Companies Set to Follow Nvidia Beyond $4 Trillion

Only ten companies in history have ever crossed the $1 trillion market-cap threshold. Of those, just two — Nvidia and Microsoft — have managed to leap beyond $4 trillion, setting the pace for the next generation of market giants.

The most striking case is Nvidia, which entered the trillion-dollar club in 2023 on the back of the artificial intelligence boom. Its rise has been meteoric: in July this year, it became the first company ever to hit $4 trillion, after being valued at just over $300 billion as recently as October 2022. Some analysts even see Nvidia climbing toward $6 trillion in the coming years.

Microsoft reached $4 trillion shortly afterward, driven by the explosive growth of Azure, its cloud services platform, and its strategic partnership with OpenAI — positioning the company as a central player in the AI revolution.

Meta and Broadcom: Next in Line

The ascent of Nvidia and Microsoft raises the obvious question: who could be next? According to a report from BestBrokers, the leading contenders are Meta Platforms and Broadcom.

  • Meta: The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is nearing a $2 trillion valuation. With its strong advertising business and heavy investments in AI and the metaverse, Meta could hit $4 trillion as early as 2027. In the second quarter of 2025 alone, the company posted net income of $18.3 billion — a 36% increase year-over-year.
  • Broadcom: Having recently crossed the $1 trillion mark, the semiconductor giant has cemented itself as a key player in AI infrastructure and data centers. BestBrokers projects it could reach $4 trillion by May 2027, despite some investor disappointment in its latest earnings guidance.

Other Giants in the Running

Several other tech heavyweights are also on the radar, though with longer timelines:

Amazon ($2.4 trillion) and TSMC ($1.2 trillion) could both reach $4 trillion by 2028, thanks to their leadership in cloud computing and chip manufacturing, respectively.

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Alphabet, parent of Google and YouTube, is expected to cross the mark in 2029.

Apple, once the trailblazer of trillion-dollar valuations, may not get there until 2031.

Apple’s case is particularly telling. The company became the first ever to top $3 trillion in 2023, yet it has since stumbled amid Donald Trump’s trade war, falling services revenue, challenges in China, and a slower push into AI compared with rivals like Microsoft and Meta.

Warren Buffett’s Latest Move: The Stock That Lit Up Wall Street

Berkshire Hathaway revealed it had purchased 5 million shares during the second quarter, a move that sent the stock soaring 12% and reignited investor interest, marking it as Wall Street’s newest big bet.

Shares of UnitedHealth Group surged 12% on Friday after Warren Buffett’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, disclosed the acquisition of 5 million shares in the second quarter. The news pushed the stock above $306, offering relief to a company that had been heavily battered in recent months.

The leading U.S. health insurer had lost more than 45% of its market value so far in 2025, weighed down by disappointing earnings and a string of setbacks that tarnished its reputation with both investors and clients. Despite Friday’s rebound, UnitedHealth shares remain down nearly 40% for the year.

A Company Under Pressure: Cyberattack, Management Crisis, and Tragedy

The past year has been one of the most turbulent in UnitedHealth’s history. In 2024, its subsidiary Change Healthcare was hit by one of the largest cyberattacks ever recorded in the sector. The breach crippled payment systems for healthcare providers for months and forced the U.S. Department of Health to step in to restore operations.

The financial fallout was worse than anticipated, driving further declines on Wall Street. Matters escalated in December when Brian Thompson, CEO of insurance operations, was shot dead during a business trip in Manhattan. The incident shocked the public and reignited debate over the U.S. private healthcare system.

The suspect, 27-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested days later in Pennsylvania and now faces federal murder charges, with the possibility of the death penalty.

Hemsley’s Return and the Road Ahead

Amid the crisis, CEO Andrew Witty resigned, and longtime executive Stephen Hemsley returned to the helm. In his first call with investors, Hemsley acknowledged strategic and pricing mistakes that left the company unprepared for rising industry costs.

“Beyond the external factors that hit the entire sector, we made missteps in both management and pricing,” he admitted.

UnitedHealth’s rebound also had an immediate impact on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which climbed nearly half a percentage point on the day. Back in May, UnitedHealth’s losses accounted for 88% of the Dow’s decline for the year — a stark reminder of the insurer’s weight on Wall Street.

Trump Rules Out Economic Talks with Putin Ahead of Alaska Meeting

Both leaders will be joined by their respective delegations. Trump believes Putin “wants peace in Ukraine” and that “if it’s a bad meeting, it will end very quickly.”
Russia – U.S. Summit In Limelight

Ahead of their meeting this Friday, August 15, in Alaska, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to discuss the war in Ukraine. The Republican leader made clear he will not consider any “economic deals” until the conflict is over.

