Today's Finance Pulse
Anthropic secures $65B round, valuation hits $965B
Anthropic announced a $65 billion Series H financing that pushes its post‑money valuation to $965 billion, overtaking OpenAI as the world’s most valuable AI startup. The capital surge reflects strong enterprise demand for its Claude chatbot and reshapes the AI sector ahead of upcoming high‑profile IPOs.
Also developing:
Voting Rights and Shares Capital of the Company
Nanobiotix SA filed a regulatory disclosure on February 17 2026 detailing its capital structure as of January 31 2026. The company reported 48,450,358 shares outstanding, with a total of 50,153,460 theoretical voting rights and 50,131,342 exercisable voting rights. The filing complies with French Commercial Code article L.233‑8 II and AMF regulation 223‑16. No additional share issuances or changes to voting power were announced in the notice.
FXU: Utilities Dashboard For February
The February utilities dashboard shows water utilities trading about 15 % below their 11‑year average, while electric and multi‑utility firms are roughly 17 % overvalued. First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (FXU) has outperformed the sector benchmark XLU, yet the Invesco S&P 500...
AMLP: Attractive 8% Dividend Yield But With Limited Price Appreciation
The Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) offers an approximately 8 % distribution yield, boosted by a recent $1 quarterly dividend increase. Its portfolio concentrates heavily, with the six largest mid‑stream MLP holdings accounting for over 75 % of assets due to a 12 %...
AMC Refires $2.5B to Trim Maturity Wall
AMC moving to clean up its maturity wall. $2.5B package taking out 2027 notes (12.75%) and 2029 TL If it prices well, decently lower interest burden. $AMC
AI Transforms Accounting at Bonadio
Bonadio Group, a Rochester‑based accounting firm, is scaling artificial intelligence across its core services. CEO Bruce Zicari says AI now handles data‑entry tasks in reconciliations, financial reporting, tax preparation and expense management, freeing professionals for higher‑value advisory work. The firm...
Pelagic Credit Plc: Update on Contemplated Private Placement and Listing on Euronext Growth Oslo
Pelagic Credit Plc issued an update on its planned private placement and intended listing on Euronext Growth Oslo. The company reports strong investor interest and is revisiting the offering’s structure, which could diverge from the February 9 outline. Size, timing and...
Rent to Your Business Tax-Free—Only With Proper Paperwork
Influencers: “Rent your house to your business and boom — tax-free money.” What they don’t tell you: 📂 Fair market rent. 📝 Real agendas and minutes. 👥 Actual humans in attendance. 💼 A separate legal entity. 📸 Documentation that doesn’t look like it was created during...
Genmab Announces Initiation of Share Buy-Back Program
Genmab A/S announced a share buy‑back program to repurchase up to 342,130 ordinary shares, representing a maximum spend of 725 million Danish kroner. The program, designed to fulfill obligations under its Restricted Stock Unit plan, will run from February 18 to March 31 2026...
Greenbriar to Acquire AIT Worldwide Logistics
Greenbriar Capital Partners announced it will acquire AIT Worldwide Logistics, a global freight forwarding firm. The transaction will be financed by Greenbriar’s existing investors, with The Jordan Company, the private equity backer of Greenbriar, set to exit upon closing. The...
PRESS RELEASE: BIGBEN ANNOUNCES IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING THE PARTIAL REPAYMENT OF ITS BOND LOAN
Bigben Interactive announced that its banking pool unexpectedly refused to honor a drawdown notice for the partial refinancing of its senior bonds, leaving the company unable to execute the planned €43 million partial repayment on the February 19 maturity date. The...
Corporate Health Outlook: Improvement Broadens as Expectations Rise
Loomis Sayles’ Credit Analyst Diffusion Indices (CANDIs) survey shows analyst optimism at its highest in several quarters, driven by stronger profit margins and declining leverage across most industries. Margin expectations rose sharply for both services and manufacturing, while leverage fell to...
‘Millionaires Tax’ Clears Washington Senate
Washington state senators approved a 9.9% income tax on earnings above $1 million, marking the first legislative hurdle for the so‑called “millionaires tax.” The measure, passed 27‑22, is projected to generate about $3.5 billion annually and would affect roughly 30,000 high‑income taxpayers....
