>>> TradeGate Pre-Market Indications

DAX:
  • Bayer (BAYN TH) +1.1%
    • Bayer Raised to Buy at HSBC; PT 32 euros
  • Deutsche Boerse (DB1 TH) -1%
  • Brenntag (BNR TH) -1.5%
  • Rheinmetall (RHM TH) -2.4%
MDAX:
  • Aixtron (AIXA TH) +0.7%
  • AUTO1 (AG1 TH) +0.3%
  • Traton (8TRA TH) +0.3%
    • Traton Rated New Buy at ABG; PT 38.31 euros
  • Freenet (FNTN TH) +0.2%
  • United Internet (UTDI TH) -0.1%
  • Nordex (NDX1 TH) -0.7%
  • Evotec (EVT TH) -1.2%
  • Talanx (TLX TH) -1.5%
  • Hensoldt (HAG TH) -4.5%
  • RENK Group (R3NK TH) -5.5%
SDAX:
  • Grenke (GLJ TH) +0.9%
  • Ceconomy (CEC TH) -1.6%

>>> US After Hours Summary: GTLB -13.9%, GME -4.6% lower on earnings; PLAY +10.2

After Hours Summary: GTLB -13.9%, GME -4.6% lower on earnings; PLAY +10.2%, SFIX +8.1% higher on earnings; GM to invest $4 bln; steel stocks weak on Bloomberg report that US, Mexico are nearing deal on steel duties

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: PLAY +10.2%, SFIX +8.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: GETY +10.7% (GETY SSTK merger proposal approved by shareholders), SSTK +4.8% (GETY SSTK merger proposal approved by shareholders), VTS +3.3% (CEO bought 10000 shares), INMB +3.2% (presents data from study), DNUT +1% (sells remaining stake in Insomnia Cookies), MT +0.6% (US, Mexico nearing deal on steel duties, according to Bloomberg), ACCO +0.3% (announces leadership changes), AESI +0.2% (takes delivery of two additional driverless trucks), BAK +0.2% (Nelson Tanure begins talks with banks, according to Reuters)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: GTLB -13.9%, GME -4.6%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: AMSC -12.9% (stock offering), CLF -8% (US, Mexico nearing deal on steel duties, according to Bloomberg), KRT -7.6% (selling shareholders commence 1.5 mln share offering), NUE -5.4% (US, Mexico nearing deal on steel duties, according to Bloomberg), IREN -4.6% ($450 mln convertible notes offering), STLD -3.5% (US, Mexico nearing deal on steel duties, according to Bloomberg), GGAL -3.2% (selling shareholder commences ADS offering), BTSG -2.1% (14 mln share offering by selling shareholders), BY -2% (files for offering by selling shareholders, includes $5-10 mln concurrent share repurchase), AB -1% (reports May AUM), CXW -0.4% (to acquire the Farmville Detention Center), AFG -0.1% (terminates deal to sell Charleston Harbor Resort)

The Information : Meta to Pay Nearly $15 Billion for Scale AI Stake and Startup’

Meta to Pay Nearly $15 Billion for Scale AI Stake and Startup’s 28-year-old CEO
Unusual structure will send the cash to Scale’s investors and boost Meta’s lagging artificial intelligence efforts

The Takeaway
• Meta seeks to bolster AI efforts with 49% stake in Scale AI
• Scale’s CEO Alexandr Wang will take a top position inside Meta
• Unusual deal structure could be effort to avoid regulatory scrutiny

Meta has agreed to take a 49% stake in data labeling firm Scale AI for $14.8 billion, two people familiar with the matter said. The unusual deal will be structured so Meta will send the cash to Scale’s existing shareholders and place the startup’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, in a top position inside Meta, the people said.

The deal, which hasn’t yet been finalized, appears to be a rich one for Scale’s shareholders, with big paydays for some of Scale’s biggest investors such as Accel, Index Ventures, Founders Fund and Greenoaks Capital, as well as current and former employees. Scale shareholders also would maintain their existing holdings in Scale, which will now be valued at $28 billion, including the cash invested, up from $13.8 billion last year.

