Nicolas Thomas

Starbucks Denies Any Plans to Acquire Chipotle

Starbucks denied Monday that it was considering acquiring Chipotle Mexican Grill, ending several days of speculation about a combination between the US restaurant chains. CNBC reported the news after speaking with a company spokesperson. On Thursday, however, the Financial Times reported that Starbucks had been working with advisers for several months on a potential takeover offer.

October 12, 2026 at 07:51 pm IST

VVardis prepares Wall Street debut after tripling revenue

VVardis, a Swiss company specializing in non-invasive dental treatments, has filed for a US IPO after strong business growth. Revenue reached $28.6m in H1 2026, up from $9.1m a year earlier, more than tripling. Its net loss narrowed in parallel, falling from $32.1m to $27.8m.

October 12, 2026 at 12:22 pm IST

OMV's refining margin more than tripled in one year

Austrian oil company OMV published its Q3 trading update on Friday. The war is costing it EUR100m in energy, due to the lack of deliveries from the Middle East, but is providing it with a European refining margin of $37.50 per barrel, compared with $11.54 a year earlier.

October 09, 2026 at 01:11 pm IST

SpaceX strengthens Starlink Mobile and sends US carriers down

SpaceX has announced an agreement to acquire a portfolio of radio frequencies covering the US, from Grain Management, in a bid to accelerate the development of Starlink Mobile. The transaction, which will require FCC approval, involves up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band. The announcement triggered a sharp drop in shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile after Wall Street closed, as investors anticipated increased competition in the US mobile market.

October 09, 2026 at 12:53 pm IST

Iambic Therapeutics targets up to $159.4m in Nasdaq IPO

Nvidia-backed biotechnology company Iambic Therapeutics plans to raise up to $159.4m in its US initial public offering. The company expects to offer about 9.38 million shares priced between $15 and $17 each, for a valuation of up to $805.8m. ARK Investment Management and Duquesne Family Office have expressed interest in investing a combined $60m.

October 09, 2026 at 12:51 pm IST

Revolut Prefers the US for Potential IPO

Revolut would favor a primary listing in the United States if the digital bank decided to go public, CEO and co-founder Nik Storonsky told Bloomberg TV. The executive reaffirmed his ambition to strengthen the group's presence in the US market, where he wants to develop a full range of banking services. A dual listing in New York and London remains under consideration, although no final decision has been made at this stage.

October 09, 2026 at 12:50 pm IST

Google Cloud launches Gemini agent to automate workplace tasks

Google Cloud has unveiled a new Gemini artificial intelligence agent for businesses, capable of answering questions, producing content, writing code and executing tasks autonomously. The announcement comes amid intensifying competition with OpenAI, which launched its agents in September, and Meta, which recently introduced its Muse assistant.

October 08, 2026 at 11:45 pm IST

Amazon cuts more jobs, primarily in e-commerce

Amazon has confirmed a new round of layoffs primarily affecting its Stores division, which oversees its e-commerce operations. Fewer than 1,000 employees in administrative and office-based roles are expected to be affected, according to a source familiar with the matter. The cuts come as the group organizes its Prime Big Deal Days, one of its main promotional events of the year.

October 08, 2026 at 11:45 pm IST

Starbucks reportedly considering acquisition of Chipotle

Starbucks has studied a potential takeover bid for Chipotle Mexican Grill in recent months with the help of advisers, according to the Financial Times. Such a deal would bring together two major US restaurant chains and mark a return to his roots for Brian Niccol, Starbucks' current chief executive and former head of Chipotle. No agreement has been announced, and neither company immediately commented on the reports.

October 08, 2026 at 11:44 pm IST

Christian Dior refreshes board ahead of Agache reorganization

Christian Dior has appointed two new independent directors ahead of a reorganization of the Arnault family's ownership structure. Xavier Musca, former head of Crédit Agricole, and Tony Estanguet, former president of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, immediately replace Nicolas Bazire and Maria Luisa Loro Piana on the board of directors.

