London’s major stock indexes fell more than 1% on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said an initial agreement to end the war on Iran was over, reviving investor concerns about escalating tensions in the Middle East and the possibility of higher oil prices.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 1.3% to 10,519.17 points by 1111 GMT.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 index declined 1.7%.
The FTSE 100 touched its lowest level in nearly a week, while the FTSE 250 fell to its lowest level in more than a week as investors reacted to renewed geopolitical uncertainty.
Energy stocks outperform as oil prices jump
Most sectors traded in negative territory during the session.
Defence stocks emerged as the biggest drag on the market, while the energy sector was the only segment to post gains.
Energy companies benefited from a sharp rise in crude oil prices, which climbed more than 4% after concerns resurfaced over potential disruptions to Middle East oil supplies.
BP rose 3%, making it one of the strongest performers on the FTSE 100.
Shell also advanced 1.8% as investors moved into energy stocks following the increase in oil prices.
The gains in oil-related companies, however, were not enough to offset broad-based weakness across the wider market.
Precious metals miners decline
Precious metals mining stocks fell 3.6% during the session.
The sector came under pressure after gold prices declined more than 1%.
The fall in gold reflected renewed concerns over inflation and expectations that interest rates could remain higher for longer.
The weakness in precious metals miners added to the broader decline across London’s equity market.
UK jobs market shows modest improvement
Separately, a survey of recruitment companies released on Wednesday indicated that Britain’s labour market showed signs of modest improvement last month.
The survey suggested that the downturn in the jobs market eased slightly, supported by stronger temporary hiring activity and an increase in starting salaries.
While the data pointed to some resilience in employment conditions, it did little to lift overall market sentiment, which remained focused on geopolitical developments and commodity price movements.
Individual stocks see mixed performance
Among individual companies, travel operator Jet2 surged 9.9%.
The company said tourists had become more willing to commit to travel plans following the easing of tensions in the Middle East, boosting investor confidence in the stock.
In contrast, affordable housing builder Vistry fell 6.4% after warning that it expects to report a first-half pre-tax loss of £30 million ($40 million).
IG Group gained 2.5% after the online trading platform proposed establishing a new holding company in Jersey as part of a broader strategic overhaul aimed at unlocking shareholder value.
Overall, investor sentiment remained cautious as renewed geopolitical uncertainty overshadowed signs of improvement in the UK labour market.
Nvidia stock remains under pressure this week as the recent sell-off continues. It dropped to $189, down by 18% from its highest point this year, with its valuation falling by nearly $1 trillion. Still, the stock has formed a highly bullish pattern and has landed at a core support, suggesting a rebound is possible.
Nvidia stock finds support at the 200-day EMA
Technicals suggest that the NVDA stock price may bounce back in the near future. For one, it has landed at the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which has provided it with substantial support over time. It has barely remained solidly below this MA in years.
At the same time, the stock has slowly formed a falling wedge pattern, which is made up of two descending and converging trendlines. These two lines are now nearing their confluence, which may lead to a bullish reversal.
Technically, a key risk is that the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is falling and is yet to hit the oversold level. As such, the stock may continue to drift lower for a while before it eventually bounces back.
NVDA stock chart | Source: TradingView
Nvidia has become a bargain
Nvidia is being valued like a value stock despite being one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States. Its latest earnings showed that first-quarter revenue surged to $81.6 billion, representing an 85% year-over-year increase.
Most notably, analysts believe that the growth path remains intact. Its second-quarter revenue is expected to be $91.7 billion, up by 96% YoY. This growth is being driven by soaring data center spending, with the top hyperscalers planning to spend over $700 billion in capital expenditure this year.
Yahoo Finance data shows that its annual revenue is expected to grow by 81% to $392 billion. Unless things change, Nvidia has a long history of beating analyst estimates, meaning that its revenue may hit $400 billion for the first time ever. It is then expected to hit $554 billion next year.
Despite these developments, the company’s valuation has plunged. SeekingAlpha data shows that the company has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20, much lower than the five-year average of 53. It has dropped to the lowest level in years.
