World Cup, AI stocks, SpaceX IPO
Argentina’s number 10 forward Lionel Messi kicks the ball during the 2022 Qatar World Cup final football match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha, on December 18, 2022.
Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty Images
The men’s soccer World Cup has a special kind of fever. The 2026 edition of the tournament adds even more excitement with 48 teams instead of the usual 32 and three host nations instead of the usual.
Matches will run from Vancouver to Mexico City from June 11 to July 19, marking the first time games will be played in North America since 1994.
There will be winners and losers on and off the field. Goldman Sachs predicts that the main beneficiaries in the sector will include European and US consumer staples, US retail and hospitality firms. But the investment bank also warns: “While the World Cup is undoubtedly a major business event, this does not mean that the macroeconomic impact on host countries will be significant or long-lasting.”
World Cup could revitalize these capital sectors, according to Deutsche and Goldman
What are the odds?
Deutsche Bank analysts believe that sports betting platforms will also benefit from this. But a war may be brewing between traditional bookmakers and ever-growing bookmakers prediction markets. This is the first World Cup where Polymarket and Kalshi are now major forces in the sports betting space.
While billions of people are expected to watch the matches, it is not just football that will start next week…
AI offside
Investors will be watching AI stocks carefully after volatile trading days. US semiconductor giant Broadcom sparked a sell-off in the global chip space after it released a disappointing forecast for AI chip sales.
We’re expecting more headlines from London Technology Week, which kicks off on Monday. Anthropic’s announcement regarding its highly anticipated IPO will also be high on the agenda, as will updates on OpenAI’s plans to go public.
Private market to own goal
Shooting for the stars
While billions of people watch football, all eyes will be on the market as one of the most anticipated IPOs of all time takes place on Friday.
SpaceX is hoping to reach for the stars in what is set to be the largest public stock sale ever on Friday.
The path of Elon Musk’s megacompany going public has been as dramatic as any World Cup final: an unprecedented move at a price of exactly $135 per share, a sky-high valuation of $1.7 trillion, a reality check on the S&P’s entry terms, and an effort to reach unprecedented numbers of retail investors. This is all in addition to his ambition to colonize Mars.
As countries begin their quest for World Cup glory, investors are poised to get their fill of market moments.
What to watch this week:
Monday: London Technology Week
Tuesday: Super Comeback Berlin
Wednesday: Super Comeback Berlin
Thursday: ECB monetary policy decision
Friday: SpaceX’s IPO
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a business relationship that includes customer acquisition and minority investment.
