The cloud-computing company CoreWeave reported its fifth consecutive quarter of record revenue and a sales backlog of $104 billion, a reflection of the continued strength of demand for artificial-intelligence computing. CoreWeave—which buys advanced AI chips known as graphics processing units from Nvidia, installs them in data centers and leases them to such companies as Microsoft MSFT and OpenAI—reported revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter that ended in June. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected quarterly revenue of $2.55 billion. Shares gained about 13% in after-hours trading. The company’s sales backlog—or future sales from recurring customers—reached $104 billion, nearly doubling the order book it reported in November, signaling continued strong demand for new AI infrastructure projects. The company noted that it had added $25 billion of net new customer commitments early in the current quarter that weren’t included in Tuesday’s results. CoreWeave Chief Executive Officer Michael Intrator called the period that ended in March “the strongest bookings quarter in CoreWeave’s history” after the company reported a sales backlog of $99.4 billion, or 50% higher than the prior quarter’s $66.8 billion.

The Swiss market ended weak on Tuesday after stocks swung between gains and losses throughout the session as investors monitored the situation in the Middle East and looked ahead to some crucial economic data, including U.S. consumer price inflation, due later in the week. The benchmark SMI ended down by 58.45 points or 0.4% at 14,575.25, near the day's low. The index touched a high of 14,669.51 intraday. Givaudan dropped by 1.84%. Lindt & Spruengli, Swiss Life Holding, Helvetia Baloise Holding, Logitech International, Swiss Re, Kuehne + Nagel and Roche closed lower by 1%-1.5%. Zurich Insurance shed nearly 1%. Novartis, Lonza Group, SGS, Nestle, Schindler Ps and Richemont also closed weak. Alcon climbed 4.7%. Swisscom, Amrize, Straumann Holding, Partners Group and ABB gained 1%-1.6%. VAT Group, Sonova and Holcim also ended notably higher.

Europe
The major European markets closed mixed on Tuesday after a cautious session amid concerns about U.S.-Iran tensions and lingering uncertainty about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The pan European Stoxx 600 crept up 0.01%. The UK's FTSE 100 ended down 0.17% and France's CAC 40 closed lower by 0.13%, while Germany's DAX climbed 0.26%. Switzerland's SMI ended 0.4% down. Among other markets in Europe, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Spain ended higher. Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Sweden and Türkiye closed weak, while Iceland ended flat. In the UK market, St. James's Place, Compass Group, Endeavour Mining, Entain, IG Group Holdings, BP, Shell, Persimmon and AutoTrader Group gained 1.5%-3.2%. Games Workshop, Scottish Mortgage, Informa, Vodafone Group, Barratt Redrow, Lion Finance, ICG, Glencore, Kingfisher and National Grid also ended notably higher. Spirax Group shed 5.6%. The thermal energy and fluid technology firm reiterated its guidance for mid-single-digit organic revenue growth and margin expansion for the full year after posting improved first-half results. International Workplace Group shares ended down by 1.4% on weak results. The British office-space provider reported a loss before tax of $20 million, compared with a profit before tax of $12 million in the prior year. M&G, Standard Life, Legal & General, Prudential, Coca-Cola HBC, 3i Group, JD Sports Fashion and Admiral Group lost 2%-3.4%. Sainsbury (J), GSK, Tesco, Hiscox, Diageo, Aviva and Imperial Brands were among the other notable losers. In the German market, Siemens Energy climbed 2.5%. RWE, Deutsche Telekom, Scout24, BMW, Siemens, Continental, Gea Group and Siemens Healthineers moved up 1%-2%.

United States
U.S. stocks slid as negotiations about the future of the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked, pushing oil prices up ahead of key inflation data Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 184.13 points or 0.34%, to 53791.85. The broad S&P 500 declined 24.91, or 0.32%, to 7728.20. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite retreated 159.91 points, or 0.6%, to 26445.45 July consumer-price inflation data due Wednesday may reveal the extent of upward pressure on prices ahead of the latest spike in oil and gasoline prices. There were signs that some consumers were reining in spending after years of inflation. Shares of sneaker maker On Holding slid 20% to $30.91 after the Swiss company said it slowed wholesale shipments after waning demand for running shoes dented earnings. Smithfield Foods' shares declined 2.3% to $23.88 after the meatpacker said inflation-pinched shoppers are cutting back on purchases of packaged pork goods. The artificial-intelligence boom remained the center of market and economic activity. Intel shares ticked up 19 cents to $97.71 after the chip maker boosted the size of a follow-on stock offering to $20 billion from $15 billion on strong investor demand. AI firm Anthropic signed a 20-year lease with Riot Platforms for a data center in Rockdale, Texas. Shares of Riot, which made its name and began building data centers as a bitcoin miner, rose 4.3% to $20.24. A recovery rally in private-credit firms continued. Concerns about lax lending standards, rising defaults and a concentration of loans in the software sector had caused a flight of capital in recent months. Investor jitters appear to have eased, at least for some firms. Shares of Blue Owl Capital rose 5.8% to $12.32 after the lender kicked off a bond offering, and have now risen 55% from their lows earlier in the year.

Asia
Except for the South Korean stock market, there is little movement on Asian stock markets in late trading on Wednesday. Most markets are trading slightly up or down – no clear trend is apparent. South Korea’s Kospi is steadily extending its gains, accompanied by further bouts of volatility, and is currently up by 4.2 per cent.

Bonds
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note declined 0.014 percentage point to 4.683%. The yield on the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury fell 0.019 percentage point to 4.217%.

Analysis
Vontobel lowers its target price for Galenica to CHF 87 (91) – Hold
Barclays initiates coverage of Renk with an ‘Overweight’ rating – Target price EUR 60
Citi lowers its target price for Hermes to EUR 1,689 (1,700) – Neutral


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