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Good Morning,
Anthropic officially surpassed OpenAI in valuation, chip stocks are set for their biggest gains since the dot-com bubble, Goldman is on track for near-record M&A volumes, Starbucks and Amazon are going opposite directions in AI adoption, and Trump unleashed another sixty days on Iran.
Before we dive in, I wanted to take a quick second to inform newer readers of my VC arm Litquidity Ventures. We provide accredited investors access to a range of private market investment opportunities with a focus on AI, defense, robotics, and fintech and are currently working on some cool deals. You can learn more and join our syndicate below.
Let's dive in.
Before The Bell
As of 5/28/2026 market close.
Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*
Markets
US stocks rallied yesterday as traders digested reports of an extended US-Iran ceasefire
S&P and Nasdaq hit new ATHs
Earnings
Dell smashed Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on a record 88% revenue surge on demand for computer servers for AI, as well as traditional servers and networking equipment (CNBC)
Best Buy beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates on 2% comps growth driven by gaming, computing, mobile phones, and services, which were offset slightly by a decline in appliances (CNBC)
Costco beat Q3 earnings and revenue estimates on 37% rise in online traffic, 4% membership growth, and record-breaking gas volumes (CNBC)
Kohl's beat Q1 revenue estimates and posted a smaller-than-expected loss on its best comps growth in four years despite declining revenue as its works on a turnaround (CNBC)
Gap beat Q1 earnings estimates but missed on revenue and cut guidance due to a spring and summer assortment that failed to land with shoppers (CNBC)
Full calendar here
Prediction Markets
BREAKING: Trump threatens Iran with two more weeks if Iran does not make a deal in two weeks
Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market
Headline Roundup
US and Iran agreed to another 60-day ceasefire (CNBC)
Fed-favorite PCE inflation rose 3.8% YoY by the most since 2023 (CNBC)
US Q1 GDP growth was revised down to 1.6% YoY (RT)
Chip stocks race towards biggest gains since dot-com era (FT)
AI's grip on EM fuels rise in stock-picking ETFs (BBG)
Goldman Sachs is on track for near-record M&A volumes this year (RT)
PIMCO sees junk debt for data centers diverging into two markets (BBG)
Apollo sees continued withdrawals from private credit funds for wealthy (RT)
US venture debt reached a record $69B last year (AA)
AT1 market is so hot banks are locking in rates for a decade (BBG)
Musk could earn $760B in SpaceX pay (BBG)
United Airlines won't push consolidation without a 'willing partner' (BBG)
Fired BP chair met activist Elliott without informing other directors (RT)
Elliott settled with Synopsys for one board seat (BBG)
Starbucks will tie tech workers' bonuses to AI usage (BBG)
Amazon scrapped AI leaderboard to stop workers chasing usage scores (FT)
Exxon won overwhelming shareholder support to move domicile to Texas (FT)
AI is changing how consultants get paid (WSJ)
Court ruled against Marc Rowan in Hamptons lobster shack dispute (FT)
Florida's plan to eliminate property taxes risks fees for 'everything' (BBG)
Netanyahu directed Israeli military to take control of 70% of Gaza (FT)
A Message from Litquidity Ventures
Invest Alongside the Litquidity Network
My investment arm Litquidity Ventures is providing accredited investors access to select private market opportunities across VC, growth equity, and special situations.
Our syndicate invests with leading VCs, founders, and asset managers across sectors shaping the future economy, with focus on AI, defense, robotics, and fintech.
Some of our representative investments include SpaceX, beehiiv, Perplexity, Polymarket, and X Energy, among many others.
Benefits of joining the Litquidity Ventures syndicate include:
Access: participate in curated private market deals sourced through the Litquidity network
Flexibility: review opportunities on a deal-by-deal basis with no obligation to participate
Community: join a network of investors, founders, operators, and finance professionals across Wall Street and Silicon Valley
There are no upfront commitments required to join the syndicate.
Exec Sum readers can apply for access here.
