NVIDIA's $96.2B quarter, Alibaba's HK$80B placement, and the Aug. 24-30 Wall Street week (2026)

This was an AI-led earnings week, with the major indexes still higher even as a hawkish Federal Reserve message repriced September rate risk. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% for the week, the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%, and the Dow added 0.5%. 1

This issue covers the US trading week of Aug. 24-28, 2026, plus developments through Sunday night, Aug. 30, Eastern Time.

IPOs and listings

One direct listing and four special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) debuted during the week. The standout was Advasa Holdings, a Japanese earned-wage-access software company that completed a Nasdaq direct listing under ADBT. Renaissance Capital recorded a $0 million deal size and an approximately $4.871 billion market cap at listing, but the stock fell 37% on its first day and finished Aug. 28 down 50% from its listing reference. 2

Debut	Ticker	Route	Deal size	Market cap at IPO	First day	Return at Aug. 28
JATT III Acquisition	`JTTT`	SPAC	$60M	$77M	+15%	+10% 2
Rainier Acquisition	`RNAQU`	SPAC	$75M	$96M	+2%	+2% 2
Inflection Point Acquisition VIII	`IPHXU`	SPAC	$250M	$333M	+1%	+1% 2
Southern Cross Acquisition II	`SCATU`	SPAC	$75M	$104M	0%	0% 2
Advasa Holdings	`ADBT`	Nasdaq direct listing	$0M	$4,871M	-37%	-50% 2

The filing pipeline was busier than the debut board:

Aggreko (AGKO) filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $1.5 billion. 2
Bamboo Insurance (BMB) and Electra Therapeutics (ETRA) each filed for an offering of $100 million. Amaero (AMRO) and American Savings Bank (ASBH) each filed for $50 million. 2
Four SPACs also filed: Haymaker Acquisition V (HYACU) for $250 million, Graf Acquisition II (GTOO.U) for $220 million, Live Oak Acquisition VI (LOVIU) for $200 million, and Essential Minerals Acquisition (EMACU) for $150 million. 2

M&A

Enbridge agreed on Aug. 26 to buy Salt Creek Midstream's crude-oil gathering business for $600 million in cash. The assets include full ownership of the Orla and Wink North gathering systems and a 50% stake in Delaware Crossing. Together they add about 500 miles of infrastructure, serve more than 20 producers, cover about 320,000 net dedicated acres, and have capacity for 420,000 barrels per day of throughput plus 350,000 barrels of storage. Enbridge said the assets should be immediately accretive to cash flow and earnings per share; closing is expected later in 2026, while the company left its 2026 guidance unchanged. 3

BitGo agreed on Aug. 27 to buy NYDIG's institutional trading business. The companies did not disclose a price; about 30 NYDIG employees joined BitGo, which will add derivatives, structured products, financing, and other capital-markets services to its custody, settlement, and wallet businesses. 4

Regulatory and policy actions

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed on Aug. 28 to cut Banque Misr UAE off from correspondent banking access to US financial institutions. Treasury said the bank processed approximately $1.8 billion for 103 companies potentially tied to Iranian shadow-banking networks between January 2024 and June 2026. The proposed measure would prohibit US financial institutions from opening or maintaining correspondent accounts for Banque Misr UAE, require transaction controls for payments involving those accounts, and add special due diligence. The public comment period closes 30 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned Reza Mohammad Taeedi, the manager of Bank Melli's Dubai branch, and Hong Kong-based Kameng Trading Limited. 5

On Aug. 27, the OCC and FDIC issued a final rule defining "unsafe or unsound practice" for their enforcement and supervisory work. The rule sets uniform standards for Matters Requiring Attention and tells examiners to prioritize material financial risks and banking-law compliance over policies, documentation, and other nonfinancial risks at institutions the agencies supervise. 6
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said at Jackson Hole on Aug. 28 that the Fed's 2% PCE inflation objective is fixed, that forward guidance should be limited in normal times, and that current financial conditions did not appear broadly restrictive. CNBC reported that futures-implied odds of a September rate hike rose to 57.5% from 35.4% the day before. 1 7

Earnings and market-moving results

NVIDIA reported $96.221 billion of revenue for the quarter ended July 26, up 106% year over year and 18% from the previous quarter. Data Center revenue reached $89.0 billion, up 117% year over year. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.46, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.22. NVIDIA forecast third-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue of $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, while assuming no Data Center compute revenue from China. The company returned approximately $26.0 billion through repurchases and dividends during the quarter. 8

The result beat the market's published estimates: CNBC reported adjusted EPS of $2.22 versus $2.10 expected and revenue of $96.22 billion versus $92.17 billion expected. CFO Colette Kress told analysts that NVIDIA expected fiscal 2028 revenue growth of 70%, compared with analyst expectations of 44%. NVIDIA's filing also listed $33.5 billion of senior notes and a $25 billion commercial-paper program outstanding as of July 26. 9

Workday shares rose about 6% after CNBC reported adjusted EPS of $2.75 versus $2.61 expected and revenue of $2.65 billion versus $2.64 billion expected. 1
Salesforce shares rose 3% Friday after gaining more than 22% Thursday. CNBC reported a $2.6 billion gain on strategic investments, including Salesforce's stake in Anthropic, alongside the second-quarter beat. 1

Major financings

Alibaba announced pricing on Aug. 24 for a HK$80 billion placement of 710 million newly issued ordinary shares at HK$112.70 per share. The company said the placement was expected to close on Aug. 26, subject to customary closing conditions, and that 100% of the net proceeds would fund full-stack AI capabilities, including AI infrastructure. The shares were offered to non-US persons outside the United States under Regulation S. The release describes a pending transaction and does not establish that the placement had closed by the time of publication. 10

What remains open

Enbridge expects the Salt Creek transaction to close later in 2026. 3
FinCEN's Banque Misr UAE proposal remains subject to the 30-day comment period that begins when the notice is published in the Federal Register. 5
Alibaba's release gave Aug. 26 as the expected closing date for its placement, subject to customary conditions; the release itself does not confirm completion. 10