FT : How Colnago became the Ferrari of cycling

How Colnago became the Ferrari of cycling
The Milanese maker is behind the most desirable frames on the market

Ernesto Colnago is to the bike what Enzo Ferrari was to the car. Over the years, the Lombardy-based maker’s frames have acquired the same aura of sprezzatura as the chilli-pepper-red sports cars. “They’re an aspirational brand,” says collector Julian Carpenter, who owns 22 Colnagos. “You dream about those bikes.”

Colnago has been working on bikes since 1945, when he lied about his age to get a job at the Gloria bike factory in Milan. After an injury put paid to his racing career he turned his focus to making frames, and quickly gained a reputation for his willingness to innovate. Since then, the slick road-racing bikes have been ridden by some of the greatest cyclists in the sport, including Eddy Merckx, whose exploits aboard a Colnago Super, an aggressive racing frame with highly responsive handling, in the early 1970s elevated the brand to new heights. Now 93, Colnago still works at the company’s Milanese headquarters.


“It’s not just about quality,” explains Brian Digby of Classic and Vintage Cycles, based in Hadfield, Derbyshire, of Colnago’s appeal. “Italy is full of artisan builders that are better than Colnago, but Ernesto is a great marketeer. He told a good story.”  

“People seek out Colnagos because they’re like a Ferrari — everyone knows what they are,” says Alex Bindon of east London-based independent bike shop The Hackney Peddler. 

There are a dizzying variety of frame designs to choose from. Of the non-limited-edition steel bikes, or the standard range of Colnago models, the decision is down to personal preference. Fans of classic steel frames are often drawn to the super-stiff Master with its signature “star-shaped” crimps, produced from 1983 and still made in Italy (a new model retails from £2,566, while a good condition vintage bike will cost around £1,900). 

Those looking for a more experimental frame might seek out the Nuovo Mexico, a lighter evolution of the Super Profil, which was ridden by Giuseppe Saronni’s Del Tongo cycle team in the early 1980s. Classic and Vintage has a restored 1983 Nuovo Mexico frame in candy-red Saronni colours for sale for £1,795. 


Models are distinguished by different crimps on the frame’s steel tubes, or details on the lugs that hold the frame together. It pays to become familiar with these marks before buying. “There are a lot of misdescribed models,” warns Digby. “Do your research and a bit of due diligence.” “If you’re spending £5,000 on a Nuovo Mexico, you want to be sure it’s not actually the more common Super Profil,” says Carpenter — the Nuovo Mexico has two crimps either side of the down tube to the Super Profil’s one. His blog, Saarf London, lays out the distinctive characteristics of each frame.

The market peaked in the aftermath of the pandemic, so a good build for riding is relatively affordable. “A quality frame will start from about a grand,” says Bindon, who sources them for clients and builds according to their specifications (a loud pink-and-purple Super frame he has in stock costs £900). “For neo-retro builds you’d be starting from £2,000, but nicer things will go for more.” The comparatively low price is attracting new buyers, says Carpenter. “There are a lot of car collectors buying now; it’s easier to spend £10,000 on a bike than £1mn on a car.”

Limited-edition models, produced to celebrate brand anniversaries, collaborations or one-offs for particular riders, can stretch into five figures. Slovenia-based Premium Cycling has a 1989 C35 Oro, an early carbon-fibre bike built in collaboration with Ferrari to celebrate Colnago’s 35th anniversary, in scarlet with gold-coloured components, for €26,999. Good condition similarly supercharges value. In May, Premium’s Jure Kocjan, a former professional cyclist, sold a one-of-a-kind 1986 Master Pista bike, an extremely aerodynamic steel-framed bike with twin disc wheels, in museum-quality condition for €25,000.

There’s a growing market, too, for Colnago’s carbon-fibre frames, which pushed lightweight bike construction to new levels in the early 1990s. The C40, a carbon-fibre take on Colnago’s signature construction, was the chosen bike for Mapei, the most elite professional Italian racing team, from 1994 to 2001. “The C40 and C50 [its even lighter successor, released in 2004] didn’t have the value in the past but are getting more desirable because they were among the last ‘made in Italy’ Colnago bikes,” explains Kocjan — newer models are now produced in Taiwan (he has a C40 from 2000 with a hand-painted “Art Decor” paint scheme on sale at €1,899). In 2023 he sold Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar’s V3RS, the top of the range carbon-fibre model, for an undisclosed sum. 

