Samsung’s $79B Payout: Special Dividend Beats Buyback
Samsung will return up to KRW 110T (~$79B) — half of FCF plus a special dividend. Why Korea’s chip giant is skipping the buyback.
Artificial Intelligence
Market-focused coverage of artificial intelligence companies, infrastructure spending, business models, and adoption. We examine the filings, financial metrics, and competitive forces behind the headlines.
Anthropic Lines Up $10B+ Bank Credit Ahead of IPO
Morgan Stanley, Goldman and JPMorgan each writing $1.25B into Anthropic’s $10B+ revolver, jockeying for lead roles on a $2T IPO targeted for October.
Nebius Group’s $4.5B Convertible Fuels AI Cap-Ex Push
Nebius announced a $4.5 billion two-tranche convertible senior notes offering to fund AI data center buildout after Q2 revenue jumped 454% to $582M.
Alphabet’s A$5.5B Kangaroo Bond Smashes Aussie Corp Record
Alphabet priced a four-tranche A$5.5B kangaroo on Aug 19 with orders above A$18B — more than 2x Apple’s prior AUD tech record, all to fund AI capex.
Databricks Closes $5B at $190B: Coatue, MGX, T. Rowe In
Databricks raised $5B at a $190B valuation on Aug 13, 2026 — Coatue led, with Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price and new investor Sixth Street Growth in the syndicate.
HeartFlow Surges 36% on Q2 Blowout: Rev +48%, Guide Raised
HeartFlow’s Q2 2026 revenue rose 48% to $64.1M, non-GAAP gross margin hit 83.3%, and the AI cardiology company raised its FY26 guide to $246-$250M.
Applied Materials Record Q3: $9.1B, Guide Up, China Slips
Applied Materials posted record Q3 FY26 revenue of $9.12B and guided Q4 to $10.25B, but China’s revenue share fell from 35% to 28%. Stock -5% pre-market.
Nvidia’s $500B AI Consortium: 6 Titans Rewire Compute Finance
Nvidia lines up Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to raise $500B+ for AI compute infrastructure — off-balance-sheet.
Cisco Beats Q4 but Stock Falls 8%: AI Orders Squeeze Margins
Cisco reported record Q4 revenue of $17.3B and $4B in AI infrastructure orders, but the stock fell 8.4% as gross-margin mix and FY27 guidance disappointed.
Thrive Holdings Raises $2B at $12B: AI-Native PE Model
Thrive Holdings raised $2B at a $12B valuation from OpenAI, SoftBank, D1 and Altimeter to buy legacy services firms and inject AI into their workflows.