Tech

Tesla shareholders approved a substantial compensation package for CEO Elon Musk, potentially worth $1 trillion in stock over the next decade. While approved, support decreased slightly compared to a similar 2018 plan. Excluding insider holdings, roughly 66.9% of shares voted for the plan, down from 73% previously. Concerns included slower sales growth, Musk’s political views, and increased competition. Despite these factors, investors see Musk as crucial to Tesla’s success and were unwilling to risk his departure. The plan’s size and milestones attracted criticism from proxy advisory firms.

Ripple Labs, under CEO Brad Garlinghouse, is aggressively bridging Web3 and traditional finance. Speaking at Ripple Swell 2025, Garlinghouse outlined a strategy leveraging blockchain’s benefits for financial services, fueled by acquisitions like Hidden Road and GTreasury, totaling $4B. The company launched Ripple Prime, a brokerage for U.S. institutions. This move aligns with increased institutional digital asset interest and a more favorable regulatory environment. Ripple also aims to license XRP Ledger technology, despite regulatory delays hindering broader institutional adoption.

Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving unit, has appointed Steve Fieler as its new CFO. This move signals Waymo’s focus on expansion and potential funding opportunities. Fieler’s experience at Google and HP will be crucial as Waymo scales its robotaxi services across multiple markets, including upcoming launches in Miami and Washington, D.C. The company aims to solidify its position amid technological and regulatory challenges, balancing growth with financial sustainability in the competitive autonomous vehicle industry. Waymo’s recent financial reports show significant investment in R&D.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rallied, recovering from recent losses, driven by optimism surrounding a potential resolution to the government shutdown. Nvidia led the gains, supported by CEO Huang’s expectation of increased wafer demand. This demand highlights the importance of wafer starts as an indicator of semiconductor market health, benefiting companies like Qnity Electronics. Sector performance was broad, with consumer discretionary and materials showing strength. Attention now turns to upcoming earnings reports and developments in Washington regarding the government shutdown.

CoreWeave, an AI-focused cloud provider, reported strong Q3 earnings, exceeding revenue expectations with $1.36 billion, a 134% year-over-year increase. While reporting a net loss, it was significantly improved compared to the previous year. The company boasts a $55.6 billion contracted backlog and secured major partnerships with OpenAI and Meta. Since its March IPO, the stock has risen 164%. However, a proposed acquisition of Core Scientific was rejected. Investors are watching for updates on capacity expansion and profitability strategies.

Majestic Labs, founded by ex-Meta and Google silicon executives, secured $100M to disrupt cloud computing. Their novel chip design architecture boasts 1000x the memory of typical servers, potentially replacing ten racks with one and significantly reducing data center costs. Targeting hyperscalers and enterprises deploying AI, their technology consolidates server functionality, cutting power consumption and improving energy efficiency. Prototypes are expected in 2027. The founders aim to solve memory bottleneck issues for AI workloads.

The possibility of including cryptocurrency assets in mortgage risk assessments is gaining traction in the US. While potentially expanding access to homeownership, the move faces scrutiny due to crypto’s volatility. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is exploring the feasibility of incorporating crypto assets into risk assessments, drawing both excitement and concerns. Critics, including Democratic senators, emphasize the need for caution and transparency in evaluating the potential risks to financial stability and the housing market. Robust evaluation methodologies are crucial for this evolving landscape.

This week’s portfolio adjustments involve a partial sale of Cisco (CSCO) due to security revenue concerns, despite long-term AI optimism. Proceeds are strategically reinvested into Corning (GLW) and Meta Platforms (META). Corning is expected to benefit from growing demand for fiber optic solutions driven by AI data center infrastructure. Meta is seen as undervalued after a recent pullback, presenting an attractive entry point based on its AI potential and monetization capabilities.. These moves aim to balance risk and capitalize on long-term growth trends in AI and data infrastructure.

Instacart (CART) reported strong Q3 results, exceeding expectations with adjusted EPS of 51 cents and revenue of $939 million, a 10% year-over-year increase. Gross Transaction Value (GTV) also rose by 10%. CEO Chris Rogers highlighted affordability and enterprise solutions as key strategies. Instacart projects continued growth in the current quarter with GTV between $9.45B-$9.6B and EBITDA of $285M-$295M. While facing competition from Amazon and DoorDash, Instacart is investing in AI and has authorized a $1.5 billion share buyback program.

PitchBook is enhancing its platform with AI-powered tools, including PitchBook Navigator, an AI assistant for natural language queries, and ChatGPT integration, to streamline access to private market data like valuations and deal terms. This advancement, driven by investor demand and recent private market valuations like OpenAI’s $500 billion, allows subscribers to extract market trends via AI-generated reports, reducing time spent on due diligence. Fueled by extensive data and AI/human curation, the update, set for late November, aims to democratize private market intelligence.