Meta would put Wang in charge of a new “superintelligence” lab, along with other top Scale technical employees, the New York Times and Bloomberg reported Tuesday morning. That will put Wang, 28, in competition with some of his customers and friends, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The deal likely would further enrich Wang, who became the youngest self-made billionaire in the U.S. several years ago. (For more on Wang’s rise in Silicon Valley, read our feature from last year.)

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been actively recruiting top AI researchers in an effort to boost his company’s AI efforts. He was frustrated with the reaction to its latest AI offering, Llama 4 and aims to catch up to competitors such as Google and OpenAI. Meta is restructuring its AI operations after losing some top executives to rivals.

Scale faces important questions following the deal. It removes Wang from the day to day of the company he founded in 2016 to provide human-labeling services to clean up data to be used by emerging AI companies focused on self-driving cars. Jason Droege, a former Uber Eats executive who became Scale’s chief strategy officer last fall, has been in discussions to become Scale’s new CEO, one of the people said.

What happens with Scale’s existing customer base is another question. One of Scale’s largest existing customers is Alphabet, one of the people said. The startup told investors early last year its customers also include Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia and OpenAI. “Scale has been a long-term partner of OpenAI, and is at the forefront of building the largest-scale foundation models,” the company wrote in an investor presentation last spring.

Meta is also a significant customer and plans to increase their spending on Scale for data labeling services as part of the deal, one of the people said.

Meta, with abundant cashflow, could have bought Scale. But the company is coming off a painful trial in which regulators sought to show the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were anticompetitive. The unusual structure of the deal, and the fact Meta will own just 49% of Scale, could be an effort to avoid more regulatory scrutiny.

The startup, last valued at $13.8 billion in a funding round last spring, has grown rapidly by selling labeling services to large AI companies like Alphabet, Meta and OpenAI. Scale generated about $870 million in revenue last year and expected more than $2 billion this year, The Information previously reported. It also lost about $150 million, before accounting for interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

There have been some signs of the company struggling to meet expectations, however, including missing sales and profit goals it set with investors last year, The Information previously reported. Some big AI developers are starting to bring the type of work Scale does in house.

The company had more than $900 million of cash on its balance sheet at the end of last year, according to financial information shared with prospective investors. Since Scale’s founding in 2016, it has raised more than $1.5 billion from investors. Some of its earliest backers include Y Combinator, Accel and Outlander, and it’s also raised from firms such as Thrive Capital, Coatue Management, Dragoneer and Tiger Global.

FT : UK FCA gives green light to Pisces share trading scheme

UK FCA gives green light to Pisces share trading scheme
Buying and selling of stakes in private companies could begin later this year under delayed plan

The UK financial regulator has said trading can begin later this year on new venues for buying and selling stakes in private companies, as it gave the green light to the much delayed scheme.

The Financial Conduct Authority on Tuesday laid out final rules for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System, which is designed to provide a crossover between private and public markets and bolster the UK’s capital markets.

The scheme, which had been proposed by the previous Conservative government in 2022 and then backed by Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves, was originally meant to begin operating in at least a limited capacity by the end of last year.

The London Stock Exchange and others will be able to apply to the regulator to run Pisces trading venues.

Pisces will help companies “tap into a broader range of investors and asset managers” and offer routes for existing shareholders to sell their stake, the FCA said.

“The new platforms will give investors greater access and confidence to invest in exciting new companies, while early backers and employees can sell up and invest again,” added Simon Walls, executive director of markets at the regulator.

The scheme aims to address the shift in focus that has taken place in recent years away from public markets and towards private sources of capital markets, as banking executives increasingly question the need for initial public offerings.

Policymakers hope the plan will boost the faltering pipeline of London IPOs by providing a source of funding for fast-growing companies that are not yet at the point of flotation.

In the US, the Nasdaq Private Market has allowed investors and employees to trade company shares since 2013 and facilitated almost $7bn of trades last year.

However, Pisces has been dismissed by venture capital and private equity executives as unnecessary, amid warnings that it may not attract high-quality businesses. There are also fears that it could cannibalise public markets.

