Stocks Rise as Nvidia Becomes First Company to Hit $4 Trillion Market Cap; Bitcoin Surges Above $111,000 Near Record

Microsoft Gets Upgrade as It Moves Closer to $4T Market Cap

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Microsoft wasn’t the first company to see its market cap touch $4 trillion—but its shares still have plenty of room to rise, one analyst said.

Oppenheimer cited growth in Microsoft’s (MSFT) AI revenue among its reasons on Wednesday to upgrade the software giant’s shares to a bullish “outperform” rating. It set a $600 price target that is well above Visible Alpha’s average of just over $548 and one of a few that is $5 below the highest one out there.

The target represents about a 20% premium to Tuesday’s close; the shares were recently up 1% to $502, perhaps on track for their first close above $500 apiece. The company’s market cap is around $3.7 trillion today, according to Visible Alpha data.

Growing AI revenue offers “not only valuation support … but also upside potential as this revenue stream continues scaling fast and investors embrace Microsoft as one of the long-term AI winners in software,” Oppenheimer wrote.

The analysts also said Microsoft was one of “only a few vendors in the software industry” capable of a so-called “Rule of 60” profile, a reference to the concept of a company having a combined annual revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin above 60.

That, they said, “lends good support to premium multiples” for Microsoft’s stock.

Microsoft is one of only three companies with a market cap above $3 trillion. Nvidia (NVDA) this morning became the first to top $4 trillion; Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a note earlier today said he figures Microsoft will get there “this summer.” Apple (AAPL) has a market cap of about $3.1 trillion.

–David Marino-Nachison

UnitedHealth Slides as DOJ Medicare Probe Continues

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UnitedHealth Group (UNH) stock declined on Wednesday following a report from the Wall Street Journal that ex-employees and medical professionals have been interviewed by Department of Justice investigators over a probe into the insurer’s Medicare billing practices.

The Journal reported that several doctors were interviewed last month by investigators asking about how they were trained and whether they felt pressured to submit claims for certain conditions that could get UnitedHealth larger payments from the Medicare Advantage program.

“We stand firmly behind the integrity of our Medicare Advantage business and the positive impact it delivers to millions of seniors across the country,” UnitedHealth said in a statement responding to the report.

“Today’s article from The Wall Street Journal represents a continuation of its sustained campaign against Medicare Advantage, relying on incomplete data, a predetermined narrative and a flawed understanding of how the Medicare Advantage program works,” the company said.

UnitedHealth’s stock has been battered this year amid a number of earlier reports  about the DOJ probing aspects of its Medicare Advantage program, along with a lackluster first-quarter report that saw UnitedHealth cut its profit forecasts, and a change in leadership when CEO Andrew Witty resigned in May.

Shares of UnitedHealth were down nearly 2% in recent trading. The stock has lost about 40% of its value since the start of this year, making it the third-worst performing stock in the S&P 500 in 2025.

–Aaron McDade

Verona Pharma Soars as Merck Buys Firm for $10 Billion

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Shares of Verona Pharma (VRNA) jumped Wednesday after Merck (MRK) agreed to pay about $10 billion for the British biopharmaceutical firm to boost its reach into respiratory disease treatments.

Merck said the deal is valued at $107 per American Depositary Share, a 23% premium to Verona’s closing price yesterday. 

The acquisition gives Merck Verona’s Ohtuvayre inhaler for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Ohtuvayre is Verona’s first commercial product, and the company reported it had sales of $42.3 million in 2024. Merck noted that Ohtuvayre is currently also being tested to treat non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, a chronic lung condition that damages airways in the lungs.

Merck CEO Robert Davis said that the addition of Verona “complements and expands our pipeline and portfolio of treatments for cardio-pulmonary diseases while delivering near- and long-term growth as well as value for shareholders.”

The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter. 

The news sent U.S.-listed shares of Verona Pharma to a record high on Wednesday. The stock was recently up 21% at around $105.

Merck shares were up about 3% this afternoon.

–Bill McColl

A Google Bull Gets More Bullish

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Oppenheimer analysts raised their price target for Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) stock after survey data revealed a preference among respondents for the tech giant’s new AI search tools over competitors like ChatGPT. 

The broker raised its price target to $220 from $200. Alphabet shares were up 1.6% at around $178 in recent trading.

An Oppenheimer survey found that 60% of respondents knowledgeable about Google’s AI Mode say its results are more helpful than asking ChatGPT. What’s more, 75% of those who pay for ChatGPT rated AI Mode as more helpful than the OpenAI chatbot. 

AI Mode, which rolled out in the U.S. in May, allows users to converse within Google Search the same way they would with ChatGPT, with updated search links provided after each user input. AI Mode appears as a tab beneath the search bar alongside News, Images, and others. Last year, Google launched AI Overviews, which uses AI to generate an answer that appears at the top of users’ search results. 

