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World News Today Live Updates on June 12, 2026: Stay informed on global events with our in-depth world news coverage, bringing you the latest developments across politics, economy, and culture. Discover insights into international affairs, breaking news, and the trends shaping our interconnected world, all in one place. View More

Trump called off Iran strikes and declared the war 'ended', hailing a nuclear deal. Tehran disputes the claim, saying no final decision has been made. View More

SpaceX is selling 555.6 shares at $135 a piece, raising $75 billion in the largest IPO on record. View More

In this articleSPCXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Elon Musk is photographed at SpaceX in Brownsville, Texas. Marvin Joseph | The Washington Post | Getty Images SpaceX is officially set for the largest IPO on record. Elon Musk's reusable rocket company is raising $75 billion, selling 555.6 million shares for $135 a piece, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal values SpaceX at $1.77 trillion, making it the seventh most-valuable U.S. company, ahead of Tesla, Musk's electric vehicle maker. SpaceX's Nasdaq debut will come Friday, when the masses will have their first opportunity to buy into the 24-year-old company. Betting on SpaceX at this price is largely a wager on Musk, as the company is burning cash and is far smaller by revenue than any of its trillion-dollar peers. SpaceX said in its prospectus that revenue increased 15% to $4.69 billion in the first quarter from $4.07 billion a year earlier. For all of last year, revenue jumped 33% to $18.67 billion. The company recorded a net loss in the latest quarter of $4.28 billion after losing $4.94 billion in 2025.In addition to its space business, Musk's company owns the Starlink satellite internet service, which accounts for the bulk of its revenue and is the only profitable unit, and artificial intelligence division xAI, which merged with SpaceX in February. SpaceX said in its IPO filing that capital expenditures in the first quarter reached $10.1 billion, more than doubling from a year earlier. The vast majority of those costs — $7.7 billion — were for AI, with the rest spent on space and connectivity.The company has racked up a cumulative deficit of around $41.3 billion since it was founded in 2002. It warned investors in its prospectus that it may not achieve profitability in the future. Some of the IPO drama was removed last week, when SpaceX set a fixed price of $135 a share. New issuers would typically offer a price range that allows a company and its advisers to gauge demand sensitivity at different levels, but SpaceX took a take-it-or-leave-it approach after a slew of testing-the-waters meetings leading up to the roadshow launch.Goldman Sachs is the lead banker for the offering, followed by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase.With the IPO, Musk is poised to be the world's first trillionaire. His stake in SpaceX is worth $866.5 billion, adding to his Tesla holdings that are valued at about $320 billion, not including some options. For the 54-year-old Musk, the SpaceX offering comes 16 years after he took Tesla public. Musk controls over 82% of voting power at SpaceX, giving him virtually complete control over the board. Two Wall Street firms initiated coverage of SpaceX on Thursday. Oppenheimer opened with an outperform rating and a 12- to 18-month price target of $190, implying a gain of 40% from the IPO price. Analyst Timothy Horan wrote that the company's diversified portfolio makes it attractive for investors. "We see potential for SPCX to leverage terrestrial compute expertise as a bridge (and possible back-up plan) to enable key scale and cost advantages," he wrote. Horan called it the "only vertically-integrated AI company with the required capital, data, LLMs, hardware, manufacturing and engineering talent," and said "its space infrastructure appears structurally advantaged."Meanwhile, New Street Research initiated coverage with a $165 price target, and said it views xAI as a $575 billion business, "relative to expectations for OpenAI and Anthropic."While SpaceX's IPO is roughly three times the size of the largest U.S. IPO in history, it could be challenged by what's to come. Anthropic and OpenAI, which are each valued at close to $1 trillion by private investors, have confidentially filed to go public less than four years into the generative AI boom. Those deals could happen this year. WATCH: SpaceX IPO is emblematic of space economy future watch nowVIDEO4:2104:21SpaceX IPO is emblematic of space economy future: Alumni Ventures' RippyFast Money Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

With SpaceX seeking an IPO valuation of nearly $1.8 trillion, early bets are poised to generate some of the biggest paper gains in venture capital history. View More

In this articleARKVXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT SpaceX's Super Heavy booster is seen on the launch pad, as Starship is prepared to be placed on top, at the company's Boca Chica complex, ahead of Starship's eighth test flight which is targeted for March 3, from Starbase, near Brownsville, Texas, U.S. March 2, 2025.Kaylee Greenlee | Reuters For nearly two decades, some of the world's most prominent investors quietly accumulated stakes in SpaceX while the rocket maker remained largely off-limits to the public markets. Now, with Elon Musk's company seeking a valuation of roughly $1.8 trillion in its initial public offering, those early bets are poised to generate some of the largest paper gains in venture capital history.Among the biggest beneficiaries are veteran stock picker Ron Baron, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest and mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments. Also poised to win are venture firms including Founders Fund, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz