#AI

U.S. stocks closed the week higher as the September core PCE index cooled to 2.6% YoY, nudging expectations of a Fed rate cut. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, the Nasdaq almost 1%, and the Dow 0.5%, marking back‑to‑back weekly gains. In tech, Meta trimmed metaverse spend, climbing 4%; Salesforce surged 13% after an earnings beat, emphasizing AI as a “commodity feature”; CrowdStrike posted record cash flow and earned a reaffirmed buy rating. Portfolio moves added Boeing and Procter & Gamble, while taking partial profits on Goldman Sachs. The upcoming Fed meeting will steer market direction, with a dovish stance likely sparking a rally in rate‑sensitive and AI‑driven sectors, while a hawkish tone may shift investors toward defensive, cash‑flow‑rich stocks.

Salesforce’s stock rose 5% on Friday, extending a 13% gain over five days after the company posted Q3 adjusted earnings of $3.25 per share (vs. $2.86 estimate) and revenue of $10.26 billion, just below forecasts. CEO Marc Benioff emphasized AI as a growth driver, highlighted acquisitions of Regrello and Waii, and pointed to the Agentforce platform, whose ARR jumped 330% to $540 million. Analysts are optimistic about Salesforce’s AI‑enhanced roadmap, cost discipline, and potential to lead the cloud‑software sector.

U.S. equities were flat as mixed labor data left markets cautious and overbought. Meta jumped ~4% after cutting its metaverse unit to focus on ads and AI, while Costco’s comparable sales fell slightly, keeping its valuation high despite solid same‑store growth. Salesforce beat earnings but missed revenue forecasts, flagging AI‑driven pressure on its licensing model. Cramer highlighted Snowflake, Five Below, Hormel, PayPal and Kroger as potential movers, and his charitable trust remains long on META, CRM and COST. Trade alerts face mandatory 45‑minute and 72‑hour waiting periods before execution.

.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is shifting focus to AI, planning up to 30% budget cuts and workforce reductions in Reality Labs, its VR/AR division, after a $4.4 billion quarterly loss and over $70 billion cumulative deficit. The move may pivot to enterprise solutions, AI integration, or partnerships, aiming to improve operating leverage while de‑emphasizing the metaverse.

. Nvidia announced this week that it will invest $2 billion for a stake in chip‑design fir…

.Founded in a Boise basement in 1978, Micron grew from a small design consultancy to a leading DRAM maker with 20% of the global market. Facing soaring AI‑driven demand, Micron will exit the consumer memory segment and retire its Crucial brand by February 2026, redirecting wafer capacity to higher‑margin enterprise products such as HBM and DDR5. This shift reflects a broader industry realignment, where AI data centers dominate revenue growth, driving price spikes, tighter supply, and increased concentration among the three major DRAM suppliers, reshaping the consumer market and raising concerns about future availability and cost.

Salesforce’s fiscal Q3 beat EPS expectations ($3.25 vs. $2.86) with $10.26 bn revenue, an 8.6% YoY rise, and net income up to $2.09 bn aided by a $263 m investment gain. The company highlighted accelerated cloud adoption for Tableau and MuleSoft, and forecast FY Q4 revenue of $11.13‑$11.23 bn with adjusted EPS of $3.02‑$3.04. Growth is driven by AI‑focused acquisitions (Regrello, Waii), the new Agentforce platform, and the $8 bn Informatica deal. Despite a 29% stock decline this year, free cash flow grew 22% to $2.18 bn, though below consensus.

Manufacturers are earmarking nearly half of modernization spend for AI, expecting it to boost operating margins by 5‑10 % within two years. While 88 % anticipate margin gains, only 21 % feel data‑ready, and legacy integration, security and trust gaps hinder deployment. Companies favor multi‑platform, agentic AI that can autonomously handle routine decisions, yet still rely on safety stock and manual safeguards. To unlock profit, leaders must prioritize data cleanup, phased autonomy and avoid single‑vendor lock‑in, turning AI investment into reliable, scalable performance.

CrowdStrike posted FY 2026 Q3 results that topped forecasts, with revenue climbing 22% YoY to $1.23 billion and adjusted EPS reaching $0.96. The company recorded its highest operating cash flow, free cash flow and operating income, while net new ARR hit $265 million, lifting year‑end ARR to $4.92 billion—30% of which came from the on‑demand Falcon Flex tier. CEO George Kurtz warned AI is expanding both attack surfaces and defense needs, prompting a raised FY revenue outlook of $4.796‑$4.866 billion and EPS of $3.70‑$3.72. Analysts maintain a “Buy” rating with a $550 price target.

words.Anthropic, the AI startup behind Claude, is preparing for a potential IPO—the largest slated for next year—by hiring law firm Wilson Sonsini and consulting banks. The company may raise a private round valued over $300 billion, with $15 billion pledged by Microsoft and Nvidia. It has hired former Airbnb IPO lead Krishna Rao and announced a $50 billion data‑center expansion. Rival OpenAI is also weighing a public listing, positioning both firms to test market appetite for fast‑growing, loss‑making AI ventures.