Wall Street Weekly: July 24, 2026 Close
Scribe's $129 million IPO, the Argan–WDP merger, Utz's $2.9 billion take-private, AMD's $5 billion Anthropic commitment, and a new Paramount–WBD court pause set this week's diligence agenda.
Scope and read-through
This brief covers major, verifiable developments dated July 17–24, 2026. The week's signal was a split one: public markets still funded AI infrastructure and a biotech issuer, while negotiated transactions accumulated more execution gates. The most actionable items are the $5 billion AMD–Anthropic equity commitment, the Argan–WDP cross-border merger, Utz's take-private, and the new court pause on Paramount's Warner Bros. Discovery bid.
At a glance
| Area | What changed | Immediate diligence point |
|---|---|---|
| IPO | Scribe Therapeutics priced 8.58 million Nasdaq shares at $15, raising about $129 million. | Biotech issuance reopened, but the deal is small and the stock's post-pricing reception is the next read-through. |
| M&A | Argan and WDP agreed a €13 billion all-share combination; Intersnack agreed to buy Utz for about $2.9 billion of enterprise value. | Both deals have shareholder, regulatory, or cross-border closing steps still ahead. |
| Litigation / antitrust | A federal judge paused Paramount Skydance's $110 billion Warner Bros. Discovery acquisition through August 17. | The timetable is now a legal variable, not just a regulatory one. |
| Financing | AMD committed up to $5 billion to Anthropic alongside a planned 2 GW MI450 deployment. | The equity investment is tied to deployment milestones; delivery timing matters as much as headline size. |
| Earnings | Nasdaq reported Q2 net revenue of $1.5 billion, up 15% year over year. | Solutions and financial-technology growth show how exchange operators are monetizing data and workflow demand. |
| Regulation | The CFTC extended comments on 24/7 futures and energy-linked perpetual contracts to August 26. | The agency is still designing the operating perimeter for around-the-clock energy derivatives. |
IPOs: Scribe prices at the top of its range
Scribe Therapeutics priced its Nasdaq IPO at $15 a share on July 23, selling 8.58 million shares for roughly $129 million. The gene-editing company had filed an amended registration statement for 7.15 million shares at a $13–$15 range, so the final deal priced at the top and was upsized. Shares trade under SCTX. 1 2
The SEC filing named Leerink Partners, Goldman Sachs, Guggenheim Securities, and Wells Fargo Securities as underwriters. The offering is a useful counterpoint to the larger AI-infrastructure deals elsewhere in the week: risk capital was available, but this was a roughly $129 million biotech issue rather than a broad reopening of large growth-equity supply. The available pricing report did not provide a first-day return before this brief's cutoff. 2 1
M&A: agreed terms, unfinished closes
Argan and WDP: a cross-border all-share merger
French logistics REIT Argan and Belgian logistics REIT WDP announced a friendly cross-border merger on July 23. The proposed company is valued at €13 billion. Argan shareholders would receive three newly issued WDP shares for each Argan share, plus an exceptional €11 per-share distribution before completion. The terms imply €79.22 per Argan share, a 21% premium to Argan's July 23 close of €65.40. 3 4
The announcement says the merger proposal, agreement, and supporting documents were signed on July 23. Separate shareholder meetings are expected in November, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and a French tax ruling. WDP listed Rothschild & Co and Van Lanschot Kempen as financial advisers; Argan listed BNP Paribas. 3
Utz: a $2.9 billion take-private
Intersnack Group agreed to buy all outstanding Class A common stock of Utz Brands for $14.25 a share in cash, at an enterprise value of about $2.9 billion. The agreement, announced July 21, would return the U.S. snack maker to private ownership. Intersnack and the Rice and Lissette family entities are expected to own 50% each after closing. 5
The companies expect to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and other conditions and approval by both the broader stockholder base and disinterested stockholders. Family entities and related parties committed to support the deal with votes representing about 42% of Utz's common stock. The consideration is a cash exit for public holders; the remaining question is whether the vote and regulatory path stay as clean as the announced terms. 5 6
Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery: the clock moves again
A federal judge ordered Paramount Skydance to pause its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery through August 17, according to a Reuters report carried by Global Banking & Finance Review. Paramount plans to seek a three-day hearing in August while the court reviews the challenge. 7
This is a new procedural risk on a transaction already being watched for antitrust and closing mechanics. The headline value has not changed; the near-term variable is whether the pause compresses the parties' timetable or changes the court's view of the proposed combination. The Reuters-syndicated account did not provide a revised price or consideration structure.