as well as hedge funds such as D1 Capital Partners and Coatue Management. Select pension funds and endowments are also set to share in the windfall. The gains are striking for investors who backed SpaceX before its success became obvious. Baron first invested in 2017 through employee tender offers when the company was valued at less than $22 billion and has since participated in 27 funding rounds.By the end of March, SpaceX accounted for 33% of assets in the $10.4 billion Baron Partners Fund and 25.5% of the Baron Asset Fund, making it one of the firm's most consequential investments."We think that SpaceX will become the largest, most profitable company on the planet," Baron said during an investor webcast this week. His firm has invested about $2 billion in the company over the years, a stake that has grown to roughly $12 billion, he said. Still early in its value creationWood's Ark Venture Fund has also been a major beneficiary of SpaceX's rapid rise. The rocket maker accounted for 11.4% of the fund's net assets as of March 31, making it the largest holding in the portfolio.Wood said Ark views SpaceX as far more than a launch provider. "Through Starship, Starlink and the acquisition of xAI, we believe SpaceX is building vertically integrated AI infrastructure for a much larger space economy," she told CNBC.The investment also reflects Ark's broader thesis around technological convergence. SpaceX sits at the intersection of several of the firm's core innovation themes, including artificial intelligence, robotics and energy storage. Wood believes the company's next phase of growth could be driven not only by its existing Falcon 9 launch business and Starlink satellite network, but also by Starship, the next-generation rocket system that could open new commercial opportunities in space."For long-term shareholders, an IPO would provide broader access to a company that we believe remains early in its value creation," Wood said. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconArk Venture Fund 1 year No traditional asset manager may have benefited more from SpaceX's rise than Fidelity Investments. The Boston-based firm got in early through former portfolio manager Gavin Baker, who began buying shares in 2015 when SpaceX was valued at just about $10 billion. As of March 31, SpaceX accounted for 4.7% of the $177 billion Fidelity Contrafund, one of the largest actively managed mutual funds in the world. The company also represented 3.3% of the $103 billion Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund and 2.6% of the nearly $99 billion Fidelity Growth Company Fund.Fidelity declined to comment for this story.Coming up acesThe extraordinary returns reflect not only the company's growth, but also the scarcity value of access."They were taking a chance on Elon, and it came up aces for them," said Greg Martin, co-founder and managing director of Rainmaker Securities. "Once they took the chance on Elon, the long-term cap table position turned out to be very scarce because the cap table is managed very tightly." The cap table, or capitalization table, refers to a written breakdown of a company's equity ownership.Unlike many venture-backed companies that routinely broaden their shareholder base, SpaceX maintained tight control over who could invest, Martin said. As a result, investors who secured positions early often received opportunities to participate in later funding rounds that were unavailable to most institutions."Their early bet on Elon not only paid off for their initial investment, but enabled them to deploy a lot more capital when the business became more and more of an obvious success," Martin said.That dynamic helped transform relatively modest early investments into positions worth billions of dollars. Venture firm Founders Fund began backing SpaceX in 2008, while hedge funds such as Coatue and D1 gained exposure through later private rounds."Our success is almost by thinking all the things that other people do that don't make sense, and just, hopefully, by doing those, it's like 75% of the work," said Philippe Laffont, founder of Coatue Management, at the Global Alts conference in New York this week. Pensions and endowmentsPension funds and university endowments are also poised to reap substantial gains from SpaceX's debut, underscoring how the company's rise has rewarded institutions responsible for funding retirements, scholarships and academic research. The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan invested more than $200 million in SpaceX in 2019 through a newly created technology-focused investment vehicle at the time. Back then, the pension manager described SpaceX as "a compelling investment opportunity" because of its "proven track record of technology disruption in the launch space and significant future growth potential in the satellite broadband market."University endowments have also emerged as major beneficiaries. Washington University in St. Louis invested roughly $50 million in SpaceX nearly a decade ago, a stake that has appreciated dramatically as the company climbed toward its IPO valuation. The holding now accounts for more than 10% of the university's approximately $17 billion endowment, according to Bloomberg News.Washington University declined to comment, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan didn't respond to CNBC's request for comment. Correction: An earlier version misstated the allocation toward SpaceX in the Baron Asset Fund. It is 25.5%. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Trump's announcement came after House Democrats' objections to his pick of Bill Pulte as acting chief ensured that a key national security tool expires Friday. View More

