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Oracle has expanded in recent years from providing database software management to cloud computing, which has been its biggest contributor to sales. In its fiscal 2026 year, the tech giant posted net income of $17 billion on revenue of $67 billion, with its cloud business accounting for just a little more than half of the top line. One of Oracle’s biggest services is OCI Generative AI, which is used for developing and operating generative AI applications.Oracle’s profit has increased in recent years to record levels, and the company has used some of that money to pay back shareholders. Here’s how much dividends it has paid back to shareholders, and what its payout ratio and dividend yield are.Oracle dividend quick facts*Current quarterly payout:$0.50 per shareCurrent annual payout: $2.00 per shareYield: 1.4%Payout Ratio: 34%Frequency: QuarterlyNumber of dividend increases: 8*Based on Oracle’s July 9, 2026 stock price, fiscal 2026 earnings and dividends.How often does Oracle pay dividends?Oracle pays a cash dividend on a quarterly basis. The company’s fiscal year runs from June 1 to May 31, and the payments are made in July, October, January, and April.Related: Does Meta pay dividends? Its yield and payouts explainedWhen did Oracle start paying dividends?Oracle was founded in 1977, but it only started paying dividends more than three decades later. Its first dividend payment was on May 8, 2009, at 5 cents a share. For fiscal 2010, the tech giant paid an annual dividend of 20 cents, on net income of $1.21 a share. That put its payout ratio, which is total annual dividend per share divided by total earnings per share, at 17%. The dividend payments came as profits continued to rise. Net income in fiscal 2009 was $5.59 billion, up more than fourfold from $1.29 billion in 1999.How much dividends does Oracle pay?For its first quarterly dividend, Oracle paid 5 cents a share, in May 2009. Since then, Oracle has raised its dividend typically every two years — for a total of eight times — and has even paid out special dividends. Two years after the first payment, the quarterly dividend was raised by a penny, to 6 cents. In August 2013, the dividend was doubled to 12 cents a share. In April 2015, the dividend rose by a quarter to 15 cents, and two years later by 4 cents to 19 cents. In April 2019, it rose by 5 cents to 24 cents, and in April 2021 by a third to 32 cents. In April 2023, the dividend rose by a quarter to 40 cents, and again by the same amount in April 2025 to 50 cents.More on dividends:Apple’s dividend explained: Yield, history & moreAmazon’s dividends & stock splits: What you need to knowHow much does Home Depot pay in dividends? 

Oracle founder Larry Ellison, shown here in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, 2025, is Oracle’s largest individual shareholder. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images

Who benefits the most from Oracle’s dividend?Large shareholders, especially company founders, tend to benefit the most from dividend payments. Larry Ellison, a company founder who also serves as Oracle’s executive chair and chief technology officer, owned 1.158 billion shares, or 40.6% of common stock, as of September 2025, according to the company’s 2025 proxy statement. Based on fiscal 2025 dividends of $1.70 a share, Ellison would have been paid $1.97 billion. What is Oracle’s payout ratio?In fiscal 2026, Oracle paid a total of $2 a share in dividends, and posted net income of $5.83 a share. That payout ratio was 34% That seems to be generous compared to other tech companies, which have been investing earnings back into their businesses. Nvidia, the leader in making hardware for use in artificial intelligence, had a payout ratio of 0.8% in 2025.What is Oracle’s dividend yield?Oracle’s 12-month dividend yield was 1.4% in early July 2026. That’s based on the 12-month dividend payment of $2 for fiscal 2026, and its July 9 share price of $144.22. By comparison, Nvidia had a 12-month dividend yield of 0.49%.Related: Alphabet’s dividend history, yield & future prospects explained

Every driver knows the pattern, even without a chart to prove it. When crude oil spikes, the number on the station sign seems to jump before you finish your commute. When crude falls, the savings take the scenic route.Economists call it rockets and feathers: Pump prices rocket up and float down.There is a reason the pattern persists. Stations run on thin margins while wholesale costs climb, then rebuild them when costs fall and the street price lags behind. That widening spread on the way down is where much of the retail fuel business earns its keep.Washington usually grumbles about the lag and moves on. Presidents have complained about pump prices for 50 years, and the feathers have floated at their own pace anyway.This summer, the complaint department has teeth. Crude oil has been sliding for weeks as the Iran conflict winds down, and the White House has decided the float-down period is over. On Tuesday, June 30, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” and put the nation’s gasoline retailers on notice, warning that the administration is tracking pump prices and expects the crude savings to reach drivers before the country’s 250th birthday on Saturday, July 4.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned gasoline retailers that the administration is tracking pump prices.Joe Lamberti / Getty Images

