the world.

“Suppliers across the board have noted that software and hardware are developed by global teams ... would the restrictions be applicable to a single line of code?” supplier association MEMA wrote ⁠in comments ​to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security in late 2024.

Tiremaker Pirelli (PIRC.MI), opens new tab has warned that ​one of its products risked being banned because of a large Chinese shareholder. The Italian government responded by imposing curbs to limit the number of board members that shareholder could appoint. Pirelli said in May ​it would begin manufacturing the product at a U.S. plant.

Reporting by Nora Eckert in Detroit; Additional reporting by Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Mike Colias and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Nora Eckert reports on the automotive industry from Detroit. She covers Ford, GM, Stellantis and the United Auto Workers, with a focus on the industry's transition to EVs. She was previously a reporter for The Wall Street Journal in Detroit, where she broke news on major automakers and the UAW. She was earlier part of a WSJ investigations team that was recognized as a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize. Nora began her career as an investigative reporter with the Rochester Post Bulletin in Minnesota, where she focused on the state's organ transplant system and prisons.

A botched marketing campaign by Starbucks’s South Korean operation has resulted in boycotts, an investigation, a fired executive, and a public apology. To address the fallout, all 2,000-plus locations nationwide will close early on June 22 for mandatory history and social sensitivity training.

Present in South Korea since 1999, the coffee chain will mark its first nationwide early closure in the country’s history. After the U.S. and China, South Korea is the third-largest market for Seattle-based Starbucks.

Shinsegae Group, which owns the majority stake in the coffee chain’s South Korean operations, is still doing damage control four weeks after launching a promotion for stainless-steel tumblers on May 18 in honor of what it referred to as “Tank Day.” That promotion was quickly met with widespread criticism and backlash, as it came on the 46th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, a pro-democracy movement that turned violent and deadly after the military deployed troops, tanks, and helicopters to suppress the rebellion.

Only hours after that promotion launched, Shinsegae fired the chain’s chief executive, Sohn Jeong-hyun, and vowed to investigate the circumstances that led to it happening in the first place. All visitors to the Starbucks Korea website are now greeted with an apology message from Shinsegae chairman Chung Yong-jin that was written that same day. 

“We deeply feel a heavy sense of responsibility regarding this incident and the gravity of the matter, and we will take all possible measures to prevent such an incident from recurring,” the apology message on the website reads, in part, according to a Google translation. 

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TRAINING, OTHER CHANGES COMINGNext week’s training session at its Seoul headquarters, which will be led by history and sociology professors, is the chain’s latest effort to reassure customers who are still outraged over the promotion. Locations are closing early so that employees can also view a recording of the session. 

“It demonstrates how seriously we take this marketing incident, and it reflects our commitment to ensuring it never happens again,” Shinsegae said in a statement, according to Bloomberg News. 

What’s more, Starbucks Korea will overhaul its internal decision-making process going forward to include a “social sensitivity checklist” and a tighter approval chain to ensure there’s cross-departmental sign-offs from legal and quality control teams.

Explore TopicsAISouth KoreaStarbucks

Brendan Burke says now is the time for tech, and Intel (INTC) has a growing role in the AI buildout. He believes current CEO Lip-Bu Tan will turn Intel into a core collaborator with AI hyperscalers that serves as a compelling foundry alternative to TSMC (TSM).

Editor’s note: “The Agentic AI Tax: Who Pays and Who Profits” was previously published in May 2026 with the title, “Why the Smartest AI Investors Are Ignoring the Model Race.” It has since been updated to include the most relevant information available.

The dot-com era taught investors a valuable lesson.

Betting on the winning website was hard. Owning the infrastructure every website needed was easier.

Amazon (AMZN) survived. Pets.com disappeared. AOL rose, then faded. Dozens of internet companies burned through hundreds of millions of dollars and left investors with nothing. But Cisco (CSCO) made money through it all because every byte of internet traffic needed its routers and switches to move across the web.