These days, Digby says, lots of collectors are simply looking for “a show pony, a wall wanger”. The most flamboyant of these is surely the gold-leaf-embellished C67 Gioiello, studded with a 2.3ct diamond, that sold at Sotheby’s in May 2023 for $133,000. You’d be a fool to ride it — but there’s no better expression of Colnago’s talent for turning a bike into a work of art.

FT : Thousands of company directors leave UK after Labour’s tax changes

Thousands of company directors leave UK after Labour’s tax changes
FT analysis finds jump in departures with UAE the top destination

A wave of directors has left Britain since Sir Keir Starmer’s government abolished favourable tax treatment for non-domiciled residents and raised other duties on the wealthy, with the United Arab Emirates the most popular destination.

From last year’s October Budget until last month, 3,790 company directors reported leaving the UK, compared with 2,712 in the same period a year earlier, according to an analysis of Companies House filings by the Financial Times.

The analysis identified business figures whose departure from Britain was not previously known, including Mark Makepeace, founder of market index provider FTSE Russell, Bart Becht, former boss of Reckitt Benckiser, and Riccardo Silva, an investor in AC Milan and owner of Miami Football Club.

Eddie Hearn, the prominent Essex boxing promoter, has also changed his residence to Monaco, along with John Reece, the finance director of Britain’s largest private company Ineos, the FT found.

In the Budget, Labour confirmed the end of the tax regime for so-called non-doms, UK residents who declared their long-term home was overseas to avoid paying British taxes on their global income and assets.

Other changes included limiting inheritance tax relief on businesses, raising capital gains tax and increasing duties on private equity bosses.

The departures rose to a monthly peak of 691 in April 2025, just as the non-doms changes took effect. This figure was 79 per cent per cent higher than the same month in 2024 and 104 per cent per cent higher than in 2023.



Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering changes to the raid on non-doms but strained public finances mean she is unlikely to reverse the policy entirely. The government has said it will focus on taxpayers with the “broadest shoulders”.

A director of an investment firm who has recently left for Milan said: “People love the UK, they love the culture, the schools. But they are also in the business of wanting to grow their investments and the UK has created so much tax friction that it has become too uncertain and too risky to stay.”


No official data exists on the numbers of wealthy people leaving Britain in response to Labour’s tax changes. Some surveys showing a big increase in the number of millionaires departing have been criticised over their methodology.

Official assessments have assumed a rise in departures but the government’s modelling of the new non-doms policy did not give a public forecast of the overall number of people leaving the UK.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasted the changes to the non-dom regime would raise £33.8bn over the next five years, but added this was “highly uncertain” because it depended on the decisions of a relatively small number of wealthy people.

The FT analysis only captures individuals who chose to retain at least one UK directorship while registering a change in their country of residence. Their tax domicile is also unknown. But the surge in departures in this small sample will add weight to concerns about an exodus.

While the figures are swollen by large numbers of foreign nationals reporting a return home — particularly to China and Germany — the departures reported by UK nationals has also risen markedly.


A British private equity boss who recently left for Italy said: “The UK is now seen as less welcoming to wealth creators and there are plenty of other places they can go instead, and some are even setting up incentives to make it more attractive.”

Many British directors opted for the UAE, where Dubai has become a haven for the global wealthy in part because it has no individual income or capital gains tax, followed by Spain and then the US.

A large proportion of the British departures to the UAE are directors of small to medium-sized businesses.

Italy has also attracted billionaires, including Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris, who holds Egyptian, Belgian, and Emirati citizenship, after the government introduced a €200,000 flat tax on foreign income that allows new arrivals to escape inheritance tax on foreign assets.

Sawiris blamed “years of incompetence” by the “most left-leaning Conservative party in history” for his decision to leave the UK.


Arun Advani, director of the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation, which has advocated for higher taxes, said: “It isn’t surprising that tax changes would have led to an uptick in departures. That was always expected and was included in OBR projections.”

He said the UK could benefit from imposing an exit tax on the capital gains of people who cease to be tax resident, a policy held by countries including Canada, Australia and the US.

A Treasury spokesperson said: “The UK remains highly attractive. Our main capital gains tax rate is lower than any other G7 European country and our new residence-based regime is simpler and more attractive than the previous one, whilst it also addresses tax system unfairness so every long-term resident pays their taxes here.”

Jonathan Reynolds, business secretary, said that he had “no concerns in pitching how competitive a place we are”, with tax rates that compared well with other countries.

