{"id":65915,"date":"2026-08-04T00:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/hsbc-profits-surge-23-as-google-and-wall-street-unveil-200b-ai-financing-machine\/65915\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T00:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T04:38:17","slug":"hsbc-profits-surge-23-as-google-and-wall-street-unveil-200b-ai-financing-machine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/hsbc-profits-surge-23-as-google-and-wall-street-unveil-200b-ai-financing-machine\/65915\/","title":{"rendered":"HSBC Profits Surge 23% as Google and Wall Street Unveil $200B AI Financing Machine"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>HSBC (<a href=\"\/stock\/HSBC\">HSBC<\/a>) reported a 23% surge in H1 2026 pretax profit to $19.5 billion<\/strong>, significantly beating analyst estimates of <strong>$18.9 billion<\/strong> on the back of robust wealth management fees and higher net interest income.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Google (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) and Wall Street giants<\/strong> including Apollo and Blackstone have structured a massive <strong>$200 billion infrastructure financing program<\/strong> to supply AI chips and data center capacity to startup <strong>Anthropic<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>South Korea\u2019s KOSPI index<\/strong> is facing extreme volatility, having fallen nearly <strong>40% from its June peak<\/strong>, leading to a political crisis for President Lee Jae Myung as retail investors face heavy losses.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russia is rapidly expanding its &quot;shadow fleet&quot; of LNG tankers<\/strong> to 25 vessels ahead of a 2027 EU ban, mirroring the &quot;dark fleet&quot; tactics used to bypass oil sanctions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vertex Pharmaceuticals (<a href=\"\/stock\/VRTX\">VRTX<\/a>) raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $13.1B\u2013$13.2B<\/strong> following strong Q2 results, even as RBC adjusted its price target to <strong>$570<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Banking &amp; Corporate Earnings<\/h2>\n<p>HSBC (<a href=\"\/stock\/HSBC\">HSBC<\/a>) delivered a standout performance for the first half of 2026, with <strong>pretax profit jumping 23% to $19.5 billion<\/strong>. The bank&#39;s revenue hit <strong>$37.74 billion<\/strong>, driven by a <strong>$18.23 billion<\/strong> net interest income and a significant expansion in its wealth management division. Consequently, the board approved a second interim dividend of <strong>$0.10 per share<\/strong> and announced a new <strong>$1 billion share buyback<\/strong> program.<\/p>\n<p>Vertex Pharmaceuticals (<a href=\"\/stock\/VRTX\">VRTX<\/a>) reported a <strong>12% increase in Q2 revenue to $3.33 billion<\/strong>, fueled by its dominant cystic fibrosis franchise and new launches like <strong>CASGEVY<\/strong>. The company also announced it expects to close its acquisition of <strong>Crinetics Pharmaceuticals<\/strong> in Q3 2026. Despite the growth, <strong>RBC Capital<\/strong> slightly trimmed its valuation target for the stock to <strong>$570 from $577<\/strong>, citing a minor adjustment in the long-term outlook.<\/p>\n<h2>AI &amp; Technology Infrastructure<\/h2>\n<p>A <em>Financial Times<\/em> investigation revealed that Google (<a href=\"\/stock\/GOOGL\">GOOGL<\/a>) has assembled a <strong>$200 billion financing machine<\/strong> to support the AI startup <strong>Anthropic<\/strong>. The complex web of transactions involves <strong>Broadcom (<a href=\"\/stock\/AVGO\">AVGO<\/a>)<\/strong>, <strong>Apollo<\/strong>, and <strong>Blackstone<\/strong>, which provide private credit to purchase Google\u2019s <strong>Tensor Processing Units (TPUs)<\/strong> and lease them to Anthropic. This model allows the startup to access massive computing power without a traditional credit rating while Google guarantees the underlying data centers.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Markets &amp; Macroeconomics<\/h2>\n<p>In South Korea, President Lee Jae Myung\u2019s drive to turn the <strong>KOSPI<\/strong> into a &quot;hot&quot; market has backfired as the index entered a <strong>bear market<\/strong>, dropping <strong>20% from its recent highs<\/strong>. Retail investors, who were encouraged to use leveraged ETFs, are now nursing massive losses, causing the President&#39;s approval ratings to plummet to <strong>44.5%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Indonesia\u2019s benchmark equity index (JCI)<\/strong> gained <strong>0.7% to reach 6,278.822 points<\/strong>, its strongest level since late July. In the Middle East, <strong>Saudi Arabia\u2019s July S&amp;P Global Composite PMI<\/strong> remained in expansionary territory at <strong>53.1<\/strong>, though it slowed slightly from June\u2019s <strong>53.3<\/strong> reading.<\/p>\n<h2>Energy &amp; Geopolitics<\/h2>\n<p>Russia is preemptively circumventing upcoming European energy restrictions by building a <strong>shadow fleet of 25 LNG tankers<\/strong>. This fleet includes at least eight second-hand vessels purchased in the last six months and new ships from the <strong>Zvezda shipyard<\/strong>. The move is designed to ensure continued gas exports when the <strong>EU&#39;s total ban on Russian LNG<\/strong> takes full effect in 2027.<\/p>\n<p>In European political news, <strong>Italy and Germany<\/strong> have drawn criticism for their &quot;hypocritical&quot; censure of <strong>Spain\u2019s migrant amnesty<\/strong>, as both nations have previously utilized similar regularisation schemes for irregular arrivals. Separately, <strong>Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky<\/strong> is facing a <strong>\u20ac17.5 million lawsuit<\/strong> from luxury broker Cecil Wright &amp; Partners over the direct purchase of a <strong>\u20ac350 million superyacht<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways HSBC (HSBC) reported a 23% surge in H1 2026 pretax profit to $19.5 billion, significantly beating analyst estimates 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