In this articleFNMAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO1:5201:52Trump nominates former SEC Chair Jay Clayton to be Director of National IntelligencePower Lunch President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will nominate Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, hours after objections by House Democrats to the incoming acting director, Bill Pulte, ensured that a key national security tool will expire this week.Clayton is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and is the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He will have to be confirmed as the director of national intelligence by the Senate.The Senate is moving quickly on the nomination. The Select Committee on Intelligence on Thursday announced a confirmation hearing for Clayton on June 17, a rapid pace that could set him on a speedy path to confirmation.Trump's surprise announcement comes after more than a week of controversy over his appointment of Pulte, who is a top federal housing official, to replace Director Tulsi Gabbard in an acting role when she leaves that post. Trump said Wednesday that Pulte, who since last year has served as an attack dog against several Trump foes, will assume the acting role on June 19 as Trump looks for a permanent director. Pulte has no intelligence background.Trump has said that Pulte would retain his responsibilities leading the Federal Housing Finance Agency and serving as chairman of the mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jay Clayton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during a press conference in New York City, U.S., December 10, 2025.Jeenah Moon | Reuters The director of national intelligence oversees the broad U.S. intelligence community, which includes the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. Hours before Trump's announcement, the House of Representatives rejected a proposal to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act beyond Friday as Democrats refused to back the measure due to Trump's choice of Pulte. House members left Washington after the 198-218 vote against the extension and are not due back at the Capitol until June 23. Read more CNBC politics coverageTrump family got about $500M from crypto venture — but investors saw steep lossesTrump repeats claims that Iran deal is only 'days' away, despite recent strikesUSDA Secretary Rollins calls Texas ag chief 'unserious' amid screwworm threatTrump nominates Todd Blanche for attorney general amid controversy over DOJ fund Trump called Clayton "very Highly respected" in a Truth Social post announcing the nomination."Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay," Trump wrote."I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible," he wrote.As head of the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, Clayton has overseen some of the highest-profile federal criminal prosecutions in the United States, among them the drug trafficking case against former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by American forces in Caracas in early January.Last week, Clayton, during an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box," said "the American people are right to question" the results of primary elections in California, which had been the subject of right-wing conspiracy theories about ballot fraud."I'm not saying there is fraud," Clayton said.Trump has long claimed that he and other Republicans are the victims of voter fraud.Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that Clayton has a "great reputation" and that the Republican Senate leadership will try to get him confirmed "as quickly as possible." Thune said he had not been informed by the White House that Clayton would be nominated before Trump made his announcement.Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who is the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said he has "great respect for Jay Clayton."But Warner questioned why Trump had delayed naming Clayton, given that the FISA extension was known to be in peril because of Pulte's appointment."Why he waited until after the House broke, I have no idea," Warner said."If there was any level of serious concern about this in the White House, the House has already left town," Warner said."Bill Pulte is a national security threat," he said.In a later statement, Warner said that despite Clayton's nomination, Democrats would not relent in blocking FISA without a "clear guarantee" that Pulte will not serve as acting DNI before Clayton is confirmed. "Either Director Gabbard must remain in place or the administration must designate the Senate-confirmed Principal Deputy DNI as the acting head through any transition," he said. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., echoed Warner, calling the selection of Clayton "seemingly a positive step.""But the president's timing couldn't be worse," Blumenthal said. "Literally waiting until now, when everyone has left town, and there's no possibility of a path forward on FISA until next week.""Why Clayton couldn't have been nominated in the first place is a complete unknown," Blumenthal said.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., did not directly comment on Clayton's appointment, but told reporters that it was crucial that Pulte not serve as director of national intelligence."The DNI role is too important," Schumer said. "He cannot be there, no ands, ifs, or buts.""Doesn't matter what else they do. Pulte's got to be gone. He's still in that role," Schumer said.Trump on Wednesday said he had asked Pulte "to execute the immediate and needed downsizing of the office, reverting staff to their home agencies."When Trump began his second term in January 2025, the national intelligence director's office had about 1,800 employees, according to Federal News Network.Gabbard later cut nearly 30% of the office's staff, the director's office said in an August 2025 fact sheet, which detailed her plans to make further cuts.— MS NOW, and CNBC's Garrett Downs, Emily Wilkins and Karen Sloan contributed to this article. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Heading into its IPO, SpaceX's only profitable business is Starlink. But there are red flags for investors. View More