Reynolds claimed that the new four-year residence-based tax regime for non-doms was “comparable to other countries”. He added: “The non-dom regime itself is something from the colonial era. It’s right to have a modern tax system.”

FT Lebanese government tells army to prepare plan to disarm Hizbollah

Lebanese government tells army to prepare plan to disarm Hizbollah
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam under mounting pressure from the US to take the militant group’s weapons

Lebanon’s government has told the army to devise a plan that would bring Hizbollah’s weapons under the control of the state by the end of the year, as the country’s political leaders come under mounting US pressure to disarm the Iran-backed militant group. 

After reviewing a US proposal to disarm Hizbollah, the government tasked the army with presenting “an actionable plan” by the end of August, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said after a meeting of his cabinet on Tuesday.

But the government postponed further discussion of the divisive proposal previously outlined by US envoy Tom Barrack until later.

Two ministers seen as aligned with Hizbollah and its political ally Amal left the cabinet meeting early because they disagreed with the outcome, information minister Paul Morcos said. 

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun said last week his country’s amendments to the US proposal to disarm Hizbollah would be presented to the cabinet meeting, adding the plan included taking the group’s weapons.

As the cabinet convened on Tuesday, Hizbollah leader Naim Qassem rejected a deadline for the group’s disarmament and dismissed what he said were America’s demands.

“If you look at the deal Barrack brought, you won’t find a deal, you’ll find dictates, stripping Hizbollah and Lebanon’s power . . . it’s completely in Israel’s interest,” he said. 

Hizbollah has defied growing calls from Lebanon’s political leaders and its domestic rivals to disarm, saying the group’s weapons are necessary to defend the country against Israel.

Salam and Aoun came to power in January following Israel’s latest war with Hizbollah, which involved the Israel Defense Forces invading Lebanon and left the group severely weakened.

The war was triggered when Hizbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in the days after Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, launched its October 7, 2023 attack on the Jewish state.

An agreement that ended the war in November said Hizbollah would withdraw from parts of Lebanon south of the Litani river near the border with Israel.

The deal also said UN security council resolution 1701, which stipulates that Lebanese weapons be under the authority of the state, would be implemented. 

Despite the agreement, which said Israel should withdraw from Lebanon entirely, the Israeli military has occupied five locations in the south and continued to carry out regular air strikes on what it has said are Hizbollah targets. 

Qassem said on Tuesday that, if Israel were to launch another full-scale war on Lebanon, “missiles would fall” on the Jewish state.  

When they came into office, Salam and Aoun vowed to monopolise weapons in the hands of the Lebanese state and see through full implementation of UN resolution 1701.

However, the government has been unwilling to take Hizbollah’s weapons by force, and negotiations with the group appear to have made little progress.

WSJ : HHS to Wind Down mRNA Vaccine Programs

HHS to Wind Down mRNA Vaccine Programs
The move includes terminating 22 vaccine investments and canceling and shrinking various contracts and solicitations

  • HHS is ending its mRNA vaccine development work under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.
  • The decision follows a review that found mRNA vaccines ineffective against upper respiratory infections.
  • The canceled projects include a Moderna grant and contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech.

The Department of Health and Human Services said it is winding down its mRNA vaccine-development activities under the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

The move includes terminating 22 vaccine investments and canceling and shrinking various contracts and solicitations, HHS said Tuesday.

HHS said it reviewed its investments in mRNA-related programs initiated after Covid-19 broke out. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the review showed the vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections such as Covid-19 and influenza.

Included in the wind-down is the cancellation of BARDA’s grant to Moderna for its mRNA-based H5N1 vaccine, the termination of contracts with Emory University and Tiba Biotech and removing mRNA-related work in existing contracts with Luminary Labs, ModeX and Seqirus. The department is also rejecting or canceling multiple proposals for awards.

No new mRNA-based projects will be initiated, HHS said. The department has also told Global Health Investment Corp., which manages BARDA, to cease all mRNA-based equity investments. That would affect 22 projects worth nearly $500 million, HHS said.

The funding would be reallocated toward broader vaccine platforms, Kennedy said.

WSJ : The NFL Is Taking a 10% Stake in Disney’s ESPN

The NFL Is Taking a 10% Stake in Disney’s ESPN
The media giant will take ownership of NFL Network as part of swap valued in the neighborhood of $3 billion

  • The NFL will take a 10% stake in ESPN, estimated between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, in exchange for media assets like NFL Network.
  • ESPN will add NFL Network to its channel lineup and distribute NFL RedZone to pay-TV operators, retaining ownership with the league.
  • The deal, subject to regulatory approval, aims to strengthen the bond between the NFL and ESPN amid growing competition in sports media.

