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Markets Shrug Off Iran War as Tech Earnings Power Rally

By Oliver BennsMay 6, 2026

Global equities have ripped higher two months into the Iran conflict, with the S&P 500 up 8%, the Nasdaq up 12% and the Dow up 6% since the so-called ceasefire was announced. The rally has come despite Brent crude holding above $103 a barrel, US gasoline prices up 35% since the war began, and continued naval skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz. Tech-heavy markets have led the charge, with Taiwan up 15% and Israel up 9%, as AI-driven earnings estimates posted their largest upward revision on record.

Tim Cook Exits Apple After 13x Run in Market Cap

Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple CEO after 15 years, handing the reins to hardware engineering chief John Ternus. Under Cook, Apple's market cap grew from $350bn to nearly $4tn, with revenue and profit quadrupling and shareholder returns of roughly 2,000%, four times the S&P 500. His tenure leaves Apple dominant in hardware margins but trailing in consumer AI, with Apple Intelligence and Siri widely seen as misses.

SpaceX's $60bn Cursor Deal Props Up xAI Ahead of IPO

SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for a headline $60bn in stock, with a $10bn break fee if the deal collapses. The move appears designed to bolt a revenue-generating front end onto xAI, which generated $200-500m last year while burning $8bn, ahead of a SpaceX IPO targeting a $1.75tn valuation. Combined with expected listings from OpenAI and Anthropic, the three IPOs would exceed the total value of every dot-com era listing combined, while collectively burning over $40bn a year.

Private Tech Valuations Hit Trillions With Soft Numbers

The Cursor deal highlights how loosely valuations are being thrown around in private tech, with the $60bn figure tied to unspecified SpaceX share conversions rather than cash. The earlier xAI-SpaceX share swap valued xAI at $250bn despite generating under $500m in revenue. Investors will get their first hard look when S-1 filings land for SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, each targeting trillion-dollar-plus listings.