Financing: AMD and Anthropic tie capital to compute
AMD and Anthropic announced a strategic partnership on July 22 that combines a commercial GPU deployment with a future equity investment. Anthropic plans to deploy up to 2 gigawatts of AMD Instinct MI450-series GPUs in AMD Helios rack-scale systems, with the first gigawatt expected to begin deployment in the first half of 2027. AMD committed to invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic, with the investment linked to deployment milestones. 8
A Reuters report described the associated server sales as worth tens of billions of dollars and said the investment is milestone-based. AMD's release did not disclose purchase pricing or the total commercial value of the server arrangement. That distinction matters: the $5 billion figure is a maximum equity commitment, not a completed financing round or a disclosed cash transfer on July 22. 9
Earnings: Nasdaq shows the market-infrastructure side of the cycle
Nasdaq reported Q2 2026 net revenue of $1.5 billion, up 15% from the prior-year quarter. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.89, up 14%, while non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.07, up 25%. Solutions revenue rose 17% to $1.16 billion, Financial Technology revenue rose 16% to $539 million, and annualized recurring revenue reached $3.258 billion, up 11%. 10
CEO Adena Friedman said the quarter included the listing of SpaceX and that Index ETP assets under management passed $1 trillion for the first time. The more durable operating signal is the mix: the exchange's recurring, data, analytics, and workflow businesses grew alongside transaction-sensitive activity. The release did not include forward guidance beyond the reported quarter in the extracted materials. 10
Regulation: CFTC gives 24/7 energy derivatives more time
The CFTC extended the public-comment deadline by 30 days to August 26 on two related issues: extending standard futures, including energy futures, to 24/7 trading while keeping fixed expirations, and potentially listing perpetual contracts that reference physically delivered or storable energy commodities. The agency said it added questions after conversations with market participants. 11
This is a rulemaking timetable change, not an enforcement settlement. For derivatives desks and venues, the practical issue is whether the extra questions alter the eventual treatment of delivery, settlement, and contract classification. The CFTC has not announced a penalty or final rule in this release.
Personnel: Macquarie chooses an insider successor
Macquarie Group appointed long-serving executive Greg Ward to succeed CEO Shemara Wikramanayake, a move announced on July 22. Ward is a former CFO who has worked across Macquarie's business lines. Reuters reporting cited investor expectations of continuity, with no immediate strategic break signaled by the appointment. 12
The announcement matters for relationship and coverage teams because it preserves the current operating direction while leaving the timing of the handover to be confirmed. The retrieved report did not state an effective date.
What to carry into next week
- Scribe: Check the first full trading session and whether the top-of-range pricing holds after the initial allocation cycle.
- Argan–WDP: Track the November shareholder meetings, the French tax ruling, and the regulatory path to the targeted first-quarter 2027 completion.
- Utz: Reconcile the 42% voting commitment with the two approval thresholds and monitor the fourth-quarter closing timetable.
- Paramount–WBD: Treat August 17 as the next hard procedural date; the court process can move before consideration terms do.
- AMD–Anthropic: Follow the first-gigawatt deployment plan and the milestones attached to AMD's $5 billion maximum investment.
- CFTC: Read the additional questions when the comment process develops before underwriting assumptions around 24/7 energy products.
- Macquarie: Confirm the CEO handover date and any change in capital allocation or business-unit priorities.
The week's deals are large, but the immediate underwriting questions are smaller and more concrete: who has to vote, which regulator still has to act, what is actually funded, and what milestone turns a headline commitment into delivered capacity.
References
- 1Scribe secures $129M in a rare gene editing IPO
- 2Scribe Therapeutics S-1/A
- 3ARGAN: Merger project of WDP-ARGAN
- 4Property companies Argan and WDP plan merger to create new €13 billion company
- 5Utz Brands and Intersnack announce agreement to take Utz private
- 6Snacks maker Utz Brands sold for $2.9B in go-private deal
- 7Paramount-Warner Bros $110B Deal Paused Until August 17 by Judge
- 8AMD and Anthropic announce strategic partnership to deploy up to 2 gigawatts of AMD Instinct MI450 Series GPUs
- 9AMD to sell Anthropic tens of billions in AI servers, invest up to $5 billion in startup
- 10Nasdaq reports second-quarter 2026 results
- 11CFTC extends public comment period on proposed rule for 24/7 trading and energy perpetuals
- 12Macquarie investors back insider CEO pick to keep bank strategy on course
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