What Bessent told gas stations about pump pricesBessent aimed his warning at the entire retail fuel chain, from stations owned by oil majors such as Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) to independents and international convenience chains. He urged them all to “be good actors, especially in the 250th anniversary, because we’re watching,” according to Fox Business.The warning came with homework attached. The Treasury built a chart showing how quickly pump prices tracked crude on the way up, and “we’re going to hold them accountable on the other side,” Bessent said, per Mediaite.More Oil & Gas:As Middle East tensions explode, oil and gas prices resetGas-price questions remain even with end to Iran conflict in sightJPMorgan sends blunt verdict on oil, economyThe pressure did not start with him. A day earlier, President Donald Trump demanded that retailers begin targeting roughly $2.50 a gallon, arguing prices remain far too high with oil near $68 a barrel. “If Retailers don’t do this, big problems lie ahead!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, according to Reuters.The president also declared that price gouging is illegal and would not be tolerated, a signal that the administration views enforcement as a live option rather than a talking point.Bessent went further on the margin question. Stations padded their take during the run-up and probably booked record profits on fuel retailing, he argued, adding that it is now “time to do something for the American people,” the Guardian reported.This is not his first shot across the bow, either. Bessent warned in May that Treasury would work to keep retail gas stations honest on the way down, just as they moved fast on the way up.The difference now is specificity. There is a chart, a date, and a president publicly counting down.Related: Bessent drops a bombshell on Iran oil, dollarWhy gas prices fall slower than crude oilThe frustration is easy to understand once you line up the numbers. Crude has given back most of its war premium, yet the pump is still catching up.When I stacked the American Automobile Association’s (AAA) weekly readings against the crude chart, the asymmetry Bessent is complaining about was sitting right there in the data.The national average climbed from $2.98 a gallon on Feb. 26 to a peak of $4.56 on May 21, according to AAA.West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded near $71.51 a barrel during Bessent’s interview, down from wartime levels that regularly topped $95, according to Mediaite.The pump average had eased to $3.91 a gallon by June 25, its fifth straight weekly decline, according to AAA.A record 72 million Americans are expected to travel over the July 4 holiday, according to the Guardian.Stations will tell you the lag is structural. The fuel sitting in an underground tank was bought at last week’s wholesale price, and owners who slashed margins during the spike lean on the way down to make the year’s numbers work.There is also the business model itself. Fuel margins are famously thin in normal times, often measured in cents per gallon, and the profitable stretch that follows a crude selloff is how many operators survive the lean ones.Retail prices even ticked up on days crude tumbled this spring, a disconnect that showed up in TheStreet’s May coverage of the crude selloff.The administration’s counterargument is the chart. If prices could follow crude up within days, the thinking goes, they can follow it down just as fast, and every week of lag comes straight out of drivers’ wallets.What the July 4 price fight means for driversHere is what the fight is worth in actual dollars. My math on a standard 15-gallon fill-up says the slide from May’s $4.56 peak to $3.91 already saves a driver about $9.75 per tank. Getting to Trump’s $2.50 target would save another $21 on top of that.Nobody who follows this market expects $2.50 by Saturday. Based on my read of two decades of pump data, crude in the low $70s has typically lined up with a national average in the low $3 range, not the mid $2s, and summer blends plus holiday demand both push the other way.Presidents have also tried this lever before. Joe Biden publicly ordered stations to cut prices in the summer of 2022, and the average fell that autumn for reasons that had far more to do with crude and recession fears than with any statement.The stakes reach past the pump, too. Gasoline is one of the most visible prices in the economy, it feeds directly into headline inflation, and every week it stays elevated complicates life for a Federal Reserve still weighing rate cuts. Cheaper fill-ups would hand the White House an economic win and a political one at the same time.Still, the political deadline is real. A record travel weekend, wall-to-wall anniversary messaging, and a president naming a specific price target add up to the most direct White House pressure campaign on fuel retailers in years.Watch two numbers between now and the holiday. The first is AAA’s national average, which has fallen for five straight weeks and needs to keep shedding roughly a dime a week for the administration to claim the warning worked. AAA updates that figure daily, so nobody has to take anyone’s word for it.The second is crude itself. If oil keeps drifting toward Trump’s $68 reference point while the pump average stalls, the watching stops being a talking point and starts becoming a case file.Either way, the feathers just picked up a tailwind.Related: OPEC, Saudi Arabia share a signal on where oil is headed

Ten months ago, in September 2025, Starbucks walked into 11,000 stores with NomadGo’s inventory  Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool that promised 99% accuracy and counted up to eight times faster than a human.After 9 months, in May 2026, according to Reuters, an internal newsletter retired the entire program. Baristas went back to counting milk by hand.The NomadGo system confused milk varieties, missed products on shelves, and slowed employees down instead of helping them. CEO Brian Niccol had bet on it as part of his turnaround plan. It did not work.Now, Starbucks (SBUX) is trying AI at scale again, but with a meaningfully different approach. According to Bloomberg, citing an internal company presentation, the coffee chain is using AI-assisted coding to build its own internal software, specifically targeting tools that currently run on Microsoft and IBM infrastructure, in a move that CTO Anand Varadarajan framed earlier this year as a chance to cut the company’s $400 million annual software bill.SBUX closed July 9 at $106.41, up 2.45% on the session. The stock is up 27.92% year-to-date, according to Yahoo Finance.Also Read: Starbucks Corporation Latest News and StoriesWhat Starbucks is actually building this time and why it is differentWhat matters now is this. The distinction between what failed and what is being attempted now.The NomadGo inventory tool was a third-party product deployed to consumer-facing operations at the store level. Its failure was operational. Why? Computer vision that could not reliably distinguish between similar products in real retail environments. Yes, that is a hard technical problem that the vendor did not solve before deployment.What Bloomberg reported is a different category of AI initiative. Starbucks is using AI-assisted coding to build internal enterprise software that replaces vendor platforms, specifically IBM’s maintenance management system and Microsoft’s inventory management infrastructure. Internally developed applications are expected to roll out by the end of 2027, pending testing, according to the Bloomberg report.More Starbucks:Starbucks has new plan to beat Dutch Bros, 7 BrewStarbucks adding 5,000 new U.S. stores after closing 100sStarbucks eyes massive change in key marketThe AI-assisted coding angle is the structural shift that makes this bet more credible than NomadGo’s. Building enterprise software from scratch was historically prohibitive for non-technology companies because of the cost, time, and specialized engineering required. Now, generative AI coding tools have meaningfully lowered those barriers. Starbucks has been pushing its tech workers to use AI coding tools aggressively, reportedly factoring AI usage into employee bonuses, Bloomberg reports.The company is also on track to reduce its enterprise technology budget by approximately $30 million in the fiscal year ending in late September, including $10 million in software savings and $13 million from reducing external contractors in favor of internal staff.$400M software bill, $2B turnaround target, and a Starbucks business that is recoveringVaradarajan told employees that Starbucks spends approximately $400 million annually on software and sees “clear opportunities to reduce the spend,” according to Bloomberg. The company is reviewing every technology contract and, in some cases, building its own alternatives for applications that engineers already heavily customize.Starbucks has also been working for several years on a point-of-sale system designed to replace Oracle’s Simphony platform. That’s a separate and longer-running internal development effort that predates the current AI initiative.Related: Starbucks taps childhood nostalgia with 5 new drinksThe technology cost reduction effort is part of a broader $2 billion turnaround program under Niccol, CFO Cathy Smith told CNBC’s Kate Rogers. That context is important for you as an investor reading this story. The AI software initiative is not a vanity technology project. It is a cost reduction lever in a company-wide financial restructuring.The underlying business is showing genuine recovery. Q2 fiscal 2026 results, reported April 28, showed consolidated net revenues up 9% to $9.5 billion, with global comparable store sales up 6.2%, according to Starbucks’ earnings release. North America comparable store sales grew 7.1%, driven by higher transactions and average ticket. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.50 expanded 22% year over year.This is the Starbucks our customers deserve.These were the words Niccol said in the Q2 earnings release.

