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North America
CNBC Finance

How Roku fits into Fox's future — and what investors are missing about the deal 

The media industry has long been preparing for consolidation and mega deals. And yet Fox Corp.'s acquisition of Roku seems to have taken the market by surprise. On Monday, Fox said it would acquire Roku for $22 billion, bringing a streaming tech platform — in addition to a second free, ad-supported streaming service — into its portfolio of linear TV networks and Tubi. While analysts lauded the deal as a strategic pivot for the legacy media company, Fox shareholders received the news differently. Its stock traded down 16% on Monday, hitting a 52-week low. Shares fell another 4% on Tuesday. "We view this as a strategic fit. Fox marries its strong content with Roku's leading distribution platform and first party data that add scale and can enhance the value proposition with advertisers," Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion wrote in a note on Monday. Champion highlighted Fox's long list of sports rights and Roku's position as the leading streaming platform — offered on both dedicated devices and smart TVs — as "highly complementary." "The combined company will be the third largest player in the U.S. by share of viewing, spanning broadcast, cable, local and streaming," he said. Some industry analysts and insiders — who didn't want to comment publicly on market reaction — attributed the sharp stock reaction to the new debt that Fox would be taking on as part of the deal. Still, the company's leverage will be relatively low after the deal's expected close in the first half of next year. One industry insider noted that Fox is also likely to spend more when the NFL reopens media rights negotiations, which have already begun for CBS owner Paramount Skydance. Mike Proulx, Forrester's vice president and research director, told CNBC in an email that it was too early to take this as a negative market reaction and noted that big media deals "often get punished in the short term because they introduce uncertainty." "In this case investors are likely questioning the near-term cost-benefit. But what the market is missing is the long-term strategic importance of this deal. It's a must for Fox," Proulx said. "It's far from just a content play. The long-term value is in owning the platform, the data, and the ad stack. That's what this deal gives Fox and helps the company to future proof." In a MoffettNathanson note on Monday, the analyst firm called the deal "an unexpected strategic pivot." LightShed Partners called it a "bold move." "Legacy media has long suffered from the innovator's dilemma, with most players allergic to risk," LightShed analysts said in a note. "Fox has repeatedly talked about using its financial strength to make acquisitions and was routinely criticized for being underlevered, but Roku is a far larger acquisition than any Fox investor expected."

How Roku fits into Fox's future — and what investors are missing about the deal 
Europe
BBC Business

Musk's SpaceX overtakes Amazon to become world's fifth most valuable firm

Elon Musk's SpaceX has overtaken Amazon to become the world's fifth most valuable company after a surge in its share price. Days after joining New York's tech-focused Nasdaq stock exchange in the biggest public listing ever, its share price has risen by more than 50%. It leaves Musk's rocket company worth about $2.78tn (£2.1tn), while Jeff Bezos's sprawling online retail and media empire is currently worth about $2.66tn. The boom in SpaceX's value came as it announced it was buying AI coding start-up Cursor for $60bn. SpaceX said it would take over Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, which makes the artificial intelligence coding agent. SpaceX has garnered huge enthusiasm among investors for its vision of sending AI data centres to space and even helping humans to colonise Mars. Its listing raised $85.7bn and minted Musk as the world's first trillionaire. Since first selling shares to the public at $135 each on Friday, they have risen to $209. But analysts have questioned the sustainability of its high share price given the huge amount of uncertainty over its future earnings. While Amazon is a household name, with its brand difficult to avoid being encountered on an almost daily basis, SpaceX is less embedded in the lives of the general public. Despite SpaceX's stock market value overtaking Amazon, the revenues and profits made by the companies are vastly different. Amazon made $30.3bn of profit in the first quarter of 2026, while Musk's future-focused SpaceX lost $4.3bn. In 2025, Jeff Bezos's firm accrued some $716.9bn in sales, while SpaceX recorded $18.67bn.

