September 20, 2026 | Read online

The Week Ahead - September 20th

Anthropic Delays to November

The Week Ahead Of Us 🔍

Welcome back!

Futures are up modestly, but the big news from this weekend is that Anthropic pushed its IPO target to November. The short delay allows the company to include its full Q3 financials in filings, giving investors a clear look at an annualized revenue run rate that is rumored to be pacing toward $100B. But recent shifts away from closed-source models might be slowing down Anthropic’s IPO momentum.

Tensions in the Middle East continue to boil, as security and travel alerts have been issued all weekend. Keep an eye out for any sudden geopolitical shocks there, but notably, we’re nearing a stage where airline executives believe flight cancellations could start taking place in December.

A quick programming note, we are winding down the WSR Investing Club. Thank you to everyone who read the paid side of the newsletter. We may add a subscription level again in the future, but given that shift, we want to reiterate that our work is made possible and free by our advertising partners, so we want to encourage you all to check out our partners’ offerings as you see them throughout the newsletter.

Let’s get into it.

Here’s a look at earnings this week.

Monday: Abivax SA
Tuesday: AutoZone, Thor Industries, KB Home, MillerKnoll
Wednesday: Cintas, Paychex, General Mills, Manchester United, Cracker Barrel, Stitch Fix
Thursday: Costco, Darden, TD Synnex, BlackBerry

Here’s a look at economic data this week (estimates are in quotations).

Monday: No events scheduled
Tuesday: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin speaks to the CFA Society Baltimore
Wednesday: US Flash Manufacturing PMI (53.5), US Flash Services PMI (55.9)
Thursday: Weekly Jobless Claims (204), Economic Club of Washington, DC event with Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin, New Home Sales (620), Kansas City Fed Survey
Friday: Durable Goods (-0.3%), U. Michigan Final Consumer Survey

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Today’s Jobs:

Houlihan Lokey is hiring a Technology Investment Banking Associate (NY)
Moelis is hiring an Industrials Investment Banking Associate (NY)
Deutsche Bank is hiring a Technology IB VP/Director (NY/SF)
Emigrant Capital is hiring a Private Equity Associate (NY)
PwC is hiring a Deals Valuation Experienced Associate (NY)

Search the Buyside Hub Job Board

Earnings Corner 💸

None today

On The Move 📈 📉

Strategy $MSTR ( ▲ 16.39% ) jumped following a Bitcoin rally, the House committee advancement of a federal Bitcoin reserve bill, and SEC approval of a five-year “Innovation Exemption” for 24/7 tokenized stock trading.
Xenon Pharmaceuticals $XENE ( ▼ 30.69% ) tumbled after pausing new enrollment in its Phase 3 depression and bipolar trials due to neuropsychiatric adverse events.
Netflix $NFLX ( ▼ 4.67% ) slid after Wells Fargo downgraded to Underweight with a $57 PT (from $80), citing weakening user engagement and lighter H2 2026 content.
Coherent $COHR ( ▲ 7.22% ) rose after expanding its optical networking portfolio for AI data-center networks capable of handling up to 25.6 Tbps of traffic.
Nuclear stocks $SMR ( ▼ 8.52% ) , $OKLO ( ▼ 4.16% ) , and $LEU ( ▼ 3.08% ) sold off after Holtec International canceled its planned IPO, with its CEO citing a market turning against the AI data center economy.
Coinbase $COIN ( ▲ 11.66% ) rallied as Kraken parent Payward moved to launch crypto perpetual futures in the US via Bitnomial, validating the growing market that Coinbase is also targeting.

IPO Roundup 📍

Anthropic pushes back its IPO to November from an expected October debut, giving the company time to showcase strong Q3 financials after rival OpenAI launched its newest model, Astra, in September.
Westinghouse Electric is seeking a valuation of $50B in a US IPO as early as October. Cameco $CCJ ( ▼ 1.27% ) , which owns 49% of Westinghouse alongside major owner Brookfield, jumped on the news.
Nscale, the Nvidia-backed cloud computing startup, filed for a US IPO under ticker “NSCL,” without disclosing share count or price. The company reported a $1.02B loss on $140.6M in revenue in H1 2026, up sharply from a $369M loss on $10.4M in revenue a year prior.

