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Wall Street drifts around its records following a worldwide rally

SUMMARY:

 

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting around their record levels on Wednesday after a rally spurred by hopes for lower U.S. interest rates wrapped around the world.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Industrial Average was up 412 points, or 0.9%, as of 2:47 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1% after setting its own record the day before.

Treasury yields eased in the bond market as expectations reached a virtual consensus that the Federal Reserve will cut its main for the first time this year at its next meeting in September. Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment, though they risk worsening inflation.

Stock indexes jumped in Asia in their first trading after Tuesday’s better-than-expected report on U.S. inflation triggered a jump in bets that a cut to interest rates is coming. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leaped 2.6%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 1.3% and South Korea’s Kospi climbed 1.1%.

Indexes also rose in Europe, though the moves were more modest after they already had the chance to trade on the U.S. inflation data the afternoon before. Germany’s DAX returned 0.7%, and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.7%.

On Wall Street, the hopes for lower interest rates are helping to drown out criticism that the U.S. stock market has grown too expensive after its big leap since hitting a low in April.

One way companies can make their stock prices look less expensive is to deliver strong growth in profits, and Brinker International became the latest to report stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company behind the Chili’s brand said it saw more customers coming to its restaurants, and it’s also making more profit off each $1 in sales.

“Chili’s is officially back, baby back!” said CEO Kevin Hochman.

Its stock came into the day with a gain of 17.1% for the year so far, and it swung between gains and losses through the morning. It was most recently up 3.5%.

climbed 3.8% after it agreed to sell itself to Gildan Activewear for $2.2 billion in cash and Gildan stock. The deal would combine North Carolinas’ HanesBrands with Canada’s Gildan, and Gildan’s stock that trades in the United States rose 10.7%.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, which also owns crypto news site CoinDesk, surged in its debut on Wall Street. The stock more than doubled from its $37 initial public offering price after it started trading.

On the losing end of Wall Street were stores and delivery companies, which fell after Amazon said it will offer fresh groceries to customers in more than 1,000 cities and towns through same-day delivery. fell 4.2%, and DoorDash dropped 4.8%, while rose 1.2%.

Cava Group sank 15.8% after the Mediterranean restaurant chain reported weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit topped forecasts. It also cut its forecast for 2025 growth in sales at restaurants that have been open for more than a year, where guest traffic has been roughly flat recently from year-ago levels.

CoreWeave lost 17.9% after the company, whose cloud platform helps customers running artificial-intelligence workloads, reported a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased as expectations built for coming cuts to interest rates by the Fed.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.24% from 4.29% late Tuesday and from 4.50% in mid-July. That’s a notable move for the bond market.

has angrily been calling for cuts to help the economy, often insulting the Fed’s chair personally while doing so.

But the Fed has been hesitant so far because of the possibility that Trump’s tariffs could make inflation much worse. Lowering rates would give inflation more fuel, potentially adding oxygen to a growing fire. That’s why Fed officials have said they wanted to see more data come in about inflation before moving.

On Thursday, a report will show how bad inflation was at the wholesale level across the United States. Economists expect it to show inflation accelerated a touch to 2.4% in July from 2.3% in June.

Canada’s Gildan Activewear is buying HanesBrands for $2.2 billion

SUMMARY:

  • $2.2B purchase values deal at $4.4B with debt
  • , join Gildan’s brand portfolio
  • Deal expected to close late 2024 or early 2025

is buying the struggling for $2.2 billion in a deal that gives the basic apparel maker access to household name brands like Hanes and Maidenform.

The companies put the transaction’s valued at about $4.4 billion when HanesBrands’ debt is included.

Gildan, in addition to its namesake brand, also makes American Apparel and Peds.

HanesBrands’ sales have fallen for three consecutive years and it hasn’t turned an annual profit since 2021.

The North Carolina company sold its Champion brand last year to Authentic Brands Group for more than $1 billion. In February announced a multiyear strategic partnership with Champion, with products from the brand rolling out in the retailer’s store and on its website starting this month.

“As part of Gildan, HanesBrands will benefit from an even stronger financial and operational foundation that will provide new growth opportunities – helping to power further innovation, a broader product offering and greater reach across channels and geographies,” HanesBrands Chairman Bill Simon said in a statement Wednesday.

