Inflation Accelerates, Iran Escalates, Markets Take Another Hit

Wednesday had the combination that markets hate most: hotter inflation and a louder geopolitical threat.

May CPI landed at 4.2%, Trump posted that Iran would “pay the price” and more strikes were coming today, and oil climbed toward $93.

Super Micro announced a $7 billion equity raise on top of all that. Today’s newsletter has the full picture.

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Trump warned Wednesday that Iran was taking too long to negotiate and “will pay the price,” saying more strikes were coming later in the day, sending oil higher and markets lower in a session that had already started badly on a 4.2% May CPI reading.

Gas prices are the culprit behind both the inflation acceleration and the broader economic squeeze, with the WSJ reporting they have now wiped out more than a year of American wage gains as the second consecutive month of real earnings declines hits household budgets.

Super Micro announced a $7 billion equity raise to fund what it disclosed as roughly $39 billion in new AI server orders, and the market spent the day deciding whether that is a confidence signal or a dilution problem.

Cracker Barrel bucked the session with a 25% surge after reporting a surprise quarterly profit and lifting its outlook, a rare bright spot in a market that desperately needed one.

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is reportedly considering selling a stake in its Japan business, a move that could value the unit at up to $3.1 billion.

The review follows its China transaction and points to a broader shift in how Starbucks may manage major international markets.

Japan is one of Starbucks’ most important overseas businesses, with about 2,100 mostly company-owned stores.

A stake sale would not mean walking away from the market; it would suggest Starbucks is looking for ways to keep growth exposure while freeing up capital and reducing direct operating pressure.

Cash Becomes Part of the Strategy

A stake sale in Japan could give Starbucks more financial flexibility after its China deal.

That money could support store improvements, digital tools, menu innovation, debt reduction, or stronger investment in markets where the company wants tighter control.

Turnaround Pressure Shapes the Move

Starbucks is trying to improve performance while facing slower consumer spending, higher costs, and tougher competition across several markets.

Reviewing a valuable Japan unit gives the company another lever at a time when operational focus matters.

A deal would signal a more disciplined global Starbucks.

If the company uses this direction well, you get a business that can protect its international footprint, unlock capital from mature markets, and redirect energy toward the areas that can drive the next phase of growth.

Black Hills Corporation (NYSE: BKH) confirmed that its 1.8-gigawatt data center power project in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is still advancing, even after a change in development partners.

Service is expected to begin in early 2028, keeping one of the company’s most important growth opportunities active.

The project places Black Hills directly inside the energy side of the data center buildout.

As AI and cloud computing drive massive electricity demand, utilities that can deliver reliable, high-load power are becoming increasingly important to the expansion of digital infrastructure.

Data Centers Change the Utility Story

Black Hills is not simply serving ordinary power demand. A 1.8-gigawatt customer project can reshape how a regional utility plans generation, substations, long-term contracts, and future capital investment.

Look past the partner change, and you still have the real company story: Black Hills is trying to turn AI-driven power demand into a long-term utility growth engine.

AI Power Demand Becomes the Opportunity

Data centers need enormous amounts of dependable electricity. That demand is creating new growth lanes for utilities across the U.S.

Black Hills now has a project that could more closely tie its future to the expansion of AI computing and cloud infrastructure.

A successful rollout would give Black Hills more than a one-time construction story.

It could leave you with a utility that has a stronger large-load business, deeper infrastructure investment, and a clearer path into the next phase of power demand growth.

While headlines focus on war, the real shift is happening underneath—oil settlement moving outside the dollar.

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Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is expanding its freight ambitions with a new less-than-truckload service available to all businesses.

The move takes Amazon deeper into commercial shipping by allowing companies to use its freight network for smaller cargo loads that do not require a full truckload.

Amazon has spent years building one of the largest delivery and logistics systems in the world for its own marketplace.

Now that same infrastructure is being pushed outward, turning internal scale into a service that other businesses can buy.

Small Loads Create a Large Opening

Less-than-truckload shipping is built for companies that need to move freight without filling an entire trailer.

That gives Amazon access to a broad base of merchants, suppliers, and businesses seeking flexible shipping options.

That puts your attention on Amazon’s ability to monetize unused capacity and operational scale.

If more businesses move freight through Amazon, the company can deepen customer relationships far beyond online retail.

Amazon Extends Its Business Reach

Freight service gives Amazon another way to be involved in daily business operations.

Shipping, tracking, storage, fulfillment, advertising, cloud services, and marketplace tools all push the company closer to being an operating system for commerce.

With this launch, you get Amazon moving further into the infrastructure behind business movement.

The company is not just selling products online; it is building more of the rails that help other companies move goods.

Factorial Energy [FAC] $21.96 (+37.13%)

Factorial Energy debuted on Nasdaq just two days ago via a $1.3 billion SPAC merger, backed by Mercedes-Benz and In-Q-Tel, with solid-state batteries that a lightly modified EQS test vehicle used to drive 1,205 km on a single charge from Stuttgart to Malmö.

The company is pivoting from EVs into defense, aerospace, robotics, and AI data centers. Only two employees and no revenue yet, but the market is pricing the pipeline, not the headcount.

Cracker Barrel [CBRL] $44.49 (+22.54%)

Cracker Barrel reported a surprise quarterly profit and lifted its full-year outlook, putting the logo controversy squarely in the rearview mirror.

Inside, same-store sales were positive, management cut costs, and they brought back menu favorites. Analysts expected a loss.

The stock surged to its highest level since September. On a day when almost nothing worked, Cracker Barrel reminded everyone that a genuine turnaround is still possible.

Fermi Inc. [FRMI] $6.89 (+22.60%)

Fermi is a data infrastructure company running as a defensive bid in a risk-off session where capital is rotating out of AI hardware and into names with less rate sensitivity.

Buy-rated at a $4.44 billion market cap with volume at 3.87x average.

The move reflects sector rotation more than a specific catalyst today, but the institutional flow is confirmed, and the underlying business has real enterprise infrastructure contracts.

Suja Life [SUJA] $11.65 (-25.08%)

Suja is a functional health beverage company reversing sharply after a recent run, with no confirmed specific negative catalyst today beyond a broad consumer staples rotation out of recent winners.

Strong Buy rated with a differentiated product line in the functional nutrition space, but the stock had moved hard and fast, and in a session this broadly risk-off, anything that ran without recent earnings to back it up gets tested.

Skillsoft [SKIL] $5.20 (-15.58%)

Skillsoft is a corporate learning software platform still searching for its footing in a market where AI is commoditizing online training content.

Revenue is declining, debt is elevated, and the stock has now fallen steadily from its highs. Today has no fresh negative catalyst.

The market is just increasingly impatient with a turnaround that keeps getting promised and keeps not arriving.

Super Micro Computer [SMCI] $29.27 (-11.27%)

Super Micro announced a $7 billion equity raise to fund a $39 billion AI server order backlog: $1.25 billion in new common shares, $3.75 billion in depositary shares, and a $2 billion ATM program starting in Q3.

The demand signal is genuinely impressive. The dilution math is also genuinely impressive, and today the market is focused on the second number, not the first.

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— Adam G.
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