Today’s Headlines 📖🍿

Elon Musk predicted that AI could double US GDP growth next year, from 2% to 4%, as investors debate whether massive AI infrastructure spending will translate into broad productivity gains.
Morgan Stanley capped redemptions at its $7B North Haven Private Income Fund for another quarter, limiting withdrawals to 5% after investors sought to pull 11.4% of shares.
Ares Management is exploring a minority stake purchase in Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, one of Europe’s largest standalone infrastructure managers with €43B raised.
Toys “R” Us is opening 120 new standalone US stores, expanding its footprint from 40 to 160 locations, nearly a decade after the retailer’s 2017 bankruptcy and liquidation. The expansion, backed by parent company WHP Global, comes amid a broader toy sales surge among adults.
UNC’s endowment returned 37.8% in FY26, double the estimated 18.9% median return for endowments, driven largely by a SpaceX stake of $1B in stock.
The US and Denmark announced a security deal on Greenland set to be signed next week, which grants the US “permanent control over security” and preserves Greenland’s sovereignty.
Kylian Mbappe leaves Nike to become the face of Swiss brand On’s expansion into football boots, receiving equity in the company as part of the deal. On went public in 2021, raising $746M and reporting 30% net sales growth in 2025.
Meta opened its Muse assistant to developers via connectors, 2 weeks after launching the personal AI agent to the general public. This allows external services to plug in, so users can access them via prompting.
Humanoid robots are emerging as a layered supply chain, from Tesla in assembly and deployment to Nvidia in AI intelligence and compute.
Goldman Sachs forecasts US hyperscalers will deploy $1.4T in capital in 2027. The AI capex cycle through the end of 2027 will remain elevated despite growing calls to slow AI development, and most infrastructure projects have already been contracted.
JPMorgan deep dives
- Record profit margins are shielding stocks from a rising cost of capital. Real yields have jumped 70+ bps, but S&P 500 net profit margins at an all-time high of 17% are cushioning the blow.
- The space economy could hit $1T–$2T by the mid-2030s from $613B today. Launch will represent less than 5% of the total by 2040, with the remainder driven by satellites, in-space manufacturing/services, and space data analytics.
- JPMorgan expects another 25bp Fed hike at the December meeting. Multifamily property owners face pressure on financing costs, though higher rates could also push more would-be homebuyers into rentals.
Morgan Stanley says the healthcare outlook is brightening as policy uncertainty eases. Industry leaders see a more stable US policy environment, continued GLP-1 growth, and AI-driven efficiency gains across drug development.
Apollo set to take major stake in Yankees, making team most valuable in baseball. The deal would hand a whopping 16% stake in the franchise to private equity giant Apollo Global Management.
Half of US public school districts reported operating deficits in 2025, up sharply from 33% in 2024, S&P Global Ratings recorded negative performance across all rating categories for the first time since the pandemic.

M&A Transactions💭

BauWatch Projekt Service, manufacturer of security products, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired for EUR 1.0B by CVC Capital Partners and The Carlyle Group. The transaction values the company at EUR 1.11B. Raymond James advised on the sale.

The Worldwide Rights of Tanable Pharma were acquired by LEO Pharma through a $435.0M LBO. Bank of America and Evercore Group advised on the sale.

The Production Base of Hyundai Transys was acquired by GreenBase through a INR 20.0B LBO.

Five Properties of HSBC Asset Management were acquired by Partners Group, Dowing Family Office, Aboria Capital, and UK SIngle Family Office for EUR 165.0M. CBRE UK advised on the sale.

Private Placement Transactions💭

GOVY, manufacturer of flying cars, raised CNY 800.0M of Series A venture funding from undisclosed investors.

Restructuring Updates💭

airBaltic

Type: Chapter 11
Debt: ~$583M debt; €398M senior secured bonds
What happened: Latvia’s national airline filed Sept. 14 to restructure debt and aircraft leases, backed by €350M of DIP financing.

TV Azteca

Type: Chapter 15
Debt: $400M senior notes; creditor litigation involves ~$634M
What happened: Filed Sept. 16 seeking U.S. recognition of its Mexican restructuring proceeding and protection of U.S. assets.

Meritage Hospitality Group

Type: Chapter 11
Debt: $10M–$50M estimated petition liabilities*
What happened: One of Wendy’s largest franchisees filed Sept. 17 after profitability deteriorated. It operates 314 Wendy’s restaurants and owes Wendy’s nearly $25M in deferred franchise fees.

Restructuring Rumors💭

Brightspeed

Type: Restructuring / financing watch
Debt: ~$11B
What happened: Apollo-backed Brightspeed continues creditor talks while seeking new asset-backed financing after warning of substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.

Bally’s

Type: Liquidity / restructuring watch
Debt: Highly leveraged; exact restructuring debt not disclosed
What happened: Exploring asset sales, equity and debt financing to shore up liquidity, including potentially monetizing its Las Vegas development site for roughly $500M.

DISH Wireless

Type: Contested Chapter 11 restructuring
Debt: Multi-billion-dollar capital structure
What happened: Its restructuring remains under pressure from creditors seeking appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee amid disputes over the wireless wind-down.