Microsoft (MSFT) news that moved the stock

What happened

OpenAI told investors on a call on Tuesday, November 10 that its third-quarter revenue topped $10 billion for the first time, up nearly 50% from $6.7 billion in the second quarter and almost triple the year-earlier level, according to reports by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and The Information. The figures put OpenAI's annual revenue run rate at roughly $50 billion. CFO Sarah Friar called it a 'blockbuster quarter,' saying enterprise revenue doubled quarter over quarter and now roughly equals consumer revenue, driven by coding tool Codex — now its largest revenue source — cybersecurity and its enterprise agent platform Dots. However, OpenAI's operating loss widened to $10.9 billion from $10.1 billion in Q2, though its adjusted operating margin improved to -109% from -150%.

What happened

Microsoft (MSFT) closed Tuesday, November 10 ahead of Nvidia (NVDA) in market capitalization, becoming the world's second-most-valuable publicly traded company behind Apple. Microsoft finished at $533.16 per share for a market value of $3.96 trillion, slightly ahead of Nvidia, whose market cap sank below $4 trillion. Nvidia has plunged 25% in the past month, including a 17% decline over the last week, after reports that CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a Chinese espionage effort. The slide has pushed Nvidia's valuation to a 15-year low: the stock trades at just 11.77 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, its lowest multiple since 2011, according to FactSet. Nvidia rebounded nearly 4% in premarket trading on Wednesday, November 11, looking to recover part of the past two sessions' losses.

What happened

Rosen Law Firm filed a proposed securities class action against Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday, Nov 9 — five minutes after the market close, per Reuters — on behalf of lead plaintiff Mark Kistenmacher and investors who bought Nvidia securities between Oct 9, 2025 and Nov 8, 2026. The suit alleges Nvidia and Huang made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose Huang's affair with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive described as a suspected Chinese intelligence source, and the national-security questions it raised about Nvidia's dealings with Megaspeed. It cites spokesperson John Rizzo's statement that Huang's interactions with her were 'not unusual or unexpected' and Huang's Bloomberg comments that Nvidia's Megaspeed dealings were 'normal and not unusual' as deliberate falsehoods, and claims investors bought at artificially inflated prices and suffered losses when Huang acknowledged the relationship — an admission that wiped roughly $190 billion off Nvidia's market value in a single day. Separately, Delaware Senator Chris Coons called for a congressional investigation into the affair on national-security grounds. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives put the odds of Huang losing the CEO post at roughly 15% (85% he stays), while CNBC's Jim Cramer said investors may need to prepare for a future Nvidia without Huang. At least four law firms are now investigating, per TechCrunch, and a lead-plaintiff motion deadline of Jan 8, 2027 applies.

What happened

Nvidia extended its slide on Tuesday, November 10, dropping more than 6% — the steepest decline among major U.S. stocks — amid the ongoing fallout from the board's independent probe into CEO Jensen Huang's reported ties to an alleged Chinese spy. The drop came on top of Monday's 4.27% fall, leaving the stock down roughly 10% in two sessions since the probe was disclosed. The slide also cost Nvidia its market-value lead over Microsoft: Microsoft passed Nvidia for the first time since June 2025, with Nvidia valued at roughly $4.09 trillion against Microsoft's roughly $4.03 trillion in a Nov 9-10 snapshot. The broader market fell alongside, with the Nasdaq down 1.1% and the S&P 500 down 0.6%, and the 10-year Treasury yield surging to 4.99% after the hot October CPI report.

What happened

Anthropic unveiled a suite of workplace productivity tools at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday, November 10, taking direct aim at Microsoft Office and Google Workspace. The new tools are Claude Sheets — a collaborative spreadsheet with tabs, formulas and dropdowns that exports to Excel — Claude Whiteboards, a shared planning canvas, and Claude Meetings, an agent that joins Google Meet calls to take notes, draft plans and update documents in real time. Anthropic also made Claude Data (formerly Claude Dashboards) generally available and upgraded its interactive connectors so partner apps such as Adobe, Atlassian and HubSpot run inside Claude. Sheets and Whiteboards are in beta for paid plans; Meetings is in beta for Team and Enterprise customers. Microsoft shares dropped as much as 3% intraday after the news, per CNBC, and were down more than 2% in afternoon trading, while Alphabet reversed lower.

