00:00:02 Speaker A

Now time for some of today's trending tickers. We are watching Tesla, Kenvue, Synopsis and Ansys. First up, Elon Musk does not want Tesla to merge with his AI startup, XAI. The CEO replying no on X to a user who made that suggestion. He is, he says, open to a shareholder vote on a potential investment from Tesla into the AI startup, but he didn't give any details as to when this could take place. Musk's SpaceX, meantime, is planning to invest $2 billion into the AI firm, according to the Wall Street Journal. That is part of XAI's $10 billion debt and equity raise that Morgan Stanley announced earlier this month. That says the company looks to compete with OpenAI. Next, a C-suite shakeup at the maker of Tylenol and Listerine. Kenvue's CEO is stepping down and board member Kirk Perry is taking his place as interim chief executive. The company is faced activist investor pressure to boost performance, especially in its skin and beauty unit. We're seeing those shares, by the way, jump in pre-market trading, up about 6%, as the board says it's conducting a strategic review committee to look at various alternatives, including changes to Kenvue's portfolio. Reuters reporting last month that Kenvue is exploring the sale of some of its skin, health and beauty brands. Finally, Synopsis getting clearance from Chinese regulators to acquire design firm Ansys for $35 billion. The State Administration for Market Regulation's green light comes with some conditions, including honoring existing contracts, maintaining agreements, and renewing contracts with Chinese customers of AS. Shares of Synopsis and Ansys are higher on the news. This was the last major hurdle for the merger, as it was already approved by Europe and by the US. The deadline to close the deal, tomorrow, July 15th, but it can be extended to January of next year. You can scan the QR code below to track the worst and best performing stocks with Yahoo Finance's trending tickers page.