Market Beats | Meta Signs 20-Year Nuclear Power Deal With Constellation; Microsoft Cuts Over 300 More Jobs; US Job Openings Unexpectedly Rise in April; KKR Real Estate Financing Hits Record $42 Billion; Trump to Raise Steel and Aluminum Tariffs to 50%

—— Meta Signs 20-Year Nuclear Power Deal With Constellation; Microsoft Cuts Over 300 More Jobs; US Job Openings Unexpectedly Rise in April; KKR’s Real Estate Financing Hits Record $42 Billion; Trump to Raise Steel and Aluminum Tariffs to 50%

1. Meta Signs 20-Year Nuclear Power Deal With ConstellationCancer Progression

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has agreed to a 20-year contract to buy 1,121 megawatts of power from Constellation Energy Corp.’s Clinton nuclear plant in Illinois, as artificial intelligence drives a surge in electricity demand.

The agreement, announced Tuesday, begins in mid-2027 when a state subsidy for the Clinton plant expires. Constellation, the largest nuclear operator in the US, said it will invest in expanding the plant’s output as part of the deal. It is also exploring the possibility of building a second reactor at the site, which already has federal approval.

“It’s a logical place for us to talk to Meta, and to others, about potentially building the next generation of assets,” said Constellation CEO Joe Dominguez. “Those conversations are well under way.”

Nuclear power is becoming a top choice for tech companies contending with rising AI-related electricity needs. While solar and wind remain popular, their intermittent generation has led companies to turn to stable sources like nuclear, natural gas, and even coal. Nuclear also benefits from its zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Meta’s electricity consumption nearly tripled from 2019 to 2023, prompting the push for long-term energy contracts. This deal follows Microsoft’s agreement eight months ago to purchase power from the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Amazon and Google have also made investments in small-scale nuclear technology, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently stepped down as chairman of nuclear startup Oklo Inc. to pave the way for potential business between the companies.

Shares of Constellation surged as much as 16% in premarket trading. Other nuclear-related stocks also rallied: Vistra rose 7.4%, Oklo jumped 8%, and Nano Nuclear Energy gained 8%. Meta shares were little changed.

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2. Microsoft Cuts Over 300 More Jobs

Microsoft Corp. laid off over 300 employees on Monday, just weeks after executing its largest round of job cuts in years, as the tech giant continues efforts to reduce costs while investing heavily in artificial intelligence.

According to a Washington state notice reviewed by Bloomberg, more than 300 workers were notified that their positions were being eliminated.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed that this latest headcount reduction is in addition to the 6,000 job cuts announced last month. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” the spokesperson said.

The ongoing AI boom is reshaping the tech labor market, with companies emphasizing AI-focused roles and using the technology to increase efficiency and reduce headcount.

Microsoft, along with Meta Platforms Inc., has promoted AI-assisted coding tools that accelerate software development. Last week, Salesforce Inc. said internal AI use allowed the company to scale back its hiring needs.

While the specific roles affected in this latest round weren’t disclosed, previous layoffs at Microsoft primarily impacted software engineers. As of June 2024, the company employed about 228,000 full-time workers, 55% of whom were based in the United States.

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3. US Job Openings Unexpectedly Rise in April

US job openings unexpectedly increased in April, and hiring also picked up, suggesting that demand for workers remains resilient despite ongoing economic uncertainty.

According to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, available positions rose to 7.39 million from a revised 7.20 million in March. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast 7.10 million openings.

The rise was driven by gains in private-sector industries, including professional and business services as well as health care and social assistance. However, openings fell in manufacturing and the leisure and hospitality sector. State and local education postings also declined, though federal government vacancies increased.

Given the month-to-month volatility in the data—sometimes swinging by as much as 500,000—economists emphasize the importance of the broader trend.

Job openings have largely stabilized between 7 million and 8 million over the past year.

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4. KKR’s Real Estate Financing Hits Record $42 Billion

KKR & Co. has reached a record-high $42 billion pipeline of commercial real estate financings, the second new high this year, as it positions itself to benefit from falling property prices and a pullback by traditional lenders.

