Pulse 2.0 - Business news, profiles, and deal flow coverage

Monte Dei Paschi Launches $40 Billion Of Takeover Bids For Banco BPM And Banca Generali

KKR Reportedly Makes $9 Billion Takeover Bid For UGI At $42.50 Per Share

Agiloft Launches No-Code Contract Management Integration For Salesforce On AgentExchange

Callosum Raises $100 Million Seed Funding To Build Heterogeneous AI Compute Platform

Werewolf Therapeutics And Ambros Therapeutics Merge With $150 Million PIPE To Advance Phase III CRPS Drug Neridronate

BlackSun Raises $1 Billion For Mega Fund I, Targets $7 Billion Across Sports, Media And Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:10 PM

BlackSun Private Equity has raised $1 billion for its inaugural investment vehicle, Mega Fund I, as the newly launched private equity firm targets a total of $7 billion to invest across sports, media, entertainment and technology, according to Bloomberg.

Ipsen Completes Kartos Therapeutics Acquisition To Add Phase III Myelofibrosis Drug Navtemadlin

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Ipsen has completed its acquisition of Kartos Therapeutics, adding the late-stage oncology drug navtemadlin to its pipeline as the company expands its presence in myelofibrosis.

Mitsubishi Electric To Acquire PCI Energy Solutions For $1.4 Billion To Expand Energy Management Software Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Mitsubishi Electric has agreed to acquire PCI Energy Solutions for $1.4 billion, expanding the Japanese industrial technology company's presence in enterprise software used to manage increasingly complex electricity markets and power systems.

KKR, Dragoneer, And Amwins To Acquire Steadfast Group For A$7.7 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Steadfast Group has entered into a binding scheme implementation deed for a consortium backed by KKR, Dragoneer Investment Group and Amwins Group to acquire the Australian insurance distribution company in a transaction carrying an enterprise value of approximately A$7.7 billion, or about $5.5 billion according to Insurance Journal.

SQM Lithium: Sales Hit Record 84,100 Metric Tons As Chile Realized Prices Jump Nearly 160%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

SQM reported record quarterly lithium sales volume in the second quarter of 2026 as sharply higher realized pricing and strong energy-storage demand drove a major acceleration in its lithium business.

Nordson: Advanced Technology Organic Sales Jump 31% As Segment EBITDA Rises 58%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Nordson's Advanced Technology Solutions business delivered the company's fastest growth in the fiscal third quarter of 2026, with organic sales climbing 31% and segment EBITDA increasing 58%.

Banco Macro: NPL Ratio More Than Triples YoY To 6.25% Even As Net Income Rises 39% Sequentially

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Banco Macro reported significantly higher sequential earnings in the second quarter of 2026, but its headline non-performing financing ratio continued to deteriorate and reached more than three times its year-earlier level.

Full Truck Alliance: Transaction Service Revenue Jumps 33% To 52% Of Total Revenue

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Full Truck Alliance's transaction-service business continued to take a larger share of its revenue mix during the second quarter of 2026, growing substantially faster than the digital freight platform's overall top line.

BILL: Non-GAAP Operating Income Jumps 80%, But GAAP Operating Loss Widens 54%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

BILL reported sharply improving non-GAAP profitability in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026, but its GAAP operating loss moved in the opposite direction as restructuring and other excluded costs created a substantial gap between the two measures.

Rezolv Raises $12.5 Million Series A As AI Debt Collection Platform Handles 12 Million+ Loan Accounts

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Rezolv has raised $12.5 million in Series A funding to scale its AI-native debt collection platform, bringing total funding to $16 million. Norwest led the round, with participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India and existing investor 3one4 Capital.

Butterfly Learnings Raises ₹65 Crore Pre-Series B As Pediatric Behavioral Health Platform Reaches 90+ Centers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Butterfly Learnings has raised ₹65 crore in a Pre-Series B financing led by Inflexor Ventures to expand its pediatric behavioral health platform for neurodivergent children across India.

Datavault AI Completes NYIAX Acquisition To Add Institutional Exchange Infrastructure For Tokenized Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Datavault AI has completed its acquisition of NYIAX, adding institutional-grade exchange technology, blockchain settlement infrastructure and intellectual property to its digital and real-world asset tokenization platform.

Ascentage Pharma: Product Sales Jump 33% As Olverembatinib Hospital Coverage Expands 34%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Ascentage Pharma reported a 33% increase in first-half product sales as commercial adoption of its oncology portfolio continued expanding in China, including a substantial increase in hospital formulary coverage for olverembatinib.

Opera: Net Income Jumps 76% As ARPU Rises 25% And MiniPay Wallets Reach 18 Million, While Free Cash Flow Falls 42%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Opera delivered strong second-quarter growth across revenue, profitability and monetization metrics, while quarterly free cash flow moved sharply in the opposite direction.

Analog Devices: Operating Income Jumps 97% As Margin Expands 1,170 Basis Points

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Analog Devices reported sharply higher fiscal third-quarter profitability as broad-based semiconductor demand drove operating income growth far ahead of its already strong revenue increase.