The National Football League has struck a wide-reaching deal with Disney DIS -0.86%decrease; red down pointing triangle in which it will take a 10% stake in the ESPN sports empire in return for control of key media assets including NFL Network.

Neither Disney nor the NFL would disclose the value of the ESPN stake. Analysts have estimated ESPN’s valuation at between $25 billion and $30 billion, putting the NFL’s piece in the $2.5 billion to $3 billion range.

The tie-up, between two of the biggest names in entertainment and sports, furthers the symbiotic relationship between media companies and athletic leagues that is moving beyond just traditional rights deals to televise games.

Through a content partnership with Skydance Media, the NFL will also have equity in rights holder CBS after Skydance closes its deal to acquire the network’s parent Paramount Global this week.

Under the terms of the agreement, ESPN will add NFL Network to its stable of sports channels. It will also distribute the NFL’s Red Zone channel to pay-TV operators, although ownership and digital distribution rights will remain with the league.

For ESPN, the deal strengthens the bond with its most important content provider as it prepares to launch a streaming version of its flagship network later this fall. The addition of more NFL content will likely increase interest in the service.

The NFL in turn not only gets a piece of a key Disney asset, but also ensures the future of its two channels which, although popular, will benefit from being part of a media behemoth.

The deal will need regulatory approval and, given the power of the NFL and ESPN, might face scrutiny from lawmakers. Assuming the partnership is approved and closed, Disney’s stake in ESPN will drop to 72% from 80% while minority owner Hearst will go to 18% from 20%.

ESPN and the NFL have been dancing around each other for several years.

“These conversations really have gone on for well over a decade,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “I would really say the last year even more so over the last couple of months where I think we’ve recognized the value that we both can bring to our consumers, to our fans, and that this was the right time.”

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who also chairs the league’s media committee, said in an interview that the equity element is “really a commitment beyond whatever the contract is” in terms of the partnership. He added that aspects of the new deal with ESPN will help the league grow the salary cap, which in turn could solidify the league’s relationship with the players union.

The NFL cozying up with one of its biggest rights holders might become a point of concern for its other media partners, one analyst said.

“The league being a part owner in one of its distribution partners should raise the question of whether that entity is getting favorable treatment relative to other networks and streamers that air games,” said Guggenheim Securities analyst Michael Morris.

Goodell and Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger played down those concerns. Goodell said the league’s relationships with its other media partners will “continue to flourish.”

While ESPN has long been the most dominant player in sports media, it is facing increased competition not only from traditional players such as Comcast’s NBCUniversal but also deep-pocketed streaming services including Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video.

Citing the strength of the ESPN brand, Iger said of the competition, “it’s not like we’re losing sleep over our position eroding.”

In NFL Network, ESPN will have a 24-7 news channel for the league as well as home to seven exclusive regular season games. NFL Network is currently in about 50 million homes.

As part of the deal, ESPN will need to license NFL Network’s games from the league.

Although much smaller than NFL Network, the NFL’s RedZone has a very loyal audience. The in-season Sunday-only network that carries live action from all the afternoon games is particularly popular among hardcore fans and fantasy football players. The channel is in fewer than 10 million homes, which the league hopes can increase under ESPN’s guidance.

There have been limits to how aggressively the NFL can make RedZone available, as rights holders to Sunday games have expressed concern that the network is a potential threat to their own coverage of games.

“Somebody watching RedZone is arguably not watching the live game, so there is a question as to whether that network is additive to overall viewing or cannibalistic to full-game audience,” said Guggenheim’s Morris.

ESPN will also have the ability to launch RedZone type channels for other sports as part of the deal, although Iger said there is nothing on the immediate horizon.

One potential wrinkle is that ESPN’s NFL journalists and commentators will now be covering a league that owns a stake in the company.

Iger maintained that “Nothing in this deal in any way changes ESPN’s approach when it comes to journalism.”

WSJ : How Palantir Won Over Washington—and Pushed Its Stock Up 600%

How Palantir Won Over Washington—and Pushed Its Stock Up 600%
The onetime Silicon Valley upstart has emerged as a power player in Trump’s second term—and adopted his persona

Palantir CEO’s prescient decisions to leverage geopolitical crises, technological trends and Washington connections have positioned the company as a power player.
Palantir reported record earnings and soaring U.S. government contracts but faces ethical concerns over its AI applications.
Palantir’s work with immigration enforcement and Saudi Arabia has sparked ethical concerns among employees and critics.