HanesBrands shareholders will receive 0.102 common shares of Gildan and 80 cents in cash for each share of HanesBrands common stock. They will own about 19.9% of Gildan stock once the deal closes.

Gildan has been experiencing some upheaval as well. In May 2024 its entire board resigned and appointed the nominees of activist investor Browning West as their replacements. CEO Vince Tyra also stepped down.

Gildan’s headquarters will remain in Montréal after the transaction is complete. The combined company will maintain a strong presence in , North Carolina, where HanesBrands is located.

Gildan said that it plans to conduct a strategic review of HanesBrands Australia, which could include a sale.

The deal is expected to close later this year or early next year. It still needs approval from HanesBrands shareholders.

Shares of HanesBrands dropped nearly 4% before the market opened after spiking 28% Tuesday on rumors of a buyout.

Homeowners turn to cash-out refinancing to take advantage of big gains in home equity

SUMMARY:

  • Cash-out refinancing hits near 3-year high in Q2
  • Total tappable U.S. reaches $11.6 trillion
  • Some markets see equity drop as prices cool in Sunbelt, West

Homeowners are cashing in on years of home equity gains, even as remain elevated.

The trend sent cash-out home refinancing activity to a nearly three-year high in the April-June quarter, according to data from home loan data tracker .

In a , a homeowner takes out a loan for more than they owe on their mortgage and then pockets the difference. The funds are often used to consolidate debt, home improvement projects and pay for big-ticket purchases.

The average cash-out refinance in the second quarter resulted in the homeowner pulling $94,000 in home equity, increasing their monthly payment by $590. On average, they also raised the interest rate on their home loan by 1.45 percentage points, according to the report.

To qualify for a cash-out refinance, homeowners must have at least 20% home equity, have owned the home for at least six months and have at least a 620 credit score, among other criteria. Borrowers who got a cash-out refinance in the second quarter had an average credit score of 719, ICE noted.

Years of rising home values have made tapping their home equity a tempting option for many homeowners. The median price of a previously occupied U.S. home climbed to an all-time high of $435,500 in June. That’s a 48% increase from just five years ago.

Total homeowner equity in the U.S. hit an all-time high of $17.8 trillion in the second quarter, with $11.6 trillion of available for homeowners to draw upon by refinancing, ICE said.

All told, cash-out refinances accounted for roughly 60% of all home loan refis in the second quarter.

A cash-out refinance can give a borrower more financial flexibility, especially if they can reduce their mortgage rate and use the funds to lower higher-interest debt. However, the borrower is signing up for a larger loan, possibly at a higher interest rate than they previously had, and they’re often extending the loan repayment term by several years.

That can be risky, because if a borrower can’t pay back the loan, they may not have enough equity left to avoid foreclosure.

Often, a home equity line of credit, or , may be a better option for homeowners, as they generally come with lower and the borrower isn’t giving up their equity, just borrowing against it.

Stubbornly high mortgage rates have helped keep the in a sales slump since early 2022, when rates started to climb from the rock-bottom lows they reached during the pandemic. Home sales sank last year to their lowest level in nearly 30 years.

The market has remained in a slump this year, and while prices have kept rising nationally, the rate of growth has been slowing or falling in many metro areas, including Atlanta, Austin and Tampa, Florida.

The slower pace of home price appreciation, especially for homes in Sunbelt and Western markets, have led to home equity growth slowing by its lowest rate in two years, ICE said.

As a result, tappable equity has dropped by at least 5% in nearly one-quarter of U.S. markets. And about 1% of homeowners with a mortgage, or roughly 564,000 borrowers, now owe more than their homes are worth, ICE said.

Trump’s nominee to oversee jobs and inflation data faces criticism

SUMMARY:

  • Trump nominates , a Heritage Foundation economist, as commissioner
  • Economists warn of possible politicization of key U.S. jobs and inflation data
  • Nomination follows Trump firing former BLS chief after disputed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The director of the agency that produces the nation’s jobs and inflation data is typically a mild-mannered technocrat, often with extensive experience in statistical agencies, with little public profile.

But like so much in ‘s second administration, this time is different.

Trump has selected E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation, to be the next commissioner at the Labor Department’s . Antoni’s nomination was quickly met with a cascade of criticism from other economists, from across the political spectrum.

