TheChek News Flow

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 5th of May 2026 V3(++)

>>> Up

* Aixtron Raised to Neutral at Van Lanschot Kempen; PT 41 euros

* BT Raised to Buy at BofA (+)

* Bureau Veritas Raised to Sector Perform at RBC; PT 26 euros

* CATL H-Share Raised to Overweight at MS on Growth Visibility

* H&R Raised to Add at Baader Helvea; PT 5 euros (+)

* Hafnia Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 91 kroner

* Intertek Raised to Outperform at RBC; PT 5,850 pence

* L'Oreal Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas; PT 414 euros

* L'Oreal ADRs Raised to Neutral at BNP Paribas; PT $97

* Melexis PT Raised to 82 euros from 70 euros at Berenberg

* Naturgy Raised to Buy at BofA (+)

* Orange Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 21.60 euros
* Sandoz Group Raised to Overweight at Barclays

* Scout24 Raised to Outperform at Grupo Santander; PT 94.50 euros

* SGS Raised to Sector Perform at RBC

* Spirax Raised to Outperform at BNP Paribas; PT 8,350 pence

* Torm Raised to Buy at SEB Equities; PT 231 kroner

>>> Down

* Austriacard Cut to Hold at Wood & Company; PT 8.60 euros

* Douglas Cut to Hold at Kepler Cheuvreux

* Fuchs Price Target Cut to EUR 47 from EUR 50 by Bank of America

* Maasoeval Cut to Hold at Arctic Securities; PT 35 kroner

* Magnora Cut to Hold at Fearnley; PT 29 kroner (+)

* NKT Cut to Hold at Jyske Bank; PT 950 kroner (+)
* Planisware Cut to Neutral at Citi; PT 20 euros

* Pony AI ADRs Cut to Neutral at President Capital Management

* X-Fab Silicon Foundries Cut to Hold at Berenberg

>>> Initiation
* Acea Rated New Outperform at Oddo BHF; PT 27 euros

* Burberry Rated New Hold at Berenberg; PT 1,080 pence

* Delivery Hero ADRs Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT $3.63

* Kodal Minerals Rated New Buy at Peel Hunt

* Mha Rated New Buy at Investec; PT 192 pence (+)

* Princes Group Rated New Buy at Canaccord; PT 625 pence (+)

* Neste Rated New Sell at SB1 Markets; PT 25 euros

>>> Call

* BT Raised to Buy at BofA on Fibre Build, Dividend Re-Rating (+)

* Goldman Strategists Surprised by European Stocks’ Resilience (++)

* Naturgy Rises as BofA Rates Buy, Goldman Adds to Conviction List (++)
* Orange Lifted to Buy at Goldman Sachs on Improving Returns (+)

>>> US Early premarket gappers

Early premarket gappers

Gapping up:
- BLZE +45.9%, STRL +21.9%, EVER +19.8%, PINS +16.6%, FLY +11.8%, VVX +8.5%, BUD +7.8%, GPK +7.5%, FTRE +6.9%, TDUP +6.4%, IART +6%, SONO +5.9%, FIS +5.7%, ENLT +5.7%, ATKR +5.6%, WAT +5.2%, INVX +5%, GRAB +4.7%, MD +4.4%, NJR +3.9%, VOYG +3.8%, IIPR +3.8%, ERO +3.8%, CYTK +3.7%, HSTM +3.7%, PAY +3.5%, NBTX +3.3%, LOMA +3.2%, ABVX +3%, TNC +3%, RVTY +3%, MSA +2.6%, ADUS +2.4%, DD +2.4%, LDOS +2.1%, RBA +1.9%, LSCC +1.9%, IDYA +1.7%, AUR +1.6%, AMRZ +1.6%, PSKY +1.6%, ALG +1.6%, JBTM +1.6%, ADM +1.6%, DVN +1.4%, CPB +1.3%, PUMP +1.3%, BALL +1.3%, RIVN +1.2%, BWIN +1.2%, KKR +1.1%, AVA +1.1%, ECVT +1%
Gapping down:
- WGS -41.7%, AVNW -27.3%, INSP -22.2%, EMBC -18.4%, JRVR -15.8%, ICHR -12.4%, FN -10.6%, ADTN -10.1%, OCGN -9%, IAC -8.5%, AUDC -8.4%, DUOL -7.9%, AMRC -7.2%, KOS -6.4%, AEIS -6.2%, rpay -5.5%, MATX -4.9%, FMS -4.9%, BLSH -4.5%, ETN -4.1%, TCMD -4%, HSBC -3.7%, KPTI -3.5%, ON -3.5%, TDW -3.5%, VTRS -3.2%, IRD -3.1%, ADEA -3.1%, OCSL -3.1%, NMFC -3%, POOL -2.6%, POWL -2.6%, VAL -2.5%, CRGY -2.4%, PLTR -2.3%, GBDC -2.2%, VNOM -1.9%, FANG -1.8%, INGR -1.8%, WTS -1.7%