In early 2023, Palantir Chief Executive Alex Karp publicly announced the company had a new artificial-intelligence product that was “currently under development.”

Palantir engineers were stunned. They weren’t building any such product. But Karp recognized where the world was going and, as he had done before, he put Palantir Technologies PLTR 7.85%increase; green up pointing triangle in the white-hot center of the latest trend reshaping the global order. His engineers, he assumed, would figure out how to build it. They did.

The blind run into AI is one of a series of decisions by Palantir that have positioned the company today as a power player in the Trump administration, an integral tool for national security and the most expensive stock in the S&P 500. On Monday, it reported its best-ever earnings with more than $1 billion in revenue in the second quarter, 53% growth in earnings from U.S. government contracts and total booked contracts valued at $2.3 billion.

Its stock, already at a record and up more than 600% from a year ago, soared another 7.9% on Tuesday.

The company’s transformation from an awkward Silicon Valley upstart trying to make it as a government contractor has also emboldened it. Some of its recent and prospective deals toe the lines of what even some of the company’s current and former employees consider a violation of ethical applications of AI and moral uses of software by government—and Palantir is unapologetic.

As it has ascended, Palantir’s leadership has adopted a persona not unlike President Trump himself: taunting its critics, lambasting the media, and showing contempt for the departed employees who have sounded alarms about Palantir’s recent work. In particular, some former employees have said they viewed the company’s assistance on Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement as potentially eroding the company’s own civil-liberties policies.

“We are sorry that our haters are disappointed, but there are many more quarters to be disappointed and we are working on that too,” Karp said Monday on a call with investors. He advised Palantir’s devoted base of individual investors to “stop talking to all the haters, they’re suffering.”

The company has taken a similar approach overseas, too, where it brings in about a quarter of its revenue. Last week, after Palantir received inquiries from German media outlets, the company put out a statement in German blasting journalists for “tendentious questions” based on ignorance.

Palantir builds data-management software that can centralize and analyze large and disparate data sets. Its platform can help soldiers determine the locations of enemy drones, sailors keep tabs on ship parts, immigration officials find unauthorized immigrants or health officials process and track drug approvals.

Since its founding in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks by Karp and Peter Thiel—a crucial supporter of Trump’s first presidential campaign and longtime patron of Vice President JD Vance—the company has placed the government, and particularly the U.S. national-security apparatus, as its most important customer.

In keeping with that, it has followed the Trump administration’s lead, leaning hard into the president’s America-first agenda by providing software used in the deportation of immigrants, boosting manufacturing and shipbuilding, making a bid to build out the planned missile-defense shield called Golden Dome, and chasing AI deals in the Gulf states.

At an AI summit in Washington last month, Trump thanked tech leaders, including Palantir’s chief technology officer, Shyam Sankar. “We buy a lot of things from Palantir,” Trump said.

Palantir received more than $322 million from government contracts in the first six months of 2025, a 12% increase from the same period two years earlier. The government wins track the company’s steady progress from the same period in 2019, in Trump’s first term, when federal contracts accounted for just around $89 million.

It has won over the Army in particular, which Palantir once sued for unfair contracting practices. Sankar was commissioned in the U.S. Army Reserve in June, in another high-profile moment that burnished the company’s patriotic image. The Army re-upped Palantir’s work on the artificial-intelligence platform Maven Smart System, which bumped the value of the contract to potentially more than $1 billion; awarded the company a contract worth potentially $100 million to help Anduril Industries develop a new command-and-control center; and last week announced a $10 billion contract that represents a consolidation of existing software contracts.

The company has become so deeply embedded in the Defense Department that some current and former Pentagon officials said they worried about becoming overdependent on a single contractor for their data-processing needs, not unlike how the government has come to rely on Elon Musk’s SpaceX for most of its space-launch needs. There is a lot of money to go around—the Defense Department spent more than $58 billion on software in the last fiscal year.