In September 2025, Starbucks walked into 11,000 stores with NomadGo’s inventory  AI tool that promised 99% accuracy and counted up to eight times faster than a human.Universal Images Group via Getty Images

My read: the failure history makes this worth watching closely, not dismissingI want to be direct about what I think is happening here.The NomadGo failure was instructive, but it should not define how investors evaluate this current initiative. Deploying computer vision in a consumer environment to count physical products in real time is a genuinely hard problem. Building internal enterprise software using AI coding tools is a different problem, and one that large technology companies have been demonstrating is solvable.Related: Starbucks has new plan to beat Dutch Bros, 7 BrewWhat concerns me is execution discipline. Starbucks has 41,129 stores, Q2 fiscal year 2026 results, and a history of deploying technology initiatives that do not scale cleanly. The IBM and Microsoft systems being replaced are not trivial: maintenance management and inventory management are operationally critical. Replacing them with internally built software that was developed faster and cheaper using AI coding tools carries real integration risk if the testing process is rushed.The timeline of “end of next year, pending testing” is the phrase I keep returning to. That qualifier exists for a reason. Starbucks has earned some skepticism here, given what happened in May 2026, and the stock’s 27.92% year-to-date gain suggests the market is already giving Niccol meaningful credit for the turnaround.Related: Starbucks, Dunkin’, and Luckin embrace non-coffee products

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.There’s still plenty of time left to enjoy summer break, but back-to-school season is quickly approaching. While classes won’t resume for another month at most universities and colleges, it’s never too early to start shopping for dorm room essentials. In fact, getting a jump on your back-to-school shopping will likely lead to better savings, as the best deals on twin XL-sized bedding and mini fridges tend to sell out well before the school year begins. Like most things in the economy, college tuition hasn’t gotten any cheaper, so it’s helpful to save wherever you can on any educational expenditures. Textbooks and school supplies are already a big investment, but for upcoming college freshmen who are moving out of their parents’ house and into the dorm rooms or apartments, there’s also everything else you’ll need to make your new dorm room your own. Whether you require a fluffy mattress topper to get a good night’s rest on the hard bed or a tower fan to keep the small space ventilated, these upfront costs can quickly add up.Out of all the things needed to furnish a bare college dorm room, the most expensive purchases will likely be for the appliances you want to add. From mini fridges and coffee pots to air purifiers and microwaves, there are several small appliances that could make college life a whole lot easier. We’ve searched high and low around the web, including the Walmart College Savings Hub and Amazon’s Back-to-School Shop, to find the best deals on these products. We handpicked selections with the lowest price points, the biggest discounts, and the highest customer ratings to help save you time and money during this busy back-to-school season.Mini fridge deals starting at $97Back in my day (which was longer ago than I’d like to admit), a mini fridge was my most-used appliance. It was stocked with soda and energy drinks in case I needed caffeine to fuel my late-night study sessions. Based on these habits, it’s no surprise I never made it to the cafeteria for breakfast, so the refrigerator was filled with yogurt and coffee creamer to get my day started. The nicest thing about the appliance was having a spot for leftovers or takeout containers, as this tasty food would have been thrown out otherwise.  Most universities have a size limit on your refrigerator, but the Mainstays 1.7 Cubic-Foot Compact Mini Refrigerator should definitely fit within the requirements, and it’s on sale for under $100 at Walmart. When shopping for these mini-est of mini fridges, you’ll want to ensure that what you’re buying is actually a refrigerator. Many beverage coolers, which are marketed to fit just 4 to 8 soda cans, don’t get as cold as a normal refrigerator, so they couldn’t safely store meats, milk, and other perishable items. Generally, you should expect to pay at least $100 for a real mini fridge. The Costway 1.7 Cubic-Foot Mini Fridge only costs $110, making it one of the most affordable options at Amazon. If you want something that also has a freezer, because we all need ice cream every once in a while, you can find options for under $150.Mainstays 1.7 Cubic-Foot Compact Mini Refrigerator

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Check price at WalmartCostway 1.7 Cubic-Foot Mini Fridge

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Check price at AmazonGalanz 3.1 Cubic-Foot Mini Fridge with Freezer

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Check price at WalmartFrigidaire 65-Watt Retro Bar Refrigerator

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Check price at WalmartFrostorm 3.2 Cubic-Foot Mini Fridge 

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Check price at AmazonElectric tea kettle and coffee maker deals starting at $17If you’re not a morning person, having a coffee maker in your dorm room can be a game changer. There may also be regulations for coffee pots in the dormitory, as continuous warming hot plates can be a fire hazard. Because of this, it’s usually a safer bet to go with a single-serve coffee maker like the Keurig K-Express Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker, which is discounted to $70 at Amazon currently. If coffee pots are permitted, or you live near campus in an apartment, you can get the Mainstays Black 12-Cup Drip Coffee Maker for just $17 at Walmart. Another option is making coffee with a French press, which would just require hot water to get started. You could heat water in the microwave, but investing in an electric tea kettle would simplify the process, boiling water in minutes or less. Electric kettles are also great if you want to test out any dorm room cooking hacks, as they offer a resourceful way to simmer ramen noodles or hard-boil eggs. Mainstays Black 12-Cup Drip Coffee Maker

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Check price at WalmartKeurig K-Express Single Serve K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker

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Check price at AmazonDreamosa Small Electric Tea Kettle

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Check price at WalmartChefman Electric Kettle

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Check price at AmazonMicrowave and rice cooker deals starting at $25If your dorm room allows microwaves, and that’s a big if, because many dorm rooms don’t allow them, it will likely be restricted to a unit that’s under 1000 watts. However, college students living in apartments or suites with a dedicated kitchen will have more wiggle room. The most affordable microwave we’ve found is the Mainstays 0.7 Cubic-Foot Countertop Microwave Oven, which is on sale for just $49 at Walmart. It comes in three colors, and two are already showing low stock, so you won’t want to wait to add this one to your cart. Another affordable option is the Farberware 0.7 Cubic-Foot. Countertop Microwave Oven while it’s discounted to $68 at Amazon.Microwaves are great for whipping up quick meals, but if you can’t have one in the dorm room, a rice cooker may be a good alternative. That being said, rice cookers may also not be allowed in the building. If they are, the Dash Mini Rice Cooker costs just $25 at Amazon, and its compact size won’t take up too much space. Farberware 0.7 Cubic-Foot Countertop Microwave Oven

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Check price at AmazonMainstays 0.7 Cubic-Foot Countertop Microwave Oven

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Check price at WalmartDash Mini Rice Cooker