“I’ve noticed he’s bringing a lot of Russian businesspeople. And that’s good. I like it because they want to do business — but they won’t do it until we solve the war,” Trump said aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska.

He also stated that he would talk to Putin about the need to stop the loss of life, noting that while the Russian leader may think prolonging the war could lead to a better deal, “it actually hurts him,” according to Europa Press.

“I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to bring them to the table,” Trump summed up.

Meeting Information

In a day charged with anticipation, the meeting is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. local time. Throughout the week, both leaders expressed confidence in a positive outcome, while world leaders focused their attention on the talks.

The summit will take place at Elmendorf-Richardson Air Force Base in Anchorage. In the run-up to the meeting, Putin praised the “vigorous” efforts of the United States and even suggested that both powers “could reach a nuclear agreement.”

Trump’s message before the summit — and an Alaska packed with visitors

On Truth Social this morning, hours before facing Putin, Trump kept it brief: “Much at stake!!!”

Meanwhile, the city of Anchorage is buzzing with activity and expectation. Outside the gates of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, cameras are trained on every move as international reporters test their equipment and rehearse their coverage.

For Anchorage — more accustomed to fishing vessels and cruise ships — the summit has turned ordinary street corners into landmarks for the global press. Locals say the influx is visible in shops and streets alike: cafés are filled with conversations about possible outcomes, hotels and restaurants are fully booked, and rental car prices have surged.

Nubank Shares Surge on Strong First-Half Results

Brazilian neobank Nubank reported strong growth across its key financial metrics during the first half of the year. According to the company, net income rose nearly 38% between January and June, while revenue increased almost 24% compared to the same period in 2024.

Nubank is under scrutiny.

CEO David Vélez highlighted that “in the second quarter of 2025, we delivered another period of solid growth, expanding our customer base to nearly 123 million, with over 4.1 million net new additions and maintaining an activity rate above 83%.” He noted that revenue from April to June reflects an annualized growth rate of 85% since 2021. “This has allowed us to nearly triple our quarterly net income over the past two years,” Vélez said, attributing the performance to “continued investments in growth and, above all, in maintaining our customers’ unwavering support—proving it is possible to scale efficiently and with discipline, while delivering strong profits and laying the groundwork for the long term.”

In its home market of Brazil, Nubank described the quarter’s results as “solid,” with the business model still in expansion mode. “Brazil continues to deliver strong performance, demonstrating the power of the Nu model, with more than 107 million customers and over 60% penetration among the adult population,” the company said.

In Mexico, Nubank is in the early stages of building a large-scale retail banking platform, having surpassed 12 million customers—representing around 13% of the country’s adult population. In Colombia, the bank is approaching a key inflection point, now reaching nearly 10% of the national population.

Growth of the Company

During an analyst call, Vélez detailed that Nubank now serves 104.7 million mass-market clients, 3 million high-income customers, and 5.2 million small businesses, offering a wide range of products from credit and insurance to investments and cryptocurrencies. Notably, crypto clients grew 41% year-over-year in the second quarter.

CFO Guilherme Lago emphasized that “Brazil remains the backbone of our deposit base, but we are also seeing solid progress in Mexico and Colombia, where both volumes and interest rates have grown. This deposit growth is a key pillar of our long-term strategy.” He added that recent management changes were made to prepare for deeper regional expansion, noting, “We expect to have many more operational and regulated entities as we continue to internationalize.”

The Future of Nubank

On Mexico specifically, Lago pointed to “encouraging momentum” and a clear path to scale. “Customer growth is accelerating in our core credit card product, which is expanding rapidly. We reached 6.6 million credit card customers this quarter—a clear sign of our early success in broadening access to credit in the country.” He stressed that Nubank is investing with the goal of becoming Latin America’s most significant and trusted financial institution. “While these investments may temporarily raise our efficiency ratio over the next few quarters, they are fully aligned with our long-term value creation strategy.”

When asked about macroeconomic conditions in its operating markets, executives acknowledged investor concerns but noted that “as of August 14, we have not seen any significant deterioration reflected in our asset quality metrics.”

Bitcoin Falls 4%, Drops Below $118,000 as Altcoins Slide 10%

The cryptocurrency market pulled back over the past 24 hours, pressured by hotter-than-expected U.S. wholesale inflation data and comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent ruling out government purchases of Bitcoin (BTC). The leading cryptocurrency fell more than 4% to $117,469.

Ethereum (ETH) also retreated from its recent record highs. After nearing $4,800, it slipped 6% to around $4,470. Altcoins saw steeper losses, with memecoin Dogecoin (DOGE) down 10%, Ripple (XRP) off 6.8%, Solana (SOL) down 5.8%, TRON (TRX) down 2%, and Binance Coin (BNB) down 2%. Bucking the trend, Cardano (ADA) edged up 0.1%.