What happened

Microsoft is winding down a 2023 arrangement to rent AI computing capacity from Oracle, Bloomberg reported on Friday, November 6, citing people familiar with the matter. Microsoft decided not to renew the contract and has spent recent months switching off the rented capacity, which was originally used to power the AI-assisted version of Bing, because the Oracle servers run an older generation of Nvidia chips that no longer meet Microsoft's evolving needs. The full size of the deal was never disclosed and could not be determined. Oracle responded that demand for its AI infrastructure remains strong, including for earlier-generation GPUs, saying GPU capacity that came up for renewal in its fiscal first quarter was renewed or resold at about a 20% premium to prior long-term pricing. Bloomberg framed the move as part of a wider Microsoft reassessment of the more than $80 billion it has committed to renting capacity from outside cloud providers, including CoreWeave, Nscale and Nebius.

What happened

OpenAI president and co-founder Greg Brockman said on Wednesday at the Wall Street Journal Tech Live conference in Napa, California, that OpenAI could be ready for an initial public offering in 2027. Asked directly whether the company would be ready to go public next year, he replied, 'I think so. Yes.' Brockman also said enterprise customers, once about 30% of revenue, now make up the majority of OpenAI's sales, and that the first half of 2026 had been difficult as Anthropic gained ground in enterprise AI and coding tools. OpenAI confidentially filed a draft S-1 in June 2026; no public filing, date, or valuation has been confirmed.

What happened

Microsoft is declining the option to double the size of its deal with Nscale to rent more computing power from a Texas data center, the Financial Times first reported on Nov 5; separately, Bloomberg reported Microsoft is tightening oversight of its data-center projects and stepping away from projects it deems risky. Internally, Microsoft is reconsidering advancing deals with its data-center partners, per Bloomberg. A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters the company's approach to infrastructure 'is built on flexibility and optionality, combining Microsoft-owned data centers, leased facilities and strategic partnerships.' Microsoft shares fell 3.7% on Thursday.

What happened

Apple raised about $7.5 billion from a seven-part U.S. dollar high-grade bond offering that priced Nov 5-6, its first bond sale in roughly 18 months (last: $4.5 billion in May 2025). The deal drew roughly $31 billion in orders, more than four times the final size. The offering comprises two floating-rate notes due 2028 and 2029 and five fixed-rate notes maturing 2028-2036, managed by Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Pricing on the longest tranche (2036) tightened to a spread of just 0.55 percentage points over Treasuries, the tightest among recent Big Tech deals. Apple said proceeds are for general corporate purposes, including share buybacks, dividends and debt repayment — not AI infrastructure.

What happened

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Thursday, November 5, completing a violent two-day reversal after Wednesday's post-midterm rally. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.52% to 24,315.00, confirming correction territory (at least 10% below its October 6 record closing high) in its biggest single-day percentage drop since April 2025's 'Liberation Day' selloff. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,833 points, or 3.44%, to 51,523.06, fully erasing Wednesday's 1,500-point post-election surge. The S&P 500 dropped 4.36% to 7,353.73, with every sector finishing in the red. In dollar terms it was the largest single-day market-cap wipeout ever: S&P 500 firms shed $2.9 trillion and Nasdaq companies lost $2.5 trillion. The Magnificent 7 alone lost $1.04 trillion, led by Nvidia (-$374 billion, -9.3%) and Tesla (-$161 billion, about -10.8%), with Microsoft down $117 billion.

What happened

U.S. stocks traded mixed on midterm Election Day as investors de-risked ahead of the results: the Dow fell more than 200 points (about 0.5%) while the S&P 500 edged slightly higher and the Nasdaq gained about 0.8% in a tentative relief bounce after Monday's sharp intraday reversal. Apple extended its post-earnings slide, falling 4.5% in premarket trading after warning that rising memory-chip costs will pressure its holiday-quarter gross margin (45–46% guide); shares were set to open at their lowest since September 10. Nvidia climbed nearly 3% premarket, on pace to snap a four-day losing streak at its long-term 200-day moving average, and Microsoft gained nearly 2%. AMD rose 2.8% ahead of its quarterly report due after the bell. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to about 4.91–4.92%. Strategist playbooks: JPMorgan sees the S&P 500 falling about 0.5% Wednesday on a Democratic sweep; Wells Fargo sees a rally if Republicans retain both chambers; Morgan Stanley believes the correction that began in June is in its final stages.

What happened

The AI-spending selloff extended into a third straight day of tech declines on Monday, November 2. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.07% to 25,164.32 and the S&P 500 slipped 0.51% to 7,541.40, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.41% to 51,983.98 — the only major index to finish higher. Technology was the worst sector at -2.66%, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 3.37%. Intel tumbled another 8.8% after its ~30% Friday collapse; Marvell Technology plunged 12.72% and Lumentum 18.59% as the market punished the $115B all-stock merger; Oracle sank 8.85% to $119.10 after filing a $20B stock-and-bond raise; Micron fell 5.7% and Seagate 8%.