>>> US Research Calls I

Research Calls I

Upgrades:
- Banco Macro (BMA) upgraded to Buy from Hold at HSBC, tgt $85
- Devon Energy (DVN) upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James, tgt $72
- L'Oreal (LRLCY) upgraded to Neutral from Underperform at BNP Paribas Exane
- Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (PAC) upgraded to Outperform from Neutral at Bradesco BBI, tgt $285
- Twist Bioscience (TWST) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Leerink Partners; tgt $70
- UFP Industries (UFPI) upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at BMO Capital, tgt $108
- Ulta Beauty (ULTA) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA Securities, tgt $685
Downgrades:
- Amgen (AMGN) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Erste Group
- Cogent Communications (CCOI) downgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan, tgt $22
- Fermi (FRMI) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS, tgt $6
- Inspire Medical Systems (INSP) downgraded to Neutral from Buy at BofA Securities, tgt $53
- Inspire Medical Systems (INSP) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, tgt $55
- James River Group Holdings (JRVR) downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Citizens
- Roblox (RBLX) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, tgt $50
- Shell plc (SHEL) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Erste Group
- Tractor Supply Company (TSCO) downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at Piper Sandler, tgt $36
- Verizon (VZ) downgraded to Hold from Buy at Erste Group
Others:
- AbCellera Biologics (ABCL) initiated with an Overweight at Cantor Fitzgerald; tgt $7
- ACM Research (ACMR) initiated with a Buy at Seaport Research, tgt $75
- Aclaris Therapeutics (ACRS) initiated with a Buy at Guggenheim, tgt $12
- Adicet Bio (ACET) assumed with a Buy at Jefferies, tgt $19
- Alto Neuroscience (ANRO) initiated with a Buy at BofA Securities, tgt $35
- Apollo Commercial Real Estate (ARI) resumed with a Neutral at BofA Securities; tgt $11.50
- Applied Materials (AMAT) initiated with a Buy at Seaport Research, tgt $500
- Biomea Fusion (BMEA) initiated with an Outperform at Citizens, tgt $9
- Climb Bio (CLYM) initiated with a Buy at Chardan, tgt $22
- Constellium (CSTM) initiated with a Buy at UBS, tgt $38
- Eaton (ETN) initiated with a Buy at Erste Group
- Energy Vault (NRGV) initiated with an Overweight at Cantor Fitzgerald; tgt $7
- Full Truck Alliance (YMM) initiated with a Buy at BofA Securities, tgt $11.30
- GoDaddy (GDDY) assumed with a Neutral at UBS, tgt $100
- Home Depot (HD) resumed with a Buy at BofA Securities; tgt $374
- Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) initiated with a Neutral at UBS, tgt $176
- Lam Research (LRCX) initiated with a Buy at Seaport Research, tgt $300
- Lowe's (LOW) resumed with a Neutral at BofA Securities
- Sionna Therapeutics (SION) initiated with an Outperform at Wedbush, tgt $53
- Tesco PLC (TSCDY) initiated with a Buy at Erste Group
- Ultra Clean (UCTT) initiated with a Buy at UBS, tgt $130

(VRY) French Startup IPFC Unveils AI Rights Model to Protect and Pay Creators

WSJ : Meta’s Cheap Stock Is an Investor Trap

Meta’s Cheap Stock Is an Investor Trap

The company’s advertising business is booming, but deep problems loom pretty much everywhere else

Meta META 0.27%increase; green up pointing triangle Platforms shares look like a stock-market steal. But their bargain-bin price is more of a warning about its uncertain prospects than an opportunity for investors.

