Arm Holdings reported FY2026 results and fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations, with revenue and profit coming in above forecasts. IDC’s AI infrastructure data show Arm has surpassed x86 as the largest platform in AI servers. Arm also introduced its first in-house AGI data center CPU, with early orders from customers including Meta and OpenAI, and said it has secured more than $2 billion in committed demand across FY2027–2028. The shift toward a combined hardware-and-software model could also raise competitive tensions with major licensees such as AMZN, MSFT and GOOGL.

Alphabet released its Q2 results after the market close on July 22, 2026, reporting revenue of $119.8 billion, up 24% year over year, above expectations. Cloud revenue grew 82%, far ahead of the 63% growth analysts had forecast. Net profit came under pressure as the company raised its 2026 capital-expenditure guidance by $15 billion to $195 billion–$205 billion. Investors worried that heavier AI spending would weigh on near-term earnings and cash flow, pushing GOOGL shares sharply lower.

President Trump announced new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on 60 nations under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, citing forced labor, and threatened additional tariffs on the European Union. He also said he is considering what he described as a “massive attack” on Iran. Chip stocks sold off sharply, with SOXX down more than 4% and the Nasdaq 100 down 1.27% as Intel fell more than 7% despite a strong Q3 revenue outlook, while Arm, Marvell and Micron dropped more than 5%.

Sugar prices ended Friday modestly higher, with October NY world sugar #11 rising +0.08 (+0.54%) and October London ICE white sugar #5 up +1.00 (0.22%). A slightly weaker dollar and pre-weekend short covering helped lift prices after the market hit a one-week low earlier in the session. Declines in crude oil weighed on ethanol values, potentially encouraging mills to divert less cane toward ethanol and increasing sugar supply. Markets also monitored monsoon developments in India and the risk that an El Niño could curb rainfall in major producing regions.

Cocoa futures rebounded on Friday, with the September ICE New York contract up 1.41% and the September ICE London contract up 1.23%. The gains were attributed to pre-weekend short covering and a slightly weaker U.S. dollar. The rally came despite signs of ample supply, including Ivory Coast port arrivals running 21% higher year on year and ICE inventories at a two-year high of 3,319,249 bags. Longer-term, tighter expectations for 2026/27—linked to El Niño risks and softer crop outlooks—have supported prices, including a Transgraph Consulting forecast for the global surplus to shrink to 80,000 metric tons.

Coffee prices rebounded on Friday as stronger El Niño signals revived concerns that Brazil’s 2026/27 crop could be reduced. Tightening supply indicators added support, including severely insufficient rainfall in Brazil, a slower harvest pace, and ICE arabica inventories falling to a 2.5-year low. While the USDA raised its global output outlook, the projection was framed around no further weather deterioration, with El Niño cited as a likely source of disruption. Surging Vietnam robusta exports continued to weigh on robusta, even as arabica found firmer support.

Salesforce (CRM) said it has secured a $1.6 billion contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to deploy AI agents, Data 360 and Slack to improve healthcare services. The deal includes a one-year base period with two one-year renewal options. The order is part of Salesforce’s Missionforce federal-contract lineup and comes alongside a seasonal pattern in which CRM has averaged 4.81% gains in August.

Wheat futures posted broad losses on Friday, with front-month contracts in CBOT, KCBT and MIAX down 17–20 cents on the day. Ukraine proposed steps to keep vessels moving in the Black Sea, but there was no formal agreement between Ukraine and Russia. U.S. new-crop wheat export sales total 6.68 MMT, down 26% from last year. Spring wheat yield on the annual tour was estimated at 48 bpa, while IKAR sees Russia’s 2026/27 wheat exports at 44.5 MMT.

U.S. corn futures were down 1–2 cents by midday Friday, while the national average cash corn price fell 1 3/4 cents to $4.32 per bushel. NOAA’s 7-day QPF calls for less than 0.5 inches of rain across much of the Corn Belt over the next week, with Missouri and eastern Ohio the main exceptions. Export Sales data released Thursday showed total corn commitments at 86.613 MMT, or 103% of the USDA export projection, and new-crop sales at 7.56 MMT, up 12.5% from the same period last year.