Musk's SpaceX overtakes Amazon to become world's fifth most valuable firm
North America
CNBC Finance

Rivian laying off hundreds of workers amid R2 launch

Rivian said Tuesday it was laying off hundreds of workers, or less than 2% of its workforce, as the electric vehicle maker aims to narrow losses. The layoffs affect some teams in the service and customer segments, according to a spokesperson. The company had 15,232 employees across North America and Europe at the end of last year. "We recently restructured a handful of teams within Rivian as we work to profitably scale our business," the company said in a statement. The layoffs come a week after the automaker officially launched deliveries of its key new vehicle, the R2 SUV. The R2 is meant to transform Rivian from a niche EV manufacturer that sells luxury vehicles into a more mainstream brand like U.S. EV leader Tesla. The layoffs were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Rivian has said it hopes to achieve profitability with the R2. It has never turned an annual profit. The EV maker lost $3.6 billion last year, while only delivering 42,247 vehicles, according to company filings. Its automotive segment lost about $6,000 per vehicle it delivered during the first quarter of this year. Rivian and other EV manufacturers are increasingly facing a more challenging market than they did in recent years amid changing regulations under the Trump administration, including the elimination of a $7,500 federal incentive for purchasing an EV. Rivian laid off more than 600 workers in October, or roughly 4.5% of its workforce. Those cuts largely involved restructurings of its marketing, vehicle operations, and sales/delivery and mobile operations teams. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Rivian laying off hundreds of workers amid R2 launch
North America
CNBC Finance

General Motors announces new defense partnership with Lockheed Martin

Automaker General Motors on Tuesday announced a new partnership with defense company Lockheed Martin to scale manufacturing and expand production capabilities. The deal was facilitated by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to Bruce Brown, GM's vice president of strategy at GM Defense, and will focus on munitions and more. "What makes this moment especially important is that the country needs more than great technology. It also needs the capacity to build, scale and deliver reliably," Brown said on a call with reporters. "This is where GM can help. Across our company, we bring deep experience in advanced engineering, digital development, supply chain discipline and manufacturing at scale." Lockheed Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John said it was too early to say what projects it would invest in with GM Defense. Executives from both companies said on the call that the collaboration will allow for more growth at a time when the country is ramping up its production of defense parts. "Together, we will explore opportunities across three important areas: improving production readiness and scalable manufacturing environments; strengthening supply chains and identifying ways to increase resilience; and applying advanced manufacturing and design approaches [that] can help improve efficiency and accelerate delivery," St. John said. Lockheed Martin is investing $9 billion through 2030 to modernize 20 of its facilities and supply bases, St. John added. GM said it will spend $7 billion on research and development in the U.S., according to Brown. The executives said the partnership will be focused on "high-rate manufacturing" at scale and expanding production capacity. They added that the collaboration is still in early stages and that they need to further define what the potential for future contracts may be. They are working under a memorandum of understanding. The automaker built tanks for the country during World War II. Its GM Defense unit is one of the company's newer but fast-growing business segments, reestablished in 2017 with customers including the U.S. Army, Secret Service and NASA. "America is stronger when two companies with deep manufacturing roots come together to help expand speed, scale and resilience in the defense industrial base. That is why Lockheed Martin and GM are announcing this collaboration," Brown said on the call. The partnership comes as President Donald Trump has been pushing for more American manufacturing to bring more production and reshoring into the country. The U.S. has also seen its defense stockpiles fall because of the wars in Ukraine and Iran. The White House has held discussions with Ford and GM about better supporting the country's defense industry.

General Motors announces new defense partnership with Lockheed Martin
Europe
BBC Business