Meta’s stock has languished recently as concern grows over its spending on AI, leaving it unusually cheap. The company is trading near its lowest price-to-earnings multiple in three years. At around 18 times forward earnings, its valuation also represents a discount to other big tech companies. The premium for Google-parent Alphabet’s shares against Meta’s is the highest it has been since 2022.

That attractive price does come with an underlying business that’s growing fast. Revenue rose 33% in the first quarter—an eye-popping figure for a company as large as Meta.

Meta has arguably been the most successful big tech company so far at using AI to juice ad sales, which account for nearly all its revenue. It is using AI to show users posts and videos that lead them to watch and click on ads more frequently. AI is also helping it improve conversions—getting users to take actions like buying stuff they see ads about. The conversion rate following clicks on ads increased 6% in the first quarter, the company said. Ad prices are also up. All this is giving Meta big momentum at a time when tech companies are more pressed than ever to show a return on big AI investments.

But there are reasons to doubt whether Meta’s AI party will last.

Looming large in the longer term is user growth. The company has a huge base of users—more than 3.5 billion people used Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger daily in the first quarter. Growth, though, isn’t impressive: Users rose 4% year-over-year in the quarter but declined sequentially, something that had never happened since it began reporting its active-user metric in 2019.

Meta executives believe their AI-infused ad strategy gives them plenty of runway to grow revenue further. Without better user growth, though, it is only a matter of time before Meta reaches a natural limit to what AI can do for the ad business it relies on.

And Meta, unlike its big-tech peers, has little to fall back on if that ad business reaches its limits. Meta doesn’t have a cloud-computing business like Amazon AMZN 1.41%increase; green up pointing triangle, Microsoft MSFT -0.20%decrease; red down pointing triangle or Google that could provide another way to generate returns from AI or drive sales during a soft patch for ads. It doesn’t have Amazon’s e-commerce operation or Microsoft’s corporate-software franchise, either.

Meta has made a small but fast-growing business out of its AI-infused smartglasses; but despite the company’s grand ambitions for them, there is little prospect of those glasses replacing people’s smartphones or sending revenue skyrocketing soon. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s other non-ad ventures, including a video-calling device and virtual-reality headsets, have largely been flops.

Given the narrowness of Meta’s business and its spotty track record broadening it, there is valid worry about its spending on the AI model development race, especially since it remains behind rivals. Meta released a new AI model called Muse Spark last month that puts it in closer competition with Google, Anthropic and OpenAI—at enormous cost and following numerous shake-ups in its AI strategy.

Investors are running out of patience with the large spending and limited prospect for returns. Meta’s stock plunged after an earnings report last week that included a $10 billion boost to planned capital spending to around $135 billion this year.

And the company is piling on debt to keep that spending going, weakening its balance sheet. Meta had more than $57 billion of long-term debt at the end of the first quarter, up from around $10 billion around the time the AI craze kicked off at the end of 2022. That total doesn’t even include a $25 billion bond Meta sold last week, or an off-balance-sheet vehicle it is using to build a $27 billion data center in Louisiana.

The spending growth looks increasingly unsustainable, even with Meta’s revenue growing strongly. The rise in Meta’s estimated cash costs this year—the amount of money going out the door for AI and other expenses—significantly outstrips its forecast revenue growth, according to an analysis from New Street Research’s Pierre Ferragu. As he put it in a recent report: “Meta spends more than it can afford.”

