AMD's data center business did $8.5 billion last quarter. A year ago it was $4.3 billion. Next quarter they're guiding to about $17 billion in total revenue, up roughly 66% from a year ago. Wall Street was expecting $16.2 billion. The stock fell three straight days going into the report on fears that AI spending is overdone. The company selling the chips sure isn't seeing a slowdown yet.
Democrats just took Congress. Here’s what 19 midterms since 1950 say about your money: the S&P 500 was higher a year later every single time, averaging about 15%. It held whether the president was a Democrat or a Republican, and markets have historically done well under divided government. It’s not a guarantee though. 1986, 2010 and 2014 were each up less than 5%. Comment STOCK to see my portfolio and live trades.
Apple just had its best September quarter ever. Revenue hit $114.5 billion, up 12%. iPhone sales jumped 17.5%. The stock still slid more than 3% today. The reason is memory chips. Apple guided gross margin to 45% to 46% this quarter, down from 47.9%, as memory costs climb. If Apple can't fully pass that cost on, every other phone and laptop maker should be nervous.
Apple is the world's most valuable company again. It closed Friday at $5.03 trillion, Nvidia at $4.93 trillion. Apple is up 27% this year, more than double Nvidia. It kept a lid on AI spending while everyone else poured cash into data centers. Earnings Monday after the close.
Intel is down about 29% today, on track for its worst day ever. Memory makers are chasing AI demand, so PCs got pricier. Intel now sees PC units down about 12% this year. Its Q4 revenue guide of $15 to $16 billion missed the $17.1 billion Wall Street expected. Not every chip stock wins from AI. Some get squeezed by it.
Google Cloud grew 103% this quarter. Azure grew 48%. Yet Microsoft is up 5% after hours and Alphabet is down 7%. Why? Google Search missed, $63.35B vs $64.96B expected. Microsoft beat on revenue, EPS and Azure. Cloud growth is great, but the market still prices Google on search.
Vertiv and Enphase both sell power gear. Vertiv sells to data centers, and sales jumped 61%. Enphase sells to homeowners, and it just guided Q4 revenue down, blaming high rates and the expired solar tax credit. AI capex doesn't care about rates. Your roof does.
Anthropic just filed to IPO as ANT. First half revenue hit $16.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion a year ago. The net loss was $80.7 billion. But $72.4 billion of that is an accounting charge on convertible notes. The operating loss was only $693 million.
The Fed decides on rates Wednesday at 2pm. A few hours later, Microsoft and Alphabet report earnings. Amazon reports Thursday, the same day we get the first Q3 GDP number and PCE inflation. Oil is over $100 and the 10 year yield is sitting right at 5%. Last week the market got spooked by AI spending. Honestly, I care more about the capex guidance this week than whatever the Fed says.