His selection threatens to bring a new level of politicization to what for decades has been a nonpartisan agency widely accepted as a producer of reliable measures of the nation’s economic health. While many former Labor Department officials say it it unlikely Antoni will be able to distort or alter the data, particularly in the short run, he could change the currently dry-as-dust way it is presented.

Antoni was nominated by Trump after the BLS released a jobs report Aug. 1 that showed that hiring had weakened in July and was much lower in May and June than the agency had previously reported. Trump, without evidence, charged that the data had been “rigged” for political reasons and fired the then-BLS chair, Erika McEntarfer, much to the dismay of many within the agency.

Antoni has been a vocal critic of the government’s jobs data in frequent appearances on podcasts and cable TV. His partisan commentary is unusual for someone who may end up leading the BLS.

For instance, on Aug. 4 — a week before he was nominated — Antoni said in an interview on Fox News Digital that the Labor Department should stop publishing the monthly jobs reports until its data collection processes improve, and rely on quarterly data based on actual employment filings with state unemployment offices.

The monthly employment reports are probably the closest-watched economic data on , and can frequently cause swings in stock prices.

When asked at Tuesday’s White House briefing whether the jobs report would continue to be released, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration hoped it would be.

“I believe that is the plan and that’s the hope,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt also defended Antoni’s nomination, calling him an “economic expert” who has testified before Congress and adding that, “the president trusts him to lead this important department.”

Yet Antoni’s TV and podcast appearances have created more of a portrait of a conservative ideologue, instead of a careful economist who considers tradeoffs and prioritizes getting the math correct.

“There’s just nothing in his writing or his resume to suggest that he’s qualified for the position, besides that he is always manipulating the data to favor Trump in some way,” said Brian Albrecht, chief economist at the International Center for and Economics.

Antoni wrongly claimed in the last year of Biden’s presidency that the economy had been in recession since 2022; called on the entire board to be fired for not earning a profit on its Treasury securities holdings; and posted a chart on social media that conflated timelines to suggest inflation was headed to 15%.

His argument that the U.S. was in a recession rested on a vastly exaggerated measure of housing inflation, based on newly-purchased , to artificially make the nation’s gross domestic product appear smaller than it was.

“This is actually maybe the worst Antoni content I’ve seen yet,” Alan Cole of the center-right Tax Foundation said on social media, referring to his recession claim.

On a 2024 podcast, Antoni wanted to sunset Social Security payments for workers paying into the system, saying that “you’ll need a generation of people who pay Social Security taxes but never actually receive any of those benefits.” As head of the BLS, Antoni would oversee the release of the consumer price index by which Social Security payments are adjusted for inflation.

Many economists share, to some degree, Antoni’s concerns that the government’s jobs data has flaws and is threatened by trends such as declining response rates to its surveys. The drop has made the jobs figures more volatile, though not necessarily less accurate over time.

“The moves clearly based on these job numbers, and so people with skin in the game think it’s telling them something about the future of their investments,” Albrecht said. “Could it be improved? Absolutely.”

Katharine Abraham, an economist at the University of Maryland who was BLS Commissioner under President Bill Clinton, said updating the jobs report’s methods would require at least some initial investment.

The government could use more modern data sources, she said, such as figures from payroll processing companies, and fill in gaps with surveys.

“There’s an inconsistency between saying you want higher response rates and you want to spend less money,” she said, referring to the administration’s proposals to cut BLS funding.

Still, Abraham and other former BLS commissioners don’t think Antoni, if confirmed, would be able to alter the figures. He could push for changes in the monthly press release and seek to portray the numbers in a more positive light.

William Beach, who was appointed BLS commissioner by Trump in his first term and also served under Biden, said he is confident that BLS procedures are strong enough to prevent political meddling. He said he didn’t see the figures himself until two days before publication when he served as commissioner.

“The commissioner does not affect the numbers,” Beach said. “They don’t collect the data. They don’t massage the data. They don’t organize it.”

Regarding the odds of rigging the numbers, Beach said, “I wouldn’t put it at complete zero, but I’d put it pretty close to zero.”

It took about six months after McEntarfer was nominated in July 2023 for her to be approved. Antoni will likely face stiff opposition from Democrats, but that may not be enough to derail his appointment.

Sen. Patty Murray, a senior Democrat from Washington, on Tuesday slammed Antoni as “an unqualified right-wing extremist” and demanded that the GOP chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, hold a confirmation hearing for him.