This valuation multiple makes it cheaper than other slow-growing and lower-margin companies. For example, Walmart has a forward PE ratio of 38, while Tesla’s multiple is 189.
Other valuation multiples suggest that the company is a bargain considering that its growth is accelerating. For example, the company has a rule of 40 metric of 132%, based on its forward revenue growth of 70% and a profit margin of 62%.
Nvidia has some notable catalysts that may help to supercharge its growth. The US has allowed it to sell its H200 chips to some Chinese companies, and most recently, it launched a new line of CPUs.
The undervaluation is likely because investors are concerned about the AI industry and whether companies will continue spending. Also, there are concerns about competition, with its biggest customers like Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, and Google are launching their GPUs. More competition is coming from smaller companies like Cerebras and SambaNova.
Analysts remain upbeat about Nvidia, with the consensus target being $309, representing a 60% gain from the current level.
Nio stock price dropped below a crucial support level as demand for Chinese electric vehicle shares fell. It dropped to a multi-month low of $4.88 in New York, down by 40% from its highest point this year despite its strong delivery numbers.
Nio’s vehicle deliveries are soaring
Nio has emerged as one of the fastest-growing Chinese EV companies, helped by the traction of its newly launched vehicles.
Data released last week showed that its deliveries jumped by 62.9% YoY in June, bringing its second-quarter figure at 107,658. Its quarterly figure was about 50% higher than where it was last year.
Nio, its main brand, delivered 21,908 vehicles, while ONVO had 11,743. Firefly, the smaller brand delivered 6,946 vehicles during the month. This surge coincided with the launch of NIO WorldModel, which was installed to over 700k vehicles.
The ES9 model has now had over 120k deliveries, while ES9 sold 10,000 vehicles in 30 days, a sign that the brand is resonating with customers. In contrast, most Chinese EV companies like BYD, Li Auto, and XPeng continued to see weak growth.
Li Auto delivered 98,330 vehicles, representing an 11.5% annual decline. XPeng sold 103,295 vehicles, roughly unchanged from a year ago, while BYD delivered 1.1 million vehicles.
Nio’s decline is largely due to the sector weakness
Therefore, the ongoing Nio stock plunge is likely happening as investors remain concerned about its growth trajectory. Also, there are concerns about its profitability growth. After reporting a net profit earlier this year, the recent earnings report showed that it made a $48 million loss in the first quarter.
Most of Nio’s metrics are doing well, especially in an industry that is facing substantial pressure. For example, despite the ongoing price war, the company’s gross profit margin rose to 18.8%, higher than many Chinese EV companies. This performance means that it may close the gap with Tesla, which has a margin of 21%.
Nio has other factors that could support its stock over the long term. For example, recent results showed that its research and development expenses declined by 40% year over year, mainly due to lower personnel costs. In addition, the company has largely completed the most capital-intensive phases of its R&D efforts, particularly in vehicle design and development.
Nio has also improved its balance sheet, with the amount of cash and equivalents rising to $7 billion. The management believes that it will not need to raise cash in the near term, which has been a source of concerns among investors.
Therefore, the recent weakness in Nio’s stock appears to be driven largely by fading investor enthusiasm for EV stocks rather than by deterioration in the company’s underlying business performance.
Nio stock price technical analysis
Nio stock chart | Source: TradingView
Technicals point to more weakness in the near term. It has formed a head-and-shoulders pattern, and most recently, it dropped below the neckline. Also, it dropped below the 100-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has continued falling.
Therefore, the stock will likely remain under pressure because of the general sector weakness. This retreat may see it fall to the psychological level of $4. Its strong fundamentals may help it bounce back later this year.
The race to challenge Nvidia’s dominance in artificial intelligence chips is entering a new chapter, with startups attracting billions of dollars in funding, Big Tech accelerating in-house chip development, and investors betting that the next phase of AI computing may not belong exclusively to graphics processing units.
While Nvidia continues to dominate the market for AI hardware, attention is increasingly shifting from training massive AI models to running them efficiently in real-world applications, known as AI inference.
