What you Need to Know for October 30th

Google $GOOG ( ▼ 12.29% ) Missed on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $127.57B vs. $128.2B expected and EPS at $2.12 vs. $3.02. The biggest concern was Search, where revenue missed expectations by 2.3%, fueling fears that AI chatbots and Google’s own AI search tools are beginning to pressure its core advertising business. Google Cloud revenue more than doubled to $30.7B, showing strong AI demand, but that growth was overshadowed by negative $9.1B of free cash flow as spending on data centers and AI infrastructure ramped up.

Microsoft $MSFT ( ▼ 0.16% ) beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $92.28B vs. $90.63B and EPS at $4.89 vs. $4.73. Growth was led by Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing business, where revenue jumped 48% as companies spent more on AI computing and cloud services, with mgmt. expecting growth to accelerate again next quarter. Capex also came in below expectations, easing some concerns around the cost of the AI buildout, although the company still plans roughly $170B of FY27 spending as it adds more data-center capacity.

Amazon $AMZN ( ▼ 4.25% ) missed on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $201.94B vs. $202.31B and EPS at $1.89 vs. $1.96. The miss was driven by softer online-store and advertising sales, partly because Prime Day shifted into Q2, while AWS revenue jumped 39% to $45.98B, ahead of expectations, on strong cloud and AI demand. The bigger concern was cash flow, with aggressive AI infrastructure spending pushing trailing free cash flow to negative $42.4B as quarterly capex more than doubled to $77.3B. Mgmt. kept 2026 capex guidance at $220B, said spending will rise meaningfully again in 2027, and guided Q4 revenue and operating income slightly below expectations. Shares are -7.4% after hours.

Intel $INTC ( ▼ 3.62% ) Revenue came in roughly in line at $16.51B vs. $16.50B expected and EPS beat, but mgmt.’s Q4 revenue guide of just $15B–$16B vs. ~$17.1B expected overshadowed the quarter. PC chip sales fell 5% as higher memory costs weakened demand. Shares are -23% after hours.

ServiceNow $NOW ( ▼ 26.95% ) reported revenue roughly in line at $4.11B vs. $4.10B expected, but its Q4 sales outlook came in slightly below expectations, reviving concerns that heavy AI investment is not yet translating into faster growth. AI contract value still grew 65%, while mgmt. slightly raised its full-year subscription revenue outlook.

GE Verona $GEV ( ▲ 1.12% ) Beat on top and bottom lines with revenue up 27% YoY, as surging electricity demand from data centers, grid upgrades and industrial electrification drove orders up 96% and backlog to a record $197B. Mgmt. raised its 2026 revenue outlook again and agreed to buy high-voltage grid equipment maker Trench Group for $9B to expand capacity and capture more of that demand.

T-Mobile $TMUS ( ▼ 0.53% ) beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $23.58B, as customer additions and greater adoption of higher-priced plans helped postpaid revenue per account rise 4.2% YoY, driving stronger service revenue and margins. Mgmt. raised its 2026 free cash flow and postpaid revenue-per-account outlook, though higher churn and prepaid weakness remain offsets.

Chipotle $CMG ( ▲ 8.88% ) Reported revenue came in line at $3.29B , while EPS missed as higher labor, freight and marketing costs pressured margins. till, comparable sales rose 2.1%, above expectations, as traffic improved and lower-income customers strengthened, while mgmt. expects sales momentum to accelerate into year end.

GE Healthcare $GEHC ( ▲ 0.79% ) beat on both the top and bottom lines, as growth across every business segment and strong demand for imaging and pharmaceutical diagnostics lifted sales and margins. Mgmt. raised its outlook as higher volumes, pricing and cost controls more than offset supply chain pressures.

O’Reilly Automotive $ORLY ( ▼ 2.62% ) Beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $5.12B vs. $5.01B, as market-share gains across professional and DIY customers, along with higher pricing, drove comparable-store sales up. Mgmt. raised its outlook.

