Julie Morgan

C3.AI is up 16% in pre-market action after the information reported that the AI company is in talks to merge with Automation Anywhere.

The report said, citing people familiar with the discussions, if the deal goes through, Automation Anywhere would acquire C3.AI and go public as part of the transaction.

C3.AI is an enterprise AI application software company.

whose shares have plunged nearly 62% over the past year, pressured by declining financial performance and uncertainty around its strategy and leadership.

According to the report, Automation Anywhere developed software that automates repetitive functions and was valued by private investors at $6.8 billion in 2019.

Amazon is in the spotlight of the grocery sector after it announced its plans to close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go storefronts to prioritize investment and growth areas.

The e-commerce giant intends to focus on expanding its Whole Foods Market brand, with plans to open more than 100 new stores over the next few years, in addition to expanding its same-day delivery service to new cities and towns in 2026.

Analyst Dan Ives said the Whole Foods Markets announcement is an important step forward in Amazon's broader strategy.

He thinks the initiative should help the company capture incremental share in perishable categories where they have struggled historically.

The grocery mix at large general merchandisers such as Walmart, Target, and Costco has made the category of critical importance to Amazon.

I have a few other trending articles.

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest $30 billion more in OpenAI.

China is said to greenlight the first batch of NVIDIA H200 chip imports.

And back to Amazon.

Amazon reportedly sends premature layoff email to workers fearing big cuts.

On our Catalyst Watch for the day, Microsoft will hold its earnings conference call at 5.30 p.m.

Key topics will include AI and Azure growth and margin forecasts, co-pilot monetization trends, and AI CapEx spending.

Options trading is pricing in a 5% move following the earnings release, which would be a bigger post-earnings swing than normal.

On Wall Street at this early hour, Dow S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green.

Crude oil is down 0.4% at $62 a barrel.