BP Is Running on Empty As Energy Giant Scraps Buyback Program
BP announced suspension of its share buyback program and raised its cost‑cutting target by $1.5 billion, aiming for $5.5‑$6.5 billion of savings by 2027 to fund oil production. The move follows a turbulent year that saw the ouster of CEO Murray Auchincloss...
KDDI Selects Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing for Telecom Billing Modernization
Japanese telecom KDDI selects Oracle Cloud Scale Charging and Billing to replace its legacy billing system. The cloud‑native platform on OCI will handle real‑time charging for mobile, broadband and digital services, aiming to cut costs and boost agility. KDDI expects...
Sage Adds New AI Functions to Intacct for Financial Analysis, Closes and Management
Sage announced a suite of AI‑powered enhancements to its Sage Intacct cloud ERP, targeting finance‑close analytics, cash intelligence, and workflow automation. The R1 2026 release adds a Finance Intelligence Agent, AI‑driven close analytics, cash‑position dashboards, AI line‑level AP matching, an Import...
UCLA Wins 24th Annual Deloitte FanTAXtic National Case Study Competition
UCLA’s student team captured first place in Deloitte’s 2026 FanTAXtic national case study competition, delivering the strongest analysis of a complex entity‑focused tax scenario. The case required recommendations on whether a fictional company should operate as an LLC taxed as...
Meridian Closes $17M Seed Round to Bring Agentic AI to Financial Modeling
Meridian, an AI‑driven financial modeling startup, emerged from stealth with a $17 million seed round at a $100 million post‑money valuation. The funding was led by Andreessen Horowitz and The General Partnership, joined by QED Investors, FPV Ventures, and Litquidity Ventures. Meridian...
OCC Proposes New Appeal Process for Banks, Trusts
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has proposed a new appeals board that would review supervisory decisions using a de novo “fresh look” standard. The rule expands appeal rights to uninsured institutions such as national trust banks and...
When Space Businesses Should Accelerate Cash Burn, When to Improve
Space companies face a strategic choice between speeding up cash burn to capture market share and tightening spending to extend runway. The article outlines criteria such as revenue traction, funding environment, and technology readiness that dictate when aggressive spending is...
Fears that Basel III Regulations Could Penalise Africa
The Basel III regulatory package, delayed to a full 2027 rollout, tightens capital quality, leverage and liquidity requirements for banks worldwide. African banks risk higher capital costs because their sovereign debt is risk‑weighted more heavily, potentially limiting credit to the...
Big Tech Cuts Buybacks, Shifts to AI Spending
‼️The largest US stock buyer since 2009 is STEPPING BACK: Combined buybacks by Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Oracle fell to $12.6 billion in Q4 2025, the lowest in 7 YEARS. This marks the 3rd quarterly decline, a -70% DROP from the...
Africa’s MTN Group to Acquire IHS Holding for $6.2 Billion in Cash
MTN Group announced a $6.2 billion cash acquisition of IHS Holding, offering $8.50 per share—a 2.53% premium to the prior close. The deal will be funded by $1.1 billion of MTN cash, $1.1 billion from IHS’s balance sheet, and a rollover of existing...
Sphinx Raises $7M Seed Round for AI Compliance Agents
Sphinx announced a $7 million seed round, led by Cherry Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Deel Ventures and Singularity Capital. The San Francisco‑based startup builds browser‑native AI agents that embed directly into existing case‑management systems, third‑party portals and internal dashboards...
Financing the Global South’s Infrastructure Boom
Private participation in infrastructure across the Global South reached $100 billion in 2024, a 20% rise over the previous five‑year average. The article highlights India’s PPP surge, which drove infrastructure credit to over 15% of bank lending but also triggered an...
UK Unemployment Hits Highest Level Since 2021 – Will Interest Rate Cuts Follow?
The UK's unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in the three months to December 2025, the highest level since 2021, while wage growth slowed to 4.2% and job vacancies remained flat. Morgan Stanley research shows AI is already reshaping the labour market,...