Eli Lily $LLY ( ▲ 6.63% ) beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $24.4B vs. $22.61B, as booming demand for diabetes drug Mounjaro and weight loss drug Zepbound drove a 53% jump in volume, more than offsetting lower realized prices. Mgmt. raised FY26 revenue outlook to $91B–$92B, though EPS guidance was trimmed due to acquisition related R&D charges.

Mastercard $MA ( ▲ 4.16% ) revenue beat at $9.81B vs. $9.66B, and so did EPS. Resilient consumer spending, strong cross-border activity and faster growth in fraud-prevention, data and other services drove revenue up 14%, helping margins expand despite higher rebates paid to banks and other customers.

Merck $MRK ( ▲ 3.83% ) Beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $18.09B vs. $17.31B, as strong Keytruda/Qlex and Winrevair sales offset generic pressure on older drugs. Mgmt. raised 2026 revenue and EPS guidance, though about $550M of Q3 sales came from favorable purchase timing that will partly reverse.

Caterpillar $CAT ( ▼ 9.25% ) Missed slightly on revenue at $20.7B, while EPS beat, as strong data-center power demand and construction activity drove sales up 17% and backlog to a record $78B. Still, tariffs, freight costs and supply constraints pressured margins, while mgmt. guided to only moderate Q4 growth, overshadowing the strong quarter.

Anheuser-Busch $BUD ( ▼ 1.8% ) Beat on both the top and bottom lines, with revenue at $16.51B vs. $16.24B, as premium brands, non-alcohol beer and ready-to-drink beverages offset roughly flat beer volumes and weakness in China. Revenue rose 4.9% and EPS increased 22%, while mgmt. maintained its 2026 EBITDA growth outlook of 4%–8%.

Starbucks $SBUX ( ▲ 2.24% ) Missed on revenue at $9.14B vs. $9.23B expected, largely because its China retail business shifted to a joint venture, reducing the sales Starbucks reports directly. EPS beat as stronger U.S. comparable sales, higher average checks and better cost leverage helped adjusted margins expand, while U.S. comps rose 7.7% as its turnaround continued to gain traction.

Hershey $HSY ( ▼ 2.13% ) Slightly beat on revenue at $3.28B vs. $3.25B expected, while EPS beat as tariff refunds and lower cocoa costs supported profits. However, higher prices continued to pressure demand, with volumes down about 7% and weakness in convenience stores and Halloween candy sales prompting mgmt. to lower its 2026 organic sales growth outlook to ~3%.

Coinbase $COIN ( ▼ 1.07% ) missed on revenue at $1.20B vs. $1.23B expected, while headline profit surged as rising crypto prices generated roughly $715M of gains on assets it holds. Core trading remained weak, with transaction revenue down sharply, though subscription/services and prediction markets continued to grow and diversify the business beyond spot crypto trading.

Wendy’s $WEN ( ▲ 1.34% ) jumped after a Nelson Peltz-led investor group offered $1.4Bn to take the burger chain private at $7.35 per share, a 20% premium.

Fortinet $FTNT ( ▼ 20.09% ), a security software maker, tanked after service revenue grew just 13% in Q3 and management trimmed its full-year service revenue forecast.

Symbotic $SYM ( ▼ 4.03% ) slipped before announcing that Walmart agreed to expand its use of Symbotic’s AI-powered robots across 25 U.S. distribution centers in a roughly $6Bn deal.

Marvell $MRVL ( ▼ 13.24% ) sank after reports it’s in advanced talks to buy Lumentum $LITE ( ▲ 0.61% ), raising dilution concerns since the deal would likely be paid in stock. An announcement could come as soon as next week.

Crocs $CROX ( ▲ 25.54% ) soared after its HeyDude brand returned to sales growth for the first time in six quarters, and Crocs raised its 2026 guidance for the third time this year.

Sprouts Farmers Market $SFM ( ▼ 22.58% ) plunged after forecasting a 1.7% decline in full-year same-store sales, signaling weaker customer traffic and spending at existing stores.

Nscale is moving ahead with its IPO at a $30Bn target valuation despite investor pushback. It’s also in talks with Anthropic on another deal worth up to $45Bn. Its 32-year-old CEO, Josh Payne, brings an unusual track record: of the six-plus companies he’s co-founded, Nscale is the only one still standing.

