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A lawsuit on IB analyst work hours is headed to trial, US partnered with tech billionaires to train 'elite' government coders, Steve Cohen was the highest-paid hedge fund manager last year, Blue Owl is getting cooked, and Sam Altman and Dario Amodei refused to join hands at the India AI summit in the most comical sign of AI rivalry.

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Let's dive in.

Before The Bell

As of 2/19/2026 market close.

Learn more about the Litquidity portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.*

Markets

  • US stocks fell yesterday as private credit woes and Iran worries weighed 

Earnings

  • Walmart beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates as higher-income shoppers boosted gains in e-commerce and online pickup and delivery and highlighted a normalized price environment after absorbing tariff impacts (CNBC)

  • Comfort Systems beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates with net income surging 130% on unprecedented demand in technology and industrial sectors, including hyperscale data centers (BRN)

  • Opendoor missed Q4 earnings estimates but boasted accelerating acquisition volumes as it attempts to pivot towards higher velocity and lower capital intensity amid a volatile housing market (SI)

  • John Deere issued a Q4 beat-and-raise on surging demand for small farm tractors and construction and forestry equipment despite tariffs (WSJ)

  • Klarna beat Q4 revenue estimates but net losses widened on a 59% increase in loan loss provisions (BBG)

  • Wayfair beat Q4 earnings and revenue estimates with its first annual sales growth since Covid amid a third consecutive quarter of new customer growth and healthy growth in repeat orders (CNBC)

  • Full calendar here 

Prediction Markets

  • Another weekend, another situation to monitor

  • Trade event contracts on Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market.

Headline Roundup

  • Centerview lawsuit on IB analyst work hours is headed to trial (FT)

  • US government recruits tech bosses to train 'elite' government coders (FT)

  • JPMorgan is in talks to bank for Trump's Board of Peace (FT)

  • JPMorgan says Trump's $5B suit 'fraudulently' included Jamie Dimon (BBG)

  • US trade deficit barely moved despite tariffs last year (CNBC)

  • Japan inflation fell below 2% for first time in four years (CNBC)

  • Blue Owl's woes expose private credit risks for retail investors (BBG)

  • Megafund stocks slide on Blue Owl woes (FT)

  • AI is expected to drive US convertible bond sales to another banner year (BBG)

  • Foreigners rebuke 'Sell America' with $1.6T US inflows last year (BBG)

  • Japanese stocks saw the biggest foreign inflow since 2014 (BBG)

  • Foreign investors resume Indian IT stocks selloff on AI scare (BBG)

  • Large-cap stock pickers beating the market is the highest since 2007 (BBG)

  • Point72's Steve Cohen topped hedge fund ranks with $3.4B pay last year (BBG)

  • ETFs push at SEC limit in rush to buy private stocks and credit (FT)

  • Amazon overtook Walmart as the world's biggest company by sales (BBG)

  • Sam Altman and Dario Amodei refused to join hands at India AI summit (CNBC)

  • Big Tech giants commit billions of dollars to India at AI summit (RT)

  • Meta cut staff stock awards for a second-straight year (FT)

  • BofA will offer art consulting to HNWIs as collectors increase loans demand (RT)

  • Guyana plans 'Norway on steroids' to avoid oil curse (BBG)

  • Tata scion struggles to consolidate control at India's biggest conglomerate (FT)

  • Morgan Stanley opened accounts for Epstein trusts days before arrest (RT)

  • Charles Schwab moved $28M in payments for Epstein days before arrest (RT)

  • Former Prince Andrew was arrested on Epstein ties (BBG)

  • Sergey Brin-backed group seeks to undercut California billionaire tax (WSJ)

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Deal Flow

M&A / Strategic

  • Netflix could bump up its $83B offer for Warner Bros. Discovery if competing bidder Paramount Skydance raises its own hostile bid

  • Johnson & Johnson is preparing a $20B sale of its orthopedics unit DePuy Synthes

  • Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, the son of eyewear firm EssilorLuxottica's founder, is considering making an offer to buy stakes worth $16.5B from two siblings

  • 7.2B-listed $Texas pipeline operator Kinetik is weighing a sale after receiving takeover interest from Occidental Petroleum-backed Western Midstream Partners