As it tries to make its way in the AI race, Meta also faces an array of legal challenges that are harder to quantify but could impact its business and user growth. Australia in December banned kids under 16 from using social media, and recent court losses in the U.S. in cases involving social-media addiction and harm to children are likely to fuel further lawsuits.

Markets can be fickle. But there are good reasons to doubt Meta’s prospects—even if its shares look historically cheap.

WSJ : UnitedHealth to Make It Easier for Patients to Get a Range of Procedures

UnitedHealth to Make It Easier for Patients to Get a Range of Procedures

Insurer will reduce required authorizations by 30%, easing access to some tests, surgeries and therapy

UnitedHealth UNH 0.53%increase; green up pointing triangle Group plans to stop requiring doctors to get approvals for an array of procedures, tests and services, cutting back on a process that has long been detested by physicians and patients.

UnitedHealth, parent of the biggest U.S. health insurer, said the changes will slash the number of reviews by nearly a third starting later this year. Doctors have long complained about the paperwork they must complete to get insurers’ permission for care, which can lead to delays and denials.

UnitedHealthcare will stop requiring signoffs for tests including echocardiograms, some chiropractic care and certain outpatient surgeries. Also on the list is some outpatient therapy.

The insurer said it is using technology backed by artificial intelligence to help reduce the need for pre-authorization reviews.

The rollback is part of an effort by health insurers to counter a backlash against pre-authorizations. Rivals like CVS Health’s Aetna and Cigna Group have also made moves to ease these types of reviews.

Surveys of doctors and patients have shown that the insurers’ validation process is a top gripe. Industry organizations say that insurers have eliminated 11% of pre-authorizations since the groups launched a reform effort in 2025. Groups representing hospitals and doctors have said they have seen limited impact so far.

Insurers have long argued that preapproval requirements are important to prevent costly and unnecessary procedures and ensure patients’ safety.

Tim Noel, UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, said his company’s announcement is an early signal of how technology backed by AI can change healthcare’s complicated financial system. Instead of broadly requiring pre-authorization for certain procedures, the insurer can increasingly use data analysis to quickly detect if particular healthcare providers have spiking patterns of questionable use and raise the issue directly with them, he said.

“My hope is that patients and providers experience something a lot different, a lot less abrasive,” he said, with the goal that the pre-authorization process will ultimately be far faster and more automated. Noel said AI doesn’t make decisions to deny care. The company said it currently approves 92% of requests, and the reviews take less than 24 hours on average.

UnitedHealth said around 2% of its total claims are now subject to the prior approval process. That still equates to millions of reviews a year.

UnitedHealthcare is aiming to standardize pre-authorization requirements among its different lines of business, which include Medicare, Medicaid and employer plans. The insurer is also removing the step for certain services that are nearly always approved, and for some that other insurers didn’t require.

The company had earlier pledged to improve pre-authorization with changes such as a “gold card” program that would let some approved doctor groups avoid some authorization requirements.

Artificial intelligence is being widely deployed by both insurers and hospitals to manage healthcare billing. A survey released last year by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that 68% of the responding health insurers were using, planning to use or considering using AI to review pre-authorizations for approval, and 12% said the same thing about denials.

>>> La Lettre — Édition du 5 mai 2026 (FR & EN)

La Lettre — Édition du 5 mai 2026

1. Défense — Les industriels ukrainiens à Bruxelles

FR. En marge du sommet EU-Ukraine des 22-23 avril, Ukrainian Armor (DG Vladislav Belbas) a déployé une opération de lobbying institutionnel à Bruxelles, conduite par Yurii Oshyiko (relations institutionnelles) et accompagnée du cabinet Rasmussen Global. Rendez-vous obtenus : eurodéputés tchèques Alexandr Vondra (CRE, commission défense) et Ondrej Kolar (PPE) ; Michael Gahler (PPE, coordinateur AFET) ; Petras Austrevicius (Renew, rapporteur fictif Ukraine) ; DG Defis ; SEAE via Cosmin Dobran (directeur partenariats et gestion de crise). En décembre 2025, l’entreprise avait déjà rencontré Ramunas Stanionis, cabinet du commissaire à la défense Andrius Kubilius. Contexte : depuis la défaite de Viktor Orbán (13 avril), les Vingt-Sept peuvent débloquer 60 Md€ d’intérêts russes gelés ; Kiev est partie prenante d’EDIP (1,5 Md€) et SAFE (150 Md€). Partenariat ASD-UCDI signé en mai 2025. Ukrainian Armor — partenaire du tchèque Czechoslovak Group (CSG) sur les munitions 155 mm — produit des éléments du canon Bohdana, concurrent direct du Caesar de KNDS.