Karp said on Monday that he expected the company’s U.S. earnings would grow 10-fold in the next five years—an astonishing prediction that bullish analysts say isn’t far-fetched. His prescient decisions to leverage geopolitical crises and Washington connections, and put his company in a position to respond to any crisis within 24 to 36 hours, have helped drive the company’s ascendance, according to people close to the company.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Palantir secured contracts to track the virus and vaccine production and distribution. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Karp personally traveled to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to Palantir technology being integrated into more than half a dozen Ukrainian government and military agencies. In the days after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israel, Palantir leadership was on a plane to Israel. Karp, who is Jewish, later reveled in the pro-Palestinian protests he faced in the U.S. When Trump rolled out his mass deportation agenda, Palantir was there to help.

This spring, it secured its most controversial contract: a six-month pilot to build out an app that integrates data from across the government to assist with immigration enforcement. The company and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement will assess after the pilot whether to continue the work, which has rankled some current and former employees, who see it as an unwelcome extension of Palantir’s work helping the Department of Homeland Security combat crimes such as human trafficking that began under President Barack Obama. Thirteen former employees signed an open letter in May calling Palantir’s work with immigration enforcement “normalizing authoritarianism.”

Palantir said in a statement that it hasn’t backpedaled any of its policies, and only a tiny fraction of its more than 4,000 former employees have raised concerns.

Palantir leadership has said the company assesses the risks of every contract for potential violations of its principles on civil liberties and privacy. Palantir says its software logs how users access the data and tracks the origin and flow of all data, preventing fraud and abuse. Ultimately, though, the government decides how the data is used. Some of Palantir’s competitors have put more explicit limits on the use of their software, according to people familiar with the matter.

Breaking with the administration could put Palantir’s government contracts at risk, not unlike how Trump looked to slash SpaceX contracts after his falling out with Musk. At the same time, Palantir has expanded its influence within the Trump administration since January, with former senior employees and an adviser to Karp being tapped for top government positions.

Palantir’s former head of intelligence and investigations, Gregory Barbaccia, was appointed as the new federal chief information officer; and Jacob Helberg, a senior adviser to Karp, was tapped to serve in a senior role at the State Department. Clark Minor, another longtime former Palantir employee, was appointed the chief information officer of the Department of Health and Human Services. Minor, along with other Palantir employees, worked with the Department of Government Efficiency.

Karp said he supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election and has been a major Democratic donor, although he has increased donations to Republicans in recent years.

Palantir’s growing influence in Washington also comes in the form of lobbying dollars. Palantir has more than quadrupled its spending on federal lobbying since the first Trump administration. Last year, it spent a record $5.8 million on lobbying, according to federal disclosures, compared with $1.4 million in 2019, and is on track to spend even more this year.

Palantir is leveraging its prominence at home and its swaggering, battle-tested image from its involvement in the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East for a global expansion. It is working on what could be a string of lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia, including using its software to help overhaul the country’s healthcare system and helping build out Neom, a futuristic city in the desert that has collided with practical and financial challenges. It already had a contract with Tonomus, a subsidiary of Neom.

The expansion into Saudi is a departure from the company’s stated focus on Western democratic values and freedom of speech and represents a change from around a decade ago, when Palantir exited from the country amid concerns about human-rights abuses by the prior regime, people familiar with the matter said. But it aligns neatly with Trump’s desire to develop the region as a business partner and hub for U.S. technology growth.

Divisive business moves aren’t new for Karp, who has long courted controversy as part of Palantir’s DNA and shrugged off the backlash even from his rank and file. “We are not everyone’s cup of tea,” he said in 2023. “You may not agree with that, and bless you. Don’t work here.”

>>> US After Hours Summary: ANET +13.9%, SKY +13.3%, LRN +11.2%, KVYO +11% highe

After Hours Summary: ANET +13.9%, SKY +13.3%, LRN +11.2%, KVYO +11% higher on earnings; IONQ +1.5% as AMZN discloses new position; SNAP -16.2%, SMCI -15.6%, POWL -12.4% lower on earnings