Blackstone to Acquire Home Services Firm Champions Group From Odyssey
Blackstone announced a definitive agreement to acquire Champions Group, a leading home‑services provider, from Odyssey. The transaction includes a minority equity stake retained by Odyssey and the company’s management, ensuring continued alignment of interests. Financial terms were not disclosed, but...
Disciplined Rotation: Spot AI Victims, Winners, and Priced Risks
We’re in a consolidation phase with growing cross-sector AI disruption fears, weakening tech leadership, falling yields, and increasing dispersion. This is the environment where you have to be disciplined, look at your portfolio honestly, and ask: – Is this company a potential...
MindBridge Announces Global Partnership with Genpact to Elevate Audit Analytics and Risk Consulting
MindBridge, an AI‑powered financial intelligence firm, announced a global partnership with Genpact to embed its analytics platform into Genpact’s Enterprise Risk Consulting engagements. The collaboration will allow Genpact to deliver full‑population risk scoring, anomaly detection, and continuous controls monitoring for...
Amwell Expects Lower Revenue in 2026
Amwell announced 2026 revenue guidance of $195 million to $205 million, down from $249.3 million in 2025, after divesting non‑core assets. The company has consolidated its offerings into a single, technology‑enabled care platform focused on SaaS and third‑party services. Executives said the streamlined...
NHAI Gets Rs 12,357 Cr Towards Monetisation for 2025-26; Lower than the Budgeted and Revised Estimate of Rs 15,000 Cr
India's National Highways Authority (NHAI) has been allocated Rs 12,357 crore for FY 2025‑26 to monetize highway assets, falling short of the Rs 15,000 crore budgeted amount. The agency plans to monetize 24 road assets covering 1,472 km, with Maharashtra receiving the highest number of projects....
L&G to Maintain Exposure to Catastrophe Bonds Despite Spread Tightening
Legal & General Investment Management will keep its catastrophe‑bond exposure despite recent spread compression. The firm’s portfolio, estimated at a minimum of $400 million, remains in diversified multi‑asset funds while it waits for more attractive entry points. Turner and Dietz note...
Convergence: Navigating the Blurred Lines Between Public and Private Credit
In a recent InsuranceAUM interview, Chris Gudmastad, Head of Private Credit, discusses the growing convergence between public and private credit markets. He highlights how blended financing structures are blurring traditional asset class boundaries and reshaping investment opportunities. The conversation underscores...
Jefferson Posts $201M Operating Loss in H1
Thomas Jefferson University, owner of Jefferson Health, posted a $201 million operating loss for the first half of fiscal 2026, reflecting a -2.3% operating margin. The loss includes $64.7 million in restructuring expenses tied to a planned layoff of roughly 650 employees....
T+1 Settlement: How Custody Tech Boosts Readiness
T+1 settlement forces firms to complete trade capture, confirmation, reconciliation and final settlement within one business day. The compressed timeline eliminates overnight buffers, exposing manual and batch‑based custody processes to heightened operational and liquidity risk. Automation and real‑time custody platforms...
Finance and Sales Teams Don’t Match up on Criteria for Deal Approvals
A CreditSafe survey of over 200 finance and sales leaders reveals a stark mismatch in deal‑approval criteria. While 49% of sales executives rate company size and revenue as very important, only 33% of finance leaders share that view, with finance...
Why Abu Dhabi’s Next Play Is Managing Other People’s Money
International Holding Co., the UAE’s largest listed conglomerate, has launched Judan Financial, an AI‑enabled platform that consolidates its financial services assets. Chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Judan is valued at $27 billion and will manage roughly $237 billion in assets. The...
AppLovin's 66% Growth, 77% Margin, Stock Still Falls
$APP Growing 66% With 77% Operating Margin — Yet Stock Is Down 42% YTD AppLovin delivered numbers most software companies can’t even model. Revenue up +66% YoY. Operating margin at 77%. And yet the stock is still down 42% YTD. Valuation argument? Forward P/S around 16x. Forward...