That transition has opened the door for a new generation of chipmakers promising faster performance, lower power consumption, and significantly lower operating costs.
The latest reminder came on Wednesday when AI chip startup SambaNova raised $1 billion in fresh financing, highlighting investors’ willingness to back companies seeking to carve out a share of one of the world’s fastest-growing technology markets.
The funding round values SambaNova at $11 billion and was led by General Atlantic, with participation from Seligman Ventures, T. Rowe Price, and Capital Group.
The latest investment follows a separate funding round earlier this year in which the company raised more than $350 million from investors including Intel, alongside a strategic partnership.
Nvidia built its dominance on graphics processing units originally designed for gaming but later adapted for AI model training.
Those chips remain the industry standard for building large language models.
However, as enterprises increasingly deploy AI applications rather than train new foundation models, the industry is paying greater attention to inference, the process through which trained AI models respond to user queries.
Many startups argue that GPUs, while exceptionally powerful, were never purpose-built for AI workloads.
Instead, they believe specialized processors designed specifically for inference can dramatically reduce costs while consuming less electricity.
List of AI chip startups looking to challenge Nvidia
SambaNova is far from the only company trying to loosen Nvidia’s grip on AI infrastructure.
Cerebras, which recently debuted on public markets after raising $5.5 billion, has long positioned itself as one of Nvidia’s strongest competitors.
Morgan Stanley has argued that the company enjoys a first-mover advantage in certain AI computing segments.
Another closely watched player is Groq, whose inference-focused architecture attracted so much attention that Nvidia agreed to license some of its chip technology and hired away its chief executive last December.
CNBC later reported that Nvidia had agreed to acquire Groq for $20 billion in cash, although neither company confirmed the report.
Groq has said it would continue operating independently under chief executive Simon Edwards.
Interestingly, Nvidia later introduced its own language processing unit at its annual GTC conference in March, suggesting that it is incorporating ideas emerging from newer competitors rather than ignoring them.
Another startup attracting attention is D-Matrix, founded in 2019.
The company says its processors can execute inference workloads up to 10 times faster while consuming five times less energy than standalone Nvidia GPUs, provided workloads remain relatively small.
D-Matrix has raised around $500 million to date, reaching an estimated valuation of roughly $2 billion.
Microsoft participated in its funding through its venture arm M12.
AI model makers seek to build their own chips
The competitive pressure is not coming solely from startups.
Many of Nvidia’s largest customers are simultaneously becoming rivals as they invest heavily in designing proprietary AI chips.
The rationale is straightforward. Developing custom silicon reduces dependence on Nvidia, lowers long-term infrastructure costs, and enables tighter integration between hardware and software.
Reuters reported this week that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip in an effort to reduce reliance on Nvidia and Huawei processors used to train and deploy its models.
Earlier this month, The Information reported that Anthropic had held discussions with Samsung about collaborating on a future chip, although key decisions regarding its specifications and intended use remain unresolved.
OpenAI, last month, unveiled its first custom AI processor, named Jalapeño, developed alongside Broadcom.
Broadcom chief executive Hock Tan told Reuters that the processor performs on par with Nvidia’s Blackwell chips and Google’s tensor processing units.
Big Tech is increasingly becoming a competitor to Nvidia
Google itself is moving aggressively to reduce its reliance on Nvidia.
Rather than using the same processors for both AI training and inference, the company is separating those workloads into dedicated chips under the eighth generation of its tensor processing unit family.
Its TPU 8t and TPU 8i processors are expected to become available later this year.
Amazon is following a similar strategy.
Its AI chief, Peter DeSantis, recently told Bloomberg that Amazon Web Services is discussing the possibility of selling its Trainium AI chips to external customers, potentially creating one of the strongest alternatives to Nvidia in data centre infrastructure.
Such discussions remain at an early stage, but they follow Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy’s comments that demand for the company’s internally developed AI chips has been so strong that commercializing them is now under consideration.
Meta is also investing aggressively in custom AI hardware through an expanded partnership with Broadcom.
