Story cards stay below the sticky dock while audio, chapters, date, and brief navigation remain accessible.
SoftBank shares plunged about 12% in Tokyo (to roughly ¥6,246) after a report that OpenAI may delay its blockbuster IPO until 2027 to hold out for a valuation near $1 trillion — pushing back the payday for its biggest backer. SoftBank's cumulative OpenAI bet now tops $60 billion, targeting an 11%–13% stake, and the news rattled AI sentiment globally heading into Friday's US open.
Apple closed down more than 6% Thursday — its worst day since April 2025, erasing roughly $265 billion in market value — after hiking prices on MacBooks and iPads to offset surging memory and storage costs. The MacBook Neo jumped to $699 (from $599), the Air to $1,299 (from $1,099), and the iPad Air to $749 (from $599); iPhone, Watch and AirPods were untouched. Apple cited DRAM contract prices up as much as 90%–95% quarter-over-quarter on AI data-center demand.
Micron spiked as much as 19% Thursday to a fresh record (its 40th of 2026) after posting Q3 revenue of $41.5 billion and adjusted EPS of $25.11, with gross margin of 84.9% — the highest in data back to 1990 — and Q4 margin guided near 86%. Management flagged 16 take-or-pay customer agreements, including $100 billion of minimum contracted revenue and $22 billion in cash deposits. HBM is sold out for all of 2026.
The AI-infrastructure-cost fear that whacked Apple and Microsoft went global overnight: Japan's Nikkei 225 fell about 2.9% and South Korea's KOSPI dropped roughly 3%, with memory names Samsung and SK Hynix lower again. S&P 500 futures were down about 0.37% early Friday, and the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) slipped 0.18% to $60.95 in premarket. Gold futures firmed 0.40% to $4,063.70 as money looked for cover.
Microsoft dropped more than 3% Thursday after raising Xbox console prices, the latest sign that climbing semiconductor and memory costs are starting to squeeze hardware margins across Big Tech. The move landed the same day as Apple's hikes, amplifying worries that the AI buildout is now showing up in consumer price tags.
Nvidia fell about 3% Thursday and was trading near $192.46 in Friday premarket, off about 1.7% from its $195.74 close. Pressure points: the hourly lease price for its flagship B200 GPU has slid from $6.11 on May 30 to $4.22 by June 21, insiders have sold roughly $410.6 million in stock over three months, and Itaú BBA trimmed its price target. The Street still carries a Strong Buy consensus.
Qualcomm rose almost 6% to about $209 Thursday after its investor day, where it doubled its non-handset revenue target to $40 billion by fiscal 2029 — including more than $15 billion from data center — and guided FY29 adjusted EPS above $18 versus the Street's $14–$15. Analysts nudged a price target to $235, framing the outlook as a milestone rather than an endpoint.
OpenAI is reportedly weighing a delay of its US listing to 2027, with advisers offering two paths: wait for a $1 trillion valuation or list sooner at a lower number. Altman is said to call any cut to the trillion-dollar target a "non-starter." OpenAI has filed confidentially and was last valued near $852 billion privately. Flagging as a news mention only — OpenAI is not publicly traded.
Heading into Friday, a Polymarket contract implied just a 40% chance the S&P 500 opens higher. The throughline isn't AI demand — Micron just proved that's roaring — it's the fear that the cost of building and powering AI starts to pinch corporate profitability. Expect a tug-of-war between the memory winners and the hardware names eating the bill.
Palantir continues to trail the broad market in 2026, down sharply year-to-date even as revenue growth stays strong, and several analysts argue names like Broadcom offer better risk-reward from here. The stock has become a sentiment barometer for whether investors still pay premium multiples for AI-software growth in a jumpier tape.
