August 12th foreign market headlines: U.S. military fires on ships violating the blockade, Apple Pay head retires, Google Gemini monthly active users exceed 1 billion, Super Micro Computer's stock price surges after hours

Global financial media's headlines of common concern last night and this morning include:

U.S. Central Command: Fired on ships violating the blockade against Iran

The U.S. military stated that a U.S. Navy helicopter fired "two Hellfire missiles" at a cargo ship flying the Panama flag attempting to pass through the Gulf of Oman.

U.S. Central Command reported that the ship named Vela Nova was heading to an Iranian port at the time, violating the U.S. blockade against Iran.

U.S. Central Command stated that the helicopter fired missiles at the ship's cabin; the crew of the ship ignored multiple warnings from the U.S. military; the ship "is no longer heading to Iran."

U.S. expects oil supply disruptions caused by the Iran war to last until the end of 2027

The U.S. currently estimates that the daily oil supply disruption of approximately 600,000 barrels caused by the U.S.-Iran war will continue until the end of next year, as the conflict continues to obstruct oil transport through the critical Strait of Hormuz.

According to estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its "Short-Term Energy Outlook," an average of 4.9 million barrels of oil were transported through the Strait of Hormuz in the second quarter of this year. In contrast, in the fourth quarter of 2025, the average was 21.6 million barrels per day, when the U.S. and Israel had not yet launched attacks on Iran.

These data indicate that signing the so-called memorandum of understanding and a brief ceasefire did not significantly alleviate the impact of this supply disruption on the market; the severity of this disruption is also rare in the history of the global energy market. Iran and Oman have not yet reached an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, although officials stated that negotiations are making progress.

Apple welcomes another executive change as payment and wallet services head Bailey announces retirement

Jennifer Bailey, the long-time head of payment and wallet services at Apple, will retire after more than 20 years with the company, becoming the latest member in a new round of executive changes at the iPhone manufacturer According to an internal memo, Apple's services business head Eddy Cue announced the departure of Bailey. He stated that Bailey, who has served as the vice president of this business since the launch of Apple Pay in 2014, will leave in October.

Google claims Gemini's monthly user count has exceeded 1 billion

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai posted on social media platform X that currently over 1 billion people use Gemini each month.

He said, "This is our fastest-growing product ever, and it is our 14th product to reach 1 billion users."

Super Micro Computer's revenue guidance far exceeds expectations, stock price surges after hours

Super Micro Computer's sales forecast for the current quarter exceeded analysts' estimates, indicating that the AI boom continues to drive demand for its servers.

The company stated in a release on Tuesday that revenue for the quarter ending in September is expected to be between $14.5 billion and $15.5 billion. Excluding certain items, earnings per share are expected to be between $1.01 and $1.10. Analysts had an average revenue estimate of $12 billion and earnings per share of $0.74. The revenue guidance provided by the company even surpassed the highest analyst estimate of $13.3 billion.

After closing at $31.60 in New York, the stock rose about 9% in after-hours trading. The stock has increased by 8% year-to-date.

OpenAI executive Brad Lightcap to leave, starting "new project"

OpenAI executive Brad Lightcap will leave the artificial intelligence company to start a new project. Just a few months ago, he stepped down from his role as Chief Operating Officer.

In an internal notice shared with OpenAI employees, Lightcap wrote, "Over the past few months, I have been thinking about and exploring the next direction. As we enter the next phase, I believe there are several important things that the world needs to address properly. I will share more information soon." Lightcap joined OpenAI in 2018 and played a key role in the company's expansion of its enterprise business. In April of this year, OpenAI underwent a broader leadership restructuring, and he subsequently stepped down as Chief Operating Officer