The company’s Meta Training and Inference Accelerator (MTIA) programme has already produced its first chip, the MTIA 300, which powers ranking and recommendation systems across Meta’s platforms.
Three additional generations are expected through 2027, with the later versions designed specifically for inference workloads that power AI assistants and respond to user queries.
Like Google and Amazon, Meta’s objective is to reduce dependence on Nvidia while tailoring chips to its own software stack and AI infrastructure.
The shift illustrates a broader trend across hyperscalers.
Rather than relying entirely on off-the-shelf GPUs, technology giants are increasingly building application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) optimized for their own workloads.
AMD and Broadcom have already carved out significant positions
Unlike many startups, AMD and Broadcom have already established themselves as meaningful competitors in AI infrastructure.
AMD’s transformation has mirrored Nvidia’s in several ways.
Originally known for gaming graphics cards and PC processors, the company shifted its focus toward data centre accelerators and AI chips, allowing it to emerge as the second-largest public player in the AI accelerator market.
The strategy has paid off handsomely for investors.
AMD shares have surged more than 460% over the past five years, giving the company a market value exceeding $840 billion.
Broadcom, meanwhile, has become one of the most strategically important companies in custom AI silicon.
Rather than competing directly with Nvidia through merchant chips, Broadcom designs custom processors for some of the world’s biggest AI developers.
Melius Research analysts recently said Broadcom has visibility into about 10 gigawatts of AI demand by 2027 from customers including Anthropic and Meta Platforms.
The company’s influence expanded further on Wednesday after it signed a semiconductor agreement worth more than $30 billion with Apple.
Under the deal, Broadcom will design and manufacture “custom silicon components and cutting-edge wireless connectivity technologies” for Apple’s products.
Analysts see Nvidia’s lead narrowing, not disappearing
Despite the growing number of competitors, most analysts believe Nvidia’s leadership remains overwhelming.
“Nvidia is definitely going to see more competition compared to a year ago,” said KinNgai Chan, a managing director at Summit Insights Group, in comments to Reuters in March.
“Nvidia still has over 90% market share in both training and inference markets today.”
However, Chan expects that dominance to gradually erode over the coming years.
“We think Nvidia will begin to see share loss starting in 2027, once in-house ASIC programs gain some scale, especially in the inference market,” he said, referring to application-specific integrated circuits that are designed for dedicated workloads and offer higher efficiency than general-purpose GPUs.
“In the long term, we think it’s inevitable that Google and AWS will push to bring more chips and AI gear in-house, to Nvidia’s detriment,” Morningstar analyst Brian Colello wrote.
“We expect Nvidia to lose market share to Google’s TPUs and Amazon’s Trainium (especially if Anthropic and/or Google Gemini emerge as dominant frontier models), but we think Nvidia’s share should level out at 68% in 2030 (versus 80% today) within a much larger pie of AI spending,” he added.
Nvidia is fighting back on multiple fronts
However, all said and done, Nvidia is not standing still.
The company spent more than $18 billion on research and development during the financial year ended January 2026 as it accelerated work on next-generation AI processors, networking products and photonics technology.
During the latest conference call in May, Huang said Nvidia’s new “Vera” central processors give it access to a new $200 billion market.
Nvidia expects its Vera chips to generate $20 billion in revenue by the end of the current fiscal year.
Huang said those sales were not included in the company’s earlier projection of $1 trillion in revenue from its Blackwell and Rubin AI chip platforms between 2025 and 2027.
Perhaps more significantly, Nvidia is increasingly choosing collaboration over confrontation.
Instead of competing head-on with every emerging AI chip startup, Nvidia is increasingly choosing to collaborate with companies developing specialized inference processors.
Acquiring assets from AI inference startup Groq in December for $20 billion and announcing investments worth $4 billion in two photonics companies earlier this year were part of this strategy.
Also, by integrating some rival chips alongside its own GPUs in AI server racks, Nvidia is broadening its ecosystem while ensuring it continues to benefit from AI infrastructure spending regardless of which inference technologies gain the most traction.