In a note released Tuesday, KKR’s real estate credit leaders Matt Salem, Joel Traut, and Patrick Mattson said rising interest rates have weighed on property values, while renewed tariff concerns since early April have made it more difficult for landlords to secure financing, creating growing demand for private credit.

“‘Liberation Day’ brought an unexpected new set of opportunities,” they wrote, referring to the volatility that widened loan spreads and froze the single-asset single-borrower (SASB) commercial mortgage-backed securities market. With many lenders holding off for more clarity, KKR stepped in to fill the gap.

The firm sees property loans as attractive due to their collateral-backed cash flows and floating-rate structures, which offer a hedge against inflation.

KKR typically lends at 60% to 70% loan-to-value ratios, which it believes provides enough equity buffer to ensure repayment even in adverse scenarios.

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5. Trump to Raise Steel and Aluminum Tariffs to 50%

President Donald Trump will sign a directive Tuesday to formally double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 50%, up from the current 25%, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced.

Trump previously said the new rates would take effect on June 4, but Leavitt did not provide further timing details during her press briefing. The move comes amid ongoing negotiations with several US trading partners over Trump’s proposed “reciprocal” duties, with a deadline of July 9 looming.

Stocks pared gains in afternoon trading following the announcement, with shares of heavy electrical equipment makers and automakers falling on the news.

While a federal court recently ruled against some of Trump’s emergency law-based tariffs, the metal duties are not affected by that decision and remain legally enforceable.

Trump unveiled the plan during a speech at a United States Steel Corp. plant in Pennsylvania on Friday, where he endorsed the company’s sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp. and pledged the firm would retain some form of American oversight.

“That means nobody’s going to be able to steal your industry,” Trump told steelworkers. “It’s at 25%, they can sort of get over that fence; at 50%, they can no longer get over the fence.”

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6. Tariffs Stall Global Private Equity Dealmaking Recovery

Donald Trump’s trade war has put the brakes on a global private equity dealmaking rebound, reversing momentum that many in the industry had hoped would accelerate under a second Trump administration.

According to projections from consultancy Bain & Company, the value of buyout fund deals in the second quarter of 2025 is set to drop 16% from the previous quarter. April alone saw deal volume fall 24% below the Q1 monthly average.

Private equity firms had anticipated a revival in activity, expecting regulatory easing and pro-business policies under Trump’s second term. Instead, Trump’s sweeping tariffs and fiscal uncertainty have disrupted valuations and limited deal activity to only a few tariff-resilient sectors.

“It’s not that the market has stopped but that it has narrowed,” said Simona Maellare, co-head of the alternative capital group at UBS. “Only a few sectors remain truly transactable.”

An executive at a major UK private equity firm said Trump’s April tariff moves — some of which were later watered down or postponed — had caused “a massive withdrawal of confidence for any new deal-doing in the US for at least the medium term.” The executive added: “I’m not sure that’s quite what Trump intended.”

The value of private equity assets sold in full or in part is also projected to fall 9% in the second quarter.

The figures underscore mounting headwinds for the industry, already struggling from a lack of portfolio company exits that has left backers like pensions and endowments short on capital for new fund commitments.

Bain noted that for the first time in a decade, no buyout fund that closed in the first quarter raised more than $5 billion.

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7. Nvidia posts 69% revenue surge

Nvidia reported a 69% year-on-year jump in revenue to $44.1 billion for the quarter ending April 27, surpassing Wall Street’s forecast of $43.3 billion, even as it absorbs a major revenue hit from US export restrictions targeting China.

The chipmaker, central to the global AI infrastructure boom, expects revenue of about $45 billion for the current quarter, plus or minus 2%. That range puts its guidance slightly below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $45.5 billion. Nvidia shares rose 5% in early Thursday trading.

The company is navigating the fallout from President Donald Trump’s renewed trade tensions with China, including export controls introduced in April that barred Nvidia from selling its AI chips specifically tailored for the Chinese market. Nvidia said those curbs led to a $4.5 billion charge last quarter and an additional $2.5 billion in missed sales. The company also expects to lose roughly $8 billion in Chinese revenue this quarter as a result.

CEO Jensen Huang said demand for Nvidia products remains “incredibly strong,” but he reiterated criticism of the US government’s export control measures on a call with analysts.

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