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Check price at Amazon Tower fans and air purifiers deals starting at $30Dorm rooms are notoriously cramped, and smaller spaces don’t always get proper ventilation and airflow. Having a fan can make all the difference in your overall comfort levels. The Mainstays 28-Inch Tower Fan with 3-Speed Settings costs just $30 at Walmart, but if you want something that fits on top of your desk, Amazon’s $40 deal on the Levoit Portable Tower Desk Fan may be a better selection. Air purifiers can also be helpful if your allergies kick up after moving to a new place, but they’re also helpful for managing unwanted smells you may encounter. You can get air purifiers, like the GoveeLife Mini Air Purifier, for as low as $38 at Amazon. If you want something that allows you to add essential oils for relaxation, the Levoit Core Mini Desktop Air Purifier with Aromatherapy has been marked down to just $40 at Walmart. To be a good roommate, just make sure your dorm buddies don’t mind the fragrance.Mainstays 28-Inch Tower Fan with 3-Speed Settings

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Check price at WalmartLevoit Portable Tower Desk Fan

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Check price at AmazonLevoit Core Mini Desktop Air Purifier with Aromatherapy

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Check price at WalmartGoveeLife Mini Air Purifier

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Check price at AmazonTheStreet Shopping is your guide for shopping insights and advice. We look beyond the price tag to find the best value in home, tech, and wellness gear based on product features and real-world use. Read more about our Editorial Standards and How We Choose Our Shopping Deals.

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealOne of the best things about summer is that it finally gives us the chance to throw our winter boots to the side and break out the flip-flops. The only problem? After a while, your feet can take quite a beating in them. They’re comfortable and convenient, no doubt, but with little to no support and constant exposure to all Mother Nature has to offer, they’re not always the most optimal shoe choice. Thankfully, with more and more styles being released that are designed with additional support in mind, like the Coface Orthotic Flip-Flops, you can enjoy that loud thwacking sound you hear as your foot connects with the pavement every time you step and still keep your feet in tip-top shape. They’re specifically designed to offer more heel, arch, and sole support so that, even after a long day on your feet, your feet aren’t aching and in pain, and what’s even better is that they’re on sale for 25% off at Amazon. The $33 sandals are now only $25, and with so much of summer still to conquer, there’s no better time to add a pair to your cart. Coface Orthotic Flip-Flops, $25 (was $33) at Amazon

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Shop at AmazonWhy do shoppers love it?Orthopedic shoes in general utilize special features to relieve pressure, reduce pronation, and stabilize your joints. Some shoes have inserts and accessories added to them upon your purchase, whereas others are pre-designed with them in place so no work is required on your end, and that’s how these flip-flops are designed.The thong sandals have a bionic design to support high arches and a contoured footbed to hug your foot. With this in place, the strain on your feet is reduced, your stride is more stabilized, and easy injuries like plantar fasciitis or tendonitis are less likely to occur. The bottom portion of the shoe is made with ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) that’s a rubber-like copolymer similar to a foam. It’s lightweight and flexible, so you can move with ease while giving you shock-absorbing support that reduces the impact the ground makes on your foot with each stride. In fact, there’s even some memory-foam incorporated into the sole along with a heel cup to provide extra cushioning and stability while eliminating the risk of foot fatigue. The flip-flops have that standard thong design with an extra twist added. There is an additional strap that’s adjustable with a hook-and-loop fastener to fit your shoes more comfortably to your feet. It’s perfect for days where the heat makes your feet swell and you need a little bit more room than usual. The straps are made with faux leather, while the bottom exterior portion of the shoe has a non-slip textured rubber tread to provide traction and protection. There’s even an abrasion rubber sheet that provides stability in wet conditions so slick surfaces don’t pose a risk. Related: Skechers walking shoes that ‘feel like walking on clouds’ are just $40 at AmazonAvailable in 13 colors and in sizes 5 through 12, with half sizes in between, these sandals are great for casualwear with a pair of shorts and a T-shirt or dressed up for slightly more formal occasions with a pair of nice pants, a skirt, or a dress. Details to knowMaterial: Rubber, faux leather, and ethylene-vinyl acetate.Colors: 13. Sizes: 5 through 12 with half sizes.With over 11,500 five-star ratings, these flip-flops are certainly popular with shoppers. The contoured footbed provides really great arch support and feels super comfortable for the feet. The shoes are both functional and very attractive, and they are lightweight and perfect for the pool, beach, or running around town. “I’ve been having heel and plantar fasciitis pain so bad it was extremely difficult to get out of bed in the morning without limping,” one shopper said. “These are a game changer.”Shop more deals Cushionaire Double Buckle Slip-On Sandals, $45 (was $65) at AmazonKuaiLu Flip-Flops, $14 (was $23) at AmazonUbfen Hiking Sport Sandals, $40 (was $50) at AmazonOrthopedic shoes can be expensive, but you don’t always need to pay a fortune to get the technology and design that supports your feet best. Enjoy your favorite summer style with all the structure and support you need to live pain-free with the Coface Orthotic Flip-Flops. 

Online shopping is moving into a new phase, and consumers may not always notice who is powering it.A shopper today can ask an AI assistant to compare products, find deals, read reviews, build a cart, and move closer to checkout without visiting a traditional retailer’s website. In some cases, the assistant is still mostly helping the shopper search.In others, it is beginning to act more like an agent that can move the purchase forward with user approval, payment controls, and other guardrails.For Shopify, this distinction is becoming crucial as it heads to report its second-quarter 2026 results on August 5, before the market opens.Shopify, the commerce software company behind millions of online and in-store sellers, helps merchants run stores, manage products, process payments, and sell across different channels.Now, Bank of America is returning to the stock with a bullish view, arguing that the rise of AI shopping may not weaken Shopify’s role in online commerce. Bank of America returns to Shopify Bank of America reinstated coverage of Shopify with a Buy rating and a $150 price target in a July 7 note reviewed by TheStreet.The firm said that the company could be a “core beneficiary” of the move toward AI-driven, agentic commerce.BofA analyst Tal Liani said investor concern has centered on whether AI shopping tools could bypass merchant websites and shift discovery and transactions away from Shopify’s platform.More AI:The new Chinese AI model rattling U.S. tech investorsAnthropic restores access to Mythos 5 for select organizationsSoftBank CEO offers stinging critique of Musk’s AI betThis worry has been weighing on the stock, which is down around 24% year to date.BofA’s $150 price target implies nearly 25% upside from the stock’s price of $120 at the time.In the reinstatement note, Liani argues that investors may be looking at the wrong part of the shopping journey.If AI assistants become the new front door for product discovery, the value may shift toward the systems that enable transactions.This includes product catalogs, real-time inventory, pricing, checkout, payments, and fulfillment. Those are areas where Shopify is already embedded across its merchant base.BofA’s insight gives investors an early framework for what to watch: not just whether Shopify beats quarterly expectations, but whether its AI, payments, international, and enterprise growth story is gaining strength.