EN. On the sidelines of the EU-Ukraine summit (22-23 April), Ukrainian Armor (CEO Vladislav Belbas) ran a Brussels lobbying push led by Yurii Oshyiko (institutional relations), supported by Rasmussen Global. Meetings secured with Czech MEPs Alexandr Vondra (ECR, defence committee) and Ondrej Kolar (EPP); Michael Gahler (EPP, AFET coordinator); Petras Austrevicius (Renew, Ukraine shadow rapporteur); DG Defis; and EEAS through Cosmin Dobran (director, partnerships and crisis management). In December 2025 the company had already met Ramunas Stanionis of Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius’s cabinet. Backdrop: since Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat (13 April), the EU-27 can finally unlock €60bn of frozen Russian interest to fund weapons for Ukraine; Kiev participates in EDIP (€1.5bn) and SAFE (€150bn loan). ASD-UCDI partnership signed May 2025. Ukrainian Armor — partner of Prague-based Czechoslovak Group (CSG) on local 155 mm production — manufactures parts of the Bohdana howitzer, a direct competitor to KNDS’s Caesar.

2. Challenges — Le projet d’Emmanuel Duteil

FR. Emmanuel Duteil, actuel directeur de la rédaction de L’Usine nouvelle (groupe Infopro Digital), a présenté lundi 4 mai son grand oral devant la SDJ de Challenges. Vote de la rédaction prévu mardi 5 mai à 18 h. Feuille de route : accélération du digital, fusion des rédactions print/web, nouveau site, articles enrichis (les dépêches ont déjà disparu du web depuis un mois). Le papier devient la « cerise » du gâteau web. Le Brief du matin compte 60 000 abonnés. Pagination réduite de 8 pages (sur 108), maintien du classement des 500 plus grandes fortunes de France, grand entretien hebdo ou bimensuel. Recentrage éditorial sur l’économie au détriment du suivi partisan, à un an de la présidentielle — rupture avec la ligne de Pierre-Henri de Menthon (confidentiels, newsletter Indiscrétions). Édito politique conservé. Magazine détenu par LVMH (Bernard Arnault) depuis le 1er janvier 2026.

EN. Emmanuel Duteil, currently editor-in-chief of L’Usine nouvelle (Infopro Digital), pitched his roadmap on Monday 4 May to the SDJ of Challenges. Newsroom vote scheduled Tuesday 5 May at 6 pm. Plan: accelerated digital pivot, merger of print and web newsrooms, new website, long-form enriched pieces (newswires already pulled from the site a month ago). Print becomes the “cherry” on the web cake. The morning Brief has 60,000 subscribers. Pagination cut by 8 pages (from 108), retention of the Top 500 French Fortunes ranking, weekly or biweekly flagship interview. Editorial repositioning toward economic coverage, narrowing political-party reporting one year before the presidential election — a break from Pierre-Henri de Menthon’s line (confidential briefs, Indiscrétions newsletter). Political editorial kept. Title owned by LVMH (Bernard Arnault) since 1 January 2026.