That strategy allows Nvidia to participate in multiple AI hardware ecosystems while continuing to generate revenue even if customers adopt specialized inference chips alongside its GPUs.
On Wednesday, inference cloud provider Parasail announced it would deploy D-Matrix’s Corsair inference accelerators alongside Nvidia Hopper and Blackwell systems to deliver “up to 10x faster, more cost-efficient inference services” for customers.
Further, SambaNova’s products are designed to complement Nvidia hardware rather than replace it outright.
Rodrigo Liang, SambaNova’s chief executive officer, said its SN40 and SN50 chips can run the so-called decode portion of inference, unpacking the query from the model five to 10 times faster, which helps free up the same number of Nvidia chips for other tasks such as training.
Nvidia’s latest financial results suggest competition has yet to meaningfully dent its business.
Its data centre division, which remains the company’s primary growth engine, reported revenue of a record $75.2 billion, up 92% year over year.
Chief executive Jensen Huang sought to reassure investors that demand remains broad-based and that new products would help the company surpass the $1 trillion revenue opportunity it has projected for its flagship AI platforms.
Even so, NVDA shares fell 1.6% following the earnings release despite stronger-than-expected revenue guidance and the announcement of an $80 billion share repurchase programme.
The market reaction suggested investors are increasingly looking beyond current earnings and focusing on whether Nvidia can defend its dominant position as competitors multiply.
The stock has gained a relatively modest 4% this year and just over 23% over the past 12 months, a sharp moderation compared with its extraordinary gains during the early stages of the AI boom.
US stocks opened lower on Wednesday after President Donald Trump said an interim agreement aimed at ending the conflict with Iran was “over,” triggering a broad risk-off move across global markets as oil prices surged and investors reassessed geopolitical risks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 509 points, or 0.96%, while the S&P 500 declined 0.56% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.35% following Trump’s remarks at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
The renewed tensions pushed investors toward defensive positioning after markets had increasingly priced in the possibility of de-escalation in the Middle East over recent weeks.
Oil prices climbed sharply, while technology and travel stocks came under pressure.
Investors are also awaiting the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting later in the day for further clues on the outlook for US interest rates.
Oil surges as Middle East tensions intensify
Crude oil prices extended gains after Trump’s comments signaled a breakdown in diplomatic efforts with Iran.
Brent crude futures rose more than 5% to around $78 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed about 5% to nearly $74 per barrel.
The latest escalation follows what the United States described as strikes against Iran after attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The developments revived concerns over disruptions to energy supplies and renewed fears that higher oil prices could complicate the inflation outlook.
The move in crude boosted energy stocks in trading.
Chevron and Exxon Mobil gained more than 1%, while ConocoPhillips advanced around 1.7%.
Devon Energy, Occidental Petroleum, APA Corp and Diamondback Energy also traded higher as investors rotated into energy producers expected to benefit from stronger crude prices.
The renewed rise in oil also raised concerns that inflationary pressures could persist, potentially influencing the Federal Reserve’s policy path.
Travel stocks lead market declines
Technology shares gained slightly following several weeks of volatility across AI-related stocks.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF gained about 0.4% in trading, while Micron Technology was up by roughly 0.42%, reversing recent weakness in memory-chip stocks.
Broadcom shares gained 2.3% after Apple reaffirmed plans to spend more than $30 billion under a chip supply agreement announced earlier this week.
Travel-related companies also weakened as rising fuel costs weighed on the sector.
United Airlines fell about 3.1% in trading, while Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines also declined.
Cruise operators Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line each traded lower as investors evaluated the potential impact of higher energy prices on operating costs and travel demand.
The CBOE Volatility Index, often referred to as Wall Street’s fear gauge, climbed to its highest level in more than a week as market uncertainty increased.
Investors await Fed minutes
Beyond geopolitical developments, investors are focused on the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting.
The minutes will provide additional details from Chair Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting after officials left interest rates unchanged while indicating further rate increases could remain possible if inflation pressures persist.
According to CME’s FedWatch Tool, financial markets continue to price in at least one interest rate increase before the end of 2026.
