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Death Struggle Software
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After brutal sell-offs, IBM and Oracle get a glimmer of hope from Anthropic news

Anthropic’s latest announcement seems to be giving a lift to software companies the market was previously viewing as the walking disrupted.

Beleaguered business software stocks like IBM, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Oracle got a somewhat surprising lift from a flurry of headlines out of Anthropic early Tuesday, after the AI lab announced a series of new plug-ins allowing integrations with companies in a range of industries.

Reuters reports that “Anthropic said its new plug-ins were developed with partners, including LSEG, FactSet, Salesforce’s Slack, and DocuSign.”

Shares of such stocks bounced on the news. They’ve been battered for weeks, with each of the aforementioned companies losing anywhere from 19% to 29% of their value over the past month even after today’s bounce, as investors stared into a future of fruitless struggle for these companies before succumbing to AI mastery and ultimate disruption.

The growing sense of dread surrounding software stocks, underscored by this week’s slump based on nothing more than an analyst’s fictionalized riff on the dystopian future for the sector, suggests that Wall Street is more than willing to buy into the storyline of ruthless technological conquest pushed by Silicon Valley’s AI boosters. Earlier this month, a white paper by a former karaoke company turned trucking AI provider helped demolish billions of dollars of trucking market cap.

But Anthropic’s latest announcements can be read as something of an alternate pathway, suggesting that at least one AI lab’s goal is not to disrupt and destroy other business software giants, but rather to turn them into paying customers.

That would likely be an appealing option for the companies, as their own share prices would benefit from the sprinkling of AI pixie dust that an accommodation with, rather than a death struggle against, AI might bring.

Sure, there would be strategic risks of getting into bed with Anthropic, but after the ride these stocks have had over the last few weeks, those may be risks worth taking.

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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.

markets

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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