3. Loi d’urgence agricole — Le cas Bastien Lachaud

FR. Le projet de loi de la ministre Annie Genevard (gouvernement Lecornu) fait l’objet d’une intense campagne de la FNSEA : ~1 000 amendements déposés, dont une série clés en main pour durcir les sanctions contre les intrusions en exploitations agricoles. Élément déclencheur : la relaxe le 3 février par le tribunal correctionnel de Saint-Brieuc du député LFI Bastien Lachaud, poursuivi pour intrusion dans un élevage porcin en 2019 avec DXE France. Le tribunal a écarté la qualification de « domicile agricole » (loi de 2023 inapplicable rétroactivement). Réponses parlementaires : amendement Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback (Horizons, 29 avril) élargissant la notion de domicile agricole, sous l’impulsion des chambres d’agriculture ; proposition de loi du LR Corentin Le Fur ; amendement de la députée Pauline Cestrières (EPR) instaurant 3 ans d’emprisonnement et 45 000 € d’amende, repris au mot près par le RN, Horizons et la Droite républicaine — plus d’une dizaine d’amendements convergents en commission des affaires économiques.

EN. The agricultural emergency bill from Minister Annie Genevard (Lecornu government) is facing intensive lobbying from the FNSEA: ~1,000 amendments tabled, including a turnkey set tightening penalties for intrusion onto farms. Trigger: the 3 February acquittal by the Saint-Brieuc criminal court of LFI MP Bastien Lachaud, prosecuted for entering a pig farm in 2019 with activists from DXE France. The court rejected the “agricultural domicile” qualification (the 2023 law could not be applied retroactively). Parliamentary responses: amendment by Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback (Horizons, 29 April) further extending the agricultural domicile concept, pushed by the chambers of agriculture; bill from LR‘s Corentin Le Fur; amendment by farmer-MP Pauline Cestrières (EPR) setting 3 years’ imprisonment and a €45,000 fine, copied verbatim by RN, Horizons and Droite républicaine — over a dozen converging amendments in the economic affairs committee.

4. Sénat — Nathalie Goulet et la contrefaçon en crime organisé

FR. À l’occasion de l’examen au Sénat du projet de loi Ripost (ministre Laurent Nuñez), la sénatrice Nathalie Goulet (Union centriste, Orne), ex-avocate proche de l’Unifab, a déposé six amendements visant à requalifier la contrefaçon en activité de crime organisé, au même titre que le narcotrafic dont elle est souvent l’un des financements complémentaires. Mesures proposées : extension aux enquêteurs des techniques de type « coup d’achat », amende forfaitaire délictuelle de 200 € pour détention sans motif légitime de produits contrefaits (parité avec le cannabis). Goulet, rapporteure de la commission d’enquête sur la délinquance financière en 2025, déplore le désintérêt de Bercy et l’absence de fenêtre parlementaire (calendrier sénatorial bouclé jusqu’à fin juin, contraintes estivales en juillet, sénatoriales en septembre). Précédentes tentatives infructueuses : amendements budgétaires automne 2025, proposition de loi janvier 2026.

EN. During Senate review of the Ripost bill (Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez), Senator Nathalie Goulet (Union centriste, Orne), a former lawyer close to Unifab, tabled six amendments to reclassify counterfeiting as an organised-crime activity on par with narcotics trafficking, of which it often serves as a complementary funding stream. Proposed measures: extension to investigators of “coup d’achat” (controlled-purchase) techniques, and a €200 fixed delictual fine for unjustified possession of counterfeit goods (parity with cannabis). Goulet, rapporteur of the 2025 inquiry committee on financial crime, criticises Bercy’s disengagement and the lack of parliamentary slots (Senate calendar fully booked through end-June, July constrained by recess, September dominated by senatorial elections). Prior unsuccessful attempts: budget amendments autumn 2025, bill January 2026.