The stock rose about 3,400% in five years.

Cisco didn’t have to pick the winning website because it sold the equipment that made the internet work.

The same dynamic is starting to play out in AI right now — but with one important twist.

The market already understands that AI needs infrastructure. What it still underestimates is how much more infrastructure AI consumes when it stops answering questions and starts completing work.

That is the next phase of the boom. And it creates what we call the Invisible AI Tax.

From Chatbots to Agents: Why the Infrastructure Bill Just Got 20x Bigger A chatbot answers a prompt. An agent pursues a goal.

Those two consume very different amounts of infrastructure.

A simple chatbot exchange might process a few hundred tokens — the chunks of text a model reads and generates to complete a response. You ask a question, the model answers, and the interaction ends.

But an agentic workflow is different.

Tell a chatbot, “Write me a marketing plan,” and it gives you a response. Tell an agent, “Grow our market share by 15% this quarter,” and it starts working. It researches competitors, pulls internal data, drafts campaigns, tests messages, coordinates with other agents, revises, reports, and keeps going until the task is done.

What begins as a few hundred tokens can become tens of thousands as the system plans, executes, checks its own work, calls tools, communicates with databases, and iterates. That is the part most investors still have not fully processed.

AI agents can consume 20 to 30 times more physical infrastructure per task than a simple chatbot exchange.

Not 20% more — 20 to 30 times more.

More compute, more memory, more networking, more cooling, more power, more data center capacity.

And this is not some distant scenario. More than half of major enterprises already have AI agents running in production, and adoption is projected to rise sharply over the next year.

That means the AI boom is moving from experimentation to persistent infrastructure consumption.

The question is where, exactly, all that additional demand lands. 

The Six Tollbooths Every Agentic AI Workload Must Pay  Think of the AI economy as a superhighway.

Every model query and agentic task has to travel across physical infrastructure. And along the way, it passes through six tollbooths: compute, memory, networking, thermal management, power, and real estate.

We’ve covered parts of this system before — the custom silicon shift, the data center networking bottleneck, and the physical limits around power and cooling. But this piece is about the next layer of the thesis: agents consume that infrastructure — and then some.

Compute is the most visible. Every AI model needs specialized chips to run — GPUs, custom accelerators, and inference chips built to handle enormous amounts of parallel processing. Nvidia still sits at the center of this layer, but custom silicon designers are increasingly important as hyperscalers build cheaper, optimized chips for their own AI workloads.

Memory is the next toll. Agents need context; to remember what they have done, what they are doing, and what comes next. The longer and more complex the task, the larger the context window — and the more high-performance memory the system needs to keep everything moving.

Networking may be the least appreciated tollbooth. Agents communicate with databases, tools, APIs, external services, and other agents. That traffic has to move between chips, racks, servers, and data centers at extraordinary speed. As agentic AI spreads, switches, interconnects, cables, optics, and networking silicon become even more important.

Then comes thermal management. Dense AI racks generate extreme heat. And because agentic workloads run longer and more persistently than simple chatbot requests, thermal production only rises. Liquid cooling, coolant distribution units, and precision thermal systems are now core infrastructure for keeping AI systems online.

Power is the fifth toll. AI agents do not sleep. They can run constantly, across thousands of enterprises, performing tasks in the background around the clock. That persistence requires grid upgrades, onsite power, long-term electricity contracts, and reliable baseload energy.

Finally, there is real estate. Every server, chip, cooling unit, power system, and networking rack has to live somewhere. That means specialized data center buildings with access to land, electricity, cooling, and fiber.

A chatbot taps all six. An agent pounds them.

That is the Invisible AI Tax. And the bigger the agent economy gets, the more every transaction pays it.

The Numbers Are Already Showing Up In Earnings  The tollbooths are already collecting.

At Google Cloud Next, CEO Sundar Pichai disclosed that Google’s AI models are processing more than 16 billion tokens per minute. That number was up about 60% from the prior quarter. And hundreds of Google customers each consumed more than one trillion tokens over the past year.