Deal Flow
M&A / Strategic
Tilman Fertitta's hospitality group Fertitta Entertainment agreed to acquire casino giant Caesars Entertainment in a $17.6B cash deal, including $11.9B debt, at a 50% premium
Engineering software maker Autodesk agreed to buy maintenance tools-focused software firm MaintainX for $3.6B cash
US is in talks to take stakes in drone makers including Trump Jr-backed $1.5B-listed Unusual Machines, Sequoia-backed Neros Technologies, and Performance Drone Works
Europe's Fattal Hotel Group offered to takeover Netherlands-based PPHE Hotel Group for $1.24B
Yinson Holdings's founding Lim family and Stonepeak Partners are considering withdrawing $2B plans to take the Malaysian energy infrastructure company private
Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son will acquire CIBC's Caribbean business in a $1.6B cash-and-stock deal
Solar firm Nextpower agreed to acquire Mitsubishi-backed battery JV Prevalon Energy in a $365M cash-and-stock deal
UK chemicals firm Johnson Matthey agreed to buy emissions control firm Cormetech for $360M
Belgian state-owned gunmaker FN Browning will acquire UK sniper manufacturer Accuracy International
VC
Anthropic raised a $65B Series H at a $900B pre-money valuation led by Altimeter, Dragoneer, Greenoaks, and Sequoia
AI chip startup Groq is raising a fresh $650M round following Nvidia's $20B acqui-hire last year
Insurtech startup Corgi raised a $106M Series B1 at a $2.6B valuation led by Kindred Ventures just three weeks after raising a $160M Series B at a $1.3B valuation
Observable Space, a startup developing laser satellite links, raised a $90M debut round led by Lux Capital, Upfront Ventures, RTX Ventures, and more
Orbital Industries, a European AI-driven industrial hardware and data center infrastructure company, raised a $50M Series B led by Plural
Trajectory, a research and product lab building a platform for continual learning, raised a $15M seed round led by Conviction
Superior.Trade, an AI agent infrastructure platform focused on on-chain news and infrastructure, raised a $10M co-investment from Animoca Brands
Landeed, an Indian property title search startup, raised an $8.3M seed round from Bayhouse Capital, Y Combinator, and Draper Associates
Access the complete VC deal flow and data on Fundable
IPOs / Listings / Issuances / Block Trades
SpaceX is targeting a $1.8T valuation in its record $75B IPO
German drone maker Quantum Systems is planning a 2027 IPO at an over $11.7B valuation
Silver Lake-backed property management software firm Entrata filed for an IPO; the firm was valued at $4.3B last year
Canadian generic drugmaker Apotex filed to raise $730M in what could be Canada's biggest IPO since 2021
Danish conglomerate Schouw raised $421M from fish feed producer BioMar in Denmark's biggest IPO since 2018
Dutch drone maker Destinus is weighing a 2027 Amsterdam IPO
Crypto trading firm FalconX confidentially filed for an IPO
UK would block any attempt by Indian billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal to raise his stake in $28B-listed telecoms group BT
Debt
Apollo and Blackstone are working to bring on additional investors for a $36B debt financing tied to Anthropic's purchase of Google TPUs
Liberty Global and DigitalBridge-backed data center operator AtlasEdge raised over $1.4B in bank financing to develop AI infrastructure in under-served parts of Europe
China is seeking to raise $885M in a debut green sovereign bond sale in Hong Kong
Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed
Software PE firm Thoma Bravo is seeking to extend debt maturities at cybersecurity firm Sophos as it struggles to win investor demand for a $2.5B private credit refinancing
UK-based anti-regime broadcaster Iran International secured $875M of debt relief from shareholders
Funds / Secondaries
HDFC Capital Advisors, the real estate PE unit of Indian lender HDFC Bank, is seeking to double AUM to $9B
UK PE firm Bridgepoint is set to raise $5.8B for its fourth Europe private credit fund
European private credit firm Pemberton Asset Management raised $4B for its fourth strategic capital fund
General Atlantic-owned EM real assets investor Actis raised $2.5B for a targeted $6B sixth flagship energy fund
European real assets investor Stoneshield Capital raised $1.7B for its fourth opportunities fund
Canada's BCI launched Capital Solutions Group within its PE unit to provide financing to buyout firms
Crypto Corner
CFTC asked a judge to vacate a $5M penalty order against Winklevoss twins' crypto exchange Gemini
Trump said he 'will never let crypto down'
Exec’s Picks
Ben Carlson shared a cool piece about not letting your investment strategy burn you out.
Bloomberg published some insightful charts on how SpaceX's record-breaking IPO ambition stacks up.
Financial Services Recruiting 💼
If you're a junior banker looking for your next career move, check out Litney Partners, a recruiting firm established by Litquidity and Whitney Partners (the oldest purely financial services executive search and consulting firm).
We aim to place strong candidates across private equity, hedge funds, venture capital, growth equity, credit, and investment banking.
We're currently seeking talent for some incredible roles. Head over to Litney Partners to drop your resume / create your profile and we'd love to get in touch!
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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.