Palo Alto Networks stock continues its strong uptrend this week and is now hovering at its all-time high. PANW jumped by 156% from its lowest point this year, with analysts expecting more gains.
BNP Paribas predicts that PANW will jump from the current $357 to $380, while Wells Fargo sees it soaring to $420. Other analysts who are bullish on the company are from BTIG and Arete Research.
Palo Alto Networks stock faces technical stocks
The general view among analysts is that Palo Alto Networks will continue doing well in the coming years because of the AI boom. The theory is that, as AI agents become more common, companies will need defensive measures.
All these points are valid. However, technicals suggest that the stock may experience a brief retreat in the coming weeks or months. For one, the stock has become extremely overbought, with the Relative Strength Index (RSI) soaring to 80. Baring a minor retreat in June, it has remained in the overbought zone since May.
Notably, the RSI indicator has formed a double-top pattern with a neckline at 57. This pattern suggests that it will reverse in the near term.
At the same time, the current PANW stock has deviated substantially from its historical moving averages. The 50-day moving average is at $265, much lower than the stock’s price of $357.
As such, there is a risk that the stock will go through a situation known as mean reversion. This is a situation where an asset drops back to its historical moving averages as investors book profits.
Therefore, these technicals point to a short-term reversal, potentially to the psychological level of $300. Such a pullback will not be new for the stock. For example, after rising to $222.85 in October 25, the stock retreated by 37% to $139.1 in February and then bounced back.
PANW stock chart | Source: TradingView
Palo Alto Network’s business is doing fairly well
Palo Alto Network’s business is expected to keep doing well in the coming years, especially now that it has acquired CyberArk. CyberArk gave it CORA AI, the central hub for identity security-focused AI capabilities.
Yahoo Finance data shows that the average view is that its revenue will jump by 24% this year to $11.4 billion. It is expected to rise by 20% in the next financial year to nearly $14 billion. Similarly, its earnings per share are expected to hit $3.77.
Based on Palo Alto’s history, chances are that it will do better than what analysts expect. It has beaten forecasts in the past 7 consecutive quarters.
Still, in addition to its risky technicals, PANW stock’s other risk is its valuation. SeekingAlpha data shows that it has a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 92.25, higher than the sector median of 24. Its PE multiple is much higher than the five-year average of 57.
This valuation multiple suggests that the company is priced for perfection and that its next earnings report will be crucial. If the earnings and guidance are not all that strong, there is a risk that it may retreat as it did after the last earnings report when it fell to $250 from $305.
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals shares surged after Vertex Pharmaceuticals announced an agreement to acquire the endocrinology-focused biotech companyin a deal valued at approximately $10 billion.
The all-cash transaction values Crinetics at $85 per share and is expected to close during the current quarter, subject to customary conditions.
The acquisition sparked a sharp rally in CRNX stock.
CRNX shares climbed nearly 100% in pre-market trading on Tuesday to around $83.69.
Vertex shares, meanwhile, declined modestly following the announcement.
The transaction comes amid a wave of pharmaceutical industry acquisitions, as large drugmakers seek to strengthen their development pipelines by acquiring smaller biotechnology companies with promising therapies.
Vertex targets endocrinology growth
According to a joint press release, Vertex expects Crinetics’ portfolio, including its approved acromegaly treatment Palsonify and investigational therapy Atumelnant, to contribute an estimated $5 billion in peak annual sales.
Crinetics focuses on therapies for endocrine disorders.
The company markets Palsonify, a once-daily oral treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in September for acromegaly, a rare hormonal disorder caused in most cases by a noncancerous pituitary gland tumour that leads to excessive growth hormone production during adulthood.
The disease can result in enlargement of the face, jaw, hands, and feet, along with symptoms including joint pain, headaches, and nausea.
Crinetics said Palsonify works by lowering insulin-like growth factor to help alleviate these symptoms.
The company’s pipeline also includes Atumelnant, a once-daily oral treatment under development for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a group of inherited disorders affecting the adrenal glands.