Cadbury chocolate-owner Mondelez defends staying in Russia

The boss of Cadbury chocolate-maker Mondelez has defended its decision to continue doing business in Russia but admitted he is "not pleased" the firm's taxes are funding the war with Ukraine. Chief executive Dirk Van de Put said it was the "right decision" to stay after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, saying pulling out would risk thousands of jobs and leave Mondelez vulnerable to the Kremlin taking control of its local operations. Many Western companies such as McDonald's exited Russia after it launched a full-scale assault on its neighbour. Others remained but Mondelez said it had discontinued new investment in its Russian business and suspended spending on advertising. In an in-depth discussion as part of the BBC's Big Boss Interview series, Van de Put said: "I think over time you try to be neutral in the whole conflict. We're not trying to take any side. "I think we did the right thing for our people in Russia. Can we be criticised for that? Yeah, of course. We pay taxes in Russia that helps the war. I'm not pleased about that." Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the country has generated sales of between $1bn and $1.4bn a year for Mondelez. Last year, more than 70 MPs signed a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine to Van de Put calling for Mondelez to sever its business ties with Russia. Alex Sobel, chair of the parliamentary group, wrote: "Continuing to operate in a nation responsible for the deaths of countless Ukrainian civilians and the abduction of thousands of children cannot be justified under any definition of 'business as usual'." Van de Put told the BBC he believed if Mondelez pulled out of Russia: "They would have confiscated our plant. It would have probably given them a much bigger source of income, keep on selling our products to fund the war. "So I feel that in the end it is not the most popular decision, but I think it was the right decision." Mondelez, which also produces Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers and triangular chocolate Toblerone, continues to operate in Ukraine although the conflict is never far away.

Cadbury chocolate-owner Mondelez defends staying in Russia
Europe
BBC Business

Struggling Pizza Hut chain to be sold for $2.7bn

Yum! Brands is selling its struggling Pizza Hut chain in a deal worth $2.7bn (£2bn), the company has announced. Private equity firm LongRange Capital will acquire the brand outside of mainland China for $1.5bn, while Yum China Holdings will buy the mainland China operations for $1.2bn. "Under LongRange and Yum China, Pizza Hut will be well positioned for future growth with ownership that brings deep expertise in the restaurant industry," said Yum! Brands chief executive Chris Turner. The decision comes after a prolonged period of difficulty for Pizza Hut - a name synonymous with casual dining in America. Yum! Brands first revealed it was exploring a potential sale in November 2025, following several quarters of declining US same-stores. The American market is highly critical for the chain, as it makes up 40% of its total international sales. The drop in performance has been driven by intensifying competition from revival chains like Domino's, Papa John's, and Little Caesars. At a time when inflation remains sticky, these rivals have aggressively discounted their offerings to win over price-sensitive consumers. Moreover, mid-sized regional chains have also chipped away at the market. These smaller, more nimble fast-food competitors have adapted faster to changing consumer habits in the so-called "pizza wars". At the same time, the rapid rise of third-party delivery apps has flooded the market with alternative options, diluting Pizza Hut's historic dominance. Pizza Hut was founded in 1958, the brainchild of two brothers in Wichita, Kansas. It was bought by PepsiCo in 1977 and then spun off into what became Yum! Brands in 1997. "Pizza Hut is one of the most iconic restaurant brands in the world, and we are proud of the important role it has played in Yum!'s history," said Turner. Yum! bought Pizza Hut's UK operations in October last year after DC London Pie, the firm running the dine-in restaurants, fell into administration.

Struggling Pizza Hut chain to be sold for $2.7bn
Europe
The Guardian

SpaceX overtakes Amazon as world’s fifth most valuable company

SpaceX staff and guests celebrate the company’s IPO in New York on Friday. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersView image in fullscreenSpaceX staff and guests celebrate the company’s IPO in New York on Friday. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersSpaceXSpaceX overtakes Amazon as world’s fifth most valuable companyValue of Elon Musk’s firm at one point rose to $2.97tn days after its IPO following purchase of AI coding startup Cursor Elon Musk’s SpaceX has overtaken Amazon as the world’s fifth-most valuable company days after its stock market debut. The milestone came as it agreed to buy the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (£44bn), in an attempt to capitalise on the technology’s success as a coding tool. SpaceX is the parent of Musk’s AI business, xAI, which will be able to boost its capabilities in an area – AI systems writing code – that has proven to be a strong commercial success for Anthropic, the rival company behind the Claude chatbot. The group also includes the SpaceX rocket company, social media platform X and the satellite maker and internet service provider Starlink, which is the only profitable part of the business. The news of the Cursor acquisition was announced as SpaceX passed Amazon in market capitalisation, an important measure of value for a publicly listed company. SpaceX shares rose by 13% on opening on the Nasdaq index on Tuesday. At one point, its valuation rose as high as $2.97tn, leaping over Amazon’s $2.65tn to become the world’s fifth most valuable company by market value. Its shares later eased back to about 5% up at the close and a valuation just ahead of the e-commerce company of $2.66tn. SpaceX lost $4.9bn in 2025 on revenues of $18.7bn, while Amazon posted revenues of $717bn and net income – a US measure of profit – of $78bn. SpaceX floated at $135 a share on Friday and its shares have risen by approximately 50% since. The float made Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, the world’s first trillionaire with a fortune of $1.1tn, according to Forbes. It reckons the 54-year-old is now worth $1.3tn. The company had been circling Cursor, owned by the San Francisco-based Anysphere, for months. It said in April it had secured an option to ‌either buy Cursor for $60bn later this year or pay $10bn for a partnership. View image in fullscreenHedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman said the strong value of SpaceX’s stock was another boon for the company because it would require fewer company shares to pull off large acquisitions such as Anysphere. Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/AlamyHarrison Rolfes, an analyst at the financial research firm PitchBook, said the deal would not “close the gap” between xAI’s models and those developed by Anthropic and OpenAI. However, he said it made sense to gain access to Cursor’s more than 1 million users. “Owning the tool that professional developers already trust daily is a faster path to enterprise AI revenue than winning the model race,” he said.

SpaceX overtakes Amazon as world’s fifth most valuable company
Europe
The Guardian

Paramount rejected ad criticizing its owners and Warner Bros acquisition

David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersView image in fullscreenDavid Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersUS newsParamount rejected ad criticizing its owners and Warner Bros acquisitionRejected citing ‘conflict of interest’, the ad took aim at Trump allies David Ellison, Paramount Skydance chief, and his billionaire father, Larry Ellison Paramount Skydance refused to air an ad submitted by a press freedom group that heavily criticized the network’s leadership and merger with Warner Bros Discovery, with an advertising associate deeming it a “conflict of interest”. The Freedom of the Press Foundation had hoped to air the 30-second ad during Sunday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship broadcast at the White House, which aired on the streaming service Paramount+ – though a client partner for Paramount+ told the organization’s ad-buyer that such placement was not guaranteed. “Instead of defending press freedom, CBS’ billionaire owners cut deals and caved to Trump,” the unaired ad states, before touching on the recent uproar at the Sunday show 60 Minutes. “One fired reporter said, ‘CBS demanded falsehoods and bias to appease Trump.’ Now Trump wants the Ellisons to buy CNN, too … Let’s stop Trump’s censorship and block this merger.” According to an email exchange between Paramount’s ad salesperson and the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s ad buyer, viewed by the Guardian, the discussion about running an ad was going smoothly until the ad was actually submitted. (The organization was told that ads running during the UFC broadcast would cost approximately $300,000.) Then, on Friday afternoon, two days before the fight, the Paramount salesman sent word that the ad could not run. “Unfortunately, the creative you submitted was a conflict of interest so it was not approved,” the sales representative said. “But we can help you check any other creatives you want to try. Always happy to hop on a call to discuss more.” Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, criticized Paramount for refusing to air the ad – although television networks regularly reject advocacy messages for a variety of reasons. “Ellison has already shown his cards on editorial independence, but, in case there was any doubt, his company has now declined to air a straightforward message about what his proposed takeover of CNN, HBO, and other outlets would mean for press freedom. Instead, it censored it,” Stern said in a statement. “Ellison won’t air criticism of himself, his company, or his buddy Trump. These antics are bad for press freedom, bad for the public, and bad for Paramount – just look at CBS’ recent struggles under Ellison’s watch.” Stern’s organization instead plans to air the ad on its website dedicated to opposing the merger, which received approval from Donald Trump’s Department of Justice on Friday but still faces regulatory hurdles outside the United States.

Paramount rejected ad criticizing its owners and Warner Bros acquisition
North America
Yahoo Finance

Wall Street pauses near records as the Fed looms and SpaceX continues to defy gravity

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Wall Street pauses near records as the Fed looms and SpaceX continues to defy gravity