TJX Raises Long-Term Store Target By 500 To 7,500 As International And HomeGoods Comps Rise 7%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

TJX Companies is accelerating its physical-store expansion strategy after another quarter of comparable-sales growth, raising its long-term global store target by 500 locations to 7,500.

Target: Operating Income Doubles To $2.6 Billion, With Tariff Refunds Contributing Nearly $1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Target reported a sharp increase in second-quarter operating income as improving underlying margins combined with a nearly $1 billion benefit from previously paid tariff refunds. Operating income doubled to $2.6 billion from $1.3 billion in the prior-year quarter.

Viking: 2027 Advance Bookings Jump 21% To $4.7 Billion Even As Capacity Expands 15%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Viking Holdings is entering 2027 with substantially higher advance bookings even as the cruise operator prepares to increase its available capacity by another 15%.

Estée Lauder: Adjusted Operating Margin Expands 320 Basis Points As Profit Recovery Plan Takes Hold

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

The Estée Lauder Companies delivered substantial operating-margin improvement in fiscal 2026 as its Profit Recovery and Growth Plan began translating cost reductions and operational changes into higher profitability. Full-year adjusted operating income increased 47% to $1.69 billion from $1.15 billion.

Telix Posts $38 Million Profit After Tax, But $40 Million Regeneron Payment Exceeds Entire Profit

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Telix Pharmaceuticals reported a $38 million profit after tax for the first half of 2026, but the result included a $40 million non-refundable payment from its strategic collaboration with Regeneron, meaning the collaboration payment exceeded the company's entire reported profit for the period.

Webull: Adjusted Operating Profit Jumps 169% As Trading Revenue Surges 66%, Volumes Hit Records And Vega AI Reaches 480,000 Users

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Webull delivered what management called the best quarter in the company's history as a sharp increase in trading activity drove revenue and adjusted operating profit substantially higher, while adoption of its Vega artificial intelligence platform continued to expand.

Kingsoft Cloud: AI Billings Jump 82% As Company Posts First-Ever Positive GAAP Operating Margin

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Kingsoft Cloud reported an 82% increase in AI cloud gross billings during the second quarter of 2026 as rapidly growing artificial intelligence demand helped the company achieve a positive GAAP operating margin for the first time.

ZIM: Q2 Net Income Jumps 167% As Freight Rates Rise 8%, But First-Half Results Remain In The Red

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services returned to substantially stronger profitability during the second quarter of 2026 as higher freight rates and increased carried volume lifted revenue, although weaker first-quarter results left the shipping company with a net loss for the first half.

Alumis: 54% Of Psoriasis Patients Achieved Complete Skin Clearance After 48 Weeks

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Alumis reported long-term clinical data showing that more than half of patients treated continuously with envudeucitinib achieved complete skin clearance after up to 48 weeks, strengthening the company's plans to seek U.S. approval for the oral psoriasis treatment.

Coty: Free Cash Flow Jumps 25% Even As Adjusted EBITDA Falls 22% And Net Loss Widens To $618 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Coty generated substantially higher free cash flow during fiscal 2026 despite weaker underlying earnings and a significantly wider reported net loss, highlighting a divergence between the beauty company's cash generation and income-statement performance.

Weibo: Net Income Falls 46% As Operating Margin Drops 700 Basis Points Despite Reported Revenue Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Weibo reported modest second-quarter revenue growth but significantly weaker profitability as higher costs and expenses contributed to sharp declines in operating income and net income.

Wolfspeed: AI Data Center Revenue More Than Doubles In Fiscal 2026 And Rises 20% Sequentially In Q4

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Wolfspeed reported that revenue from artificial intelligence data center applications more than doubled during fiscal 2026, providing a fast-growing end market for the silicon carbide company even as its broader financial results remained under significant pressure.

TOYO: U.S. Sales Jump 154% To 81% Of Revenue As Gross Margin Nearly Doubles

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

TOYO reported rapid first-half growth in its U.S. solar business, with sales to American end customers jumping approximately 154% and accounting for more than four-fifths of company revenue as manufacturing scale and production efficiencies drove substantial margin expansion.

Prelude Therapeutics Cuts Quarterly Net Loss 55% As R&D Spending Falls 38%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

Prelude Therapeutics reduced its second-quarter 2026 net loss by approximately 55% year-over-year as research and development spending declined sharply following the pausing of previous clinical programs and a workforce reduction. Net loss narrowed to $13.9 million, or $0.14 per share, from $31.2 million, or $0.41 per share, in the prior-year quarter.

John B. Sanfilippo: Sales Volume Returns To Growth After Five Quarters, But EPS Falls 38%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 22, 2026

John B. Sanfilippo & Son returned to companywide sales-volume growth during its fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 after five consecutive quarterly declines, but higher costs and operational challenges pressured profitability and drove diluted EPS down 38%. Fourth-quarter net sales increased 4.2% to $280.4 million, while sales volume increased 1.4% to 87.4 million pounds.