Additionally, more respondents than Oppenheimer expected say they click on AI Mode result links. Google holds roughly 70% of the search advertising market, the analysts noted, making it by far the U.S. leader. Google Search generated $198.09 billion in revenue last year

–Andrew Kessel

WPP Stock Tanks as Ad Giant Slashes Outlook

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An outlook cut and warning about client spending sent shares of advertising giant WPP (WPP) plunging Wednesday.

The London-based firm pointed to “a challenging economic backdrop,” which has caused a “deterioration in performance as Q2 has progressed.” It added that it expects “continued macro uncertainty weighing on client spend and weaker net new business than originally anticipated.”

WPP now sees full-year like-for-like revenue, excluding pass-through costs, down 3% to 5%. Previously, the company predicted it would be flat to 2% lower. In addition, WPP’s new outlook for headline operating profit margin is for a drop of 50 to 175 basis points, compared to the earlier estimate of flat.

CEO Mark Read said that while the company “expected the second quarter to be similar to the first quarter, performance in June was worse than anticipated and we expect this pattern of trading in the first half to continue into the second half.”

WPP’s U.S.-listed shares were down 18% in recent trading at their lowest level since March 2020.

–Bill McColl

Nvidia Becomes 1st Company to Hit $4 Trillion in Market Cap

5 hr 58 min ago

Nvidia did it.

The chip giant on Wednesday morning became the first company to see its market capitalization touch $4 trillion intraday, rising above that level when its shares reached $163.93 in early trading. (Market cap markers are sometimes considered “official” only if the shares close above the needed level.)

The stock was recently up 2.2% at $163.40, after rising as high as $164.42 in the opening minutes of the session.

It’s the latest milestone for one of the biggest stock stories in recent years. Nvidia (NVDA) and its shares have effectively become poster children for the AI boom, with the stock in particular being one of the main beneficiaries.

Two other big tech companies—Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL)—have market caps above $3 trillion. (You can read our definition of what market cap is and how to calculate it yourself here.)

–David Marino-Nachison

AES Jumps on Report Company Exploring Possible Sale

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Shares in AES Corp. (AES) surged 14% in early trading Wednesday, pacing S&P 500 gainers, following a report the renewable energy firm is considering a sale, among other options.

According to Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter, the company “is exploring options including a potential sale amid takeover interest.” Infrastructure investors including BlackRock’s (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners unit and Brookfield Asset Management “have been studying AES after the company’s shares lost about half their value over the past two years,” the report said.

AES has signed deals with several tech firms, including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Amazon (AMZN), to provide renewable power for data centers. 

The power sector has seen heavy interest from acquirers this year as investors bet that the need for power to fuel AI and cryptocurrency mining will boost demand. This year, the infrastructure unit of Blackstone (BX) agreed to buy TXNM Energy (TXNM), the power provider for New Mexico and Texas, for $11.5 billion in cash and debt while Constellation Energy (CEG) struck a deal to buy private energy company Calpine in a deal valued at $26.6 billion.

AES declined to comment. Brookfield and Global Infrastructure Partners didn’t immediately return requests for comment. AES shares entered Tuesday down almost 14% this year.

–Nisha Gopalan

Intel Levels to Watch After Tuesday’s Big Gain

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Intel (INTC) shares remain in the spotlight after jumping Tuesday following news the embattled chipmaker plans to slash hundreds of jobs as part of previously announced cuts under a broader restructuring effort.

Coming into today’s session, Intel shares have gained 18% since the start of the year, boosted by hopes that recently appointed CEO Lip-Bu Tan can turn around the fortunes of the once-storied chipmaker and optimism about potential deals, including selling parts of its business. However, the stock has lost just under a third of its value over the past 12 months, weighed down by the company’s failure to capitalize on the booming AI chip market and uncertainty surrounding its strategic direction.

Intel shares rose more than 7% Tuesday to close at their highest level since late March. The stock was down less than 1% at $23.40 in recent premarket trading.

After reclaiming the 200-day moving average (MA) late last month, Intel shares retraced toward the closely watched indicator within a flag, a chart pattern that signals a continuation of the stock’s recent move higher from the floor of a multi-month trading range.

Indeed, the price staged a decisive breakout from the pattern in Tuesday’s trading session, potentially setting the stage for another leg higher. Moreover, the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum but sits below the indicator’s overbought threshold, proving ample room for further upside.

Investors should watch major overhead areas on Intel’s chart around $26 and $30, while also monitoring support levels near $22 and $19.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Major Index Futures Point to Modest Gains

8 hr 2 min ago

Futures tied to major U.S. stock indexes were each up 0.2% in recent trading.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures

S&P 500 futures

Nasdaq 100 futures