One trillion tokens each.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said the amount of inference compute needed is already 100 times more than initially expected — and that this is just the beginning.

Hyperscaler AI infrastructure spending is exploding. AI-related memory demand is surging. Networking targets are moving higher. Cooling backlogs are expanding. Power companies are signing long-term agreements with cloud giants. Data center landlords are leasing capacity as fast as they can build it.

The tollbooth companies are not hoping this demand shows up. They are reporting it quarter after quarter.

And the agentic multiplier is only starting to hit.

What This Means for Agentic AI Stocks  The AI model war will produce winners and losers.

OpenAI. Google. Anthropic. Meta. xAI. Chinese competitors. Open-source models. Proprietary models. Some will win. Some will fade. 

Trying to pick the ultimate winner is hard, and even the smartest technology investors can get it wrong.

But whichever model wins, the infrastructure bill stays the same.

Every model needs compute; every agent needs memory; every workflow needs networking; every rack needs cooling; every data center needs power.

That is why the Invisible AI Tax matters so much.

The best-positioned infrastructure companies get paid as AI usage intensifies.

And agents are the multiplier.

The first phase of this boom was about proving AI worked. The next is about paying to run it at scale.

That is where the tollbooth companies sit.

The Real Risks (This Isn’t a Free Lunch) None of this makes these stocks risk-free.

Many already trade at premium valuations. A pause in hyperscaler capex would hit the group as a whole. Some companies have heavy customer concentration. And some emerging infrastructure plays — especially in next-generation power, cooling, and optical networking — still carry real execution risk.

But those are timing and sizing risks. They do not break the core thesis.

The shift from chatbots to agents increases infrastructure consumption per task. And a narrow set of companies collects revenue as that consumption rises.

The Infrastructure Always Gets Paid Most investors are watching the AI race and trying to pick the winner. That is the wrong game.

The winner of a race still has to run the road. And the AI road has a toll.

The companies collecting that toll get paid regardless of who crosses the finish line first. 

Unless you’re early enough that the road itself hasn’t even been priced in yet.

The investors who made the most money from the dot-com era didn’t wait for Cisco to become obvious. The same opportunity exists right now — hiding in plain sight, underneath two IPOs that will dominate every financial headline the moment they arrive.

Here’s where I’d look before that happens.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX | CVX Price Prediction) is an integrated energy major whose July 2025 Hess acquisition added Guyana, Bakken, and Gulf of America assets. With WTI near $95 and the Fed funds rate sitting at 3.75% after 75 basis points of cuts, the question I want to answer is whether income investors can trust the payout.

Dividend Snapshot Metric Value Annual Dividend $7.12 per share Dividend Yield 3.42% Consecutive Years of Increases 39 years Most Recent Increase 4% (January 2026) Dividend Aristocrat Yes Cash Flow Covers the Dividend, Earnings Do Not On FY2025 diluted EPS of $6.63 against roughly $6.84 in dividends paid per share, the earnings payout ratio runs about 103%. That looks alarming until you look at cash. Chevron generated record operating cash flow of $33.9 billion and free cash flow of $16.6 billion against roughly $13.6 billion in dividend payments.

Metric Value Assessment Earnings Payout Ratio ~103% Elevated (Hess drag) FCF Payout Ratio ~82% Elevated Operating Cash Flow Coverage ~2.5x Adequate A Fortress Balance Sheet Absorbs the Hess Bill Metric Value Assessment Debt-to-Equity 0.25 Conservative Net Debt-to-EBITDA 1.08x Low Interest Coverage 13.70x Strong Cash on Hand $5.32B Solid buffer The net debt ratio climbed to 17.9% after Hess, but interest coverage of 13.70x means servicing the debt is not eating into dividend cash.