5. Vidéosurveillance algorithmique — Le CNB rouvre le front

FR. Le Conseil national des barreaux (présidé par Julie Couturier) a trouvé un relais auprès des sénateurs Les Écologistes Thomas Dossus et Guy Benarroche, qui ont déposé un amendement au projet Ripost pour stopper l’extension et la prolongation jusqu’à fin 2030 de la VSA expérimentée pour Paris 2024. L’article 19 du texte porté par Laurent Nuñez étendrait le dispositif à tout lieu exposé à un risque terroriste ou d’atteinte grave à la sécurité — musées, aéroports, gares, sites institutionnels. Le CNB invoque un risque de « banalisation de la surveillance algorithmique » et les alertes de la Cnil et du Conseil d’État. Rapport sénatorial Françoise Dumont (LR) / Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie (PS) début 2025 : résultats inégaux des expérimentations 2024 (préfecture de police, SNCF, RATP, ville de Cannes de David Lisnard). Trois prestataires initiaux — Wintics, Videtics, ChapsVision — seuls les deux premiers déployés.

EN. The Conseil national des barreaux (chaired by Julie Couturier) has found backing from Les Écologistes senators Thomas Dossus and Guy Benarroche, who tabled an amendment to the Ripost bill to halt the extension — and prolongation through end-2030 — of algorithmic video surveillance trialled at Paris 2024. Article 19 of the bill defended by Laurent Nuñez would broaden the scheme to any venue exposed to terror risk or serious threat to personal safety — museums, airports, train stations, institutional sites. The CNB warns of the “normalisation of algorithmic public-space surveillance” and cites concerns from the Cnil and Conseil d’État. Senate report by Françoise Dumont (LR) / Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie (PS) in early 2025 flagged uneven results from 2024 trials (Paris police prefecture, SNCF, RATP, David Lisnard’s Cannes). Three initial vendors — Wintics, Videtics, ChapsVision — only the first two effectively deployed.

6. BHV — Frédéric Merlin envisage de déménager Shein, et règle ses comptes avec Xavier Niel

FR. Frédéric Merlin, président de la Société des grands magasins (SGM), envisage de transférer le pop-up Shein du 6e étage du BHV Rivoli vers les 4 000 m² de l’ex-BHV L’Homme, 36 rue de la Verrerie. Shein, ouvert début novembre 2025, n’a pas eu le succès escompté (sélection trop chère, mal calibrée, accès via escalators interminables). Merlin veut recentrer le bâtiment principal sur la maison, décoration et alimentaire. Sous-jacent : revanche sur Xavier Niel, qui a racheté l’actif BHV L’Homme pour 47 M€ à l’été 2025 via NJJ Holding (DG Anthony Maarek), après avoir refusé de reprendre l’exploitant. Merlin a finalement vendu les murs du BHV Rivoli au canadien Brookfield Asset Management. SGM a vidé le BHV L’Homme dès début avril alors que le bail court jusqu’à mars 2027 (loyer 2,5-3 M€/an). Demande de grâce sur le loyer adressée à NJJ : refusée. Menace de mise sous sauvegarde du BHV : sans effet. Précision de la rédaction (04/05 19h09) : Shein et SGM indiquent que le projet est envisagé mais non arbitré.

EN. Frédéric Merlin, chairman of Société des grands magasins (SGM), is considering relocating the Shein pop-up from the 6th floor of BHV Rivoli to the 4,000 sqm of the former BHV L’Homme building at 36 rue de la Verrerie. Shein, opened in early November 2025, underperformed (selection too expensive, poorly calibrated, awkward access via long escalators). Merlin wants to refocus the main BHV on home, decor and food. Subtext: payback against Xavier Niel, who bought the BHV L’Homme asset for €47m in summer 2025 via NJJ Holding (CEO Anthony Maarek), having declined to take on the operator. Merlin ultimately sold the BHV Rivoli walls to Canadian Brookfield Asset Management. SGM emptied BHV L’Homme in early April although the lease runs to March 2027 (rent €2.5-3m/year). Request to NJJ for rent forgiveness: rejected. Threat to put BHV into safeguard: ignored. Editor’s note (04/05, 7:09 pm): Shein and SGM state the project is under consideration but not yet arbitrated.

The Information : Nebius, Lambda and CoreWeave Say ‘No’ to TPUs Amid Google’s Pu

Nebius, Lambda and CoreWeave Say ‘No’ to TPUs Amid Google’s Push

We’ve been tracking Google’s effort to expand the reach of its tensor processing units for quite a while, and two developments last week helped us understand where things are actually headed.