In an effort to make it more attractive, the FCA’s final rules have given companies a greater say over who can buy their shares. It has also reduced the number of disclosures that companies will have to make, including dropping some requirements for financial forecasts and sustainability disclosure, while shareholders who hold less than 25 per cent of a company’s shares will not have to be named.

Pisces will operate under an experimental framework until 2030, which allows the rules to be adjusted.

FT : Rolls-Royce group wins government backing to build UK’s first small modular

Rolls-Royce group wins government backing to build UK’s first small modular nuclear reactors
Consortium led by British engineer selected as preferred bidder out of four shortlisted last year

A group led by British engineer Rolls-Royce has won UK government backing for its bid to build the country’s first small modular nuclear reactors.

The consortium has been selected as the preferred bidder out of four developers shortlisted last year.

The selection marks a step forward for the technology in the UK, although SMRs are not likely to be up and running in Britain until the 2030s.

It comes as the government announced £11.5bn of new state funding on Tuesday for a new large-scale power plant, Sizewell C in Suffolk.

The government said it would pledge £2.5bn for SMRs over the current spending review period.

The Rolls-Royce consortium was among four bidders shortlisted last year, including US-owned rivals Holtec Britain and GE Hitachi, and Canadian-owned Westinghouse Electric. The latter had dropped out earlier this year.

SMR is a catch-all term for relatively small nuclear power plants using different technologies, parts of which can be built off-site.

Proponents say their size and modular construction mean it should be possible to build them with fewer of the delays and cost blowouts that have dogged larger models.

However, critics caution that there is so far no certainty that the purported benefits will materialise.

SMRs typically have a capacity of 300 megawatts or less, although Rolls-Royce’s is larger at 470MW. It is a pressurised water reactor, a technology widely used around the world.

Proponents argue SMRs will have a key role to play in powering data centres for technology groups. Amazon and Google are among companies that have recently struck deals with SMR developers.

Rolls-Royce said on Tuesday it had been selected to build three SMR units in the UK. The company has said the project will generate employment and economic growth for the UK, including through securing export orders for the reactors.

The FTSE 100 group was last year selected by the government of the Czech Republic as its preferred supplier.

ČEZ Group, the Czech utility, also took a 20 per cent stake in the Rolls-Royce SMR venture as part of a wider strategic partnership between the two companies. The consortium’s other backers include private investment vehicle BNF Resources, Constellation of the US and the Qatar Investment Authority.

The consortium has so far invested about £280mn. It has also secured £210mn of UK government funding to help it through the rigorous nuclear regulatory assessment process.

FT : Japanese truckmakers in $6bn merger to fight Chinese competition

Japanese truckmakers in $6bn merger to fight Chinese competition
Toyota and Daimler Truck broker deal to help scale up investments in electric and hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles

Toyota and Germany’s Daimler Truck have finalised an estimated $6.4bn merger of their heavy goods vehicle businesses in Japan in response to growing competition from Chinese rivals racing ahead on electrification and autonomous driving technology.

The deal brings together Toyota unit Hino Motors with Daimler Truck subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus. It creates a Japanese commercial vehicle powerhouse that sells more than 200,000 units annually and has greater scale to invest in hydrogen trucks and buses.

The merger comes as the global commercial vehicle industry undergoes a rapid transition towards electric and hydrogen-powered drivetrains and autonomous driving, with China taking the lead.

Characterised by long driving ranges, heavy loads and short refuelling times, trucking is viewed as a crucial sector for Toyota to create a large market for its hydrogen fuel cells, as cleaner passenger car transport has become dominated by battery-powered electric vehicles.

Robin Zeng, the billionaire behind China’s battery champion CATL, forecast last month that half of new trucks sold in China in three years’ time would be electric, underlining the upheaval coming for the heavy goods vehicle market.

“By bringing together two strong partners, we will create an even more powerful company and advance decarbonisation in transportation,” said Daimler Truck chief executive Karin Rådström. “Scale is the key to winning in the technological transformation of our industry.”

The combined entity — led by Mitsubishi Fuso CEO Karl Deppen — divides Japan’s commercial vehicle manufacturing into two main camps, with Isuzu Motors dominating the other.

