Chip selloff deepens on AI spending doubts while earnings season begins

Trump scheduled back-to-back meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, an effort to project momentum on two of his most politically fraught foreign policy challenges as reelection pressures mount and critics warn GOP turnout could suffer from prolonged wars (via NPR).

Wisconsin Democratic primary heats up. Voters in Wisconsin began early in-person balloting Monday in a chaotic Democratic gubernatorial race that pits the incumbent governor's handpicked successor against a democratic socialist challenger, signaling the depth of intraparty fractures heading into November (via The Washington Post).

Democrats promise corruption probe. If Democrats take control of Congress, investigators plan to target Trump's business dealings and ethics, with internal polling showing 90 percent of Republicans and 93 percent of Democrats and independents identify corruption as a serious problem—a rare point of consensus in a fractured electorate (via NPR).

UPS delivered Q2 earnings of $1.76 per share against expectations of $1.66, posting $22.8 billion in revenue versus the $21.81 billion forecast, and raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $91.2 billion with adjusted EPS of $7.22—a rare bright spot as corporate America braces for what could be a volatile earnings season (via CNBC).

Coca-Cola delivers on all fronts. The beverage giant posted 7 percent net sales growth to $13.38 billion and raised its full-year EPS growth outlook to 9-10 percent from 8-9 percent, signaling confidence in organic demand despite macroeconomic choppiness as investors grow weary of growth narratives that fail to materialize (via CNBC).

South Korea's memory chip giant SK Hynix plunged as much as 13 percent on Monday while Samsung Electronics fell up to 10 percent, dragging the Kospi Index down 9 percent as a rout in semiconductor stocks signaled mounting global skepticism that the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure buildout will deliver promised returns (via CNBC).

US futures slide on tech weakness. Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.9 to 1.0 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.3 percent in premarket trading as the selloff rippled westward, with Nvidia sinking over 5 percent despite its market cap sitting just below $4.8 trillion and tech stocks facing their sharpest scrutiny in months over whether capital expenditure justifies valuations (via Bloomberg).

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rejected calls for bans on open-weight AI models but signaled openness to mandatory safety testing regimes, positioning the AI safety-focused company in contrast to competitors and signaling Silicon Valley's broader resistance to heavy-handed government intervention even as the sector faces intense scrutiny over whether recent infrastructure spending will ever prove profitable (via Bloomberg).

Chip selloff deepens amid spending backlash. The rout in semiconductor stocks reflects investor conviction that the early-stage AI boom has already peaked and that capital-intensive moves by tech giants will struggle to justify costs, with competition from Chinese chipmakers and slowing AI adoption curves now forcing a reckoning in the sector that fueled market gains for much of 2025 and early 2026 (via Bloomberg).

First reactions to Spider-Man: Brand New Day called Tom Holland's performance the best of his superhero career, with critics praising the film as "the most emotional, most mature and most atmospheric" installment yet ahead of its Friday, July 31 release—early momentum that studios will track closely as summer competition intensifies (via Variety).

Paramount merger delayed by antitrust case. Paramount CEO David Ellison announced Monday that the $111 billion merger with Warner Bros will be put on hold for several months as Paramount defends itself against an antitrust lawsuit filed by 12 state attorneys general, pushing any deal close to June 2027 or five days after a court ruling—a major setback for consolidation plans that faced fierce creative opposition (via Variety).

Holly Willoughby launches YouTube lifestyle show. The former "This Morning" host premiered a multi-platform YouTube series called "Together" on Monday with weekly episodes featuring real people and celebrity guests including Stanley Tucci and Emma Bunton, marking her biggest solo venture since exiting traditional broadcast television (via Variety).

Peacock bundled into YouTube Premium. NBCUniversal and Google announced an expanded partnership putting Peacock Premium into YouTube Premium subscriptions starting early 2027 at no extra cost, deepening the integrations between major streaming platforms and signaling a shift toward bundle-based distribution over standalone services (via Variety).