Amazon expands its perishable delivery service, putting pressure on traditional grocers

SUMMARY:

NEW YORK (AP) — is now rolling out a service where its Prime members can order their blueberries and milk at the same time as basic items like batteries and T-shirts and get them within hours.

The online juggernaut said Wednesday that customers in more than 1,000 cities and towns including Raleigh, North Carolina; Milwaukee; and Columbus, Ohio, now have access to fresh groceries with its free same-day delivery service on orders over $25 for Prime members, with plans to reach over 2,300 cities and towns by year-end.

Amazon called the move “one of the most significant expansions” for the online retailer as it introduces thousands of perishable items into its existing logistics network. The expansion is expected to put pressure on grocery delivery services offered by such rivals as Walmart, Kroger and Target, which all saw their shares take a hit in trading Wednesday.

Amazon’s shares rose 1%.

Amazon said that if an order doesn’t meet the minimum, members can still choose same-day delivery for a $2.99 fee. For customers without a Prime membership, the service is available with a $12.99 fee, regardless of order size.

In the past, Prime subscribers’ grocery orders were fulfilled through Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market.

Prime members pay $14.99 monthly or $139 annually.

Amazon launched its Prime membership in 2005, and it has become the gold standard for subscription services with a slew of perks including unlimited streaming with Prime Video and discounts at Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh. Walmart, which launched its membership program called Walmart + in 2020, has been racing to add more benefits. It costs $12.95 per month or $98 per year. Depending on members’ location and availability, Walmart members can schedule same-day delivery for their groceries, including perishables.

“We’re continuously innovating to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable for our customers, especially Prime members,” said Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, in a statement. “By introducing fresh groceries into our Same-Day Delivery service, we’re creating a quick and easy experience for customers. ”

Herrington noted that customers can order milk alongside electronics; oranges, apples, and potatoes with a mystery novel; and frozen pizza at the same time as tools for their next home improvement project—and check out with one cart and have everything delivered to their doorstep within hours.

The company first tested the service in Phoenix, last year, and then added Orlando, Florida and Kansas City, Missouri, earlier this year.

Amazon noted that many of its customers were first-time Amazon grocery shoppers who now return to shop twice as often with the same-day deliver service compared to those who didn’t purchase food. It also noted that based on early sales, strawberries now regularly knock AirPods out of the top five best sellers of all products sold, while bananas, Honeycrisp apples, limes, and avocados round out the top ten best-selling perishable grocery items in their same-day delivery carts.

“It’s a nice step forward,” said Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer at Publicis Groupe, a global marketing and communications company. “It definitely makes them more competitive” in perishables.

Goldberg noted that Amazon has struggled to succeed in fresh food and that shoppers have been confused ordering shelf stable items and perishables, and having them appear in different carts, including Amazon Fresh. He said this move will greatly improve the experience.

Amazon said it generated over $100 billion in gross sales of groceries and household essentials last year not including sales from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh.

In June, Amazon said it was investing more than $4 billion to triple the size of its delivery network by 2026, with a focus on small towns and rural communities across the country.

It also noted that it’s using artificial intelligence to help it predict local customer preferences so it can stock popular items alongside items targeted for specific communities.

Averett plans $18.15M sale-leaseback of North Campus


SUMMARY:

  • Averett is planning an $18.15M sale-leaseback of its North
  • University must get more than 50% bondholder approval to proceed
  • Averett is in default on , although it hasn’t missed payments

is working on a sale and leaseback deal for its North Campus, which includes the private university’s E. Stuart James Grant Convocation and Athletic Center and its football, baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse fields, as well as classrooms and other facilities.

Before it can make the deal, however, Averett needs bondholders of about $15 million in debt to waive a covenant preventing the sale of the property, according to a consent solicitation statement filed by the university Monday. The bonds were taken out in 2017 to debt repayment and construction.

Convincing the bondholders to allow the sale-leaseback is part of the university’s efforts  to weather a that first came to light in summer 2024 when school leaders announced furloughs and other cost-cutting measures. In March, Averett filed a federal alleging that former Averett Chief Financial Officer Donald Aungst and an investment firm the university hired, Arizona-based Global Strategic Investment Solutions, had “surreptitiously” drained nearly $20 million from the university’s endowment to cover budget deficits.

In the filing, Averett noted that “regional investors” — which go unnamed save for the Danvile Regional Foundation — may buy the North Campus for $18.15 million if Averett is able to receive approval from at least 50% of the bondholders. With the deal, the university would receive $6.75 million at close, $6.75 million in the second year and $4.65 million in year three, according to an email from Cassie Jones, Averett’s vice president for marketing and communications. 

Averett will continue to use the property and will pay rent equal to a 4.5% annual return on the investors’ purchase price. The lease will last for 10 years, with an option to extend it for another 10-year period.

“The sale and leaseback of the Averett University E. Stuart James Grant North Campus athletic facilities provides us with additional financial flexibility as we work to position ourselves for long-term sustainability while still ensuring a seamless experience for our student-athletes and campus community,” Averett President Thomas H. Powell said in a statement to Virginia Business Tuesday. “This arrangement would keep the North Campus property under local control while providing support in a responsible way to a regional institution that is a major economic asset.”

Additionally, in the consent solicitation statement, Averett asks bondholders to waive “the covenant defaults with respect to the noncompliance by the university with the coverage ratio” and “the Audit Covenant Default with respect to noncompliance.”

Averett has never missed a payment on the bonds. However, the university is technically in default due to failing to comply with the debt service coverage ratio and the liquidity covenant, according to a June 27 filing by U.S. Bank Trust, a trustee of Averett’s bonds, posted on the Electronic Municipal Market Access website.

The 2017 agreement requires that Averett maintain a debt service coverage ratio of more than 1.00. For Fiscal Year 2025, Averett’s ratio was -04.46.

The university is also in default because it failed to file an official audited financial report for fiscal year 2024 by a Dec. 1 deadline. On May 30, Averett submitted a draft version of the report.

A waiver would allow the university’s auditor to issue a Final Audited Financial Statement for FY 2024 without “treating the bonds as if they were to be accelerated as current debt payable by the University in full, even though the bondholders have not accelerated the debt, or expressed any interest in accelerating the bonds to the bond trustee or the university.”

Averett noted in the filing that it was unable to file an audited financial statement with the Department of Education by a March 30 deadline. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, an institutional accreditor, also required a comprehensive report by July 15, according to the consent solicitation statement. “Failure to comply with such deadlines for the delivery of the Final Audited Financial Statements Report for Fiscal Year 2024 could have a material adverse impact on the University because of the economic resources and the oversight of the University’s operations over which DOE and SACSCOC have responsibility,” Averett stated in the filing.

In the document, the university stated that it expects to receive the consent of American Century Investment Management, a Missouri-based asset manager that holds about 25% of Averett’s bonds, to all requested consents.

The university noted in the statement that it will pay 0.25 cents per $1,000 of the principal amount of each bond to each bondholder who grants requested consents. If the university receives consent from more than 50% of bondholders, it will set up a reserve fund equal to one year’s worth of interest
payments on the bonds. Bondholders will also receive a security interest on the second and third payments the university expects to receive from the sale and leaseback transaction.

On Aug. 6, a judge ordered Averett University to hash out its differences with its former investment firm, GSIS, and the university’s former chief financial officer through arbitration. GSIS denies the allegations. Last week, Francisco E. Mundaca, the Maryland-based attorney representing Aungst, said in a statement that the former CFO may be considering his own court action over the dispute. “We are now evaluating all available remedies to protect Mr. Aungst’s reputation and hold accountable those who have damaged his distinguished 36-year career in finance,” Mundaca wrote in an email.

Virginia Chamber CEO resigns after 4 months

Cathie J. Vick has resigned as president and CEO of the of Commerce after only four months on the job.

The state chamber, Virginia’s largest business advocacy organization with more than 30,000 members, will launch a national search for Vick’s successor, it said in a news release Tuesday. Vick joined the Virginia Chamber in April and was announced as its new leader in January, following the retirement of Barry DuVal, the Richmond-based chamber’s leader since 2010.

Vick has resigned to pursue other opportunities, according to the chamber, and in her stead, the chamber’s board chair and vice chair, Linda Stanley and Jennifer Siciliano, will lead the organization temporarily.

DuVal will continue as a senior consultant to the board through the end of the year as well.

Vick was previously vice president of corporate and government affairs at Transurban, one of the world’s largest operators and developers of toll roads, and she was the Port of Virginia’s chief development and public affairs officer for a decade. She also was a Virginia Chamber board member and served on its Blueprint Virginia executive committee, which produced Blueprint Virginia 2030, a long-term plan for the state.

