Shares of Tesla Inc. climbed nearly 5% Monday, notably outperforming a broader market decline, after the company confirmed that its Optimus humanoid robot has officially entered production at its Fremont, California, factory, reinforcing the robotics narrative that has driven much of the stock’s recent recovery.

Tesla stock traded at 365.02 dollars, up 16.27 dollars, or 4.67%, as of 11:43 a.m. Eastern time on the Nasdaq. The gains stood out sharply against the backdrop of a struggling broader market, with both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite trading in negative territory Monday amid renewed U.S.-Iran tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Key electric vehicle peers Rivian and Lucid Group were also trading lower Monday, according to Investing.com, underscoring that Tesla’s advance was driven by company-specific developments rather than a broader sector rally.

Investing.com editor Louis Juricic reported that Tesla shares climbed as much as 3.2% in earlier morning trading, reaching 359.85 dollars, before extending gains further as the session progressed. The rally builds on the stock’s recovery from its 52-week low of 297.38 dollars, a level Tesla touched in late July before beginning a steady climb back toward its current trading range.

Monday’s gains follow a string of Tesla developments in recent weeks that analysts have credited with lifting investor sentiment. The company’s 2026 capital budget has grown to roughly 25 billion dollars, with a significant portion of that spending directed toward scaling up Optimus production, according to reporting from the Motley Fool. Tesla also received approval last month to expand its robotaxi operations, with Clark County, Nevada, clearing the company on Aug. 20 to run driverless robotaxis in Las Vegas alongside Alphabet’s Waymo and Uber. Tesla secured the largest allocation among the three companies, with approval covering up to 5,000 vehicles out of a combined 8,000 robotaxis the county authorized across all operators over the next year.

The company has also continued building momentum around its electric semi truck business. Tesla is preparing to showcase its all-electric semi at an international transportation expo in Germany as it works toward launching the vehicle in the European market, a development that had already contributed to a 5.1% single-day gain in Tesla shares earlier this month, according to the Motley Fool’s coverage of the stock’s performance on Aug. 21.

Despite the recent enthusiasm, some market observers have cautioned that both the robotaxi and Optimus businesses remain in relatively early stages, far from full commercial deployment at scale. Analysts covering Investing.com noted Monday that the macro backdrop for Tesla remains mixed, with investors continuing to monitor trade policy developments and lingering concerns over the company’s operating margin, which compressed sharply in its most recent quarterly results. Even so, Investing.com’s coverage described Monday’s combination of the Optimus production milestone, the upcoming Semi showcase and Tesla’s international pricing initiatives as giving the stock a clear outperformance edge relative to the rest of the market.

Tesla’s current market capitalization stands at roughly 1.4 trillion dollars, according to data compiled by the Motley Fool, with the stock carrying a price-to-earnings ratio above 300, a valuation level that some analysts have argued reflects investor expectations for future growth in robotics and autonomy rather than the company’s current core automotive earnings. Tesla shares have ranged between 297.38 dollars and 498.83 dollars over the past 52 weeks, according to data from Robinhood, reflecting substantial volatility in the stock over the past year as investors have weighed the company’s traditional vehicle business against its ambitions in humanoid robotics and autonomous driving.

Tesla has not provided a detailed public timeline for scaling Optimus production beyond its initial entry into manufacturing at the Fremont facility, and the company did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Monday’s stock movement.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from his role at the helm of one of the world’s largest tech companies after a 15-year tenure that saw Apple become the first publicly traded U.S. company with a $1 trillion market cap and other notable milestones.

He announced in April that he would step down as Apple CEO at the end of August, and while he is leaving that role, he will remain with the company as the executive chairman. John Ternus, who most recently served as Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, will be Cook’s successor.

Cook became CEO in August 2011 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigned six weeks before his death. Jobs first met Cook in 1998 and convinced him to join Apple that year, starting his career at the tech giant as a senior vice president for worldwide operations.

“As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I am stepping away from a role that I have loved deeply,” Cook said in a memo emailed to all employees on his final day. “I will miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision.”

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Apple CEO Tim Cook is stepping down from the role on Monday, Aug. 31, after leading the company to historic milestones during his tenure at the helm. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that’s the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up,” Cook said.