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: MYGN +34.4%, JELD +21.2%, FLYW +18%, CRCT +15.7%, ANET +13.9%, ALAB +13.3%, RNG +13.3% (also names new CFO; also renewed collaboration with NICE), SKY +13.3%, LRN +11.2%, KVYO +11%, SGC +10.6%, GO +10.2%, CYRX +9.8%, ADPT +7.7%, LEU +7.7%, ANGI +7.2%, QLYS +7.2%, ZETA +7%, PRCH +6.3%, CURI +6.2%, RIGL +5.8%, DV +5.7%, PCTY +5.7% (also share buyback auth increased by $500 mln), REZI +5.6%, DEI +5.1%, SSRM +4.8%, TDC +4.3%, EGHT +4.2%, MTCH +4.2%, SUPN +4.2%, CRUS +3.8%, IFF +3.7% (also to divest soy crush, concentrates & lecithin business; also authorizes new $500 mln share repurchase program), NCMI +3.7% (also files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), LMAT +1.7%, OR +1.7%, BWIN +1.5%, GXO +1.4% (also CFO to step down), SWKS +1.3% (also increases dividend), BL +1% (also Therese Tucker, Co-CEO and Founder, to transition from her role as Co-CEO; Owen Ryan, currently Co-CEO and Chairman, will continue as sole CEO), HNGE +1%, CC +0.9%, RVLV +0.9%, SNEX +0.6%, SPR +0.5%, ATEN +0.4%, SITC +0.4%, PARR +0.3%, RARE +0.3%, SU +0.3%, MRUS +0.3%, OUT +0.1%, QGEN +0.1%, VOYA +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: CIX +2.8% (declares special div of $1/sh), ICFI +1.9% (launches ICF Fathom, a new suite of AI offerings for federal agencies), IONQ +1.5% (AMZN discloses new position in IONQ), PBI +0.6% ($200 mln in convertible notes), KD +0.3% (AI collaboration with Nova Intelligence), CIFR +0.2% (provides July update), SERV +0.1% (partners with Little Caesar's to deliver pizzas via UBER), ASR +0.1% (July traffic data), ULS +0.1% (files mixed shelf; also files for offering by selling shareholders)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: LFMD -28.9%, EOLS -27.4%, PSNL -23%, OPEN -22.2%, APPS -22.1% (also files mixed shelf), SNAP -16.2%, SMCI -15.6%, HCKT -14.4%, GSM -13.6% (also withdrawing guidance), BBIO -12.9%, POWL -12.4%, AIP -10.7%, DAWN -10.6%, BOOM -10.3%, WTTR -10.2% (also evaluation of strategic alternatives for Peak Rentals), CDRE -8.9%, LCID -8.7%, AEIS -8.4%, CLOV -8.4%, MEC -7.9%, HY -7.6%, PAYS -7.3%, UPST -7.1%, MNTN -7%, JAZZ -6.4%, RRX -6.4%, MOS -5.9%, KMPR -5.6% (also authorizes new $500 mln share repurchase program), RIVN -4.8%, ACEL -4.8%, AMD -4.1%, VSTS -4%, ACHC -3.9%, LMB -3.8%, AMTM -3.6%, DVA -3.5%, PCRX -3.1%, MASI -2.7%, ARDT -2.5%, VSAT -2.1%, IPAR -1.9%, TOST -1.9%, NE -1.5%, AFG -1.1%, AMGN -0.9%, CPNG -0.8%, CWEN -0.7% (also increases dividend), ELME -0.7% (also to sell 19 multifamily communities for $1.6 bln; plans sale of remaining assets and liquidation and dissolution of Elme), DVN -0.3%, INVX -0.2%, GPOR -0.2%, AFL -0.1%, AIZ -0.1%, VTOL -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: METC -14.6% ($150 mln stock offering; also files mixed securities shelf offering), SOPH -6.4% (files for 200,000 ordinary share offering by selling shareholders; also files for $200 mln mixed securities shelf offering), ARR -2.2% (commences 18.5 mln share offering), INCY -0.9% (CFO to step down), CCCS -0.8% (30 mln share offering), CBOE -0.2% (July trading volume), BR -0.2% (files mixed securities shelf offering), B -0.1% (publishes GISTM TSF disclosures)

