Thursday's Pre-Market: MicroStrategy's Bitcoin, Palantir vs Short Sellers, Under Armour's CEO, EV's upcoming boom?, and Oil Rally to come?

MicroStrategy shares up 180% this year after debt sale to buy more bitcoin spurs latest rally

MicroStrategy said on Monday that it raised $782 million in a debt sale “to acquire additional bitcoin.”
Founder Michael Saylor said in a post on social media platform X that the company now owns 205,000 bitcoins.
With the cryptocurrency continuing to hit fresh records, that stake is now worth more than $15 billion.

Palantir CEO Alex Karp skewered short sellers in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
“Almost nothing makes a human happier than taking the lines of cocaine away from these short sellers,” he said.
Shares of Palantir jumped 9.8% on March 6 after Palantir announced its Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node was selected by the U.S. Army.

Under Armour announced CEO Stephanie Linnartz is stepping down from her role just over a year after she started.
Founder Kevin Plank will return as the brand’s chief executive, effective April 1.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, will take over as nonexecutive board chair.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has spurred a “boom” in the EV sector.
Automakers such as Ford and General Motors are cooling down their expectations for EV consumer demand after years of excitement around the sector, according to a new CNBC report.
Biden has also reportedly reined in his EV push, extending the deadline for aggressive restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

Investors could be caught off guard by the strength of an oil price rally this summer, according to Morgan Stanley’s Martijn Rats.
His comments came as oil prices rose on Wednesday amid fears of potential supply disruption.
“Look, we’re not calling for the super cycle, but we could have a bit of strength in the summer,” Rats told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”