We'll close out the hour with Microsoft reporting today. Steve Kovak has more. Hey, Steve.>> Yeah, that's coming after the bell today, Leslie. And the key thing to watch here is that Azure growth fueled of course by artificial intelligence. Now, this all goes back to yesterday's OpenAI deal.They're committing or OpenAI rather is committing $250 billion in Azure spend over the next several years. The difference though between that deal we heard about yesterday, this is actually contracted, meaning they are g ...

Microsoft's Azure and its suite of productivity software were down for thousands of users on Wednesday, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. ...

Core Viewpoint - Amazon is set to report its Q3 earnings, aiming to reassure investors about AWS's competitiveness in the AI market compared to Microsoft and Google [1] Group 1: Earnings Expectations - Amazon is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $1.58 on revenue of $177.8 billion for Q3, compared to EPS of $1.43 and revenue of $158.9 billion in the same quarter last year [4] - AWS is projected to generate $32.4 billion in revenue, reflecting an 18% increase from $27.5 billion in Q3 of the previous year [5] Group 2: Market Position and Competition - Amazon's stock has increased by only 2.3%, significantly lagging behind Microsoft's 24% and Google's 37% gains, attributed to perceptions that AWS is not capturing as much of the AI market [2] - AWS is perceived to be losing market share due to a shift in computing, with analysts noting that it is lagging behind peers in revenue growth [4] Group 3: Partnerships and AI Exposure - Amazon relies on Anthropic for AI exposure, sharing this partnership with Google, which also provides cloud services to Anthropic [2] - Anthropic recently signed a multibillion-dollar deal with Google to utilize up to 1 million Google TPUs for its AI offerings, further enhancing Google's position in the AI space [3] Group 4: Analyst Sentiment - Despite broader market sentiment, some analysts express optimism about Amazon's prospects, citing positive trends in AWS growth, the core retail business, and strong advertiser demand [6]

With a new OpenAI partnership in hand, Microsoft is going into its earnings report Wednesday afternoon with a resolution to one of the biggest questions about its business. ...

​Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is one of the Best Stocks to Buy for High Returns Heading into 2026. Wall Street is bullish on ​Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) ahead of its FQ1 2026 earnings release, scheduled to be released on October 29 (Post-Market). On October 29, Patrick Colville from Scotiabank reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $650. A day earlier on October 28, William Blair analyst Jason Ader also reiterated a Buy rating on ​Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) wi ...

Group 1 - Xi Jinping will meet with US President Trump on October 30 in Busan, South Korea, to discuss strategic and long-term issues concerning China-US relations [1] - The meeting aims to promote positive outcomes and inject new momentum into the stable development of China-US relations [1] Group 2 - A new fund initiated by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) has been launched with an initial scale of 51 billion yuan, focusing on supporting strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology [2] - The fund's establishment comes amid a significant divergence in the current bull market, particularly benefiting technology stocks [2] Group 3 - Kweichow Moutai reported a third-quarter net profit of 19.22 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.48%, with revenue of 39.06 billion yuan, up 0.56% [3][4] - For the first three quarters, the company achieved a revenue of 128.45 billion yuan, a growth of 6.36%, and a net profit of 64.63 billion yuan, increasing by 6.25% [3][4] Group 4 - The Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau and five other departments released policies to attract long-term funds into the market, including mechanisms for assessing long-term performance [4] - The policies aim to improve the quality of listed companies in Beijing and encourage share buybacks [4] Group 5 - The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) conducted research on the rare earth market, focusing on price changes and challenges faced by the industry [5] - The discussions aimed to promote high-quality development in the rare earth sector and enhance market pricing power [5] Group 6 - Beijing's financial office issued guidelines to support mergers and acquisitions, encouraging traditional companies to consolidate resources and reduce competition [6] - The guidelines also facilitate cross-regional mergers and support state-owned enterprises in streamlining decision-making processes [6] Group 7 - Yushutech is set to launch a new hardware product with performance approximately twice that of its Go2 model, likely a quadruped robot [7] - The announcement has generated interest in the capital market, with expectations of significant investment following the product launch [7] Group 8 - Foreign investment in A-shares has increased for three consecutive months, with September holdings reaching a near five-year high [8][9] - HSBC reported a significant increase in foreign investors' exposure to the Chinese stock market, indicating growing interest [9] Group 9 - OpenAI's humanoid robot Neo, priced at approximately 14.2 million yuan, is now available for pre-order, marking a significant development in consumer robotics [10] - The robotics sector is expected to regain momentum as market conditions improve, with Tesla's production plans for its Optimus robot also contributing to positive sentiment [10]

This story was originally published on CIO Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily CIO Dive newsletter. OpenAI is going through some changes — and CIOs are paying attention.  The ChatGPT-maker restructured itself to form two entities, a nonprofit called the OpenAI Foundation and a for-profit public benefit corporation dubbed OpenAI Group. The reorganization announced on Tuesday was also accompanied by news of an adjusted Microsoft partnership that is loosening the reins on bot ...

When AI starts to feel like the metaverse, the stock market's favorite trade could be in trouble. BCA Research said it was looking for one warning sign in particular when it comes to the AI boom, which has sent tech stocks into stratospheric territory as companies pour billions into AI-related investments.According to Peter Berezin, the chief global strategist at the research firm, it could be time for investors to get out when AI sees a "metaverse moment" — a scenario in which a large AI firm announces "e ...

Core Viewpoint - Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is being recognized as a significant AI stock on Wall Street, with analysts expressing confidence in its performance ahead of upcoming earnings reports [1][2]. Group 1: Analyst Ratings and Price Targets - Evercore ISI has reiterated its "Outperform" rating for Microsoft, indicating strong confidence in the company's growth in AI infrastructure and capital expenditures [1]. - Guggenheim has upgraded Microsoft to "Buy" from Neutral, setting a price target of $586, which represents a 12% upside from current levels [2]. Group 2: Company Focus and Market Position - Microsoft is focused on providing AI-powered cloud, productivity, and business solutions, emphasizing efficiency, security, and advancements in AI technology [2]. - The company is expected to continue investing in AI to meet demand, with analysts noting that capacity for AI infrastructure remains tight [1].

Layoff Trends Across Sectors - Various sectors are experiencing layoffs, impacting both traditional industries and tech companies [1][2] - The data highlights significant workforce reductions across multiple major corporations [2] Specific Company Layoff Numbers - UPS announced layoffs of 48 thousand employees [2] - Amazon reduced its workforce by 30 thousand employees [2] - Intel cut 24 thousand positions [2] - Nestle laid off 16 thousand employees [2] - Accenture and Ford both reduced their workforce by 11 thousand employees each [2] - Novo Nordisk experienced layoffs of 9 thousand employees [2] - Microsoft's layoffs impacted 7 thousand employees [2] - PwC reduced its workforce by 56 thousand employees [2] - Salesforce laid off 4 thousand employees [2] - Paramount's layoffs impacted 2 thousand employees [2] - Target reduced its workforce by 18 thousand employees [2] - Kroger laid off 1 thousand employees [2] - Applied Materials cut 14 thousand positions [2] - Meta experienced layoffs of 600 employees [2]