Meta Donation Sparks Controversy, Nvidia Acquisition Under DOJ Review, Chip Stocks Dense Earnings Wave

Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton criticized Meta Platforms Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg after the company donated $1 million to Democratic candidate Xavier Becerra.

The Trump administration is reportedly preparing a new national security measure aimed at restricting Chinese telecom companies' access to U.S. phone numbers and cracking down on scam-related robocalls.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren demanded that Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang and the company's board answer to Congress, following reports that he was targeted by a suspected Chinese spy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume trilateral peace negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, as President Trump intensifies efforts to end the war, though major disagreements over a potential settlement remain unresolved.

The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly reviewing Nvidia Corp.'s planned $12.93 billion acquisition of Hugging Face.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to resume trilateral peace negotiations with Ukraine and the United States, as President Trump intensifies efforts to end the war, though major disagreements over a potential settlement remain unresolved.

Software, Semiconductors & Technology

Intel Corporation beat third-quarter expectations but issued a fourth-quarter outlook well below Wall Street estimates, raising concerns about PC demand, rising memory costs, and its ability to sustain growth in its data center and foundry businesses.

Sandisk Corporation reported first-fiscal-quarter earnings per share of $49.51, above the analyst estimate of $46.36. Revenue came in at $11.03 billion, above the $10.7 billion consensus estimate and up from $2.31 billion in the same period last year.

Stryker Corp. posted quarterly revenue of $6.52 billion, 1.36% below the analyst estimate of $6.61 billion. Despite this, net sales rose 7.7% year-over-year. Adjusted earnings per share were $3.52, 0.85% below the expected $3.55.

Alphabet Inc. revenue rose 25% year-over-year to $127.6 billion, roughly in line with the $127.9 billion consensus estimate. Earnings per share were $2.12, below the consensus estimate of approximately $2.94.

Microsoft Corp. remains in focus after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance, reinforcing market confidence in Azure and enterprise software growth.

Oracle Corporation reaffirmed its fiscal 2030 revenue forecast of over $225 billion and earnings per share above $21.

ServiceNow Inc. raised its AI sales target for the second time this year on Wednesday. Investor reaction wiped out nearly a quarter of its market value.

STMicroelectronics N.V. reported revenue of $3.76 billion, up 17.9% year-over-year, above the analyst consensus estimate of $3.72 billion.

Fortinet, Inc. reported adjusted earnings per share of 91 cents, beating the analyst consensus estimate of 86 cents. Revenue rose 20% year-over-year to $2.08 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. reported record third-quarter operating profit late Wednesday, up nearly ninefold on AI-driven demand lifting memory chip prices, but below analyst expectations. Shares in Seoul fell nearly 6%.

Flex Ltd. reported better-than-expected fiscal 2027 second-quarter results and raised its full-year forecast, supported by strong demand for AI infrastructure.

SK hynix Inc. is attracting bullish analyst ratings as strong AI-related memory demand, rising prices, and supply tightness lift expectations and support hopes for an extended upcycle.

Seagate Technology Holdings PLC beat analyst estimates on both revenue and profit for the first fiscal quarter, with revenue of $4.23 billion versus the expected $4.14 billion, and adjusted earnings per share of $7.68 versus the expected $7.42.

BigBear.ai, Inc. reported third-quarter revenue of $43.58 million, exceeding the analyst estimate of $38.94 million. The company reported a quarterly loss per share of 3 cents, better than the expected loss of 6 cents per share.

NVIDIA Corp. and Meta Platforms Inc. announced an expanded AI partnership on Tuesday, centered on Meta's Muse family of AI models. NVIDIA also plans to invest $3 billion in Meta's equity offering.

Retail, Telecom, Media

Amazon.com Inc. operating profit beat expectations by approximately $1.8 billion. Even so, earnings per share of $1.89 came in below the analyst estimate of $1.96. A 7-cent miss in a quarter where core business performance exceeded expectations warrants a close look at items below the operating income line. CEO Andy Jassy said the company now has over one million robots in its fulfillment network and expects many repetitive tasks performed by humans to be handled by robots, but noted Amazon's fulfillment centers will "always have a large number of associates."

Amazon is expanding its Bedrock AI platform with China's Kimi and GLM open models, while the CEO outlined ambitions for the service to eventually rival Amazon's massive EC2 cloud business.

Reddit, Inc. shares moved lower in premarket trading Friday after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results. Meanwhile, weaker-than-expected guidance and declining search traffic weighed on sentiment.

DoorDash, Inc. disclosed plans to acquire Maplebear Inc., which operates Instacart, at $65 per share, valuing the latter at approximately $17 billion.

Shopify Inc. CEO Tobi Lütke converted an underutilized wine cellar into an AI computing center, using personal health and calendar data to identify which meetings cause him the most stress.

Space, Autos

Elon Musk's SpaceX has agreed to a nearly $28 billion wireless spectrum deal. But telecom expert William Webb estimates it may need another $120 billion to $130 billion to compete with T-Mobile US Inc. and other major U.S. carriers.

Verizon Communications Inc. CEO Dan Schulman said Space Exploration could face a bill of up to $500 billion if it wants to compete directly with U.S. wireless carriers.

Space Exploration Technologies' ambitious target of 10,000 Starship launches per year applies only to its planned Louisiana spaceport, suggesting the company's broader launch ambitions far exceed that figure.

Musk cited a post sharing a video of Microsoft Corp AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, who quoted former Alphabet Inc. CEO Larry Page as saying he would "lead von Neumann probes to explore the galaxy" by "the end of this century."

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., led by billionaire Elon Musk, sharply criticized legacy telecom carriers including T-Mobile US Inc. in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission regarding the agency's proposed spectrum rule changes.

General Motors Co. agreed Thursday to pay $220 million to settle allegations that it sold the location and driving behavior data of millions of drivers to data brokers, who then sold the information to insurers that partly used it to set rates, sometimes driving premiums higher.

Rivian Automotive, Inc. reported third-quarter revenue of $2.155 billion, exceeding the analyst estimate of $1.984 billion. Rivian also reported a loss per share of 48 cents, better than the consensus estimate of a 72-cent loss.

Ford Motor Co. reported third-quarter earnings per share of 49 cents, beating the analyst estimate of 41 cents. Ford's $49.53 billion third-quarter revenue also exceeded the market expectation of $46.24 billion.

Ford has produced more than 5,000 giant aluminum castings for its $28,350 Fathom electric pickup, using a manufacturing method popularized by Tesla Inc., as Ford prepares to launch the model in 2027.

Finance, Bitcoin & AI

Strategy Inc. reported its fiscal 2026 third-quarter results after the close Thursday. Founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor said: "We are at the beginning of the next Bitcoin bull market."

Steve Eisman sees a weak link in the AI boom: OpenAI and Anthropic have poured billions into computing power, but cheaper rival models could force them to cut prices, threatening their ability to sustain spending.

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto empire's early investment in Anthropic turned into a $1.3 billion windfall. However, the startup's reportedly planned IPO suggests the stake could have been worth far more had FTX held on.

Anthropic's IPO is now officially underway at a delicate moment for AI stocks. Anthropic filed its S-1 on October 26, reportedly at a valuation of up to $2 trillion. The market's initial reaction was positive, but the view that this deal signals a late-cycle signal deserves serious consideration.