Breakfast News: BTC & Bullish Blast Higher

Breakfast News: BTC & Bullish Blast Higher

Source: Image Created by Jester AI.

1. BTC Hits Record $124,457

Bitcoin (BTC -1.57%) pushed to fresh record highs above $124,000, coinciding with crypto-exchange operator Bullish (BLSH 89.19%) soaring 84% on the first day of public trading.

• BTC up 4.6% in the past five days: Market sentiment is positive amid increasing adoption of crypto, as the jump in the Bitcoin price is attributed to higher ETF inflows and increased trading volumes.
• Trading gives Bullish a market value of $9.9 billion: The IPO ended up more than 20 times oversubscribed, with CEO Tom Farley saying the stock reaction highlights that "credibility matters a lot" in the crypto space.

2. Ibotta Plunges Over 20% on Earnings Miss

Ibotta (IBTA 5.05%) fell more than 24% following quarterly earnings and revenue below analyst expectations, with a disappointing outlook for the rest of the year.

• "These disappointing results can be explained by short-term headwinds": CEO Brian Leach pointed to the costs of transformation, as the company pushes to integrate more third-party publishers and leverage AI, which he sees as a long-term positive.
• Revenue guidance down 17% for the coming quarter: Investors were disappointed the benefits are unlikely to be felt imminently, although redeemer growth in the Ibotta network did grow by 27% year over year.

3. Trump Eases Rules for Rocket Companies

President Trump has signed an executive order relaxing environmental rules for spaceship companies, including the speed that new launches can occur, in a boost to stocks like Rocket Lab (RKLB -1.07%).

• Superscore of 61 in our Moneyball database: Rocket Lab's Electron and developing Neutron rockets should benefit from faster approval processes, enabling more frequent and predictable launches without the current bureaucratic lag.
• Approvals set to benefit leading players: Elon Musk's SpaceX currently launches more rockets than anyone else, with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin poised to fly more in coming years.

4. Next Up: Deere, Cellebrite, JD.com

Hidden Gems rec Deere & Company (DE 1.52%) is hoping to beat expectations again with quarterly earnings due out before the market opens, with a focus on inventory levels and tariff impact.

• Strength lies in the subscription-based revenue model: HG rec Cellebrite (CLBT 0.57%) also releases earnings ahead of the opening bell, with investors watching for U.S. federal customer pipeline and its net retention rate for customer stickiness.
• Beating EPS estimates for eight straight quarters: SA rec JD.com (JD 1.26%) will put out quarterly results pre-market, too. Profitability rose sharply last quarter, but fierce competition with Chinese peers means a lot of focus will be on continued top-line growth.

5. PSKY Surges 36% on Speculation

Paramount Skydance (PSKY 35.87%) jumped as much as 60% despite no fresh company news being released, ending Wednesday up 36.74%, as speculative, meme-style trading took a hold due to its small public float and high short interest.

• A surge in daily trading volume to over 130 million shares: The official completion of the Paramount and Skydance merger from last week and a $7.7 billion UFC media rights deal helped to put the company on retail traders' radar.
• Largest single-day percentage gain since 1990 IPO: With short interest at 13.4%, this was another trigger for the stock surge. Heavy buying can cause short sellers to close their positions – via buying back the stock – further pushing it higher, known as a 'short squeeze.'

6. Your Take

Have you ever bought put options, and if so, what motivated that decision? Discuss with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying.