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Happy Thursday. If you live in the Sunbelt, you may soon find yourself next to a driverless big rig. Distribution giant McLane plans to introduce unsupervised self-driving trucks to routes in the region by the end of the year.
Stock futures are up slightly this morning after another strong day on Wall Street.
Here are five important things investors need to know to start their trading day.
1. Advanced Mathematics
AMD CEO Lisa Su speaks to CNBC on May 6, 2026.
CNBC
advanced micro device Yesterday, it surprised Wall Street with a strong first-quarter report and better-than-expected guidance for the current quarter. The company rose 18% in Wednesday trading, helping the overall stock market reach a new milestone.
Here’s what you need to know:
2. McDonald’s delivers
A “Welcome” sign outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Lovell, Florida, USA on Saturday, February 7, 2026. McDonald’s is scheduled to announce its financial results on February 11th. Photographer: Zach Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
major fast food company mcdonalds First-quarter sales and bottom line results released this morning beat expectations, with the company reporting same-store sales up 3.8% in the same period. Stocks rose more than 3% before the bell.
CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a statement that the results prove the company “can deliver results in challenging environments.” Other restaurant companies said sales slowed in March as consumers felt pressure from rising gas prices.
As CNBC’s Amelia Lucas points out, McDonald’s is focusing on great value meals to keep customers coming back. It is also trying to attract customers with marketing campaigns featuring tie-up menus with brands such as “KPop Demon Hunters” and “Super Mario Galaxy Movie.”
3. Add fuel to the fire
United Airlines, Southwest Airlines and American Airlines planes are seen at LaGuardia Airport in New York, USA on April 23, 2026.
Zhang Fengguo | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
New government data shows U.S. airlines spent more than 56% on jet fuel in March as the Iran war crippled supplies and sent prices soaring. Domestic airlines spent more than $5 billion on fuel that month.
Jet fuel shortages could disrupt the upcoming summer travel season in Asia and Europe. Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” yesterday, Matt Smith, director of product research at Kpler, likened fuel shortages to a “slow-motion car crash.”
However, despite skyrocketing energy prices, disney and Uber Both yesterday painted a picture of resilient consumers who still want to spend money on vacations and rides. Disney reported a 7% increase in revenue in its Parks and Cruises division, and Uber recorded revenue increases in both its delivery and ride-hailing divisions.
4. Create space
Jonathan Ra | Null Photo | Getty Images
Under the new deal announced yesterday, Anthropic will use all of the computing power at SpaceX’s Colossus 1 data center in Tennessee. The AI startup said the deal will help empower its paying Claude Pro and Claude Max subscribers. Anthropic also said it has “expressed interest” in working with SpaceX to build computing capacity in space.
Hours earlier, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said at a conference that the company was having “difficulties” meeting computing demands. He said Anthropic had planned for 10x growth, but first-quarter revenue and usage increased 80x on an annualized basis, which is difficult to sustain.
As CNBC’s Ashley Caputo points out, the agreement between the two companies was somewhat surprising given SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s previous criticism of Anthropic. Musk asked if there was a “company as hypocritical as Anthropic,” and wrote in February that the startup “hates Western Civilization.”
5. Is it a bad bet?
Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel Inc., attends the Semaphore Global Economic Summit during the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA.
Aaron Schwartz | Bloomberg | Getty Images
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has been banned from the sportsbook industry for five years, sources told CNBC. According to people familiar with the matter, Christian Genetzky, the company’s president, will take over as the company’s leader.
As CNBC’s Contessa Brewer points out, Howe led FanDuel during a period of rapid growth for the sports gambling and predictions market. However, shares of FanDuel parent company flutter The company has fallen nearly 60% over the past year, following a broad decline in gaming stocks.
In a farewell memo obtained by CNBC, Howe encouraged employees to “use their voices.” Howe, the only female CEO of a major gambling company, told her female colleagues to “keep supporting each other and keep raising the bar.”
daily dividend
A notice of hearing posted yesterday shows that Elon Musk plans to spend billions of dollars on a Texas manufacturing plant that will make his chips. The costs are as follows:
First phase cost: At least $55 billion Total construction cost: Up to $119 billion
— CNBC’s Katie Tarasoff, Laura Murti, Liz Napolitano, Tobias Burns, Sean Conlon, Samantha Subin, Leslie Josephs, Spencer Kimball, Yun Li, Ashley Caputo, Kate Rooney, Contessa Brewer, Laura Kolodny and Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.
Davis Giangiulio helped produce this newsletter. Josephine Rozzelle edited this version.