In this articleSPCXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT The Starlink logo appears on a smartphone screen with a starry night sky in the background. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images As investors line up to buy SpaceX stock in the largest IPO on record, about the only real business they have to evaluate is Starlink, the company's satellite internet division. It's by far the biggest by revenue, the only piece of the company that's profitable, and it boasts a dominant market position, with consumer broadband customers more than doubling over the past year to 10.3 million, SpaceX says. Meanwhile, the company's space, and artificial intelligence segments generated a combined $1.4 billion in first-quarter revenue, while their operating losses totaled $3.1 billion in that stretch. But even for Starlink, there are significant hurdles to expansion, making it harder for prospective investors to determine a reasonable price to pay for shares. SpaceX is still targeting a market cap of $1.77 trillion.SpaceX is relying on its Starship rockets, the largest ever built or launched, to begin flying and deploying its new V3 satellites to massively expand their Starlink service. The rockets are still being tested and have mostly carried dummy satellites to space so far.According to its IPO filings, SpaceX has accumulated a deficit of $41.3 billion since it was founded in 2002, and recorded an operating loss of $1.9 billion in the first quarter. The company has spent more than $15 billion developing Starship.SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said during the investor roadshow that "10 million customers can become hundreds of millions of customers around the world in time, because it's so much more efficient to deliver to so many different locations from space than it is terrestrially." Johnsen also said SpaceX plans to bring 5G-equivalent service to consumer devices within two years.Based on the figures SpaceX is putting out now, average revenue per using is dropping. The number fell to $66 per month in the first quarter from $86 a year earlier. For all of last year, ARPU slid to $81 from $91 in 2024 and $99 in 2023. Even as the number of subscribers doubled in the first quarter, operating income barely budged, going from $1.03 billion to $1.19 billion."Extra customers have not been generating much incremental revenue," said Tim Farrar, president of satellite and telecom industry research firm TMF Associates. That can necessitate price increases, which Starlink rolled out last month, raising the risk of customer churn. watch nowVIDEO4:3604:36Former SpaceX engineer: Starlink is the revenue engine funding the futureSquawk Box Europe The cost of producing Starlink terminals also remains a challenge for SpaceX as the company scales. Farrar estimates that the devices are typically about three times more expensive to produce than modems for terrestrial internet.Meanwhile, Starlink is moving into a more competitive space. The company's advantage to-date has been its ability to reach customers in regions that aren't served by traditional internet providers. Starlink has 9,600 satellites in low Earth orbit, serving customers in 164 countries and territories, SpaceX said in its IPO filing. By contrast, Amazon Leo still doesn't have a satellite internet product on the market, and the company just started sending operational satellites into orbit in April 2025. But Starlink is now targeting more developed and urban markets, where it has to go up against traditional broadband providers, creating a whole new level of price sensitivity."People underestimate the ability of terrestrial competitors to respond with pricing, bundling, and the like," Farrar said, noting that the costs of terminals make it difficult for Starlink despite its ability to offer high-bandwidth services. "Defending existing fiber customers isn't going to be that hard for telcos by cutting prices for existing customers."A SpaceX spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.American Airlines is the latest airline to ink a deal with Starlink, announcing plans last month to use it for Wi-Fi service on more than 500 of its narrow-body aircraft. United, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Airlines, which merged with Hawaiian Airlines in 2024, have also selected Starlink, while Delta said in March it would use Amazon Leo starting in 2028. James Ratzer at New Street Research is bullish on Starlink's prospects. His firm initiated coverage of SpaceX with a $165 price target, above the $135 planned IPO price. Ratzer told CNBC via email that a key question for SpaceX with Starlink is whether it can "achieve the most efficient route" to the exponential growth it's promising.When Starship and the new V3 satellites start working, Ratzer wrote, "capacity explodes," for Starlink. He said the satellites are "10 times more powerful" than what SpaceX is using today, and that Starship plus V3 could make the service very competitive with terrestrial broadband. Thus, a bet on Starlink is a bet on Starship. And there can always be setbacks when it comes to new rockets. The company's other route to boosting its constellation is through Falcon 9, its current rocket. "That is a very viable route but would be less efficient and it would take more time for their available capacity to grow," Ratzer said. WATCH: SpaceX allocation mostly decided watch nowVIDEO1:4501:45SpaceX allocations mostly decided, only 20% of IPO allocated to retailClosing Bell Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The U.S. House rejected a short-term extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The surveillance authority expires Friday. View More