“We have made it possible to leave our ‘dent in the universe,’ as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world,” he added.

Cook’s tenure at Apple saw the tech giant move to compete in new product and service categories, building a broader consumer tech ecosystem off of the MacBook, iPhone and iPad.

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Tim Cook served 15 years as Apple CEO and will remain as the company’s executive chairman. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

In 2014, Cook and the company announced the Apple Watch as the company entered the wearable health tech market, while it also launched Apply Pay that year to build on its base of consumer device users to compete in mobile payments.

The next year, Apple Music marked the company’s pivot from iTunes to a subscription-based model for consumers who stream their music, while 2016 saw the debut of Apple’s AirPods which supercharged the growth of the company’s wearables division. The company also launched Apple TV+ and Apple Card in 2019 as it continued to broaden its service offerings.

Apple also hit a number of major corporate milestones under Cook’s leadership. It became the first U.S.-based publicly traded company to reach $1 trillion in market capitalization in 2018. 

Apple later reached the $2 trillion milestone in 2020, surpassed the $3 trillion market for the first time in 2022 during intraday trading, then crossed $4 trillion in October 2025. It briefly overtook Nvidia for largest market cap in July 2026.

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Over the years, Apple has vied with ExxonMobil, Nvidia and Microsoft for the title of most valuable publicly traded U.S. company, with the top spot regularly changing hands among those companies. Within that period, Apple ranked first for much of the 2013 to 2018 period.

Apple currently has a market cap of roughly $4.6 trillion, ranking second behind Nvidia’s $5.25 trillion market cap while leading Microsoft’s $3.79 trillion valuation.

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Leander Kahney, the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac who has authored six books on Apple, told FOX Business that Cook “had huge shoes to fill, but he’s done so admirably,” adding that he helped the company grow into one of the world’s most valuable companies “while maintaining Apple’s values.”

“He’s presided over a great run of products, with only a couple of missteps. Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Silicon – these are up there with the best stuff Apple has ever done,” Kahney said. “Even the Mac, Steve Jobs’ baby, has been boosted to new heights and is more popular than ever – look at the AI buying boom that the Mac is leading.”

“Cook is leaving Apple in great shape for his successor, and I’m really interested to see what he gets up to next,” Kahney added.

Apple CEO Tim Cook oversaw the launch of several new products and services that helped bolster the company’s leadership in consumer tech. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple is planning to hold the first major event under new CEO John Ternus next week on Sept. 9, when it will unveil its newest iPhone and could potentially reveal the long-awaited foldable iPhone.

Cook said in his letter that he takes “enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John,” adding that few people “understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.”

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A report by Reuters noted that analysts expect Apple to launch a foldable iPhone, entering a new segment of the smartphone market to compete with Samsung in the growing device segment.

BURLINGTON, MASS. — Keurig Dr Pepper is bringing its The Original Donut Shop brand into the refrigerated aisle with the launch of its ready-to-drink cold brew.

The beverage is available in regular, vanilla swirl and caramel drizzle varieties. The beverage additionally is free from sugar.

The cold brew may be purchased at Kroger locations.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — GameStop Corp. shares rose more than 4 percent Monday after the video-game retailer posted preliminary second-quarter results showing higher profit on lower sales and revised a large convertible-note exchange to pay more in cash and fewer new shares.

The stock traded around $18.64, up 77 cents, or about 4.3 percent, by late morning in New York. The move followed two company releases issued before the open: unaudited figures for the 13 weeks ended Aug. 1 and an amendment to agreements covering about $1.4 billion of zero-coupon convertible notes.

GameStop said it expects net sales of $780 million to $800 million, down from $972.2 million a year earlier. The company attributed the drop mainly to last year’s Nintendo Switch 2 launch, planned store closures and the sale of its France business. Operating income is projected at $150 million to $170 million, compared with $66.4 million a year ago. Net income is expected at $290 million to $310 million, up from $168.6 million.

Those profit figures include about $238 million of net gains tied to an eBay Inc. derivative and equity stake, partly offset by a loss of roughly $75 million on digital assets and related receivables. During the quarter GameStop converted a previously disclosed eBay derivative into a direct holding. As of Aug. 1 it held about 43.4 million eBay shares. Cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities are expected at $5.05 billion to $5.07 billion, down from $8.694 billion a year earlier after that conversion.