Shopify’s stock is down 25% year to date.Iryna Tolmachova / Getty Images

AI shopping has reached checkoutAI shopping is no longer a theoretical concept.Amazon recently introduced Alexa for Shopping, which combines Rufus and Alexa+ to help customers compare products, track price history, build carts, and reorder essentials.For eligible products, consumers can use Amazon’s Buy for Me agentic AI feature to shop across the web.Walmart and Google are also pushing AI shopping closer to the checkout process. Google’s Gemini shopping expansion includes partnerships with Walmart, Shopify, Wayfair, and other retailers, allowing shoppers to find products and, in some cases, buy without leaving the Gemini chat.Microsoft is adding a similar layer to Copilot. The company’s Copilot Checkout feature can show a buy option inside an AI conversation, then open an in-chat checkout flow where shoppers enter shipping and payment details and confirm a purchase. Microsoft’s initial retail partners include Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Ashley Furniture, and some Etsy sellers, while PayPal, Stripe, and Shopify are working with Microsoft on payments.For merchants, this change is big.If shoppers increasingly buy through AI surfaces, merchants need their product data, inventory, pricing, and checkout systems to work inside those interfaces.But Shopify isn’t just waiting to see how AI changes online retail.It is helping build some of the infrastructure that could support it.The company already holds a big 14%+ share of total US e-commerce, second only to Amazon. To leverage this scale as consumer behavior shifts, Shopify has co-developed the Universal Commerce Platform (UCP), an open-standard technical framework built alongside major technology and payments companies, including Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Stripe, and Salesforce. The UCP serves as a critical strategic lever by standardizing exactly how autonomous AI agents discover inventory, negotiate terms, and complete transactions across the web. By aligning with such companies, Shopify is effectively positioning its backend ecosystem to remain important as AI becomes an increasingly important part of digital commerce.Shopify earnings will test AI-commerce caseShopify’s first-quarter results already gave Wall Street a strong base for the AI-commerce debate.The company said revenue rose 34% in the quarter ended March 31, 2026, while free cash flow margin was 15%. Gross merchandise volume, the total dollar value of orders facilitated through Shopify’s platform, cleared $100 billion in the quarter, reaching $100.7 billion.Shopify also told investors it expected second-quarter revenue to grow at a high-twenties percentage rate year over year.It expects gross profit dollars to grow at a mid-twenties rate, operating expenses to be 35% to 36% of revenue, and free cash flow margin to be in the mid-teens.BofA’s longer-term model is more bullish than a single quarter. The firm expects Shopify revenue to grow 24% to 28% annually from fiscal 2026 through fiscal 2028, supported by three drivers: agentic commerce, international expansion, and larger enterprise merchantsThe AI data in the note is especially important because it shows the shift is already showing up in Shopify’s merchant activity. BofA said AI-driven traffic to Shopify merchants rose eightfold year over year in the first quarter, while orders from AI-powered searches increased about 13 times. New-buyer orders from AI surfaces were occurring at nearly twice the rate of traditional channels.BofA also highlighted Shopify’s Catalog product, which feeds inventory and pricing into AI agents, and Sidekick, Shopify’s AI assistant for merchants. The firm said traffic from Catalog-powered AI searches converted to purchases at twice the rate of general AI search traffic, while Sidekick weekly active users were up fourfold year over year.The point is not that every shopper is suddenly handing purchases to a bot. Most AI shopping systems still require confirmation, limits, or other controls before money changes hands. The bigger shift is that checkout is moving closer to the AI conversation itself.That could make Shopify less visible to consumers, but more important to merchants that need to be available wherever shoppers start.Shopify has more than one growth driverBofA’s call on Shopify is not limited to AI.International growth is another key part of the firm’s bullish case. BofA said international gross merchandise volume for Shopify rose 45% year over year in the first quarter, faster than overall GMV growth. The firm also said Shop Pay’s gross merchandise volume outside the U.S. grew more than 70% year over year.This is important because Shopify, which is already a major U.S. commerce platform, still has room to expand globally as more merchants adopt localized payments and cross-border tools.Shopify’s move upmarket is also important. The company built its reputation with small and midsize merchants, but larger sellers are now becoming a bigger part of the story.BofA said merchants with more than $25 million in GMV were Shopify’s fastest-growing cohort.The number of merchants doing more than $100 million in GMV doubled over the past two years. Shopify Plus’s monthly recurring revenue grew 20% year over year and represented 35% of total monthly recurring revenue, according to the note.That enterprise shift could make Shopify’s revenue more durable if larger merchants increasingly use its payments, checkout, point-of-sale, and commerce tools over time.Shopify faces AI and competition risksThe bullish case, however, is not without risks.BofA said downside risks to its $150 Shopify price target include greater-than-expected disintermediation from AI-native commerce platforms.A slower adoption of key merchant solutions, execution risk in international expansion, and increased competition as Shopify moves upmarket.Those risks matter because AI could still change the balance of power in online retail. If major AI platforms, marketplaces, or payment companies control more of the shopping journey, Shopify will need to prove that its infrastructure remains essential.For investors, August 5 will be the next checkpoint. Shopify’s Q2 earnings will show whether the company can keep posting strong growth while defending its place in the online shopping stack.For shoppers and merchants, the bigger question is direct: when AI changes how people buy, will Shopify become less visible, or more powerful behind the scenes?Related: Costco quietly makes a key credit card change

