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Luke Kawa

Amazon in talks to invest upward of $10 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of more than $500 billion, per reports

Amazon is in discussions to invest in OpenAI, according to multiple reports.

The e-commerce and cloud computing giant could put $10 billion or more toward an equity position in the ChatGPT maker at a valuation of more than $500 billion, as first reported by The Information. The two sides are discussing having OpenAI use Amazon’s Trainium chips, and other potential collaborations in e-commerce as a part of this deal, the reports say.

Marvell Technology, which has been involved in the design process for Trainium and told JPMorgan analysts that it’s secured purchase orders for all of calendar year 2026 for these chips, is up about 3% in the premarket session.

What may potentially complicate or limit the extent of any partnership between OpenAI and Amazon is that Microsoft retains Azure API exclusivity for OpenAI’s models for now, thereby curbing Amazon Web Services’ ability to provide that access to its customers. However, non-API products can be served through any cloud company, and OpenAI is able to train models using Amazon’s computing power, based on the terms of its amended agreement with Microsoft announced in October.

Amazon has also invested in Anthropic, the maker of Claude.

CoreWeave and Oracle, two OpenAI-linked stocks that have gotten shellacked lately, were also up about 2% and 1.2%, respectively, in premarket trading.

The thinking here: OpenAI burns a lot of cash, and money is fungible. The privately held company getting its hands on more cash is presumably good news for all its vendors.

However, those gains evaporated and turned to losses after the Financial Times reported that Oracle’s data center partner, Blue Owl, will not fund a planned $10 billion facility in Michigan.

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Lululemon’s stretch getting tested: Stock plunges after after outlook is cut

Lululemon shares are down double digits in premarket trading after the company cut its full-year sales and profit outlook, overshadowing a Q1 beat and raising fresh concerns about the brand’s turnaround efforts.

The company now expects fiscal 2026 revenue to be flat to down 1%, compared with its prior forecast for 2% to 4% growth. Guidance for full-year diluted earnings per share was dragged down to a range of $10.95 to $11.15, below the company’s previous guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 and well below Wall Street’s estimate of $13.26.

Key numbers for Q1:

  • EPS of $1.69 vs. the $1.68 expected.

  • Revenue of $2.47 billion vs. the $2.43 billion expected.

The modest top-line beat masked a widening divergence between Lululemons geographic markets. While international revenue rose 22% overall with a 30% increase in Mainland China, the bigger problem remains North America, where revenue fell 5%.

Interim co-CEO and CFO Meghan Frank acknowledged during the earnings call that recent product rollouts underperformed. A highly anticipated yoga campaign failed to generate its expected halo effect across broader product lines.

Profitability metrics took a major hit, with gross margins contracting by 410 basis points to 54.2% due to mounting tariff costs and promotional markdowns. Operating income consequently fell 37% year over year to $276.9 million.

“We experienced spikes of negative commentary in the media and on social channels with regard to our brand, which had an impact on traffic and overall top-line performance,” Frank said during the earnings call. “And second, not all of our product launches have met our expectations. While we have had several successful launches so far this year, we have seen others as we start Q2 not generate the anticipated guest response.”

Lululemons valuation has already been steadily compressing for years. While it was once one of retails richly valued stocks, investors have been questioning whether the company can return to the double-digit growth era.

The results also arrive during a leadership transition. Lululemon announced back in April that former Nike executive Heidi ONeill is set to take over as CEO in September, with investors looking to her to revive growth in North America and restore the brands growth.

As Lululemon faces both macroeconomic pressure and brand-specific challenges, its stock has dropped around 40% year to date.

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US job growth skyrocketed in May, blasting past expectations

The US economy added 172,000 jobs in the month of May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, sending 10-year Treasury yields higher.

The strong May job market surprised economists. Experts had predicted only 85,000 new jobs — just half the reported number. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%, as expected.

The job growth story is a hopeful spot for the economy as consumers continue to feel inflationary pressure from the Iran war.

Job gains were buoyed by the leisure and hospitality sector, which added 70,000 jobs, as well as local government, healthcare, and education.

Both the March and April jobs reports were revised upward, making them collectively 93,000 higher than previously reported.

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