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Rate-Cut Expectations in Focus

While recent July inflation and jobs data had strengthened expectations for a Federal Reserve rate-cut cycle beginning in September, Thursday’s data showed producer prices rose 0.9% month-over-month—far above the 0.2% forecast. The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures changes in the prices businesses pay to produce goods and services.

Higher producer costs often feed into consumer inflation, potentially discouraging the Fed from cutting rates soon—a scenario that can weigh on risk assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies.

U.S. Treasury Rules Out Bitcoin Purchases

Separately, Bessent said the government has no plans to buy Bitcoin for the strategic reserve announced by President Donald Trump. In an interview Thursday, he stated the government will retain, rather than sell, Bitcoin it has seized, and that future confiscations could add to the reserve—though no direct market purchases will be made.

“We’re not going to buy. We’re going to use seized assets and keep accumulating. We’re going to stop selling it,” Bessent said. He estimated the current holdings—largely from law enforcement seizures—are worth between $15 billion and $20 billion.

The U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was established in March under the Trump administration alongside the creation of a Presidential Working Group on Digital Assets, tasked with developing a federal regulatory framework and evaluating the formation of a national digital asset reserve.

Mexican Peso Falls Against the Dollar as Fed Rate-Cut Bets Cool

The Mexican peso weakened against the dollar on Thursday as the greenback strengthened following U.S. economic data that tempered market enthusiasm for interest rate cuts.

The exchange rate closed at 18.6402 pesos per dollar, compared with Wednesday’s official close of 18.5803 pesos, according to Bank of Mexico (Banxico) data. That marks a loss of 5.99 centavos, or 0.32%, for the peso.

During the session, the dollar traded between a high of 18.8532 pesos and a low of 18.6291. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.40% to 98.19.

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Rate-Cut Bets Ease

U.S. Treasury yields climbed after the Producer Price Index for July rose more than expected, slightly reducing expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. Weekly jobless claims also fell, signaling a stronger-than-expected labor market and lowering the likelihood of an aggressive cut.

According to CME’s FedWatch tool, markets are now pricing in a 92.6% probability of a 25-basis-point cut in September and a 7.4% chance of no change, compared with 93.8% and 6.2%, respectively, the day before.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said Thursday that a 50-basis-point cut in September would not be justified given the current state of the U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—who on Wednesday floated the idea of a 50-basis-point move—said conditions still appear favorable for rate cuts. In an interview with Fox Business Network, he suggested the Fed could start with a 25-basis-point reduction and then accelerate.

European Growth Stalls: GDP Rises Just 0.1% in Second Quarter

The eurozone economy slowed sharply in the second quarter of 2025. According to Eurostat’s preliminary estimate, gross domestic product (GDP) rose just 0.1%, down from 0.6% growth in the first quarter. Across the European Union (EU) as a whole, GDP expanded 0.2%, compared with 0.5% in the prior quarter.

Surprise Slowdown in Eurozone.

By country, the strongest increases came from Romania (+1.2%), Poland (+0.8%), and Spain, Slovenia, and Bulgaria (+0.7% each). In contrast, Ireland saw the steepest contraction, with GDP down 1%. Among the eurozone’s largest economies, Germany and Italy both contracted 0.1%, while France grew 0.3% and Spain 0.7%.

ECB Forecasts Weak Growth in 2025

The European Central Bank (ECB) expects eurozone GDP to grow 0.9% in 2025 and 1.1% in 2026. The 2025 forecast is unchanged from the previous outlook, reflecting a stronger-than-expected first quarter offset by weaker projections for the rest of the year.

In the short term, trade policy uncertainty is expected to weigh on business investment and exports. However, the ECB sees public investment in defense and infrastructure, rising real incomes, and a resilient labor market supporting household spending and economic stability—especially if financing conditions continue to improve.

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Other Markets

Wall Street opened lower on Thursday after hitting fresh record highs in recent days. Following this week’s surge in expectations for a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut, investor attention is now on how markets will digest wholesale inflation data, which came in far above forecasts.

Global markets were also trading slightly lower, with the MSCI World Index down 0.06%. In Asia, losses were more pronounced: China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.46%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.37%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.35% after reaching an all-time high in the previous session.

Headache for the Fed: U.S. Wholesale Inflation Jumps Sharply

Wholesale inflation in the United States rose 0.9% month-over-month in July—the sharpest increase since August 2022—surprising markets that had expected only a 0.2% gain after a flat reading in June.