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) said it will raise its planned U.S. investment to more than $250 billion through 2035, according to a Seeking Alpha report on the company’s Thursday, July 9, announcement.That figure is $50 billion more than the roughly $200 billion the company committed to just over a year ago, based on a Micron SEC filing.The increase arrived alongside a construction milestone in Clay, New York, where Micron poured the first concrete for its new megafab three months ahead of schedule.The timing matters more than the number. Micron isn’t expanding because it wants more capacity someday. It’s expanding because it can’t build fast enough to keep up with demand it already has, and its own CEO won’t say when that pressure eases.Micron flags memory shortage with no end date attachedIn an interview with FOX Business’s Liz Claman, Micron chairman and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said “memory is in deep shortage right now,” and that the expanded investment is meant to pull in the timelines on new supply.It’s a direct admission that the $250 billion figure is defensive as much as ambitious.Claman pressed him on when the shortage would end, noting Micron had previously said tightness would last beyond 2027. Mehrotra wouldn’t commit to a date.Related: Veteran analyst drops massive Micron valuation prediction“We are not putting a date or month on it, because the demand just continues to go up as well,” he said in the same interview.Part of that is simple physics. Mehrotra told Claman that “from shovel in the ground to getting first silicon out is good three to four years’ time frame,” even when construction moves fast.That timeline is why Micron is pouring concrete now for supply it won’t ship until later in the decade.That uncertainty is backed by contracts, not just talk. Mehrotra said Micron has signed 16 customers to strategic supply agreements running as far out as 2030, a sign buyers expect the crunch to outlast this investment cycle.

Micron raised its U.S. investment plan to $250 billion as CEO Sanjay Mehrotra declined to say when the memory shortage will end.Bloomberg / Getty Images

Wall Street reads Micron rally as more than optimismMicron (MU) shares climbed almost 5% on July 9, according to CNBC. Other chip equipment and design names, including Applied Materials, KLA, Lam Research, and Arm Holdings, rallied the same day.That breadth matters. Investors weren’t just repricing Micron. They were pricing in a longer AI infrastructure buildout across the memory supply chain.The move follows a separate bullish signal. Citi analysts placed Micron on an upside catalyst watch this week, citing expectations that DRAM prices could nearly triple in 2027. Combined with the July 9 investment news, that forecast suggests Wall Street sees this shortage as a multi-year pricing story, not a short squeeze.The rally still comes with a caveat memory investors know well. Micron cut about 15% of its global workforce in 2023 when memory prices collapsed during the last downturn, a history Claman raised directly in the interview.A $250 billion, decade-long bet only pays off if this cycle doesn’t repeat that one.Apple is already paying for the memory shortageMicron doesn’t operate in isolation, and the same tightness fueling its investment plans is squeezing its customers.Apple raised prices on iPads, Macs, and other hardware by roughly $100 to $200 per device in late June, citing what it called an unprecedented jump in memory and storage costs. Apple shares fell as much as 6% the day the increases took effect.More Micron:Morgan Stanley resets Micron stock price target on strong AI demandMicron just dethroned Nvidia in one key wayBank of America strongly resets Micron stock price targetReuters reported that memory makers including Micron have prioritized orders from AI chipmakers like Nvidia in recent months, leaving less supply for consumer electronics makers.That dynamic helps explain why Micron can justify quadrupling domestic capacity. Its highest-value customers now are the AI buildout itself, not the phone and laptop makers that used to set the terms.The bigger story is where the chips get madeBeyond the dollar figure, Micron’s plan is a bet on geography. The company wants 40% of its DRAM output made domestically, and the Clay campus is expected to generate 50,000 New York jobs, including 9,000 direct roles at Micron.Micron is also putting up to $3 billion into supply chain partners, including $500 million in financing for GlobalWafers’ Texas wafer facility, tying a second country’s raw silicon supply into its U.S. footprint through a new 10-year agreement.Washington has framed the deal in strategic terms.U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called the expanded investment a matter of national security in comments cited by the Seeking Alpha report, tying memory manufacturing to broader technology leadership.That framing, reshoring production while locking down raw material access, reflects a wider shift in how chipmakers are hedging against both AI demand spikes and geopolitical risk.Micron isn’t the only company making that bet, but it’s making one of the largest and most public versions of it.The open question isn’t whether Micron builds these fabs. Construction is already ahead of schedule. It’s whether the shortage driving this spending holds long enough to justify it. While Mehrotra won’t put a date on that, investors will need to watch Micron’s upcoming earnings report closely for any shifts in the memory demand cycle.Related: Tokyo puts billions behind Micron’s chip plan

From Walmart to the Nobel Prize, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh went long and deep in his quest to kick off massive reforms of the U.S. central bank’s operations — changes he and others, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have argued are long overdue.Fifteen outside experts including former central bankers, academics, business leaders and even a college pal of Warsh who made it big in tech venture capital are co-leading five Fed task forces. The focus: improvements and upgrades to support the Fed’s dual mandate of labor and inflation plus its balance sheet, communications and data with a spotlight on the role of artificial intelligence.“Each task force will carefully consider whether policymakers’ means and methods, analytical tools and policy approaches can be improved upon. I am honored that the best minds from a range of disciplines have agreed to work with us to sharpen our performance as an institution,’’ Warsh said in a July 9 statement.He announced the formation of the task forces following the July 17 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, his first as chairman of the world’s largest central bank. He then set about personally recruiting the co-leads, who are not being compensated for their efforts. They will work with Fed staff to deliver recommendations by the end of the year to the FOMC.“The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time,’’ Warsh said.Will AI lead the Fed to lower interest rates?Warsh, who served as a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, made AI a key speaking point of his campaign to take over as chair of the central bank.His arguments have been that use of AI will lead to massive improvements in the productivity of people and businesses that will allow for lower interest rates without higher inflation.“If we do our jobs, we’ll be here a year from now and we’ll say we’ve discovered data that helps us make better decisions,” Warsh said at a conference I covered on July 1.  The Fed’s dual mandate from Congress requires maximum employment and stable prices.Lower interest rates support hiring but can fuel inflation. This risks fueling further inflation, potentially leading to an inflationary spiral.Higher rates cool prices but can weaken the job market. This increases the cost of borrowing and further stifles economic activity.