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, at center, speaks as Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, listens during an event with congressional Democrats on the U.S. Senate steps, in Washington, May 21, 2026.Win McNamee | Getty Images The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday rejected a proposal to extend a key foreign surveillance program through July 2, as Democrats continued to withhold support over President Donald Trump's choice of Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. The program will expire Friday.Trump tapped Pulte for the role earlier this month, setting off bipartisan backlash. Pulte is currently the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and has used his perch to launch probes into several of Trump's political opponents over allegations of mortgage-related wrongdoing. He has no prior national security experience.House Democratic leaders came out against the short-term reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ahead of Thursday's planned vote, effectively dooming the measure. Speaker Mike Johnson was attempting to approve it under a procedural tool normally used for noncontroversial bills that requires support from two-thirds of the House.The measure failed by a vote of 198-218. The House left town after the vote and is not due back until June 23."Section 702 is a critical foreign intelligence authority, but we cannot in good conscience vote for reauthorization without significant reforms to protect both national security and the constitutional privacy rights of Americans," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., House Select Committee on Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes, D-Conn., and House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a joint statement."Bill Pulte has no relevant national security experience. Consequently, his appointment is in defiance of the law that requires the Director of National Intelligence to have 'extensive' national security experience," the Democratic leaders wrote. "The apparent motivation for his elevation is the demonstrated willingness of Bill Pulte to search government databases for alleged dirt on President Trump's chosen political enemies." Read more CNBC politics coverageTrump family got about $500M from crypto venture — but investors saw steep lossesTrump repeats claims that Iran deal is only 'days' away, despite recent strikesUSDA Secretary Rollins calls Texas ag chief 'unserious' amid screwworm threatTrump nominates Todd Blanche for attorney general amid controversy over DOJ fund Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, as permanent director of national intelligence. But the announcement did not come until after the House had left town."It's seemingly a positive step, but the president's timing couldn't be worse, literally waiting until now when everyone has left town and there's no possibility of a path forward on FISA until next week," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said on Thursday. "Why Clayton couldn't have been nominated in the first place is a complete unknown."Section 702 of FISA allows the government to collect the communications of people outside the U.S., including when they are interacting with Americans. It's a controversial program, particularly to privacy hawks who worry about the data of U.S. citizens getting swept up by the government. But proponents say it's a vital national security tool, particularly as the U.S., Canada and Mexico prepare to host the FIFA Men's World Cup, which kicks off Thursday, and as Washington readies for a series of semiquincentennial celebrations in the coming weeks."The Democrats, 199 of them, voted against a clean, three-week extension for political purposes. And when the bill went down, they applauded," Johnson told reporters after the vote. "That record and that video is going to live in infamy. I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores over the next few weeks."Nineteen House Republicans also opposed the measure.Lawmakers had been negotiating a multiyear extension to the program last week, but the Senate quashed that effort Friday after Trump announced Pulte as his DNI pick on a temporary basis.Some Republicans, such as Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, called on Trump to rescind his pick to pave the way for passage. But Trump doubled down on his pick, saying in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that Pulte would take over the role on June 19 and calling for a short-term FISA patch."FISA 702 is very important to our Military, and keeping the American People safe, especially during the World Cup and America250 Celebrations. If nothing is done, this important Law will expire this week. I am asking Congress to send me a short-term extension of FISA to provide time for the selection and confirmation of a permanent Head of the Agency," Trump wrote.Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, acknowledged in a briefing with reporters after the House vote on Thursday that not passing a FISA extension by Friday's deadline is "dangerous." But the Virginia Democrat said there were alternatives, such as keeping Trump-appointed No. 2 Aaron Lukas in the short-term position instead of Pulte after the resignation of the current director, Tulsi Gabbard.There is also the possibility of Trump issuing an executive order to extend FISA, but Warner is not convinced that idea would work, because telecommunication companies could object over concerns of legal liability without congressional approval of the program.The risk of not having a qualified leader in charge of national intelligence looms large over the start of the World Cup."God forbid, as we move into the World Cup, something would happen," Warner said. "But if something happens, it lies at the feet of [the] president, and that is unfortunate." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Many shipowners are just waiting for the threat assessment to be downgraded before crossing Hormuz, Frontline CEO Lars Barstad said. View More