  • Management led by CEO Gary Pedersen will buyout commodity trading giant Gunvor from founder/owner Torbjorn Tornqvist at a $5B valuation

  • Bain Capital is considering a sale or IPO of dessert maker Dessert Holdings at an over $3B valuation

  • CVC is exploring a $1.2B sale of Mediterranean marina operator D-Marin 

  • Hims & Hers Health agreed to acquire Aussie digital health company Eucalyptus in a $1.15B deal

  • Saudi's PIF-owned gaming studio Scopely agreed to acquire a majority stake in Turkish mobile game developer Loom Games for $1B

  • Ronaldo acquired a 10% stake in Herbalife's health and wellness tracking service HBL Pro2col Software for $7.5M

  • Froneri, the ice cream JV between Swiss food giant Nestle and French PE firm PAI Partners, is in talks to acquire Nestle's remaining in-house ice cream business

  • Visa agreed to buy payment platforms Prisma and Newpay from PE firm Advent

  • Polymarket agreed to acquire prediction market API startup Dome

VC

  • OpenAI is close to raising over $100B at a $730M pre-money valuation in its latest funding round from Big Tech giants, major VCs, SWFs, and others

  • Code Metal, a verifiable AI code-translation startup, raised a $125M Series B at a $1.25B valuation led by Salesforce Ventures 

  • Jump, an AI OS for financial advisors, raised an $80M Series B led by Insight Partners

  • Metal 3D-printing startup Freeform raised a $67M Series B from Apandion, Founders Fund, Two Sigma Ventures, and more

  • Origen, a UAE AI workflow integration company, raised a $50M strategic investment from Bluefive Capital

  • UAE digital real-estate platform Stake raised a $31M Series B round led by Emirates NBD

  • Stacks, a UK AI-driven accounting automation startup, raised a $23M Series A led by Lightspeed 

  • NuCube Energy, a high-temperature microreactor startup, raised a $13M funding round led by Arizona Nuclear Ventures 

  • On-device AI startup Mirai raised a $10M seed round led by Uncork Capital

  • Social music platform Hook raised a $10M Series A led by Khosla Ventures 

  • Rapidata, a Swiss AI data-labeling infrastructure startup, raised an $8.5M seed round led by Canaan Partners

Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable

IPO / Direct Listings / Issuances / Block Trades

  • Wall Street brokerage fintech Clear Street withdrew IPO plans to raise $364M due to deteriorating market conditions and valuation concerns

SPAC / SPV

  • Israeli EV battery company StoreDot canceled its $880M merger with Andretti Acquisition Corp. II 

Debt 

  • Ares priced a $358M European private credit CLO

  • A $330M leveraged loan to Consolidated Energy units is being marketed at 88¢, the largest discount in over two years

  • Gunvor's founder Torbjorn Tornqvist provided an over $4B loan to management led by CEO Gary Pedersen for the $5B MBO of Gunvor 

Bankruptcy / Restructuring / Distressed

  • Global Counsel, the UK advisory firm of Lord Peter Mandelson, is entering administration after a client exodus following Epstein ties

  • Hedge funds are clashing over Apollo-backed French chemicals maker Kem One's debt, with Apollo-backed Diameter Capital, Sona Asset Management, and Polus Capital shorting bonds while other lenders Arini and Monarch extend financing amid the sector's worst crisis in 30 years

Funds / Secondaries

  • Bank of America is committing $25B to private credit deals in a new private credit initiative

  • Hall of Fame QB Steve Young's PE firm HGGC raised $3.2B for its fifth fund

  • $3B AUM macro hedge fund Deem Global is closing to new cash

  • Dylan Patel's chip and infrastructure research firm SemiAnalysis is considering raising hundreds of millions for a VC fund

Crypto Sum Snapshot

  • CME is moving closer to 24/7 crypto derivatives trading

  • Trump Jr. calls banking a 'Ponzi scheme' that forced family to create crypto business

Crypto Sum compiles the most important stories on everything crypto. Read it here.

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot Advisers, LLC ("Autopilot"), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks, including loss of principal. As always, be smart out there. Litquidity is compensated to promote AutoPilot. Compensation details available upon request.