The sales range came in above a Wall Street consensus near $757 million cited by market data services, even though revenue is still falling year over year. The profit beat is less clean: a large share of net income comes from investment marks, not from selling games and consoles.

Separately, GameStop amended exchange deals first announced Aug. 3. Holders of certain 0.00% convertible notes due 2030 and 2032 had agreed to swap about $1.4 billion of principal for stock based on a 35-day volume-weighted average price that began Aug. 3. The company is ending the remaining pricing window. Shares will cover the elapsed portion of the period. The rest will be paid in about $358.4 million of cash. Total new stock is now fixed at about 55.5 million shares. Closing is expected around Sept. 3. About $2.8 billion of notes would remain outstanding after the deal.

The original all-stock structure had weighed on the shares in August as investors priced in dilution. Fixing the share count and substituting cash removed some of that uncertainty. The stock had slipped toward a 52-week low near $17.79 in recent weeks after the first exchange announcement and after reports that Chief Executive Ryan Cohen might rethink a large eBay bid.

Cohen earlier this year made an unsolicited proposal to buy eBay for about $56 billion. Dow Jones reported that eBay rejected the offer as “neither credible nor attractive.” Cohen has said publicly he would keep pursuing a transaction. GameStop’s eBay stake and the mark-to-market gains in the quarter keep that campaign on the balance sheet even if a full takeover does not close.

The core retail story is mixed. Higher operating income on a smaller store base and without the France unit suggests cost control and a richer mix. The comparison with last year’s Switch 2 launch also inflates the sales decline. Collectibles, trading cards and delivery experiments — including a tie-up with Uber Eats announced in July — remain secondary to the cash pile and the investment book.

Market value is about $8.4 billion. Trailing twelve-month revenue is near $3.7 billion. The company has no regular dividend. Institutional ownership is a minority of the float, and the stock still trades with the volatility that has followed it since 2021.

Monday’s bounce does not erase the tension in the model. GameStop is shrinking its physical footprint, booking large paper gains on a public-company stake, and using cash to cap how many new shares a debt swap creates. Investors who wanted a cleaner operating print still have to wait for fully audited results and a complete earnings call. Those who wanted less dilution got a clearer share count and a cash check.

What happens next is mostly mechanical. The note exchange is scheduled to settle within days. Full second-quarter financials will show how much of the $150 million-plus operating profit holds after final adjustments. The eBay position will keep moving with that stock. And the video-game calendar — new hardware cycles, software slates, collectible drops — will decide whether sales can stabilize once the Switch 2 anniversary rolls off.

For one session, the combination of a profit preview above last year and a smaller equity issuance was enough to lift a name that had spent August under pressure. The numbers GameStop put out are preliminary and unaudited. They are also specific: sales down, operations up, investments noisy, dilution capped. That is the report the market traded.

Sudan’s war is increasingly revealing the practical consequences of a new security relationship between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan.

The partnership was formalised this month through the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, but the military and financial links associated with Sudan appear to have been developing well before the document was signed.

The agreement, signed on 7 August 2026, commits the three countries to treat an armed attack on one as an attack on all. It also sets out a wider programme of cooperation spanning defence industries, training and strategic coordination. Its signatories describe it as defensive rather than directed at a particular country. Even so, Sudan is fast becoming the first conflict in which observers can assess how those connections may work in practice.

Reporting by Le Monde says the Sudanese theatre has brought together Saudi financing with Turkish drones and Pakistani weapons in support of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The newspaper reported that Riyadh has helped finance procurement and that a Pakistani contract valued at about $1.5 billion includes fighter aircraft, armoured vehicles and drones.

The reported arrangement matters because Sudan’s civil war is no longer only a contest between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Each new source of equipment, technical assistance or funding can alter the balance on the ground and extend the conflict’s reach beyond the country’s borders.

That risk came into focus after Chad said its territory had been struck by aircraft and drones believed to be linked to the SAF or allied forces. The Chadian military said the attacks of 20 and 21 August targeted a convoy of roughly 200 vehicles in eastern Ennedi, more than 100 kilometres from the Sudanese border. Sudan’s army said the convoy was carrying reinforcements for the RSF.