The data points to the impact tariffs are having on the U.S. economy. Still, markets continue to price in a rate cut next month. Jobless claims data, released at the same time, came in line with expectations.

On an annual basis, the Producer Price Index (PPI) climbed 3.3%, well above the 2.5% forecast and up from June’s 2.6%, marking the highest level since March 2023. Core PPI rose even more sharply—jumping to 3.7% from 2.6% in June, compared to an expected 2.9%.

Breaking down the figures, service costs surged 1.08% on the month, the biggest gain since March 2022, driven largely by a 2.04% increase in wholesale and retail margins—especially in the machinery and equipment sector. For goods, core prices rose 0.4%. Analysts noted that, despite a slowdown in demand in the first half of the year, companies are adjusting prices to offset the impact of tariffs. The key question now is how much of this will be passed on to consumers, which will be central to the Fed’s rate path. Markets will be watching upcoming activity and price data to see if the PPI jump is a one-off or the start of a more persistent trend.

Is the Labor Market Cooling?

Jobless claims—a closely watched gauge of labor market health—showed signs of easing. New claims came in at 224,000, about 1,000 fewer than expected and down from 227,000 the previous week. Continuing claims totaled 1.953 million, 7,000 below estimates and 14,000 lower than the prior week.

While indirect, this indicator often moves in tandem with hiring trends—when hiring picks up, continuing claims tend to decline. The latest data also followed downward revisions to job creation figures for May and June, bolstering expectations for a Fed rate cut.

Mexican Peso Weakens Against the Dollar After Hitting Its Two Week-High

The Mexican peso slipped slightly on Wednesday after touching its strongest level in two weeks, supported earlier by dollar weakness amid bets on a U.S. interest rate cut.

The exchange rate closed the session at 18.6402 pesos per dollar, compared with Tuesday’s official close of 18.5803 pesos, according to data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico). This represents a loss of 5.99 centavos for the peso, or 0.32%.

During the day, the dollar traded in a range between a high of 18.6651 pesos and a low of 18.5110 pesos. The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback against six major currencies, was down 0.28% at 97.80.

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Markets Await U.S. Jobs and Inflation Data

Traders are now awaiting Thursday’s release of the U.S. Producer Price Index. Consumer price figures published Tuesday had strengthened expectations for a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut, weighing on the dollar.

Also due tomorrow are weekly jobless claims data. The latest U.S. nonfarm payrolls report showed signs of a weakening labor market, further fueling bets on rate cuts.

Talk of a 50-Basis-Point Cut

Markets also reacted positively today to comments from U.S. Commerce Secretary Scott Bessent, who said it was very likely the Fed would begin an aggressive rate-cutting cycle, including an initial 50-basis-point move.

Following Bessent’s remarks, traders indicated that the Fed should cut by 50 basis points at its September 17 meeting and ultimately lower rates by 150 to 175 basis points.

According to CME’s FedWatch tool, which tracks rate futures to gauge market expectations, there is a 93.8% probability of a 25-basis-point cut in September, and a 6.2% probability of a 50-basis-point cut.

China Bans Two European Banks in Retaliation for Russia-Related Sanctions

China’s Ministry of Commerce has targeted two Lithuanian financial institutions in retaliation for European Union (EU) sanctions against Chinese banks accused of facilitating Russian transactions.

On Wednesday, the ministry announced that UAB Urbo Bankas and AB Mano Bankas would, effective immediately, be prohibited from conducting transactions or cooperating with organizations and individuals within China.

Beijing urged the EU to “correct its mistakes” and refrain from taking measures that “harm China’s interests” and undermine bilateral cooperation. “We hope the EU will value the long-standing, cooperative relations established between China and its member states in the areas of economy, trade, and finance,” the ministry added.

The move is a direct response to sanctions imposed on August 9 against Heihe Rural Commercial Bank and Heilongjiang Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank, which Brussels accuses of facilitating Russia-related operations. China has dismissed the allegations as “groundless.”

The dispute traces back to July, when the EU included several Chinese companies in its latest sanctions package against Moscow, adding yet another source of tension to an already fraught trade and political relationship.

Following a recent summit in Beijing, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that trade relations between the two powers have reached a “clear turning point.” During the meeting, the EU reiterated its call for China to use its influence over Russia to help end the war in Ukraine.

China, which maintains a “no-limits” partnership with Moscow, reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing a political resolution to the crisis in Ukraine.

China Condemns EU Sanctions on Its Companies as “Groundless”

The Chinese government expressed “deep dissatisfaction” over EU sanctions imposed two days earlier on ten Chinese entities included in the bloc’s latest measures against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. Beijing denounced the decision as unilateral and based on “unfounded accusations.”