The best conversations from Brainstorm Tech

• Newly merged Paramount Skydance (formerly Paramount Global, No. 147) is preparing a takeover bid of Warner Bros. Discovery (No. 114), backed by the Ellison family (David Ellison, who ran Skydance, and his father, Larry Ellison, who cofounded Oracle (No. 87)), the Wall Street Journal reported. Warner Bros. Discovery has been planning to split its cable and streaming businesses, but Paramount Skydance’s bid is for the whole company. This is not the first time a merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. has been discussed, with previous talks having been reported as recently as late 2023.
• Microsoft (No. 14) signed an AI infrastructure deal with Amsterdam-based Nebius Group worth up to $19.4 billion, Bloomberg reported. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Nebius will provide Microsoft with AI computing capacity worth at least $17.4 billion through 2031. Nebius split off from Russian internet company Yandex last year. Investors in Nebius include Nvidia (No. 31).
• PNC Financial Services Group (No. 131) agreed to acquire FirstBank for approximately $4.1 billion, including FirstBank’s $26.8 billion in assets and 95 branches across Colorado and Arizona. The takeover will make PNC the top lender in Denver by retail deposits and will allow PNC to focus its branch-building efforts in other regions, Bloomberg reported.

• Kroger (No. 27) beat earnings estimates, with earnings per share of $1.04, up from the $0.93 it reported after last year’s second quarter. Meanwhile, revenue totaled $33.9 billion for Q2, remaining virtually flat year-over-year. “In 2026, we expect to increase store openings by 30%, helping us grow both in-store and online sales faster,” interim CEO Ronald Sargent said on the call. Read more: Kroger’s CEO mysteriously resigned. An unrelated lawsuit involving Jewel could reveal why
• Oracle (No. 87) CEO Safra Catz forecasted $18 billion in cloud infrastructure business for the 2026 fiscal year—up 77% from 2025—and up to $144 billion in cloud infrastructure revenue in fiscal 2030. The company’s optimistic outlook sent Oracle’s stock soaring and temporarily made cofounder Larry Ellison the world’s richest person according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, surpassing Elon Musk. (By the end of the week, however, Musk had reclaimed the title.)
• Adobe (No. 201) reported quarterly revenue of $5.99 billion, an 11% increase from a year prior. Amid a competitive landscape where AI offerings are seen as an advantage, CEO Shantanu Narayen said on the earnings call that Adobe’s “AI-influenced ARR [annual recurring revenue] has now surpassed $5 billion, up from over $3.5 billion exiting fiscal year 2024, and we’ve already surpassed our full-year AI-first ending ARR target.” In a news release this week, Adobe also stated that “99% of Fortune 100 companies have used AI in an Adobe app.”
• Casey’s General Stores (No. 297) first-quarter revenue totaled $4.6 billion, an increase of 11.5% from Q1 2025. “The summer months are the busiest inside the store,” CEO Darren Rebelez said on the earnings call. “Our merchandising plan for the summer was executed at a high level throughout the organization, from those that created the plan to those at the stores carrying out the plan, to our supply chain and fuel teams, and every team member in between.”
• Chewy (No. 357) reported $3.1 billion in net sales for the quarter, an 8.6% increase year-over-year. Autoship sales (Chewy’s subscription service for recurring deliveries) accounted for 83% of net sales, a new record for the company. “This customer base is sticky,” CEO Sumit Singh said on the earnings call.

Earnings to watch next week include: General Mills (No. 216) on Sept. 17; FedEx (No. 49) and Darden Restaurants (No. 370) on Sept. 18; Lennar (No. 129) on Sept. 19; and others.