What happened

The Financial Times reported Friday, Oct. 30 that OpenAI cut the target for its latest funding round by $10 billion, to about $20 billion, and lowered the valuation it is seeking to $1.25 trillion from $1.4 trillion pitched last month. The Wall Street Journal separately reported Friday that only about $11 billion was committed by the Oct. 31 deadline, less than half the original $30 billion ask, with several investors reducing their allocations. OpenAI plans to raise additional money from family offices and high-net-worth individuals in the coming weeks to reach $20 billion.

What happened

SBI Research, the economic research arm of State Bank of India, reported overnight that the combined debt of the Magnificent Seven has risen nearly 45% to $578 billion by mid-2026, up from about $399 billion in 2025 and roughly 1.7 times the group's 2023 debt level. The report flags that balance-sheet debt is only part of the picture: the seven companies also carry substantial off-balance-sheet commitments tied to purchases and investments for AI data centers, chips and power. Using an equity-duration approach, SBI estimates that a rise in bond yields could cut the group's combined ~$23 trillion market value by $1.67-2 trillion. The note also calls Anthropic's expected listing around November 12 (targeting a $1.5-2T valuation) a 'high-stakes litmus test' for whether AI revenues can justify infrastructure costs.

What happened

Wall Street suffered its steepest losses since June on Friday as the AI-spend revolt escalated: the Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 3.8%, the S&P 500 fell 2.5%, and the Dow fell 770 points (-1.5%). Intel plunged more than 30% after weaker-than-expected Q4 guidance tied to a faltering PC market and manufacturing bottlenecks. Nvidia fell 5.6% and a chipmaker index sank 9% as investors questioned returns on Big Tech's AI splurge. More than $2 trillion in market value is set to be wiped from the Nasdaq 100 in October alone. By the close, Alphabet and Meta were in bear-market territory (down 20%+ from recent highs), while Amazon and Nvidia joined the correction club (down 10%+). The outlier was Tesla, up about 5% on the week and the only Mag 7 name plus Microsoft and Apple to avoid correction or bear-market status. Amazon's Q3 report — EPS of $1.89 vs $1.97 consensus, free-cash-flow negative with full-year capex running toward $220B — added fuel to the fire.

What happened

Amazon and Intel reported after Thursday's close, and both fed the market's growing anxiety about AI spending. Amazon earned $1.89 a share against forecasts of roughly $1.97, on revenue of $201.9 billion versus the $202.2 billion expected. Capital expenditure came in at $77.3 billion against a consensus of $58.67 billion, and free cash flow over the past 12 months was an outflow of $42.4 billion — it is the third big technology group in nine days to be sold on the cost of its AI build-out. Crucially, Amazon forecast holiday-quarter sales below Wall Street expectations, a potential signal of growing pressure on consumers as inflation picks up. Amazon held its 2026 capex plan at about $220 billion, and Amazon Web Services, its cloud arm, grew 39% to $46.0 billion, its fastest rate in almost five years. Intel beat on adjusted EPS ($0.52 vs $0.41 expected) but missed revenue ($16.5B vs $16.6B) and cited 'near-term headwinds across the PC industry,' with a memory-chip shortage driving up its costs. Amazon shares fell about 7% after hours; Intel plunged ~17.4%.

What happened

Amazon reported third-quarter 2026 results after the close on October 29, missing on both lines: EPS of $1.89 versus the $1.96-$1.97 consensus, and revenue of $201.9 billion versus $202.2 billion expected. Shares fell roughly 6.4% in after-hours trading. The bigger shock was capital expenditure of $77.3 billion, far above the $58.67 billion consensus, leaving the company with a trailing-twelve-month free cash flow outflow of $42.4 billion. Bright spots: AWS grew 39% to $46.0 billion, its fastest rate in nearly five years, and Amazon held its full-year 2026 capex plan at about $220 billion.

What happened

Media reports said Thursday that Microsoft is planning to raise at least $25 billion through a bond sale. The news reversed Microsoft's post-earnings rally — shares had been up 2.9% in premarket trading after a strong quarter but fell about 1.5% on Thursday as investors absorbed the debt-raise report. The sale would fund continued AI infrastructure spending even though the company kept capex in check this quarter. Trevor Slaven, global head of asset allocation at Barings, framed the market's unease: the AI buildout is 'increasingly debt financed,' which 'grows the potential economic profits over time' but 'creates more leverage and just creates a bit more risk in the system.'