October 08, 2026 at 12:52 pm IST

Christian Dior renews board ahead of Agache reorganization

Christian Dior has appointed two new independent directors ahead of the reorganization of the Arnault family's shareholding structure. Xavier Musca, a former executive at Credit Agricole, and Tony Estanguet, the former president of the Paris 2024 Olympic organizing committee, immediately replace Nicolas Bazire and Maria Luisa Loro Piana on the board of directors.

October 08, 2026 at 01:28 am IST

FireFly Robotics Prepares for Direct Listing on Nasdaq

FireFly Robotics has filed to list on Nasdaq through a direct listing under the symbol "FFLY." The procedure involves neither the issuance of new shares nor a capital raise, but will allow existing shareholders to sell up to 27.1m shares. The company had already considered an initial public offering in October 2025 to raise up to $29.3m, before withdrawing its plan in March 2026.

October 08, 2026 at 01:25 am IST

Microsoft steps up local AI on Windows to take on Apple

Microsoft wants to turn Windows PCs into platforms capable of running artificial intelligence models and agents directly, reducing their reliance on the cloud. The group introduced new local models, dedicated security technology and the Nvidia-powered Surface Laptop Ultra, aiming to compete with Apple in embedded AI, amongst others.

October 08, 2026 at 01:25 am IST

UPS reduces seasonal hiring for second consecutive year

UPS plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers in the United States for the holiday season, about 9% fewer than in 2025. This marks the second consecutive decline in the company's temporary hiring, after it had already reduced seasonal hiring by 15,000 workers in 2025 from the 125,000 seasonal workers hired in 2024.

October 07, 2026 at 08:52 pm IST

Will Tesla and SpaceX operate their Terafab chip complex themselves?

Elon Musk says Tesla and SpaceX will directly build and operate Terafab, their future semiconductor production complex in Texas. TSMC could nevertheless sublease part of the site, while the exact role of the various partners remains to be clarified.

October 07, 2026 at 08:20 pm IST

Anthropic expands Claude Startups to attract young companies

Anthropic is expanding its Claude Startups program, launched in May and already used by several thousand companies. The artificial intelligence specialist wants to enable more young companies to access its models and tools in order to develop their businesses. The initiative also aims to strengthen its ties with high-growth companies, as most of its revenue comes from business customers.

October 07, 2026 at 12:39 pm IST

Lambda Seeks to Raise Up to $4bn Ahead of IPO

Lambda, an Nvidia-backed cloud computing specialist, is seeking to raise up to $4bn at a pre-money valuation of $14.5bn, according to the Wall Street Journal. The financing, led by Blackstone and Coatue Management, is expected to be the company's final funding round before it goes public.

October 06, 2026 at 11:17 pm IST

Becton Dickinson to invest $19bn in the US

Becton Dickinson has committed to invest $19bn in the United States under an agreement with the Trump administration providing protection against future tariffs. The medical device maker becomes the first major US player in the sector to reach such an agreement.

October 06, 2026 at 11:17 pm IST

Mistral unveils Large 4, its new open-weight AI model

Mistral has unveiled Large 4, its new open-weight artificial intelligence model, which will be made publicly available on October 27. The French startup says it has narrowed the gap with the most advanced models and surpassed certain Chinese solutions in several areas, including cybersecurity.

October 06, 2026 at 09:02 pm IST

Nvidia's $20bn deal with Groq challenged in court

The $20bn licensing deal between Nvidia and Groq is the subject of a lawsuit filed by two engineers and shareholders of the artificial intelligence company, according to the Financial Times. Benjamin Serebrin and Joshua Rubin accuse Groq's board of improperly giving up major technology assets and several key engineers. They also fault it for failing to seek the best possible terms for all shareholders and for depriving some of them of a vote on the transaction.

October 06, 2026 at 01:36 pm IST

SpaceX Wants to Build a Gas Pipeline to Fuel Its Launches in Florida

SpaceX is seeking authorization to build a gas pipeline in Brevard County, Florida, to supply its launch operations at Cape Canaveral. Its subsidiary Coastal Connect Services has filed an application for infrastructure spanning 32.4 miles, or about 52 kilometers, with a diameter of 16 inches. Natural gas would be transported from the interstate Florida Gas Transmission network to SpaceX's facilities, which use liquid methane as propellant for their Starship rockets.

October 06, 2026 at 12:55 pm IST