In this articleFROFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO5:1605:16Gulftainer sees UAE port activity surge as Hormuz tensions shift trade routesThe China Connection Commercial ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz should quickly increase if the U.S. and Iran reach a stable agreement that improves security in the strategic sea lane, the CEO of a leading oil tanker company told CNBC."I'm actually very optimistic the minute the tide turns and the U.S. and Iran have found some sort of agreement, at least not to attack shipping, that those transits are going to resume pretty quickly," said Lars Barstad, CEO of the publicly traded tanker company Frontline, in an interview this week. Headquartered in Cyprus, Frontline has a fleet of 80 vessels that transport crude oil and petroleum products around the world. Five of its tankers are currently stuck in the Persian Gulf due to the closure of Hormuz, Barstad said.Traffic through Hormuz will not return anytime soon to prewar levels when 130 to 140 vessels crossed daily, Barstad said. But a credible deal between the U.S. and Iran should lead to a material increase above the trickle of five to 10 ships currently transiting the strait daily, the CEO said. Some shipping companies have positioned tankers close to the Gulf in order to cash in on a reopening of Hormuz, Barstad said. Frontline has not positioned vessels for an opening, he said. "Certain actors are positioning themselves purely commercially to try and be near this kind of opening scenario," Barstad said. "You could say keeping the ship is like holding on to a call option on something that might happen." But it is far from clear whether the U.S. and Iran will reach an agreement as the security situation remains volatile. President Donald Trump threatened to bomb Iran Thursday night only to abruptly cancel the planned attack citing discussions with the Islamic Republic. It has become a familiar pattern. Trump threatens a major escalation only to pull back and claim a deal with Iran is near. The cycle then repeats itself. "Every week coming into the weekend, we're very close to solution here and then every Monday we get disappointed," Barstad said. Shippers will eventually grow tired of positioning themselves for an opening that doesn't materialize and have to decide whether to send their tankers elsewhere, he said.When Hormuz opensAbout 10% of the world's biggest tankers, the very large crude carriers, are stuck in the Gulf right now loaded with oil, Barstad said. Each of those vessels can carry up to around 2 million barrels. These will be the first batch of ships that exit Hormuz when there is an opening, he said. The Gulf states are desperate to export crude because their storage is full and the disruption in the strait has been a huge cash drain for them, the CEO said. "You're going to get a lot of oil that moves on to water," Barstad said. But there will be some logistical challenges to loading the oil the Gulf states want to export, he said. The tanker fleet has been dispersed all around the world to fetch oil from regions like the U.S. Gulf Coast while Hormuz is closed. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said in May that repositioning tankers will be the biggest obstacle to increasing oil flows through Hormuz. But the freight rates will be so high that it will attract tankers back to the Middle East, Barstad said. Tankers that are transporting crude from the Americas to Asia will only be 30 days away from the Persian Gulf after they deliver their cargo, he said. But the Middle East exporters might not be able to fully recover their prewar production quickly, Barstad said. Some oil wells that were closed during the war may have been permanently damaged due to a loss of pressure and water contamination, he said. "I don't think we can get around the fact there's going to be less oil coming out of the Middle East than what we had pre-closure," Barstad said.Threat levelMany shippers are just waiting for the threat assessment to be downgraded from the highest alert levels before crossing Hormuz, Barstad said. The Joint Maritime Information Center warned the shipping industry as recently as June 4 that the threat facing vessels in Hormuz was "critical" due to an "elevated risk of attack or miscalculation." The JMIC is a security organization headquartered in Bahrain that coordinates between allied navies and merchant ships in the Middle East."It means that you should expect to be hit with something if you go through, so that's kind of the highest level risk assessment," Bartsad said. The JMIC downgraded the threat assessment in Hormuz on June 7 from critical to severe, the second highest level, "due to the number of safe transits conducted via the southern route" near Oman's coast. But the organization warned that there was still an "elevated risk of attack" in the strait. "When some of these red lights become orange or yellow, you're going to see a fairly quick move of owners starting to call and go through the Hormuz Strait," the Frontline CEO said. Traffic through Hormuz has already increased. Trump said Wednesday that U.S. Navy has secretly helped 200 commercial ships and more than 100 million barrels of oil through Hormuz over the past month. Barstad said about half the ships transiting Hormuz right now are using the route designated by the Iranians, while the rest are sailing through the southern route near Oman.Iran and Oman have reportedly held talks on imposing transit fees when Hormuz opens. The Trump administration adamantly opposes a toll system. The Treasury Department has sanctioned Iran's Persian Gulf Strait Authority. The shipping industry does not like the idea of transit fees at all, Barstad said. But shippers are pragmatic and will adapt if some sort of toll system does emerge from a deal between the U.S. and Iran, he said. Tolls are paid to transit the Suez and Panama canals, the CEO said. "Ultimately it's the consumer that picks up the bill," Barstad said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