What happened

Alphabet shares skidded roughly 12% in Thursday trading and were on pace for the worst single-day decline in the company's history. Class A shares traded around $284; a close near those levels would beat the previous record daily decline of 11.6% from March 2020, in Yahoo Finance daily data going back ten years. The company is on track to lose more than $464B in market value in a single session — the second-worst one-day market-cap loss for any U.S. company on record, behind only Nvidia's $593B loss on Jan. 27, 2025. The selloff dragged the Nasdaq composite down 1.2% even as financials and healthcare held up.

What happened

Microsoft reported fiscal Q1 2027 results after the close on Wednesday, October 28, beating expectations on every headline metric. Revenue rose 19% year over year to $92.28 billion, ahead of the $90.62 billion consensus, and adjusted EPS came in at $4.89 versus $4.71 expected; GAAP net income rose 32% to $36.63 billion ($4.92 per share). Azure revenue grew 48%, beating the ~44-45% constant-currency guidance and the ~44.3% Street expectation, with Azure revenue of $33.2 billion and Microsoft Cloud revenue up 30% to $63.9 billion. Capital expenditures of $45.2 billion (including finance leases; $39.4 billion cash capex) came in below the roughly $51 billion analysts expected, and free cash flow of $18.6 billion, though down 27% year over year, beat the ~$8 billion Wall Street expected. Shares jumped about 4% in after-hours trading to around $552, after closing roughly flat at $531.01.

What happened

Alphabet reported Q3 2026 results after the close on Wednesday, October 28, missing on the bottom line and sending shares down 8.5% in after-hours trading to $297.11. EPS came in at $2.12, down from $2.87 a year ago and well below the $3.02 consensus, while revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, narrowly missing the $128 billion expectation. The EPS miss was driven largely by an $8.66 billion loss on equity securities, versus a $10.73 billion gain a year earlier; excluding one-time items, EPS was $2.67. Google Cloud was the standout, with revenue more than doubling (+103%) to $30.7 billion and operating profit of $11.1 billion, above the $9.8 billion estimate. But Google Services — search, YouTube and subscriptions — fell short, with operating income of $39.2 billion versus $40.8 billion expected, and YouTube ad revenue of $11.21 billion missing the $11.5 billion estimate. Free cash flow went further negative to -$9.1 billion, the second straight quarter of negative FCF, as Q3 capex jumped 114% to $51.4 billion.

What happened

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said on Friday, October 23, in a video podcast hosted by Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Ben Horowitz and general partner Erik Torenberg, that Amazon Web Services capacity for 2026 is already sold out, capacity for 2027 is largely committed, and a significant portion of 2028 capacity is already booked, as reported by Reuters. Jassy described AI infrastructure demand as insatiable, driven by AI labs and enterprises, and said Amazon keeps some capacity available for on-demand services, EC2 and Bedrock inference, but that the large longer-term capacity blocks are largely committed. He said Amazon's roughly $220 billion 2026 capex plan could rise further, adding: 'If we could build more, we would; this would not be an inefficient use of capital.'

What happened

Wells Fargo, Arm and Intuit have joined a growing list of companies objecting to their shares being 'tokenized' on OKXICE, Reuters reported Friday, October 23, citing a regulatory document. The total number of companies that have now objected is 22, the document reportedly states. Corporate issuers Microsoft and Alphabet had already filed objections against having their shares tokenized under the SEC framework, according to DL News.

What happened

Hazeltree's Data Insights unit published its September Crowding Report on October 19, 2026, showing hedge funds increased long positions in several major technology stocks in September despite rising interest rates and inflation concerns. Long participation rose in Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Amazon, while it declined modestly in Apple and Tesla. Semiconductor positioning turned more bullish overall: the share of PHLX Semiconductor Index constituents with net long positioning rose to 76.7% from 73.3%. Broadcom was the biggest swing — its net long exposure jumped 20 percentage points to 54.1%, shifting from short-biased to long-biased. On the other side, short participation rose notably in Meta and Tesla; Apple and Tesla remained the only Mag 7 stocks with more short than long holders, and Tesla's long-to-short ratio fell to 0.54, its lowest reading of the year.

What happened

Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak named Amazon a 'top pick' for the firm's internet coverage on Monday, October 19, reiterated an Overweight rating, and raised his price target to $350 from $335 — implying roughly 40% upside from Friday's $250 close and a three-to-one risk-reward profile. Nowak argued Wall Street underappreciates Amazon Web Services' growth and profit runway, projecting AWS revenue growth of 47% in 2027 with adjusted margins reaching 42% (a 'Rule of 90' company), driven by enterprise adoption of its Bedrock AI platform. He also cited Amazon's ability to capture shopping from AI agents and its robotics investments in fulfillment centers as durable advantages.