>>> US Gapping down

Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
  • AGL -32.2% (also CEO steps down), INSP -27.3%, ICHR -26.4% (also CEO to step down), NVTS -19.6%, NVRI -16.7%, SES -14.6%, VRTX -14% (also Phase 2 study results for VX-993), CRSP -13.2%, SEMR -13.1%, HIMS -12.4%, IT -12.2%, EPC -11%, EVER -10.8% (also authorizes new $50 mln share repurchase program), KD -8.7%, FOUR -8%, GFS -7%, ODD -6.8%, ANDE -6.7%, MELI -5.7%, AL -5.2%, ETN -5.1%, BRBR -5%, NJR -4.8%, HSIC -4.7%, ARMK -4%, AHCO -4%, IAC -3.9%, ADTN -3.8%, CAT -3.1%, MD -3%, FMS -3%, FANG -2.8%, OCUL -2.6%, OCSL -2.3%, SBRA -2.1%, ALSN -1.7%, BGS -1.5% (also files for $800 mln mixed securities shelf offering), NSA -1.5%, WMB -1.5%, MSA -1.4%, UFPT -1.4%, LCII -1.4%, TAP -1.2%, OKE -1.1%, MPC -1.1%, YUM -1.1%, VOYG -1%
Other news:
  • NVRI -16.7% (Board of Directors has authorized management to conduct a formal process to evaluate and explore strategic alternatives aimed at unlocking shareholder value) SCLX -5.1% (stock offering by selling shareholders)
  • AWK -2.8% (prices offering of 7,042,254 shares of common stock at $142.00 per share)
  • COIN -2.1% (intention to offer, subject to market conditions and other factors, $1.0 bln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2029 and $1.0 bln aggregate principal amount of Convertible Senior Notes due 2032 in a private offering)
  • WEAV -2% (names new CTO)
  • SAND -1.6% (supports Royal Gold's (RGLD) acquisition of Kansanshi Gold Stream)
  • BGS -1.5% (files for $800 mln mixed securities shelf offering)
  • KLTR -1.2% (VOD and KLTR extend partnership)
  • GEOS -1% (acquires Heartbeat Detector technology)
Analyst comments:
  • NVO -1.9% (downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS)
  • AKAM -1.6% (downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley)
  • IP -1.2% (downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan)

>>> US Gapping up

Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
  • CSTL +24.7%, AMRC +21.1%, PRIM +19.2%, PRAA +15.9%, SNN +15.5%, VMEO +15.4%, TDUP +15.3%, SNDX +14.5%, BWXT +13.8%, TCMD +13.3%, ARDX +12.1% (also CFO/COO to step down, names new CMO), MDGL +11.5%, RAIL +10.7%, LMND +10%, ACLS +10%, HLIO +9.6% (also to sell Custom Fluidpower to Questas Group), ZTS +9.2%, DOCN +8.9%, AXON +8.1%, HSII +8%, DORM +8%, NGVT +7.7%, SBH +7.4%, SHLS +7.2%, ZBRA +7.1% (also announces acquisition), EVGO +6.8%, BMRN +6.3%, GTM +6.1% (also names new CFO), TDW +6%, PLTR +5.9%, PAY +5.7%, CRGY +5.2%, YOU +5.1%, DD +5.1%, CWK +5.1%, RXRX +5%, DAN +4.7%, LSCC +4.6%, ALGT +4.6%, PLOW +4.5%, STRL +4.4%, CBT +4.4% (also acquires Mexico Carbon Manufacturing), BLX +4.4%, VTS +4.1%, EQR +3.7%, VVX +3.7%, SEE +3.5%, LDOS +3.2%, YUMC +3.1%, SLAB +3.1%, STR +3%, BALL +2.5%, PFE +2.5%, DENN +2.4%, EHC +2.3%, OTTR +2.3%, BP +2.2%, JBTM +2.1%, GHM +2.1%, WLK +2%, AZTA +2%, LTH +2%, RYTM +2%, NPO +1.9%, DUK +1.9%, BEAM +1.9%, CTRA +1.8%, RIG +1.8%, KNF +1.8%, MAR +1.7%, SRAD +1.6%, J +1.5%, DEO +1.2%, LGIH +1.2%, STVN +1.1%, CSR +1% (also authorizes new $100 mln share repurchase program), ADUS +1%, AMRX +1%
Other news:
  • AIP +62.6% (AMD has licensed FlexGen)
  • STAA +43.5% (STAAR Surgical to be acquired by Alcon (ALC) for $28.00 per share in cash)
  • SEE +3.5% (names new CFO)
  • BTCM +3.4% (advances Solana strategy with 27,191 SOL purchase and Validator Launch)
  • IEP +3.1% (files for $1.2 bln mixed securities shelf offering)
  • AGIO +3% (PYRUKYND approved in Saudi Arabia)
  • CANG +3% (announces July 2025 bitcoin production and mining operations update)
  • ARW +2.2% (CEO bought 8630 shares)
  • SATL +1.5% (expands agreement with HEO)
  • SIRI +1.2% (10% owner Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett) bought another 5,030,425 shares at $20.36 - $21.82 worth about $106.5 mln)
Analyst comments:
  • LOGI +4% (upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas Exane)
  • W +2.4% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup)
  • EA +0.8% (upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Arete)