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, left, is congratulated by President Donald Trump at his June swearing-in ceremony. Warsh named 15 global experts on July 9 to lead five task forces studying improvements and upgrades across the entire central bank. (Getty Images)Aaron Schwartz / Getty Images

Fed Communications Task Force Will review how the Fed conveyspolicy deliberations and decisions amid uncertainty.Peter R. Fisher, professor of practice, Foster School of Business, University of Washington. He is a former Treasury and New York Fed official. Arminio Fraga, founder and chairman of Gávea Investimentos and former president of the Central Bank of Brazil.Mervyn King, former governor, Bank of England. King ran the BOE for over a decade and led the U.K. central bank through the 2008-09 financial crisis.Fed Balance Sheet Policy Task ForceWill examine the costs, benefits, and institutional implications of the Fed’s $6.7 trillion balance sheet.Karen Dynan, Harvard University economics professor who held top roles at the Treasury Department during the Obama administration. Raghuram Rajan, University of Chicago finance professor. He is a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India and is known for his early warnings ahead of the global financial crisis.Jeremy Stein, Harvard University economics professor and a former Fed governor.Fed Data Task ForceWill examine how to improve the quality and timeliness of real economic signals that inform the Fed’s policy judgments.Raj Chetty, Harvard University economics professor and a pioneer in the use of alternate and real-time data to analyze households and neighborhoods economic behavior. Doug McMillon, former Walmart Inc. president and CEO.Kevin Murphy, University of Chicago economics professor.Fed Productivity and Jobs Task ForceWill assess the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, including artificial intelligence, to inform the Fed’s policy judgments.Famed tech investor Marc Andreessen, cofounder and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. Andreessen is an outspoken supporter of the Trump 2.0 administration as well as a close friend of Warsh from their Stanford undergraduate days.Related: Fed Warsh era kicks off with big surprise no one saw comingCharles I. Jones, Stanford University economics professor currently on leave from Anthropic, the AI research and product company founded by former OpenAI executives.Asha Sharma, executive vice president and XBOX CEO at Microsoft Corp.Fed Inflation Frameworks Task ForceWill revisit how the Fed understands and responds to the drivers of inflation.Greg Mankiw, Harvard University economics professor and former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the George W. Bush administration.William White, senior fellow, C.D. Howe Institute. He is a former economic adviser to the Bank for International Settlements.Thomas Sargent, New York University economics professor. He shared the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2011 for his work in macroeconomics and government policy.Fed task forces to face multiple challenges RSM US Chief Economist Joe Brusuelas said the list of global economic and business experts will add experience to the task forces, though he cautioned they will face challenges, too. “It’s a very impressive list that’s been put forward by Chair Warsh that I’m confident will inform the discussion around the substantive topics,” Brusuelas told Bloomberg. “However, the Fed already has an army of Ph.D.s that had investigated these areas, so I’m not exactly convinced that this is going to shed much light into how we understand productivity and AI,” Brusuelas said. Related: Warsh’s AI task force could reshape Fed economic models

Ask two chatbots the same personal finance question using identical financial details, and you may get dramatically different advice. One might recommend an emergency fund that is nearly twice as large as what the other advises.A study published in the Journal of Financial Planning in June 2026 found that recommendations varied significantly across AI platforms and, in several cases, also by the hypothetical user’s race or gender. Researchers tested seven widely used generative AI platforms on identical personal finance prompts and found significant inconsistencies, demographic bias in certain recommendations, and a gap most users never consider.Two out of three Americans who have used generative AI said they have tapped it for financial guidance, with that share climbing to 82% among both Millennials and Gen Z, CNBC reported.Study exposes wide gaps in AI financial recommendationsResearchers Gianni Nicolini of the University of Rome Tor Vergata; Brenda Cude, a professor emerita at the University of Georgia (UGA); and Swarn Chatterjee, Bluerock professor of financial planning at UGA, tested free versions of ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, DeepSeek, Gemini, Meta AI, and Perplexity. All prompts were submitted in August 2025, covering emergency savings, retirement withdrawal rates, and investment portfolio allocation.Emergency savings recommendations ranged from $19,500 to $37,500 across platforms, a spread the researchers found to be statistically significant. Portfolio allocation guidance also diverged widely in equity, cash, and alternative asset categories, the study confirmed.The platforms generally aligned with broad principles such as the conventional 4% retirement withdrawal guideline, the authors noted.Yet the scale of variation in savings and allocation recommendations raised direct concerns about the reliability of chatbot-generated money advice.Demographic bias surfaces in chatbot financial guidanceThe researchers then resubmitted the same prompts with only the race and gender of the hypothetical individual changed. ChatGPT, Copilot, and DeepSeek all recommended higher emergency savings for women and African American users than for their white male counterparts, the study found.More AI:Goldman Sachs has blunt message for AI stock investorsMicrosoft CEO sends a blunt warning on AI and the tech ecosystemThe next AI infrastructure race has nothing to do with chips”If I’m a consumer, the recommendation I receive can vary simply based on which AI platform I’m using,” Chatterjee said in a University of Georgia press release.Chatterjee explained that AI models combine vast datasets on human behavior and finance to make assumptions about individual users. Those assumptions, such as expecting minority male users to face longer job searches, can lead the tools to recommend larger emergency funds.The tools may prescribe larger financial cushions for certain demographic groups without explaining the reasoning behind those adjustments.

Researchers found that AI financial advice can change based on a user’s race and gender, raising concerns about bias and transparency.d3sign/Getty Images

AI chatbots have no fiduciary obligation to usersA licensed financial advisor operating under a fiduciary standard faces legal consequences for putting personal interests ahead of a client’s needs, including regulatory penalties, civil liability, and criminal charges.”What they don’t have is that fiduciary duty,” Andrew Lo, director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management, told CNBC. “They don’t have the ability to suffer consequences if they make a mistake to the same degree that a human advisor does.”Lo also warned that large language models consistently generate responses that sound authoritative, regardless of whether the underlying information is accurate. That risk is sharper when users press chatbots for personalized answers on topics such as taxes, retirement timing, or portfolio allocations, where accuracy depends on details the model may lack.The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 2023 report found that chatbots deployed by financial institutions for customer service sometimes provide inaccurate information. The CFPB warned that such errors can violate federal consumer financial protection laws. Data privacy adds another layer of risk for AI money adviceAsking a chatbot for money guidance often requires sharing sensitive financial details, including income, account balances, and spending patterns. That data can be stored indefinitely by the company providing the AI, and human reviewers may access those conversations, Empower noted in its analysis of chatbot privacy risks.Certified financial planner Brenton Harrison told CNBC that relying on AI for financial guidance creates an inherent tension.Looking to [AI] for advice implies you are giving it enough information to form an opinion and make a recommendation, and that’s a step further than I’d go with AI.Research from cybersecurity firm Harmonic Security found that 4.37% of workplace AI prompts and 22% of file uploads to GenAI tools in the second quarter of 2025 contained sensitive company information.Empower has advised users to leave out personal identifiers such as Social Security numbers, exact income, and account numbers when sharing information with AI chatbots and to frame questions in general terms.What experts say about relying on AI outputs for money decisions”Trust but verify,” Chatterjee said in the University of Georgia release. “AI gives people a starting point, not an ending point. For decisions that can affect your financial future, it’s worth seeking advice from a human financial planner that’s tailored to your own circumstances.”A “Return on Advice” survey of 2,202 Americans in October 2025 found 76% say technology can provide financial information but not judgment or trust, Empower reported. The Journal of Financial Planning study does not argue that AI has no place in personal finance. Its authors concluded that generative AI holds potential to expand access to financial guidance. Still, they said, safeguards are essential, and users who treat chatbot outputs as authoritative advice are taking on risks they may not fully understand.Related: Morningstar drops bombshell warning on AI stocks