As far as Wall Street is concerned, the stock market has what it takes to absorb the new supply. View More

In this article.NDXSPCXFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO3:4003:40Jim Cramer talks how SpaceX IPO is hitting the markets alreadyMad Money with Jim Cramer SpaceX's initial public offering this week is set to be the biggest ever in history, flooding the stock market with new shares that begs the question: where is the money going to come from? As far as Wall Street is concerned, the stock market has what it takes to absorb the new equity supply. In the 12 months to September 2025, S&P 500 companies issued roughly $1.7 trillion, or roughly $140 billion a month, according to Gavekal Research. What that means is that SpaceX's anticipated $75 billion capital raise will absorb just a little over two weeks of shareholder payouts, according to the firm. It's not just SpaceX that's seeking to raise capital. In total, four companies including SpaceX, Anthropic, OpenAI and Alphabet are seeking to raise about $380 billion in the public markets — but even that amounts to roughly two months of issuance, the firm said. "The point is that in the grand scheme of the U.S. equity market, these share issues are surprisingly digestible," Gavekal Research's Will Denyer wrote in a June 3 note. "This suggests any drag on U.S. equity performance from the liquidity drain should be short-lived." Both private and public companies are raising record amounts of capital to tap the AI hype. OpenAI recently raised $122 billion on March 31, 2026, led by Nvidia and Amazon.com. A few months later, Anthropic secured $65 billion in Series H financing, pushing its valuation to $965 billion.While private companies continue to raise capital, major tech companies are not too far behind. Alphabet recently announced an $84.8 billion equity raise, as the tech giant prepared to ramp up its investment in AI infrastructure amid surging demand. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards In recent years, global equity and bond funds have attracted substantial investor money, suggesting that capital markets may have room to absorb new wave of large stock offerings, especially after SpaceX goes public this Friday.Overall equity and bond flows have remained positive, according to recent data from JPMorgan. While the figures for 2026 are not directly comparable with previous full-year totals, they point towards an increased investor demand as companies race to prepare for IPOs and other equity raises. IPO volatility That isn't to say that investors aren't in for a rough period as the market absorbs the SpaceX super-sized offering. Even before the imminent debuts of three trillion dollar companies, investors were anticipating a period of consolidation for the stock market after its veritably parabolic comeback off the March lows. IPOs are already known to be volatile. A Truist Wealth review last week of 30 major IPOs from the last 15 years showed that shares of the newly public companies tend to fall and suffer severe drawdowns in their first year. On a median basis, they've dropped 9% one year after their debut, meaning not even half of the companies closed out the year in positive territory, according to the firm. And, within those first 12 months, the stocks on average suffered major drawdowns of 54%.SpaceX's IPO has the potential to be even more challenging. Even if the stock market is able to digest the new shares, the IPO could trigger a rotation in tech leadership as investors trim from the existing winners to fund the new issues. This week gave investors some idea into what a rotation would look like. The S&P 500 is headed for a losing week, as investors shifted out of highflying chip stocks and into defensive sectors such as consumer staples. There are other risks. Recent rule changes by the Nasdaq, among other exchange operators, have fast tracked the inclusion of newly public companies such as SpaceX into indexes that have previously had to wait to prove their profitability and build a sufficient float. They've also changed how they're weighted. Instead of using the tradable free float of $75 billion to weight SpaceX, the coming Nasdaq 100 inclusion will use a 3x multiplier that gives the stock a weighting based on a market cap of $225 billion. That means any moves up or down following the IPO could be exaggerated as passive investors are forced to chase the stock, raising the volatility of the overall index. Holding the bag Those changes are especially concerning given the unprecedented level of retail participation. SpaceX's IPO is supposed be a massive liquidity event, meaning institutional investors who got in on the ground floor of a now trillion dollar company can cash out just as retail traders and passive funds buy in — meaning even first-time investors could be left holding the bag."I'm a little fearful that this could be a negative experience for a lot of people," said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. "When you hear your own parents asking you questions about it, you know it's a little overhyped." To be sure, that doesn't mean SpaceX is a bad investment. Many investors said they're planning to bide their time after the initial hype of the IPO, or buy only a small portion, and choose a better entry point into the rocket and satellite maker when it goes on sale. "I do think it's great that the retail investor is getting an opportunity like they never have before," Woods said. "My hope is that it doesn't become a lottery ticket for them instead of an investment, because that's not how the market works over the long term.""This isn't a moonshot," Woods added. "This is a long-term investment that will take time to grow into its valuation." Demand fatigue Then there's the pace of recent IPO announcements that is worrying investors. Justin Bergner, portfolio manager of GABBX at Gabelli Funds, said he worries that AI companies are racing to secure funding before conditions worsen that will make it more difficult to raise capital. "I think the fact that Open AI and Anthropic are racing to see who can be first after SpaceX is not a good sign," Bergner said. "They're worried that whoever doesn't go first will benefit from reduced demand, or kind of demand fatigue in the market, that's the signal it sends." There's enough in the broader economy that is worrying investors. Inflation is now above 4%, as higher oil prices start to eat into savings for Americans whose wages can't keep pace. Bond yields are rising. The next major move from the Federal Reserve is projected to be a hike. But there's also abounding optimism that the demand for AI will justify the need for capital. Evan Schlossman and Willy Lee at publicly traded venture capital fund SuRo Capital said they anticipate many of their portfolio companies to IPO in the next 12-18 months — a reflection of the strong demand for AI compute.  "I would not be surprised at all if you see a stampede of IPOs that come after this," Lee said.  Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Ambuja Cements anticipates a 5 percent growth in India's cement demand for fiscal year 2026-27. This follows a stronger growth in the previous fiscal. The company is expanding its production capacity through strategic acquisitions and organic growth. Ambuja Cements is also consolidating its cement businesses under a unified structure. View More

New Delhi, Adani Group firm Ambuja Cements expects demand growth to moderate to around 5 per cent in the domestic market this fiscal from 6.5-7.5 per cent in FY26. The Adani group firm, which has acquired several cement companies in the last few years, said capacity additions are being done in a phased manner to meet project pipelines and regional demand, ensuring timely offtake and efficient capital deployment. "The company expects India's cement industry demand to grow by around 5 per cent in FY 2026-27, supported by sustained demand from the housing and infrastructure sectors, following a 6.5-7.5 per cent increase in FY 2025-26," said the second largest cement maker in its annual report. However, Ambuja Cement Ltd (ACL) said industry demand is expected to continue benefiting from urban housing projects, rural development initiatives and ongoing investments in roads, railways and other infrastructure projects. "Furthermore, a reduction in GST on cement, coupled with the government's continued emphasis on infrastructure spending , is expected to support demand momentum through FY2026-27, despite elevated input costs arising from disruptions to global supply chains," ACL said. Live Events To support demand momentum, leading cement makers are continuing to expand capacities through both organic and inorganic routes to strengthen their market positions and meet future requirements, it added. Besides, large players are also actively managing cost pressures from higher coal, petcoke and freight expenses, as well as the impact of a depreciating rupee on imported inputs. ACL has sharpened its focus on cost optimisation, operational efficiency and disciplined capital allocation. "The company is pursuing a balanced growth strategy of greenfield and brownfield expansions to strengthen market presence across the country," it said. Ambuja Cements has increased its installed cement capacity to 109 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY 2025-26 from 89 MTPA a year earlier, driven by the integration of strategic acquisitions and consistent project execution. The company said it remains on track to expand capacity to 119 MTPA by FY 2026-27 as it seeks to strengthen its position in the country's growing cement market. "With a current capacity of 109 MTPA and a targeted capacity of 119 MTPA by FY 2026-27, Ambuja continues to focus on capacity utilisation, with a near-term emphasis on stabilisation," the company said. Besides, ACL has also merged Sanghi Industries and Penna Cement Industries into the company as part of the consolidation of the cement business under a unified operating structure, ' One Cement Platform '. "ACL is progressing its 'One Cement Platform' with the announcement of the amalgamation of ACC and Orient Cement with ACL, shaping a unified, pan-India building materials leader with global competitiveness," it said, adding that this strategic consolidation aims at strengthening operational and financial synergies while simplifying the corporate structure. Adani Group, a new entrant in the cement sector, jumped into the segment in September 2022, after acquiring controlling stakes in ACL from Swiss firm Holcim for $6.4 billion (about Rs 51,000 crore). Later, Ambuja Cements, which owns a 51 per cent stake in ACC Ltd , pursued inorganic growth, acquiring small companies such as Hyderabad-based Penna Cement, Saurastra-based Sanghi Industries and Orient Cement from the CK Birla group. The Indian cement market is led by Aditya Birla Group firm UltraTech Cement Ltd , which has a consolidated capacity of over 200 MTPA. .Pbanner{display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;background-color:#ec1c40;margin-top:20px;padding:5px 10px;border-radius:4px;color:#fff;line-height:10px;} .Pbannertext{display:flex;align-items:center;font-size:16px;font-weight:600;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannertext img{height:20px;margin:0 6px} .Pbannerbutton a{display:flex;align-items:center;background-color:#fff;color:#ec1c40;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:4px 8px;border-radius:6px;font-size:15px;font-family:'Montserrat';} .Pbannerbutton img{height:20px;margin-right:6px} .Pbannerbutton a:hover{background-color:#f7f7f7} Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now! (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel) (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)