Markets

Southwest Gas Holdings is reducing its stake in Centuri Holdings through a secondary public offering of 15 million shares at $19.50 each. Underwriters have an option to purchase an additional 2.25 million shares. Carl Icahn’s affiliates will acquire 1,573,500 shares in a concurrent private placement at the same price. J.P. Morgan, Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities, and Moelis & Company are lead book-running managers. The offering, expected to close on August 11th, marks Southwest Gas’s strategic realignment and could signal further changes in its Centuri investment.

Actress Zhao Lusi’s recent livestream endorsement of bamboo fungus (“zhusun”) triggered a massive surge in online sales. Vendors reported unprecedented website traffic and order volumes. Historically used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for its health benefits, cultivated zhusun is now more accessible. This highlights the significant impact of celebrity endorsements on niche product markets and reflects growing consumer interest in functional foods.

Consensus Mining & Seigniorage Corp (CMSG) reported a Q2 2025 net income of $6.7M, a significant turnaround from Q2 2024’s $1.7M loss. Mining revenue reached $1.1M, boosted by Bitcoin, Litecoin and Dogecoin. CMSG’s crypto holdings totaled $36.9M. The company expanded mining capacity with Antminer L9 units, improving efficiency. CMSG maintains strong liquidity with $60.8M in cash. A shareholder call is scheduled for August 14, 2025. Book value per share increased to $43.59.

A Hunan man in China won 12.56 million yuan (about $1.75 million USD) in the Super Lotto with a 6-yuan ticket. The experienced lottery player, who has been consistently buying tickets for over a decade, views it as a fun activity and a contribution to public welfare. The win sparked online discussion, with some sharing their less fortunate experiences and others questioning lottery industry market dynamics. The winner advises a balanced approach, cautioning against treating the lottery as gambling.

B2Gold (BTG) reported strong Q2 2025 results, exceeding gold production expectations at 229,454 ounces. Cash operating costs were $745/oz, and a $0.02/share dividend was declared. Key achievements include the first gold pour at Goose Mine, positive Gramalote Project study ($941M NPV), Fekola underground mining approval, and Fekola’s 4 millionth ounce milestone achieved. A working capital deficit of $19M was noted, addressed post-quarter with credit facility drawdowns. 2025 production guidance remains at 970,000-1,075,000 ounces.

Consensus Cloud Solutions (CCSI) reported Q2 2025 results with revenue up 0.3% to $87.7 million, driven by 6.9% growth in its Corporate business. Net income was $20.8 million, with a 23.7% margin, while adjusted EBITDA reached $48.1 million (54.8% margin). Adjusted diluted EPS increased 2.1% to $1.46. The company generated $28.3 million in net cash from operating activities and $20.3 million in free cash flow. They also secured a $225 million credit facility and continued debt/stock repurchase programs with $57.9 million cash on hand.

OpenAI has launched GPT-5, touted as a significant upgrade with expert-level performance in programming, mathematics, writing, healthcare, and visual perception. GPT-5 features an intelligent model, a deep reasoning engine, and a real-time router. Free and paid users will get access, with subscribers enjoying higher usage. GPT-5 demonstrates improvements in response time, accuracy, instruction following, and reduced hallucination. It excels in programming, creative writing, and healthcare. GPT-5 Pro surpasses o3-Pro for complex tasks, achieving state-of-the-art results in GPQA.

International Bancshares Corporation (IBOC) reported strong Q2 2025 results, with net income reaching $100.1 million ($1.61 diluted EPS), a 3.2% increase year-over-year. First-half net income rose to $197.0 million ($3.16 diluted EPS), up 1.4% from 2024. The growth was attributed to higher interest income from expanded investment and loan portfolios, driven by the elevated interest rate environment, and a decrease in the provision for credit loss expense. As of June 30, 2025, total assets were $16.5 billion and total net loans reached $9.0 billion.

Rain Enhancement Technologies (RAIN) has appointed Scott Morris as Senior Technical Advisor to advance its Weather Enhancement Technology Array (WETA) platform. Morris, with 20+ years of experience, previously contributed to RET’s array designs and trials in Oman and Australia. The WETA platform has shown a 16% average rainfall increase in third-party trials. This appointment comes as RET prepares for two pilot installations before year-end, addressing global water scarcity, where demand is projected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030.

Viral videos of individuals in Meituan uniforms alleging food safety issues have sparked controversy. Meituan responded, stating these “misery selling” videos are often fabricated and scripted. Investigations revealed accounts posting false claims about fines and negative reviews. These accounts, with low delivery completion rates, use similar tactics to gain traffic and sell courses privately. Meituan has banned the accounts, reported them to authorities, and cautions viewers about the videos’ authenticity. They’ve assisted in investigating over 30 cases in 2024.