☢️ Restarting Three Mile Island

Last official summer Friday ✅.

Today's newsletter is 695 words, a 2.5-minute read.

🔔 The dashboard: The S&P 500 closed down 0.2%.

• Biggest gainer? Constellation Energy (+22.3%), announced plans to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant and a power-purchase agreement with Microsoft to power data centers.
• Biggest decliner? FedEx (-15.2%) reported a steeper-than-expected earnings drop for the last quarter and lowered its full-year revenue forecast. (See more on both below. 👇)

Microsoft and Constellation Energy just unveiled a power purchase deal that would enable a restart of a reactor at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant.

Why it matters: The plan to bring a plant associated with an infamous 1979 partial meltdown back online in 2028 blends two big energy trends.

• One is voracious energy needs to power data centers, especially as AI grows.
• The other is proposals to restart mothballed reactors, or delay closures, to meet rising electricity demand with zero-carbon sources.

Driving the news: The companies announced today a 20-year supply deal for power from TMI's 835 megawatt Unit 1 that closed in 2019.

• It sits adjacent to the reactor damaged in the infamous 1979 accident that set back the nuclear industry for decades.

State of play: Constellation plans to invest $1.6 billion to revive Unit 1.

• The restart will require Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval, and state and local permits, the power giant said.
• Constellation sees nuclear energy tax credits in the 2022 climate law as crucial for the project, per the Washington Post.

Market impact: Constellation shares closed up over 22%.

The bottom line: Rising power thirst, data centers, and fighting climate change are starting to remake the nuclear landscape.

FedEx shares took a nosedive today after the package company reported a weaker-than-expected quarter.

Zoom in: Executives blamed much of its woes on soft industrial production, which took a toll on the company's business-to-business service.

• CEO Raj Subramaniam said customers are trading down, which in FedEx language means they're forgoing faster delivery for cheaper, and slower, service.

Zoom out: FedEx's comments reinforce some of what we already know — that U.S. manufacturing's been in a funk (data has shown a contraction for the past five months).

The big picture: Given the package company's intimate role in the supply chain, its results are often looked at as a signal for what's brewing in the broader economy.

• That could have had a cooling effect on markets today, which just yesterday rallied on the Fed's extra-large rate cut.

Friction point: In announcing the cut Wednesday, the Fed said the economy is performing well and that the cut was an attempt to keep it that way.

• Subramaniam yesterday took a different view, telling analysts that it was a signal of a soft economic environment.

Context: Even with today's 15% plunge, FedEx shares are still up 1% on the year, while rival UPS is down almost 19%.

🔓 Trump Media shares have hit a new 52-week low, one day after lockup restrictions expired. (CNBC)

👟 Nike shares rose 7% on news it will replace CEO John Donahoe next month with former senior executive Elliott Hill. (Axios)

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The FTC just dropped the hammer on the three largest prescription drug middlemen, accusing them of illegally inflating the price of insulin and driving up costs to diabetes patients.

Zoom in: The regulator said it sued CVS' Caremark Rx, Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's Optum Rx, along with their respective group purchasing organizations.

• The move follows the FTC's July report on pharmacy benefit managers, which outlined a system in which industry consolidation allows those middlemen to manipulate markets at the expense of patients.

Context: PBMs negotiate prices with drug companies and help insurers decide which drugs are covered for a patient. Momentum for congressional action to reduce their influence over patient costs has been building this year.

The other side: Optum Rx called the action "baseless," and based on "a profound misunderstanding of how drug pricing works."

Go deeper

For the first time ever on Sunday night, an NFL matchup will feature teams led by two female presidents, CNBC reports.

Zoom in: Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan and Carolina Panthers president Kristi Coleman will face off in Nevada for the home opener in Allegiant Stadium.

• Among the 32 teams in the league, they are the only two female presidents.

Zoom out: The NFL has been making a push to grow gender diversity on and off the field.

• In 2023, the number of women employees in the league's office reached 42.5%, an all-time high, and 22 women now have full-time coaching positions — up 187% over the past five years.

Reach execs and business leaders with Axios.

We'll help you tell your story in the right way:

• We'll distill your brand's message into its most effective form with Smart Brevity.
• No clutter, no filler — just clean, smart and effective.

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Today's newsletter was edited by Pete Gannon and copy edited by Carlos Cunha.

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