A Virginia Chamber spokesperson said it had no comment beyond the announcement, which thanked Vick for her work. Vick did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.

CACI awarded $1.64B Transportation Command contract

Reston-based government contractor International has been awarded a potential 10-year, $1.64 billion contract from the to provide technical support services for the Joint Transportation Management System (JTMS) at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

The command provides the with transportation for both people and cargo via air, land and sea.

National Defense magazine reported in 2024 that the JTMS aims to unify hundreds of fragmented transportation and financial systems across the DOD. According to the command’s website, the JTMS is a platform that integrates end-to-end transportation and financial processes for improved visibility, collaboration and auditability.

A request for proposals — posted in June 2024 on Sam.gov and updated in July of that same year — says the JTMS contract involves reengineering business processes, performing data interface and integration services, implementing a single integrated system and leveraging commercial software to conduct transportation, financial and logistical operations.

Founded in 1962, CACI serves intelligence and defense agencies. It has more than 25,000 employees and reported $7.66 billion in fiscal 2024 revenue.

Virginia AG’s office appeals university board block

Summary

  • appeals ruling that blocked eight university board appointees from being seated
  • GMU, VMI and U.Va. board appointees were rejected by state Senate committee
  • AG argues full legislature must take action for rejections to be valid

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has appealed last month’s ruling that stopped three Virginia public universities from seating eight gubernatorial board of visitors appointees who were rejected by a state Senate committee.

On July 29, Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Frieden issued a preliminary injunction, ruling in favor of nine Democrats who sued the rectors of , and the to block them from seating the disputed appointees, who include former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former state Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick and others with significant conservative political and business connections.

Miyares’ petition filed Monday asks that the vacate the injunction.

Frieden said in his ruling, which arrived three days before George Mason’s board met with President Gregory Washington to discuss his job performance, that the Senate Privileges & Elections Committee has the right to speak for the entire Virginia General Assembly during special session.

He also ruled that the nullification of the lawmakers’ votes constituted “irreparable harm,” giving the senators standing to sue the rectors.

In a June meeting, the Democrat-controlled committee voted 8-4 to reject Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees for the three universities’ boards.

However, the defendants argued that the entire General Assembly has to be called to vote on the matter if the Privileges & Elections Committee wishes to reject gubernatorial appointees outside of regular session, an argument the state attorney general’s office uses in the appeal filed Monday in the Supreme Court of Virginia.

In Monday’s petition, Miyares argues that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to issue the preliminary injunction and that the plaintiffs failed to prove irreparable harm. He also argues that the injunction prevents the “orderly governance of public universities.”

The state Senate plaintiffs and their allies, though, say that Youngkin has attempted to gain control over public universities via his board appointments, and that this is in line with the Trump administration’s strategy in using the powers of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Education in its attempts to push out university leaders it disagrees with.

State Sen. Scott Surovell, the Democratic Senate majority leader, said in an email Tuesday that the attorney general “strangely argues that the the General Assembly has been confirming people in the wrong way for the last 100 years, including the six years he served in the House of Delegates, and never said anything.” A hearing date has not yet been set by the state Supreme Court.

Miyares sent letters this summer to the three rectors advising them to seat the new appointees as legitimate board members — an action that Frieden mentioned in his ruling.

“Following the advice of the attorney general, the defendant rectors … have continued to recognize the rejected appointees as members of their respective governing boards,” the judge wrote. “Moreover, they intend to continue to do so.”

George Mason did not seat the disputed appointees at its Aug. 1 board meeting, and VMI and U.Va.’s boards have not met since the ruling, although their disputed members are no longer listed on their board websites.

GMU President Washington’s university is the of four investigations by the Trump administration for allegedly engaging in illegal diversity, equity and inclusion hirings and promotions and allegedly not doing enough about on- antisemitism. He survived the Aug. 1 university board meeting with his job intact and received a 1.5% raise.

277 Virginia companies make 2025 Inc. 5000 list

SUMMARY:

  • 277 Virginia firms made the 2025 list
  • -based is the top Virginia-based company on this year’s list
  •  Akiak Technology, Black Canyon, and Terrestris also ranked among the top 200 Inc. 5000 companies

This year, 277 Virginia companies made the Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s 5,000 fastest-growing privately held companies, released Tuesday by Inc. magazine.