39 Years of Raises and Counting Year Annual Dividend 2026 $7.12 2025 $6.84 2024 $6.52 2023 $6.04 2022 $5.68 Chevron maintained payouts through the 2020 COVID downturn and the 2014-2016 oil crash, which is the track record income investors care about.

Management Calls Capital Returns “Dependable” CEO Mike Wirth on the Q1 2026 call: “This disciplined performance supports dependable cash generation, enabling us to continue returning significant capital to shareholders, while investing in advantaged long-lived assets.” Chevron just completed its 16th consecutive quarter returning over $5 billion to shareholders.

The Verdict: Safe, With One Eye on Oil Dividend Safety Rating: Safe. The FCF payout ratio of 82% is elevated, but coverage from operating cash flow at 2.5x, a 1.08x net leverage ratio, and 39 years of uninterrupted increases give Chevron real margin of safety. The dividend looks well-supported if Brent stays above $70 and the $3 to $4 billion structural cost reduction program lands on time. The setup looks riskier if oil retraces to the $55 lows seen in December 2025 for an extended stretch, because another year of triple-digit earnings payout would force buybacks down before the dividend. For now, the check clears.

HomeStock IdeasLong IdeasTech 

SummarySalesforce remains a "Strong Buy," with robust fundamentals and aggressive AI investments despite recent underperformance and market skepticism.CRM delivered 13% YoY revenue growth to $11.1 billion, aided by the Informatica acquisition, and expanded GAAP operating margin by 130 bps.Management is optimistic for accelerated growth in H2, driven by Agentforce adoption and AI integration, while maintaining significant share repurchases.CRM trades at ~12x earnings with potential for margin expansion to 40% and 15% annual returns, supported by cost efficiencies and platform stickiness.Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of Best Of Breed Growth Stocks get exclusive access to our subscriber-only portfolios. Learn More »Sitewide Sale 2026: Get 20% Off Arturo Holmes/Getty Images Entertainment

Salesforce, Inc. (CRM) has struggled to recover from the SaaS Apocalypse. The company’s financial results, while robust, appear to show lackluster growth when excluding the Informatica acquisition. Management, however, is optimistic that increasing Agentforce adoption may lead to an acceleration in growth by the second

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of CRM either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

US stocks rallied on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high as investors welcomed news of a preliminary agreement between the United States and Iran and continued to embrace SpaceX following its blockbuster public market debut.

The Dow gained 490.38 points, or 0.96%, to close at 51,684.88.

The S&P 500 advanced 1.67% to 7,555.26, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 3.07% to 26,686.64, marking its strongest daily gain since March 31.

The three major indexes recorded a third consecutive session of gains, recovering from a recent pullback driven by Middle East tensions and weakness in artificial intelligence-related stocks.

Investor sentiment improved after President Donald Trump announced that an agreement with Iran was “now complete.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the memorandum of understanding is expected to be formally signed in Switzerland on Friday, while a senior US administration official said the agreement has already been signed electronically.

The framework aims to end the conflict between the United States and Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments.

However, the agreement does not address issues including Iran's nuclear program and the conflict involving Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The prospect of renewed oil flows from the Middle East pushed energy prices sharply lower.

US crude futures settled down 4.9% at $80.75 per barrel, their lowest level since March.

Lower oil prices boosted investor confidence that inflation pressures could ease, reducing the likelihood of higher interest rates.

Another major focus for investors remained SpaceX, which continued its strong performance following Friday's highly anticipated Nasdaq debut.

Shares of the Elon Musk-led company climbed more than 19% on Monday, repeating the 19% gain during its first day of trading.

The company entered public markets with a valuation exceeding $2 trillion, making it one of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States.

Investors appeared encouraged by the orderly nature of the stock's debut despite widespread attention surrounding the offering.

The successful launch has also strengthened optimism surrounding the broader IPO market, with investors anticipating future public offerings from major artificial intelligence companies later this year.

Technology shares were among the strongest performers as lower oil prices helped ease concerns about inflation and interest rates.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index moved sharply higher, supported by gains in Nvidia and Micron Technology.