On one hand, Google said on its earnings call that it plans to sell its TPUs directly to customers for use in their own data centers—something we first reported last fall. The move marks a significant shift: For years, TPUs were largely confined to Google Cloud.

On the other hand, though, three senior executives from leading neocloud providers— Nebius, Lambda and CoreWeave—told us they aren’t planning to adopt TPUs anytime soon.

Taken together, the signals point to a complicated reality for Google. Even as it opens up the market for its own chips, the very companies that could be best positioned to distribute that hardware aren’t convinced it’s worth their investment.

“We bleed green at Lambda,” said Lambda Chief Financial Officer Chuck Fisher after I asked him about TPUs onstage at The Information’s Financing the AI Revolution event last week.

Marc Boroditsky, chief revenue officer of Nebius, told me 99% of the demand his firm sees is for Nvidia graphics processing units. In the rare cases that a prospective customer inquires about TPUs at Nebius, he said, they are often Google alumni who’ve used the chips before.

“Unfortunately, the diaspora [of] folks from Google does not make a market,” Boroditsky said.

At CoreWeave, the calculus is similar. Vice President of Corporate Development Nick Robbins pointed out the top TPU users—Google itself, Anthropic and Meta Platforms—are also among the largest buyers of GPUs. That makes him quite confident that renting Nvidia GPUs will always be a good business.

“For any incremental dollar we invest or megawatt we allocate, we are making a risk-adjusted bet on what is going to deliver the highest return for the longest,” Robbins said. “When 99% of the market wants one thing and you say, ‘OK, that could change, it could go down to 90%,’ it's still really hard to not focus on the 99% that goes to 90%.”

None of the executives’ answers was terribly shocking. Lambda, Nebius and CoreWeave are deeply tied to Nvidia, which is their No. 1 supplier, a key investor and in some cases a major GPU customer.

But their reluctance helps explain how Google’s TPU strategy is playing out and why it looks different from Nvidia’s.

Last year, Google explored working more closely with neocloud providers, including CoreWeave and Crusoe, to host TPUs alongside GPUs in their data centers. Those conversations largely went nowhere. Instead, Google struck a deal with software and data center startup Fluidstack to help deliver TPUs to Anthropic—and backed that effort by guaranteeing billions of dollars in leases and debt tied to those deployments.

Google went from trying to get its TPUs into multiple neoclouds to signing a deal with Fluidstack, a newcomer in the neocloud space, for Anthropic deployments. It shows that the market for TPUs outside Google Cloud is relatively concentrated at this point.

As CEO Sundar Pichai put it, Google plans to deliver TPUs to a “select group of customers,” particularly in areas like financial services and frontier AI. That’s instead of, say, trying to make them as ubiquitous as GPUs are.

So it makes sense that rather than trying to seed a broad third-party ecosystem right away, it is focusing on a smaller set of customers that are willing to go deep. This will reduce Google’s reliance on the neoclouds for distribution, at least in the near term.

Google has been busy working on how to make the financing happen. As we reported in February, it has signed an agreement with an unidentified large investment firm to fund a joint venture that would lease TPUs to other customers. Google has also been talking to potential finance partners to borrow money for special purpose vehicles that would buy TPUs and lease them to customers. (While Nvidia did help finance some of the early neoclouds, Google’s strategy is different because there’s not an existing market for TPUs, so it is playing a more active role off the bat.)

Longer term, even Boroditsky from Nebius said TPUs could gain a larger foothold. He knows several companies developing cloud software that—if it works—would make it easier for developers to use multiple types of chips, limiting hardware lock-in.

“It’s going to be difficult to entrench a single brand—there’s going to be a lot more diversity,” he said at the end of the panel. “It happened in CPUs, and I suspect the same movie is going to play out again.”

(BFW) Goldman Strategists Surprised by European Stocks’ Resilience

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 5th of May 2026 V2(+)