Anthropic picked JPMorgan to lead the US retail portion of its IPO and is weighing setting aside 15-20% of shares for individual investors. Investors now put a fair valuation at ~$1.4-1.5Tn, down from earlier estimates of $1.8-2Tn.

Australia’s corporate regulator is questioning BofA, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley over Firmus Grid’s failed IPO. The regulator said the deal’s collapse doesn’t necessarily mean there was any wrongdoing.

Binance has reportedly undergone one of the largest crypto exchange hacks ever, with hackers making off with at least $6.3B in crypto assets. All transactions are temporarily suspended and the Company has pledged to “cover all losses”.

Reddit announced a huge change where they’re going to make Reddit a “logged-in-only experience”. This is due to AI search eating traffic and the Labs scraping data from reddit.

Nvidia pushed back on a New York Times report that US intelligence agencies surveilled Alice Huang, a person close to Jensen Huang, over concerns she could be a Chinese intelligence asset.

An Accenture contractor’s personal Claude appears to have leaked login credentials and a map of a secure Defense Department network to a third-party website, with Accenture saying the allegations were without merit.

Microsoft’s $25Bn bond sale drew $115Bn in orders, 4.6 times oversubscribed, its first investment-grade offering since 2017 and the first from a blue-chip hyperscaler since Alphabet’s August deal.

GFL Environmental enters its final stretch for takeover offers, with CEO Patrick Dovigi saying due diligence is complete, against a market value of C$26.8Bn ($19.1Bn).

Cobblers Cove Capital and Arkhouse Management have submitted a $39 a share cash offer for Dine Brands, the owner of Applebee’s and IHOP, a premium of 33% to its 30-day average price.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges is preparing to dissolve after nearly a century, with its leadership recommending a wind-down and a partner vote expected in the coming days, following a partner exodus, a failed succession plan, and a collapsed merger with Willkie Farr & Gallagher.

Monomoy Capital Partners has made a cash bid valuing LCI Industries at $2.4Bn, seeking to disrupt its $7.7Bn all-stock merger with Patrick Industries, with LCI shares closing at $89 vs. the $115 per share the merger originally valued them at.

The number of active private markets firms peaked 18 months ago and is now declining as more firms become “zombies” unable to raise their next fund. 57% of the $3Tn of buyout net asset value raised from 2018 to 2023 sits in funds in the “danger zone” of not generating carried interest.

Investors in Partners Group’s flagship US private equity fund doubled their withdrawal requests in the third quarter to $2.2Bn, or 15% of net assets, up from 6% in the second quarter.

JPMorgan says AI is reshaping early-stage startup funding. AI drew close to $15Bn in seed-stage investment, helping $100mm-plus rounds tie an all-time record through Q3.

Apollo’s September 2026 white paper: Private investment-grade credit can help endowments and foundations meet a 7-8% annual return hurdle, targeting mid-to-high single-digit yields that exceed public short-duration options by 150-300 bps.

KKR closed its first private credit continuation vehicle with $460M in commitments, led by Allianz Global Investors and holding the assets of its 2017 KKR Lending Partners III direct lending fund.

KKR says many portfolios haven’t kept up with Asia. The region accounts for more than 60% of global growth. Japan’s average annual PE deal value rose to ¥4.12Tn in 2021-2025 from ¥0.56Tn in 2011-2015.

First Eagle Investments is expanding its international wealth business to bring family office capital into specialist private credit, even as US private credit defaults reached 6.3% in the 12 months to August.

Carlyle AlpInvest says higher rates are changing manager incentives. Some GPs may be moving from maximizing carry on individual deals to making sure the fund clears its hurdle.

PIMCO says AI may be reshaping the economy more than expanding it. Higher borrowing costs do little to slow hyperscalers’ growth. The burden falls harder on housing, smaller firms, highly indebted companies, and traditional business investment.

Western Michigan professor and Sleeping Giant Capital founder Doug Lepisto argues that baby boomers selling small businesses to private equity as they retire is shifting ownership out of local communities and toward a few capital-rich cities.