Micron rose after multiple brokerages increased their price targets on the stock.

Airline and cruise operators also benefited from lower fuel costs.

United Airlines advanced, while Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival gained as investors responded to the decline in crude prices.

Meanwhile, market participants continued to focus on the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting, the first chaired by Kevin Warsh since he succeeded Jerome Powell.

Investors widely expect policymakers to leave interest rates unchanged this week.

According to CME Group's FedWatch tool, traders are pricing in a 42% probability of a 25-basis-point rate increase by year-end.

The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street's fear gauge, declined for a third straight session, reflecting improving market sentiment as geopolitical tensions eased and investors returned to risk assets.

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of ORCL either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

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Two retirees walk into retirement with the same amount of money. One builds a portfolio that pays $120,000 a year but barely grows. The other settles for $65,000 a year and focuses on dividend growth. At first glance, the first retiree appears to have won. Twenty-five years later, the second retiree may have collected more income, maintained more purchasing power, and preserved more wealth.

This is the calculation most income investors never perform. They compare today’s yield and stop there. The real question is what that income stream will look like ten, twenty, or twenty-five years from now.

The Capital Required at Each Yield Tier Replacing income through dividends comes down to one equation: income divided by yield equals capital. At a conservative 3.5% yield, $65,000 divided by 0.035 equals roughly $1,857,000. At 7%, you need about $928,571. At 12%, just $541,667. Smaller checks need smaller portfolios. That is the seduction.

The conservative tier (3% to 4%) is built from dividend growth blue chips. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ | JNJ Price Prediction) currently yields about 2.3% with 64 consecutive years of dividend increases. Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) yields roughly 3% and just notched its 70th consecutive annual increase. Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) pays about 2.7%. Home Depot (NYSE:HD) yields near 2.2%. AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) sits at about 3%, rounding out the dividend grower bench.

The moderate tier (5% to 7%) comes from covered call ETFs, preferred share funds, REITs, and high-dividend equity funds. Income roughly doubles. Dividend growth slows or stalls.

The aggressive tier (8% to 14%) is mortgage REITs, BDCs, leveraged option-income funds, and high-yield bond funds. The check is huge. The principal often erodes.

Retirement Is Not One Year Long A 65-year-old today can reasonably expect retirement to last 25 to 30 years. During that time, healthcare costs, insurance premiums, property taxes, and everyday living expenses are all likely to rise. Inflation may seem modest from year to year, but its cumulative effect is powerful. A flat $120,000 income stream can feel generous at the start of retirement and surprisingly tight decades later. Without growth, even a six-figure income slowly loses purchasing power.

Why the $65,000 Retiree Wins Look at what JNJ paid its shareholders. In 1999, the quarterly dividend was $0.25. In Q1 2026, it was $1.34. P&G ran from a $0.32 quarterly payment in 1999 to about $1.09 in Q2 2026. Home Depot went from $0.04 per share in 2000 to $2.33 in 2026. Coca-Cola climbed from $0.16 quarterly in 1999 to $0.53 in 2026.

A 7% income growth rate doubles the check in roughly 10 years. Run it on the $65,000 starting point:

Year 5: About $91,000. Retiree A still leads at $120,000. Year 10: About $128,000. The lines cross. Year 15: About $179,000. Retiree A is still stuck near $120,000, now worth far less in real dollars. Year 20: About $251,000. Retiree B’s check is double what the high-yield investor receives. Year 25: About $352,000, and the cumulative dollars collected have crossed in Retiree B’s favor. Capital appreciation tells the same story. JNJ returned about 164% over ten years. Home Depot returned about 205%. AbbVie delivered about 444% over the same span about 805%. High-yield mortgage REITs and option-income funds, over the same span, frequently lost NAV.

