Daily Brief United States: OpenAI, Cadence Design Sys, Oura, Reddit , Zephyr Energy, Weatherford International , Physical Intelligence, Nike, Kinder Morgan, Domino’s Pizza and more

• In 102 posts about Muse and competing tools, OpenAI was named most often (32 posts), followed by Google / Gemini (28) and Claude (15).
• The posts show different levels of switching: 24 claimed a direct switch or reduced use of another tool, 6 expressed intent to switch, and 60 compared Muse with another tool on a task.
• Some of those comparisons described choosing Muse for that task, even without claiming a broader switch. 

• CDNS had a record $8.1 billion backlog exiting Q2, with a Current Remaining Performance Obligation coverage ratio of ~58%, providing high visibility into revenue over the next 12 months.
• CDNS launched an agentic AI flow (including ChipStack, RapidFire, Veristack, InnoStack, and AuraStack), which bridges the engineering bottleneck by automating complex tasks like RTL code generation and test bench creation.
• Due to a projected 30-40x increase in design workload over the next 5–6 years, customers indicate willingness to spend >50% of a human designer’s cost on automation, tokens, and tools

• Oura is an always-on health intelligence platform transforming how people understand and manage health. Its Oura Ring captures biometric data, offering a recurring membership for personalized health insights.
• Oura had 5.0 million Paid Members and approximately 85% 12-Month Paid Member Retention as of June 30, 2026. Revenue was $1,214.5 million.
• Total revenue was $1,214,506 and net income was $60,768 for the nine months ended June 30, 2026. Total stockholders’ deficit was $(1,617,734).

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• Reddit may have turned an ordinary contract dispute into a much larger test of what human conversation is worth in the age of artificial intelligence.
• A California judge recently allowed most of Reddit’s case against Anthropic to move forward, rejecting the AI company’s attempt to dispose of claims tied to alleged unauthorized scraping of Reddit content.
• The dispute matters because Reddit already licenses its data to companies including Alphabet and OpenAI, while arguing that its billions of posts, comments, reviews, recommendations, debates, and firsthand experiences should not simply be treated as free raw material for AI systems.

• 2Q26 production from the non-operated portfolio was 914 boe/d (69% oil).
• Including our NGL estimates, this came in ~100 boe/d ahead of our forecast.
• We forecast a broadly similar production level in 3Q26.

• Weatherford International reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.105 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $223 million at a 20.2% margin, and adjusted free cash flow of $139 million.
• Free cash flow conversion reached 62.3% of adjusted EBITDA despite geopolitical disruption in the Middle East, weaker activity in Indonesia, pricing pressure, and a labor strike in Norway.
• Middle East operations were affected by project suspensions, delays, and logistical constraints.

• Category-Defining Physical AI Pioneer: Physical Intelligence (π) is positioned as the premier pure-play software intelligence layer for robotics, developing general-purpose Vision-Language-Action (VLA) foundation models (notably the π0 and π0.7 series) that decouple physical hardware from robotic control, establishing a universal ‘generalist brain’ across diverse multi-embodiment systems.
• World-Class Technical Pedigree & Blue-Chip Capital Moat: Co-founded by leading researchers from Google DeepMind, UC Berkeley, and Stanford (including Karol Hausman, Sergey Levine, and Chelsea Finn), the company has secured over $2.1B in cumulative venture backing at an ~$11.0B–$11.2B valuation, supported by high-conviction institutional sponsors including Thrive Capital, Lux Capital, OpenAI, CapitalG, Founders Fund, and Jeff Bezos.
• High-Beta Asymmetry with Execution and Commercialization Hurdles: While the proprietary flow matching action architecture and multi-robot data engine provide a technical moat in dexterous physical manipulation, the company remains at an early pre-scale commercialization stage characterized by high R&D and compute cash burn, requiring proven enterprise contract conversions against vertically integrated peers.

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• Kylian Mbappé’s decision to leave Nike after roughly two decades and become the face of On Holding’s push into football creates the kind of headline that reaches far beyond Wall Street.
• One of the world’s most recognizable athletes has walked away from the Swoosh just as Nike is trying to rebuild momentum across product innovation, lifestyle footwear and consumer culture.
• The symbolism is difficult to ignore: a younger challenger has recruited a global superstar while Nike is openly acknowledging weakness in Sportswear and Jordan Streetwear.

• Kinder Morgan’s second quarter of 2026 results demonstrated continued operational strength and financial performance above both prior year and internal forecasts.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased by 12%, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) rose by 32% compared to the second quarter of 2025, with every business segment contributing positively to the quarter’s results.
• The company has raised its full-year guidance, now anticipating adjusted EBITDA at least 5% above the 2026 budget and adjusted EPS at least 12% higher than initially projected.

• Domino’s Pizza, Inc. reported its second quarter results amid a transition in leadership, with Joe Jordan succeeding Russell Weiner as CEO in October.
• The company highlighted strong order count growth across both delivery and carryout channels, outpacing a generally flat quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry.
• This acceleration contributed positively to franchise royalties and supply chain gross margin dollars.