The condition leads to excessive production of male sex hormones known as androgens.
Patients with CAH are commonly treated with high-dose glucocorticoids, which are associated with multiple side effects.
Crinetics is developing Atumelnant as an alternative treatment approach.
The company also said the therapy has demonstrated potential in treating Cushing’s syndrome, a rare hormonal disorder characterised by excessive cortisol levels that can cause rapid weight gain, muscle weakness, bruising and high blood pressure.
CEO highlights strategic fit
Vertex Chief Executive Officer Reshma Kewalramani described the acquisition as strategically aligned with the company’s long-term growth plans.
“Its focus on serious diseases in specialty markets with significant unmet need, well-understood causal human biology, and potentially best-in-class medicines could deliver transformative benefit to patients,” she said in a statement.
Kewalramani added that Vertex intends to build on its experience in rare genetic diseases to continue expanding the commercial potential of Palsonify.
Vertex has established its business around treatments for cystic fibrosis and has also expanded into gene-editing therapies through its partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics.
Premium reflects pipeline potential
Crinetics closed at slightly above $42 per share before the announcement, meaning Vertex’s offer represents a premium of more than 100%.
According to the companies, the acquired portfolio could generate approximately $5 billion in peak annual sales.
Vertex reported total revenue of $12 billion last year, making the acquisition a significant addition to its long-term growth strategy.
Market analysts also viewed the strategic rationale positively.
Citi analyst Geoff Meacham said the acquisition aligns well with Vertex’s existing strengths in specialty diseases and biologically targeted medicines.
“The fit is clear, given existing expertise in specialty markets, serious diseases, causal biology, and measurable biomarkers. The $5 billion peak sales framing adds another route to sustain double-digit topline growth.”
Meacham maintained a Buy rating on Vertex and set a price target of $585, indicating further upside from the stock’s previous closing level.
Dow Jones opened higher on Tuesday even as the Nasdaq came under pressure from another broad selloff in semiconductor stocks, highlighting a divergence in US equity markets ahead of the second-quarter earnings season.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained about 160 points, or 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell around 0.7%.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.25% as weakness in chipmakers weighed on the broader technology sector.
The mixed performance follows Monday’s session, when the Dow briefly crossed the 53,000 mark for the first time and closed above the milestone, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite posted solid gains led by a rebound in semiconductor stocks.
Dow outperforms as chip stocks pressure Nasdaq
The Dow’s relative strength contrasted with declines across major semiconductor names in trading.
Micron Technology fell about 6.9%, while KLA, Marvell Technology, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices also traded lower.
Nvidia lost more than 1.4% after a Reuters report said Chinese startup DeepSeek is developing its own artificial intelligence chip, a move that could reduce its reliance on chips from Nvidia and Samsung.
Memory stocks were among the biggest decliners.
Western Digital dropped more than 6%, while SanDisk also fell 8% as investors continued to take profits after the sector’s strong rally over the past year.
Dow was supported by gains in software companies including Microsoft, Salesforce and IBM, helping the blue-chip index outperform despite broader weakness in technology hardware stocks.
Investors appeared to focus instead on concerns about spending, demand and elevated expectations following the stock’s strong rally.
SK Hynix also declined sharply, extending weakness across the memory-chip industry.
The company is scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq later this week, giving investors another closely watched event for the semiconductor sector.
The weakness spread into Europe, where the STOXX 600 index edged lower, before reaching US markets.
Analysts said the market reaction reflects heightened expectations heading into earnings season after semiconductor stocks led much of this year’s rally.
Earnings and Fed remain in focus
Investors are now turning their attention to the second-quarter earnings season, which is expected to test whether artificial intelligence-related companies can justify their elevated valuations.
Market participants are also awaiting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting on Wednesday, the first under Chair Kevin Warsh.
According to LSEG data, traders currently expect at least one 25-basis-point interest rate increase before the end of the year.
Outside the technology sector, Fiserv rose after reports that the payments company had discussed selling its debit card payments infrastructure business to major US banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.