Ranking at No. 34 overall, Artemis ARC, a service-disabled, veteran-owned consulting firm for federal agencies, was the highest-ranking Virginia company on the list and the only one that came in among the top 100 companies on the Inc. 5000 this year. This marks the first year Alexandria-based Artemis ARC has appeared on the Inc. 5000. It made in the $10 million to $25 million revenue range in 2024, according to Inc.

Three other Virginia companies ranked among the top 200 companies on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list: Akiak Technology, an Alexandria-based, Alaskan tribal-owned IT consulting and services company, ranked No. 106, with $25 million to $50 million in revenue; Black Canyon Consulting, a , woman-owned IT , came in at No. 162, with between $50 million and $100 million in revenue; and Terrestris, an Occoquan-based federal contractor founded by a Marine, was No. 185, with $5 million to $10 million in revenue.

TheBestReputation, a Williamsburg online reputation management firm, just missed the top 200, coming in at No. 201, with revenue between $2 million and $5 million.

Artemis ARC was the No. 1 fastest-growing company in the nation for the list’s Government Services Sector businesses. Akiak Technology ranked No. 4 among all government contractors.

“Making the list as the No. 4-fastest growing Government Services Sector company doesn’t happen by accident,” Akiak Technology CEO Kevin Hamer stated in a press release. “Securing our spot in the top 500 showcases our blend of technological advancement, customer-centric approaches and adaptive business models to propel us to the forefront of the industry.”

Last year, 265 Virginia companies made the list and Ashburn IT services firm Blu Omega, a woman-owned IT consulting firm was the commonwealth’s top-ranked company, coming in at No 53. This year it ranked as No. 965. Two other Virginia companies ranked within the top 100 in 2023.

Virginia companies on the 2025 list had a median three-year growth rate of 164% and brought in $33.4 billion in total revenue. They added a total of 51,770 jobs.

North Carolina had 128 companies on the list, and Maryland had 125.

To apply to make the Inc. 5000 list, companies had to be privately held, for-profit businesses based in the United States and not a subsidiary or division of another company. They also had to generate a minimum of $100,000 in revenue in 2021 and a minimum of $2 million in 2024.

Th companies who made this year’s list generated over $300 billion in 2024 revenue, added 536,086 jobs in the past three years and posted over $177 billion in growth since 2021. Companies as large as 70,000-plus employees and as small as a single-person operation were included on the list. Akool, a California-based AI Video Generation Suite business, ranked No. 1 and made in the $25 million to $50 million range last year, according to Inc.

“The Inc. 5000 is one of the most important things we publish each year – a real-time bellwether of American business,” Mike Hofman, editor-in-chief of Inc., said in a press release. “At a moment when entrepreneurs are navigating economic uncertainty, labor shifts, and inflation, this list is powerful proof of innovation and resilience.”

Ranked by three-year average growth, these are the top 20 Virginia companies on the 2025 Inc. 5000 list:

34) Artemis ARC, 6,648%, consulting firm, Alexandria

106) Akiak Technology, 3,250%, IT consulting, Alexandria

162) Black Canyon Consulting, 2,439%, IT services, Fairfax County

185) Terrestris, 2,121%, government services, Occoquan

201) TheBestReputation, 1,934%, online reputation management, Williamsburg

302) Icarus Medical Innovations, 1,283%, device company, Charlottesville

367) KlariVis, 1,090%, software, Roanoke

369) Aalis Management Consulting, 1081%, consulting firm, Woodbridge

414) Bespoke Technologies, 974%, IT services and consulting, Loudoun County

435) EMT Holdings, 938%, government services, Leesburg

456) iShift, 901%, software development, McLean

470) Lithe Solutions, 875%, digital services firm, Loudoun County

472) IMBServ, 867%, maintenance and bus services company, Locust Grove

510) Wilco Group, 791%, IT services, Alexandria

523) Fortreum, 773%, IT services, Lansdowne

528) Builders + Backers, 765%, venture studio, Arlington County

529) Disruptive Solutions, 763%, IT services, Sterling

533) Foreman Technologies, 755%, manufacturing, Norfolk

548) OCH Technologies, 740%, IT services and consulting, Sterling

584) BurningCastle, training services, Arlington County