When the High-Yield Strategy Actually Wins The counterargument matters. If you are 80, in poor health, or need more income than a conservative dividend-growth portfolio can provide, current yield may be the better choice. Time is the deciding variable. A 20-year retirement gives dividend growth time to compound. A 5-year horizon often favors the larger check today. For shorter-horizon retirees, Treasury yields also provide meaningful competition, offering a benchmark for what can be earned with substantially less risk.

Your Assignment Calculate your actual annual spending, not your old salary. Most retirees need to replace less than they think, which makes the lower-yield, higher-growth tier viable. Compare 10-year total returns of a dividend growth portfolio against a 10% high-yield fund. Include reinvested distributions and NAV changes. The gap is usually wider than expected. Model the tax impact of each tier in your bracket if retirement is within five years. Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains often beat ordinary-income distributions from BDCs and option-income funds. The retiree who picked $65,000 chose patience. She let compounding do work the high-yield investor traded away on day one.

SHAREHOLDER ALERT: The M&A Class Action Firm Announces An Investigation of Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) PR Newswire

NEW YORK, June 15, 2026

, /PRNewswire/ -- Class Action Attorney Juan Monteverde with Monteverde & Associates PC (the "M&A Class Action Firm"), has recovered millions of dollars for shareholders and is recognized as a Top 50 Firm in the 2025 ISS Securities Class Action Services Report. The firm is headquartered at the Empire State Building in New York City and is investigating Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) related to its sale to Fox Corporation. Under the terms of the proposed transaction, Roku shareholders are expected to receive $96.00 in cash and 0.9693 shares of Fox Class A common stock for each Roku Class A and Class B share outstanding. Is it a fair deal?

Click here for more info https://monteverdelaw.com/case/roku-inc/. It is free and there is no cost or obligation to you.

NOT ALL LAW FIRMS ARE EQUAL. Before you hire a law firm, you should talk to a lawyer and ask:

Do you file class actions and go to Court?When was the last time you recovered money for shareholders?What cases did you recover money in and how much?About Monteverde & Associates PC

Our firm litigates and has recovered money for shareholders…and we do it from our offices in the Empire State Building. We are a national class action securities firm with a successful track record in trial and appellate courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

No one is above the law. If you own common stock in the above listed company and have concerns or wish to obtain additional information free of charge, please visit our website or contact Juan Monteverde, Esq. either via e-mail at [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 971-1341.

Contact:
Juan Monteverde, Esq.
MONTEVERDE & ASSOCIATES PC
The Empire State Building
350 Fifth Ave. Suite 4740
New York, NY 10118
United States of America
[email protected]
Tel: (212) 971-1341

Attorney Advertising. (C) 2026 Monteverde & Associates PC. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Monteverde & Associates PC (www.monteverdelaw.com). Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

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SOURCE Monteverde & Associates PC

HomeEarnings AnalysisTech 

SummaryMicron Technology, Inc. remains a Buy as memory chip bottlenecks and robust pricing drive strong earnings momentum, with no near-term cycle downturn in sight.Q2 2026 results saw revenues up 196% YoY, record 75% adjusted gross margins, and EPS beating consensus by 33%, fueled by both CMBU and CDBU segments.Industry-wide supply constraints and delayed fab expansions suggest pricing power and high margins will persist for MU through at least 2027, with new catalysts from Nvidia partnerships ahead.Despite MU stock trading above 16x forward EPS, FY2027 P/E remains below 10x; I see over 32% upside to a $1300.5 target, though competition and AI demand shifts pose risks. JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Investment Rating Update – “Buy” I’m relatively new on Seeking Alpha as an analyst, and I haven’t written a bunch of articles so far. However, you’re reading my 3rd piece on Micron Technology, Inc. (

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of MU either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Micron Technology, Inc. faces extreme bearish positioning in the option market, with a put/call open interest ratio peaking at 10+ near its next earnings report. MU's implied volatilities exceeded 100% and peaked around 120%, nearly double the 52-week average. These unusual levels suggest to me that stock traders overlooked second-order risks from key geopolitical and competing events.