The alleged strikes added to concern that the conflict could place neighbouring states under more direct pressure. Chad has carried much of the humanitarian burden from the war and its long eastern border remains vulnerable to wider spillover.

The United States has condemned the reported operation inside Chad and has argued for stronger action to limit the flow of weapons into Sudan. At the UN Security Council, Washington has pressed for the arms embargo that has covered Darfur since 2005 to be expanded nationwide, including to drones. US officials say external money and military supplies are deepening the war and raising the prospect of further regional escalation.

Drones and expertise reshape the battlefield

Turkey’s place in this picture has attracted particular attention. Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 and Akinci drones have reportedly entered the SAF’s inventory. A Washington Post investigation published in March 2025 described Baykar contracts and support arrangements with the Sudanese side worth at least $120 million, including drones, equipment and technical assistance.

Le Monde has portrayed Turkey as the SAF’s most important military partner since the war began, reporting that Turkish trainers have worked alongside Sudanese forces. Ankara’s relationship with SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan also has a longer strategic context: Turkey sees future opportunities in areas such as infrastructure, mining and wider commercial development if Sudan eventually moves beyond the war.

Pakistani equipment is also reported to be appearing on the ground. The newspaper said armoured vehicles from Pakistan had been seen around Khartoum, an indication that the reported deal may be moving from planning into use.

The importance of this emerging network should not be overstated. The Mecca agreement was not written specifically for Sudan, and all three signatories say it is not directed against another state. It sits within a broader reshaping of regional security calculations involving Iran, Israel and evolving alliances across the Middle East.

Sudan now offers an immediate measure of what closer cooperation can mean when finance, defence production and political ties intersect during an active war. It may become a proving ground for how the partnership projects influence beyond its members’ borders.

According to ​preliminary data, the ​S&P 500 lost 27.39 points, or ⁠0.36%, to end at 7,684.37 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 41.51 points, or 0.16%, to 26,360.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 380.22 points, or 0.71%, to 53,179.77.

Spiking oil prices dampened investor risk appetite and sent benchmark U.S. Treasury yields higher, as investors processed U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish tone on Friday in his ‌speech at the Jackson ⁠Hole Symposium.

While ⁠a broad sell-off sent all three major U.S. stock indexes lower, they all posted monthly gains. The Nasdaq showed the largest percentage growth for August as ​the AI trade remained alive, despite recent weakness. The blue-chip Dow nabbed its fifth consecutive monthly advance.

“We heard from Warsh last week, and the ​odds now favor a rate hike in September,” said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. “Throw that into the mix of continued hostilities in the Middle East.

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“And the week before Labor Day, there’s not a lot of people who are out ​of the office, so weird things can happen,” Tuz added. “There was no reason to ⁠come into ‌work today thinking it’s a great day to buy stocks.”
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran is still seeking ​a negotiated solution ​to the war, after days of renewed airstrike exchanges and mounting hostilities following U.S. President Donald Trump’s ⁠implementation of costly economic sanctions.The protracted impasse and the related closure of the Strait of ​Hormuz is fueling fears that upward pressure on energy prices could metastasize into broader, ​systemic inflation that could force the Fed to hike interest rates as soon as next month.

Financial markets are currently pricing in more than a 65% likelihood of the central bank implementing a 25-basis-point rate hike at the conclusion of September’s monetary policy meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

“Investors are revisiting some of the comments that Warsh made at Jackson Hole as well and what that may mean for interest rates, what that may mean for inflation,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor & market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest ‌in Elmhurst, Illinois. “If they do not hike rates in September, I think you will see a dramatic reaction in the markets because it’s been prepped now for quite some time that they’re going to raise rates.”

Among the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, energy shares showed solid gains, with a ​boost from surging crude prices . Utilities lagged on the heels of an amendment to a bill in the California senate, which did little to solve grid operators’ exposure to wildfire liabilities.

Within the energy space, Halliburton and Valero Energy advanced. In utilities, California’s PG&E suffered its largest percentage loss in over six years.

In other movers, GameStop’s shares rose after the company said it would pay about 27% of a previously announced $1.4 billion debt exchange through cash on hand instead of issuing new stock, preventing further share dilution.