Trump Administration Eyes Stakes in Defense Companies
1 hr 16 min ago
The Trump administration is looking into taking stakes in top defense contractors, according to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, after its deal for a 10% stake in Intel (INTC).
“There’s a monstrous discussion about defense,” the Cabinet secretary told CNBC in a televised interview Tuesday, suggesting a number of defense companies that count the U.S. government as a major client could be potential targets.
“If we are adding fundamental value to your business, I think it’s fair for Donald Trump to think about the American people,” Lutnick added.
Lutnick pointed to Lockheed Martin (LMT), which made nearly three-quarters of its sales from deals with the U.S. government in 2024—including 65% from the Department of Defense, as a prime example. The company is “basically an arm of the U.S. government,” he said.
A Lockheed Martin spokesperson told Investopedia, “As we did in his first term, we are continuing our strong working relationship with President Trump and his Administration to strengthen our national defense.”
Lutnick’s comments come after President Trump said yesterday that he plans to make more equity deals like the one he announced last week with embattled chipmaker Intel, which is being funded by awards under the CHIPS Act, though some Wall Street analysts have suggested similar agreements may not hold as much appeal for companies on stronger footing.
The Trump administration’s stated interest in expanding its ownership and influence in private businesses also marks a noteworthy shift in the approach of the federal government, which has typically reserved such moves for times of extreme stress, drawing some criticism from members of his own party concerned about state overreach.
Shares of Lockheed Martin were up about 1.5% in recent trading. They’ve lost roughly 6% of their value since the start of the year, after taking a hit last month on the heels of a weakened outlook and reported losses connected to multiple programs.
Among other defense stocks, Northrop Grumman (NOC) and RTX Corp. (RTX) were up 1%, while L3Harris (LHX) inched higher.
IBM, AMD Partner on Quantum-Centric Supercomputing
2 hr 5 min ago
International Business Machines (IBM) and AI chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said Tuesday they were teaming up to develop “quantum-centric supercomputing.”
“In a quantum-centric supercomputing architecture, quantum computers work in tandem with powerful high-performance computing and AI infrastructure, which are typically supported by CPUs, GPUs and other compute engines,” the companies said. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the companies would “build a powerful hybrid model that pushes past the limits of traditional computing.”
Shares of each company were up about 1% in recent trading.
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In June, IBM showcased what it called a “viable path” to building the world’s first large-scale, “fault-tolerant” quantum computer by the end of the decade. The computer, dubbed IBM Starling, is expected to be capable of performing 20,000 times the operations of quantum computers that exist today, the company said. That followed Google parent Alphabet’s (GOOGL) breakthrough late last year with its unveiling of a quantum computing chip it said can complete computations in less than 5 minutes that would take some of today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years.
Despite recent breakthroughs, useful quantum computers remain many years off. Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said in early January that it would likely be more than 15 years before the world had “very useful” quantum computers, though he later turned more positive on the technology.
Eli Lilly Rises on Weight-Loss Pill Trial Results
3 hr 20 min ago
Eli Lilly (LLY) shares rose Tuesday morning as results from a new study moved the drugmaker closer to applying for approval of its experimental weight-loss pill.
Lilly reported a Phase 3 trial of its oral GLP-1 treatment, orforglipron, met primary and key secondary goals in reducing weight for adults who were obese or overweight and had Type 2 diabetes.
The company noted those taking the highest dose (36 milligrams) for 72 weeks and without food and water restrictions dropped their weight by an average of 10.5%, or 22.9 pounds, compared to 2.2%, or 5.1 pounds, for those on a placebo. Along with losing weight, the orforglipron patients had an average decline in their A1C glucose level of 1.8%.
The pill uses the same GLP-1 hormone therapy as injectable weight-loss medicines, including Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) Wegovy. However, the size of orforglipron’s weight reduction was lower than the other two.
Lilly said it now has “the full clinical data package required to initiate global regulatory submissions for orforglipron.” However, a stumbling block may be the high number of adverse effects reported, including nausea (36.4% at the highest dosage), vomiting (23.1%), diarrhea (27.4%), constipation (22.4%), and dyspepsia (10.9%). In addition, a similar number of those taking the pill and the placebo dropped out of the study.
Eli Lilly shares were up 4% recently, pacing S&P 500 advancers. Despite today’s advance, shares of Eli Lilly are down about 6% in 2025.
EchoStar Stock Soars as Company Sells Spectrum to AT&T
4 hr 33 min ago
Shares of EchoStar (SATS) skyrocketed Tuesday after the satellite TV provider, under pressure from federal regulators, sold 50 megahertz of its nationwide low- and mid-band spectrum allocations to AT&T (T) for approximately $23 billion.
The operator of DISH TV, Boost Mobile wireless service, and other properties said the deal includes its 3.45-gigahertz and 600-megahertz spectrum licenses, which it explained gives AT&T the ability to rapidly deploy “the purchased spectrum to U.S. consumers across the country, as AT&T has the option to lease the spectrum, pending the closing of the spectrum sale. This arrangement benefits both AT&T and Boost Mobile subscribers.”
In addition to the sale, EchoStar and AT&T have amended their previous network services agreement, creating a hybrid mobile operator relationship.
EchoStar shares were up 75% recently, trading at an all-time high.
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AT&T CEO John Stankey said the acquisition “bolsters and expands our spectrum portfolio while enhancing customers’ 5G wireless and home internet experience in even more markets.”
EchoStar noted that the agreement is part of its “ongoing efforts to resolve the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) inquiries.” In May, the FCC launched an investigation into whether the company was meeting certain requirements for both its wireless and satellite rights. President Donald Trump reportedly intervened, calling on EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen and FCC head Brendan Carr to strike a deal.
The transaction is expected to close by the middle of next year.
Shares of AT&T were up 0.5% in early trading and have gained about 27% since the start of 2025.
Major Index Futures Down Slightly
5 hr 58 min ago
Futures tied to the major U.S. stock indexes were each down 0.2% in recent trading.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures
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