Toyota and Daimler Truck, the world’s largest truck manufacturer, will hold equal stakes of 25 per cent in the holding company, but the Japanese vehicle maker’s voting rights will be lower at 19.9 per cent. Jefferies analysts estimate the equity value of the combined entity to be €5.6bn at 11 times earnings before interest and taxes.

After a preliminary merger agreement was reached in May 2023, the deal was postponed in February 2024 following an engine data falsification scandal at Hino.

At the start of this year, Hino agreed a $1.2bn settlement with the US authorities, leading the truck unit to a record net loss but helping to pave the way for the merger.

Since the deal was first announced, both companies have lost ground in the truck market and US tariffs on imports have added to the challenges faced by commercial vehicle manufacturers.

The sealing of the deal comes at a time of big upheaval for Toyota, as the world’s largest carmaker prepares to take part in the $33bn take-private of Toyota Industries, one of its key suppliers.

Alongside the deal, Hino will transfer ownership of the Hamura plant to Toyota Motor for ¥150bn ($1bn). The world’s largest carmaker has produced its Hilux and Land Cruiser 250 vehicles there.

The merger also adds to the growing collaboration between Japan and Germany on hydrogen. The two companies aim to list the holding company in Japan and start operations by April next year.

>>> Europe : Brokers Upgrades & Downgrades - 10th of June 2025 V2(+)

>>> Up
* Aberdeen Group Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan; PT 218 pence
* AO World Raised to Hold at Canaccord; PT 105 pence (+)
* BAE Raised to Buy at BofA (+)
* CBrain Raised to Buy at ABG; PT 230 kroner
* Eviso Raised to Buy at TP ICAP Midcap; PT 14 euros (+)
* Holcim Raised to Overweight at Barclays; PT 109 Swiss francs
* Kongsberg Raised to Buy at BofA (+)
* Umicore Raised to Buy at Goldman; PT 16 euros
* Yum Raised to Buy at Redburn; PT $177

>>> Down
* Bankinter Cut to Neutral at UBS (+)
* CaixaBank Cut to Neutral at UBS (+)
* Credit Agricole Cut to Neutral at Grupo Santander (+)
* GAP Airports ADRs Cut to Underperform at Bradesco BBI; PT $215
* L'Oreal Cut to Neutral at CIC; PT 400 euros (+)
* Marlowe Cut to Sector Perform at RBC; PT 466 pence
* McDonald's Cut to Sell at Redburn; PT $260
* Pantheon Infrastructure Cut to Hold at Stifel (+)
* RENK Group Cut to Underperform at BofA (+)
* Saab Cut to Hold at SEB Equities; PT 485 kronor
* Saab Cut to Underperform at BofA (+)
* Safran Cut to Neutral at Citi; PT 275 euros (+)
* Solaria Energia Cut to Sell at Bestinver; PT 8.10 euros
* Telia Cut to Neutral at Redburn; PT 38.40 kronor
* Wizz Air Cut to Hold at Trigon Dom Maklerski; PT 1,200 pence (+)
* Wizz Air Cut to Reduce at AlphaValue/Baader (+)

>>> Initiation
* Amazon Reinstated Buy at William O'Neil
* AMS-Osram Rated New Hold at Bankhaus Metzler (+)
* BAE Rated New Neutral at CIC; PT 2,150 pence (+)
* Chipotle Rated New Neutral at Redburn; PT $55
* Deutsche Bank Reinstated Buy at BofA; PT 29 euros
* Domino's Pizza Rated New Sell at Redburn; PT $340
* Elmos Semiconductor Rated New Buy at Bankhaus Metzler (+)
* SoftwareONE Rated New Buy at Pareto Securities
* Sylvania Platinum Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 85 pence
* Tecan Rated New Buy at Berenberg; PT 220 Swiss francs
* UCB Rated New Buy at Intron Health; PT 215 euros

>>> Call
* Aberdeen Upgraded at JPMorgan, Placed on Positive Catalyst Watch
* Berenberg: Dassault Systèmes' Mid-term Reset Comes Without Much Upside Potential
* Tecan Offers Quality at Discount, Initiated Buy at Berenberg
* UCB Rated New Buy at Intron Health on Ebitda Margin Step Change