- In today’s CEO Daily: Phil Wahba on Home Depot’s $4.3 billion acquisition of GMS.
- The big story: Trump’s 50% tariff on copper is a real thing.
- The markets: Mostly up, especially Bitcoin.
- Analyst notes from Wedbush on Apple and Perplexity, and Pantheon and Bernstein on copper tariffs.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. The retail landscape is littered with failed M&A deals. Lowe’s spent years pursuing Canadian retailer Rona to get a foothold north of the border, only to sell it off two years ago, losing about $2 billion in the process. Tapestry’s acquisition in 2017 of Kate Spade, whose sales fell 13% last quarter, has led to a number of write-downs. Capri Holdings recently sold Versace at a big loss. Dollar Tree said recently it was selling its Family Dollar division at a great loss.
So I noted with great interest Home Depot’s latest deal. Last week it announced one of its business units was buying building-products distributor GMS for $4.3 billion. GMS, whose name stands for Gypsum Management and Supply and which is based in Tucker, Georgia, is hardly the sexiest acquisition target. But then again, it has a wide network of 320 distribution centers catering to pros rather than the DIY crowd, whose appetite for home improvement projects seems to be plateauing. With the GMS deal, SRS will dominate the market for professional suppliers both outside the home (roofing, pool, yard) and inside (wallboard, steel framing, and ceilings), Cowen analyst Max Rakhlenko wrote in a research note. Rakhlenko praised the deal, saying it “would allow SRS to expand into additional verticals, grow market share, consolidate the industry, and meaningfully increase HD’s supply chain and distribution network.”
The deal follows Home Depot’s $18 billion acquisition last year of SRS Distribution (which is the entity actually buying GMS). That was the largest acquisition in the company’s history, aimed at helping Home Depot win a much bigger share of the mammoth professional-contractors segment. The deals together show Home Depot is making a major, thoughtful pivot in its strategy towards a lucrative new segment. Doing so in a disciplined way is a path other CEOs—who are would-be acquirers—can learn from. — Phil Wahba
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
Trump imposes 50% tariff on copper
President Trump announced a 50% tariff on copper imports in a social media post that noted, “Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense!” The tariff starts August 1. U.S. copper prices rose on the news. The tariff means Americans would pay an effective price of $15,000 per metric ton for a commodity available for around $10,000 everywhere else.
Brazil “Witch Hunt” tariff set at 50%
The president set a much higher tariff on Brazil than most other countries are getting because of its treatment of former president Jair Bolsanaro, who has been formally charged with trying to stage a coup in the country. Trump said the case was a “Witch Hunt that should end IMMEDIATELY!” Reality check: Bolsanaro still faces a trial on the charges against him.
Fed members see tariffs causing inflation
From the minutes of the Fed’s last meeting: “While a few participants note that tariffs would lead to a one-time increase in prices and would not affect longer-term inflation expectations, most participants noted the risk that tariffs could have more persistent effects on inflation.” Nonetheless, 10 members of the FOMC expect two or more cuts by year end, two people see one cut, and seven see no cuts. Some observers think the chances of a jumbo 50-point cut in December are now increasing.
Misconduct allegations at Möet & Chandon
Möet & Chandon is the defendant in a French employment tribunal in which Maria Gasparovic, a former chief of staff, alleges she was fired after complaining about sexual misconduct among senior colleagues. She claims she was told she needed “anti-seduction” training, and is seeking €1.3 million in compensation. The company denies wrongdoing.
Tesla’s AGM is MIA
The law requires Tesla to hold an annual general meeting by July 13 but so far the company has not scheduled such a meeting nor has it filed proxy documents, the NYT reports. Investors are not pleased.
Yaccarino leaves X
Linda Yaccarino announced yesterday that she is stepping down as CEO of X in a post on the platform, thanking Elon Musk, the platform’s owner, for the opportunity. The advertising veteran led the company through multiple controversies over the past two years and is one of at least 15 senior leaders who’ve stepped down from Musk’s companies in the past year.
Nvidia makes market cap history
Nvidia became the first public company in history to reach a market cap of $4 trillion on Wednesday as the market rallied despite continued tariff uncertainty. The chipmaker’s stock is up 17% since the beginning of the year.
Apple’s AI woes
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives warned in a note on Wednesday that Apple’s “window is narrowing” in terms of developing AI products and suggested that the company purchase AI startup Perplexity to catch up. Ives suggested that even paying double Perplexity’s $14 billion valuation—up to $30 billion—would be worth it.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were down marginally this morning, premarket. The underlying index rose 0.61% yesterday. The UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.14% to touch a new all-time high. Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.59% in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.58% this morning. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 0.44%. Bitcoin neared its all-time high according to Bloomberg, hitting $112,009 on some exchanges. Coinbase rose 5.36% on the news. BTC is currently just above $111K.
From the analysts
Wedbush on Apple and Perplexity: “The Clock Has Struck Midnight on Apple's AI Strategy; Perplexity Is the Answer: … Apple is at a highway rest stop on a bench watching this 4th Industrial Revolution race go by at 100 miles an hour. … Cupertino does not have to be first out of the gates on AI and can still win the consumer AI Revolution race....BUT that window is narrowing and its a worrying dynamic for Apple. … there is a belief they can develop anything internally better at Apple Park that an outside acquisition will give them; unfortunately we believe those days are gone....the time has come Apple needs to acquire Perplexity,” per Daniel Ives et al.
Pantheon Macroeconomics on copper and pharma tariffs: “The 50% tariff imposed immediately on all copper imports will boost the average effective tariff rate—AETR—by a trivial 0.15 percentage points, equivalent to an uplift to the core PCE deflator of just 0.02pp, if fully passed on to consumers. A 200% tariff rate on pharmaceuticals would be a much bigger deal, as they account for 8% of total imports. But the president threatened this exorbitant rate after a proposed transition period of at least one year, allowing time for massive stockpiling, which would limit the impact on businesses' costs and consumer price inflation,” per Samuel Tombs and Oliver Allen.
Bernstein on copper tariffs: “It is highly unlikely that a company would invest $5-6 bln for a project that wouldn’t be operational during a Trump presidency with poor margins. Therefore, the tariff incents no proper economic action but rather simply adds cost to US manufacturers,” per Bob Brackett and Andrianto Guntoro.
Around the watercooler
Jacalynne Becker Klopp: The mystery woman raking in the White House’s highest salary, by Lily Mae Lazarus
Elon Musk’s feud with Trump and ‘America Party’ gambit hit Tesla shares and wiped up to $15 billion off his net worth by Ashley Lutz and Fortune Intelligence
CoreWeave’s $9 billion acquisition of Core Scientific gives an AI roadmap for struggling Bitcoin miners by Ben Weiss
Meet Apple’s next COO Sahib Khan, a 30-year veteran who will oversee the iPhone maker’s supply chain amid the ‘Trump tariff black cloud’ by Lily Mae Lazarus
Photos: Tim Cook, Sam Altman and Silicon Valley’s elite arrive at the ‘summer camp for billionaires’ by Emily Steinberger
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.
