Iran Conflict End in Sight, But Oil Markets Remain Skeptical
Stocks are up more than +1% in premarket trading on growing signs the U.S.-Iran conflict may be nearing an end, with reports that President Trump is prepared to wind down military operations within weeks even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. However, oil remains volatile. Trading near $103 a barrel after jumping nearly +4% following Iran's drone strike on a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai's anchorage. Crude is up more than +50% this month, its biggest monthly gain since May 2020, as Hormuz's effective closure has choked off global energy supplies and stoked inflation fears.
Vera Rubin Design Change Rattles Memory Stocks
Nvidia's (NVDA) Vera Rubin GPU shifting from a 4-die to 2-die design sent memory stocks sharply lower yesterday, with Micron (MU), Seagate (STX), Western Digital (WDC), and Sandisk (SNDK) falling between -4.5% and -10%. Analysts pushed back on the concern, arguing fewer packaged dies will lead to higher overall volume, with HBM4E memory content per cube roughly in line with original expectations at 64GB and no impact to other components including optical.
Meta Tests Instagram Premium Subscription
Meta Platforms (META) is piloting a paid Instagram subscription tier called Instagram Plus, offering features including anonymous Story viewing, Story view counts, unlimited audience lists, and extended Story duration beyond 24 hours. The test is currently live in Mexico, Japan, and the Philippines, with pricing varying by market. Instagram counts approximately 3B monthly active users and may represent roughly 40% of META's total revenue.
Novo Nordisk Launches Wegovy Subscription to Boost Retention
Novo Nordisk (NVO) launched a multi-month subscription program for Wegovy injections and pills, offering 3-, 6-, and 12-month plans with savings of up to $1,200 annually versus monthly pricing. The move targets GLP-1's longstanding retention problem, with ~65% of obesity patients stopping treatment within a year, and comes as NVO races to lock in oral GLP-1 market share ahead of an Eli Lilly (LLY) competing pill launch later this year.
Nvidia Backs Marvell with $2B Investment
Marvell Technology (MRVL) rose +10% in premarket trading after Nvidia (NVDA) announced a $2B investment alongside a strategic partnership linking MRVL to NVDA's NVLink Fusion, AI factory, and AI-RAN ecosystem. MRVL will supply custom XPUs and scale-up networking, while NVDA contributes CPUs, NICs, DPUs, and rack-scale compute. The two will also collaborate on 5G and 6G telecom AI infrastructure. NVDA shares edged up +1.3% premarket. The deal marks NVDA's third $2B investment this month.