Underwriting Spreads Rise in 2025
Underwriting spreads for municipal bonds rose again in 2025, reaching an average of $4.30 per $1,000, up from $4.23 in 2024. Negotiated‑deal spreads increased to $4.64 while competitive‑deal spreads fell to $1.78. The uptick coincides with record issuance volumes—$586 billion in...
International Business Briefs | Kennedy Wilson to Go Private in $1.5bn CEO-Led Deal
Kennedy Wilson agreed to a $1.5 bn CEO‑led buyout, offering a 10.2% premium and targeting a Q2 2026 close. Genuine Parts announced a split into two publicly traded entities—Automotive Parts Group and Industrial Parts Group—set to finalize in Q1 2027 after an activist‑driven settlement. Blackstone‑backed...
Beyond the Balance Sheet: Why the Future of Franchising Is Proactive, Not Passive
The Restaurant Innovation and Franchising Summit in San Diego will feature a session called “The Money Map: Navigating Your Franchise to Peak Profit,” urging operators to treat unit economics as a dynamic narrative rather than static spreadsheets. Panelists stress proactive...
HEI Impact on Home Lien: What Every Homeowner Must Know
Home‑equity investors (HEIs) place a junior lien on a homeowner’s title without becoming a co‑owner, leaving the primary mortgage as the senior claim. The lien is repaid when the property is sold, refinanced, or at the agreement’s maturity, rather than...
IPO-Bound Kissht's NBFC Arm Gets Crisil Rating Upgrade on Strong Growth
Kissht’s NBFC subsidiary Si Creva Capital Services received a CRISIL rating upgrade, moving its long‑term rating to A‑/Stable and short‑term to A1. The upgrade follows a surge in assets under management, which climbed to Rs 5,533 crore by September 2025, driven by rapid expansion...
Market Awaiting Decisive Breakout: Support or Resistance?
📺 THIS MARKET NEEDS RESOLUTION The market is stuck in a range. Breakouts fail, breakdowns bounce, and both longs and shorts get frustrated. We need a decisive move that breaks the range and sticks. That could mean: 🔻 A clean break below support $QQQ...
AI Firms, Data Centers to Issue $220B Debt, Outpace Banks
AI cos and data centers are expected to issue $220 billion of debt this year, making up 15% of JPM's high-grade bond index (and making them bigger issuers than banks) https://t.co/LPkxfJGhNK
Broker’s Call: GMR Airports (Buy)
GMR Airports reported a structural earnings inflection in Q3FY26, driven by tariff‑led aero yield growth at Delhi and expanding non‑aero adjacency services. Net debt is expected to peak in FY26 before declining as EBITDA scales, supported by a projected 29%...
Chinese State Banks Boost FX Securities by $90B Monthly
Notable acceleration in the fx securities book of the Chinese state banks (And their reverse repo/ other funding of global financial institutions) in January -- consistent with the $90b monthly increase in the reported fx balance sheet https://t.co/PNDncW2w2s
CFTC Claims Sole Authority over Prediction Markets, Defends Jurisdiction
NEW: CFTC chair Selig says the agency has exclusive authority over prediction markets and will defend its jurisdiction against state challenges. https://t.co/lOKfXA8tzw
Side Letter: M&G’s Liquidity Play
M&G has introduced a side‑letter that leverages the secondary market to provide liquidity for its private‑equity commitments, allowing investors optional redemption windows while preserving long‑term value. The move comes as Q4 private‑equity exit volume fell below expectations, highlighting a slowdown...
Massive M&A Premiums: MASI, KW, ZIM Deals
Today's M&A notes $MASI to be acquired by $DHR for $180.00 cash, 38.3% premium, $9.9 billion $KW to be acquired by $FFH.to for $10.90 cash, 45.9% premium, $6.5 billion $ZIM to be acquired by $HLAGF for $35.00 cash, 125.8% premium, $4.2 billion https://t.co/ayupP5Rv2J
Hotel BI vs Excel: The Hidden Costs
Excel remains a default tool in hotels, but its apparent zero‑cost facade hides substantial operational expenses. Hotels can spend up to 125 hours each month cleaning, formatting, and moving data, turning revenue managers into data clerks. This manual burden erodes...