☕️ Earnings blitz

Good morning.

It was a blockbuster night on Wall Street with major US banks and BlackRock smashing expectations. JPMorgan posted a record US$50 billion profit, Goldman Sachs doubled its earnings, and Citigroup unveiled a US$20 billion buyback. Trading and dealmaking surged in Q4, helped by market swings after Trump’s election.

BlackRock unveiled record US$20 billion revenues and cemented its dominance with US$11.55 trillion under management. US (core) inflation cooled, markets rallied and CEOs are eyeing regulatory tailwinds under the incoming administration.

But Jaime Dimon did warn: “geopolitical conditions remain the most dangerous and complicated since World War II. Ongoing and future spending requirements will likely be inflationary, and therefore, inflation may persist for some time.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Liontown surged yesterday, leading a rally across lithium stocks as Morgans flagged stabilising spodumene prices and a recovery ahead. Pilbara Minerals and MinRes also climbed. Despite spot prices improving since September, lithium equities have been oversold, leaving room for a potential re-rate if the recovery holds.

The quick sync

• Saudi ties to DAZN raise regulatory hurdles for News Corp’s $3.4 billion Foxtel sale.(Capital Brief)

• VC firms are laying off staff and abandoning plans for new funds. Necessary correction or a sign of structural problems? (Capital Brief)

• OpenAI backs Axios' move into four new cities, marking its first funding of local newsrooms in a bid to integrate journalism with AI tools. (Axios)

• Even Harvard MBAs are struggling to find jobs, with a tougher market leaving nearly a quarter unemployed months after graduation. (WSJ)

• Trump's new SEC team plans to freeze crypto crackdowns and rewrite rules, signalling a major policy shift on digital assets. (Reuters)

Trading floor

M&A

• El Jannah explores sale options, with CEO speaking to private equity firms on behalf of owner Andre Estephan. (AFR)

• Advent Partners sells Flintfox to Enable, following a 160% revenue growth since 2020. (AFR)

• Saudi interest in DAZN could heighten scrutiny of News Corp's Foxtel sale. (Capital Brief)

• IFM Investors and HESTA invest in Splend Group to expand EV fleet and infrastructure. (Capital Brief)

• AVJennings reviews $390m Ho Bee Land bid alongside a rival offer. (Capital Brief)

• Private equity firms prepare bids for Blackstone's divestment of CMAX Clinical Research, tied to I’rom Group acquisition approval. (AFR)

• Myer's Apparel Brands acquisition cleared as "fair and reasonable"; shareholder votes pending. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• US core inflation cools, sparking market rally and hopes for Fed rate cuts. (Capital Brief)

• BlackRock sees record $641bn in new funds, surpasses $20bn in revenue, with strategic acquisitions and leadership changes driving growth. (Capital Brief)

• TikTok to shut off US app on January 19 unless Supreme Court blocks the ban. (Capital Brief)

• Stockland shares climb as Morgan Stanley sees growth potential from Lendlease acquisition. (Capital Brief)

• Novonix raises $32.3m to fund synthetic graphite production in the US. (Capital Brief)

• Morningstar calls Telix Pharmaceuticals overvalued despite raising its fair value estimate. (Capital Brief)

• Fonterra will delist from the ASX next month to streamline operations and reduce costs. (Capital Brief)

• UBS upgrades Guzman y Gomez due to strong sales, better margins, and growth potential. (Capital Brief)

• Citi’s Banamex IPO, delayed by market hurdles and regulatory snags, may now stretch into 2026 as the Mexican banking unit struggles to recover lost market share. (Bloomberg)

VC

• Atlassian invests in UK start-up Synthesia creating AI avatars for CEOs, valuing it at $2.1bn. (Forbes | AFR)

• BrandHook's Pip Stocks launches a 48-hour accelerator to help founders refocus and rebuild after setbacks. (Startup Daily)

• Coposit raises $14m in its first institutional funding round, following three years of bootstrapped growth. (AFR)

• Convergence Medical's V01 robot for arthroscopy surgeries secures $5m from US investors. (AFR)

• Quantum stocks surged after Google's chip reveal but slumped after Nvidia CEO's remarks; Australian startups unfazed. (Capital Brief)

• Arbor Capital raises $20m for new tech-focused VC fund. (AFR)

People moves

• Nine Entertainment reshapes its structure, appointing Amanda Laing to lead broadcasting and making several other leadership changes. (Capital Brief)

• Tabcorp to hire Michael Fitzsimons for wagering operations, its second marquee hire under new CEO McLachlan. (AFR)

• SEC sues Elon Musk for late Twitter stake disclosure, seeking penalties and profit return. (Capital Brief)

• Canaccord Genuity hires Citi's Sam Forman to boost tech M&A efforts. (AFR)

• Yancoal CEO David Moult resigns; Ning Yue named acting CEO. (Capital Brief)

• Rob Silverwood to retire from PwC after being linked to a breakaway M&A firm. (AFR)

• Citigroup is cutting 401(k) contributions for top US earners, cutting the cap from US$21,000 to US$12,000 as it faces pressure to slash costs. (Bloomberg)

• BoE's Alan Taylor pushes for urgent rate cuts as UK economy weakens despite cooling inflation. (Reuters)

• Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg will co-host a black-tie party celebrating Donald Trump’s inauguration, in a striking shift for the Meta CEO, who has largely avoided political events. (NYT)

• Morgan Stanley reshapes M&A leadership, promoting deal veterans Lily Mahdavi, Ben Teasdale and David Khayat as it cements its status as a top US adviser. (Bloomberg)

• Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung sparks fury with $25,000 sale of champion racehorse Laws of Indices. (AFR)

The watercooler