Rivian shares fell more than 10% after the electric vehicle maker launched an offering of 75 million shares despite forecasting second-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates.
Oil prices also moved higher following reports of attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, adding another factor for investors to monitor as markets head into a busy week of earnings and monetary policy updates.
Shares of SanDisk Inc. (SNDK) fell sharply in trading on Tuesday as a broad selloff in memory-chip stocks spread from South Korea to US markets despite strong preliminary earnings from Samsung Electronics.
SanDisk shares declined 8% after falling 23% over the previous three trading sessions.
The stock has been one of the strongest performers in the US technology sector this year, gaining about 635% year to date and more than 3,750% over the past 12 months.
The decline came as investors took profits across the memory-chip sector following steep gains in semiconductor stocks driven by artificial intelligence demand.
The South Korean technology company projected operating profit of 89.4 trillion won ($58.44 billion), representing a 19-fold increase from the same period a year earlier. Samsung also forecast revenue of 171 trillion won, up 129% year over year.
Despite the stronger-than-expected results, Samsung shares fell 6.9% in South Korean trading as investors appeared to lock in gains after a prolonged rally. The stock has risen about 380% over the past year.
SK Hynix also declined 6.1%, with the two companies together accounting for more than half of the Kospi index’s market capitalization.
The broader South Korean market came under pressure as heavy selling in chipmakers pushed the Kospi down as much as 8.2% during the session, briefly placing the index in bear market territory before trimming some losses.
US memory stocks follow global decline
The weakness in South Korea quickly spread to US semiconductor stocks.
Micron Technology and Western Digital fell 7.3% and 8.14% respectively in trading.
The selloff extended beyond memory-chip companies. Intel and Advanced Micro Devices each declined more than 6%, while Nvidia slipped 1.5%.
Investors appeared to be taking profits after a prolonged rally in semiconductor shares, particularly in companies benefiting from growing demand for AI-related memory and storage products.
Profit-taking follows strong rally
SanDisk’s recent decline comes after an extended period of exceptional gains.
Although the stock has fallen more than 20% over the past three trading sessions, it remains one of the best-performing US technology stocks over the past year.
The company has previously experienced similar pullbacks, including a four-day losing streak in May and a five-day decline in March before resuming its broader upward trend.
Profit-taking was also evident across the memory sector.
Micron and SanDisk are now trading well below the highs they reached last month, while the Roundhill Memory ETF has declined 19% from its June 22 peak.
Investors are also preparing for another potential catalyst later this week, with South Korean memory-chip maker SK Hynix scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.
The upcoming listing could keep attention focused on the memory-chip sector as investors continue to assess whether recent declines represent a pause in the AI-driven rally or the beginning of a broader correction following months of outsized gains.
KuCoin, a cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a partnership with UAE Team Emirates–XRG, a professional cycling team.
The partnership will make its public debut at the 2026 Tour de France, with KuCoin branding displayed on the team’s buses, support vehicles, and fleet cars throughout the three-week race.
Under the agreement, KuCoin will become the team’s exclusive partner in the cryptocurrency exchange, blockchain trading platform, and crypto wallet services categories.
The partnership brings together two organizations that share a focus on innovation, precision, and long-term development.
According to KuCoin, the partnership reflects similarities between professional cycling and the digital asset industry, where success depends on coordination, discipline, and long-term planning.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with UAE Team Emirates – XRG and launch this collaboration on cycling’s grandest stage,” said BC Wong, CEO of KuCoin.
“World-class achievements are never solitary; they require a dedicated team moving in unison toward a shared vision. These are the very values that have fueled KuCoin’s growth, and we look forward to empowering the team as they chase victory at the Tour de France.”
The company said these principles also guide its efforts to build a global digital asset infrastructure.
UAE Team Emirates–XRG, which includes riders such as multiple Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar, is one of the leading teams in professional cycling.
The partnership expands KuCoin’s sports sponsorship portfolio and increases its brand visibility through international cycling events.
KuCoin said additional initiatives involving UAE Team Emirates–XRG and Tadej Pogačar will be announced later this season.