The best product doesn’t always win. In most markets, the winner is the product that’s good enough at a price nobody can ignore. Toyota understood that. Southwest Airlines built an empire on it. Now the same playbook is being tested in the most expensive technology race in history.Artificial intelligence labs have spent the past year one-upping each other on capability, and businesses have paid for it. Every automated coding agent and research assistant runs on tokens, the units of text AI models read and write, and monthly bills have grown so fast that some companies now treat AI spending like a second cloud budget.That tension is the backdrop for the newest move from Elon Musk, whose rocket company became a publicly traded AI bet with its June 12 initial public offering (IPO) and has spent the weeks since trying to convince Wall Street that the second half of that description is real.On Wednesday, July 8, SpaceXAI, the artificial intelligence unit of SpaceX (SPCX), launched Grok 4.5, and the sales pitch is unlike anything Musk has tried before. He isn’t claiming he built the best model in the world. He’s claiming he built the one you can actually afford to run all day.What Grok 4.5 brings to the AI fightThe model was “trained alongside Cursor” and built for coding, agentic tasks, and everyday knowledge work, according to SpaceXAI. Agentic tasks are jobs an AI finishes on its own across multiple steps, such as finding a bug, fixing it, and testing the result.That Cursor reference matters. SpaceX agreed in June to buy Anysphere, the startup behind the Cursor coding tool, in a $60 billion all-stock deal, as TheStreet covered, and Grok 4.5 is the first model to emerge from that pairing.Related: Elon Musk wants you to file taxes with GrokThe training run used tens of thousands of Nvidia (NVDA) GB300 graphics processing units, according to SpaceXAI. Grok 4.5 runs on the company’s new V9 foundation model with roughly 1.5 trillion parameters, about three times the size of its predecessor, Musk said on X.Grok 4.5 arrived roughly three months after Grok 4.3 shipped in April, following weeks of private beta testing inside SpaceX and Tesla, Musk wrote earlier this month.Developers got access on July 8 through Cursor, the Grok Build coding agent and the SpaceXAI developer console, with the public rollout following on Thursday, July 9. European availability is expected in mid-July, and usage is free for a limited time in Grok Build and Cursor, the company confirmed.The company’s own benchmark charts tell an honest story. Grok 4.5 topped rivals on the SWE Marathon software engineering test at 29%, but trailed Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Fable 5 on SWE Bench Pro, scoring 64.7% against their 69.2% and 80.4%, according to SpaceXAI’s published figures.

SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.5 on July 8, priced at $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens.SOPA Images / Getty Images

Musk’s pricing play targets OpenAI and AnthropicThe launch was never really about benchmarks. It was about the invoice, and Musk made sure everyone knew it.Here is how the launch pricing compares per million tokens:Grok 4.5 costs $2 for input and $6 for output, SpaceXAI noted.Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.8 costs $5 for input and $25 for output, according to Reuters.OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Luna costs $1 for input and $6 for output, Reuters added.Musk framed the tradeoff himself. “It is an Opus-class model, but faster, more token-efficient and lower cost,” the SpaceX CEO said in a post on X, according to Reuters.Then he went further than most executives would. “In fairness, Fable is definitely better than Grok 4.5,” Musk wrote of Anthropic’s flagship model, adding that most tasks don’t require that level of capability, as reported by Stocktwits.I ran the numbers on what that gap means in practice. A company generating one billion output tokens a month, a realistic volume for a mid-sized engineering team running coding agents, would pay about $6,000 on Grok 4.5 versus roughly $25,000 on Opus 4.8. Across a year, the difference approaches a junior developer’s salary.That is the emotional core of this launch for anyone who signs an AI invoice. Musk isn’t selling brilliance. He’s selling relief.What the Grok 4.5 gamble means for SPCX investorsThe market’s first reaction was a shrug. SpaceX shares fell nearly 1% on Wednesday, July 8, to $148.30, a third straight decline that left the stock down about 8% for the week, Stocktwits reported. Shares edged up 0.88% to $149.60 in the premarket of July 9, according to Benzinga.More Artificial Intelligence:Cathie Wood buys $2.1M of tumbling Al stockElon Musk’s Al jobs prediction gets harsh reality checkElon Musk sends wakeup call on runaway Al spendingSome context helps here. SpaceX priced its IPO at $135 a share, raised a record $75 billion in the June 12 debut, and briefly traded above $176 before giving nearly all of those gains back.The muted response fits a stock that has spent its first month erasing its post-IPO pop. Jim Cramer has already warned buyers about the one-way momentum, as seen in my TheStreet coverage. Morningstar said before the debut that it doesn’t count Grok among the leading AI labs, TheStreet highlighted.Pricing is the variable that could change that conversation. Enterprises running autonomous agents are facing “token bill shock,” Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah said July 9, Benzinga confirmed. If Grok holds its cost advantage while narrowing the accuracy gap, it could squeeze pricing at OpenAI and Anthropic, Shah added.My analysis is that Musk picked the one fight he can win right now. He can’t out-benchmark Anthropic this quarter, and he admitted as much in public. He can out-price it, however. Musk also told users to expect noticeable gains in the Grok Build coding harness every week, a promise that shifts the story to shipping cadence rather than one launch-day scoreboard.The timing adds pressure, too. OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 arrives Thursday, July 9, which means the cost-versus-capability debate will sit at the center of the AI trade for the rest of the summer.Wall Street remains constructive, despite the wobbly chart. Analysts hold a strong buy consensus on SpaceX with an average price target of $212.08, implying roughly 40% upside, according to TipRanks.For investors, the test is no longer whether Musk can build a frontier model. It’s whether “good enough” at a quarter of the output price shows up in SpaceXAI revenue before the lockups expire and Wall Street’s patience runs out.Related: Elon Musk and Tesla announce serious AI changes for workers