Both Micron and Microsoft seem likely to rebound.Momentum is great -- until it screeches to a halt. Both Micron Technology (MU 2.67%) and Microsoft (MSFT 0.08%) are good examples of this. Micron's shares were soaring but are now down roughly 15% below the high set earlier this month. Microsoft has lost more than 20% of its value since late October 2025.Many forward-looking investors know that both of these artificial intelligence (AI) stocks could rebound strongly. Which is the better AI stock to buy on the ...

Bloomberg Blackstone Inc. is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence firm Anthropic PBC, elevating its stake to roughly $1 billion at the startup’s current valuation, according to people familiar with the matter. The world’s largest alternative asset manager is investing $200 million at a $350 billion valuation as part of Anthropic’s ongoing funding round, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI models, has ...

Core Viewpoint - Zoom's strategic investment in Anthropic positions it favorably in the AI sector, potentially leading to significant shareholder value as Anthropic's valuation increases [1][2][3] Investment Strategy - Zoom Ventures made a strategic investment in Anthropic in May 2023, which has since become a leading competitor in AI, enhancing Zoom's investment narrative [2][3] - The investment in Anthropic allows Zoom to be viewed as a deep-value holding company rather than just a software utility, providing a backdoor entry into the private AI market [3][5] Financial Position - Zoom holds approximately $7.9 billion in cash and marketable securities, with zero debt, providing a strong financial cushion [6][8] - Analysts are using a sum-of-the-parts valuation method, indicating that Zoom is trading at a discount compared to its software peers [6][7] Valuation Insights - The current market cap of Zoom is around $27 billion, with the core business operations valued at approximately $19.5 billion after accounting for cash and the estimated value of the Anthropic stake [8] - The presence of cash and the AI stake offers a margin of safety, limiting downside risk and justifying a significant portion of the stock price [7][14] Competitive Advantage - The partnership with Anthropic serves as a defensive strategy against competitors like Microsoft, allowing Zoom to leverage AI capabilities without incurring high costs [9][10] - Zoom's federated AI approach enables it to provide premium AI features at no additional cost, enhancing subscription value and reducing customer churn [11][12] Evolving Investment Thesis - The investment thesis for Zoom has shifted from a speculative growth play in 2020 to a value-oriented investment in 2026, reflecting its transformation into a mature platform with diversified assets [13][15] - Despite facing growth headwinds, Zoom's substantial cash reserves and disciplined capital allocation create an attractive risk-reward profile for investors [14][15]

Core Insights - The Q3 earnings season has shown strong results, with a projected 13.4% increase in earnings per share for S&P 500 companies, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth [2][63] - Companies mentioning "AI" during earnings calls have experienced higher stock price increases compared to those that did not mention AI, indicating a strong market sentiment towards AI-related businesses [6][7][8] Earnings Reports - Oracle (ORCL) is expected to report earnings soon, following a strong Q2 performance that highlighted its cloud backlog [1][5] - Victoria's Secret (VSCO) raised its 2025 guidance for net sales to $6.45 billion-$6.48 billion, up from $6.33 billion-$6.41 billion, and reported a Q3 revenue increase of 9% year-over-year to $1.472 billion [10][11][12] - Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares fell 4% after forecasting Q1 revenue between $9 billion and $9.4 billion, below analyst estimates of $9.9 billion [13][14] - Ulta (ULTA) reported a 5% stock increase after beating Q3 estimates and raising its full-year outlook to approximately $12.3 billion in net sales [17][18] - Kroger (KR) reported Q3 revenue of $33.9 billion, roughly unchanged year-over-year, and updated its same-store sales growth forecast to 2.8%-3.0% [19][20][21] - CrowdStrike (CRWD) raised its full-year revenue guidance to $4.79 billion-$4.80 billion, driven by increased demand for its AI-powered cybersecurity solutions [47][49] - Snowflake (SNOW) reported a 29% year-over-year revenue growth to $1.15 billion but issued guidance that fell short of expectations, leading to an 8% drop in stock [29][30][31] Market Reactions - Despite solid earnings, market reactions have been more muted than usual, with stocks of companies beating earnings expectations rising only 0.4% on average, below the five-year average of 0.9% [63][64] - Companies missing earnings estimates have seen an average stock decrease of 5%, significantly higher than the five-year average decrease of 2.6% [65]

Core Insights - Microsoft and Nvidia have partnered with Anthropic, a large language model maker, where Anthropic will purchase $30 billion of compute capacity from Microsoft's Azure and commit to an additional 1 gigawatt of compute capacity, valued at around $50 billion [1] - Microsoft will invest up to $10 billion in Anthropic, which has a current valuation of $350 billion, a significant increase from its previous valuation of $183 billion [2] - Anthropic has existing investments from Amazon and Alphabet, with Amazon providing cloud computing and training support through its $11 billion AI data center [3][4] Microsoft and Nvidia's Investment - Microsoft and Nvidia's investments in Anthropic signify a strategic move to diversify their AI partnerships beyond OpenAI, with Microsoft aiming to enhance its Azure revenue and provide customers with alternative AI models [5][6] - The collaboration with Anthropic allows both Microsoft and Nvidia to strengthen their positions in the AI market, as Anthropic also partners with various chip and cloud computing companies [7]

Core Insights - Microsoft, Nvidia, and Anthropic have formed a strategic alliance to enhance AI capabilities [1] - Anthropic has committed $30 billion to Azure for its Claude AI models, indicating a significant investment in cloud infrastructure [1] Company Summaries - Microsoft is strengthening its position in the AI market through partnerships and substantial investments in cloud services [1] - Nvidia continues to play a crucial role in AI development, collaborating with major companies to advance AI technologies [1] - Anthropic is focusing on developing its Claude AI models, leveraging Azure's capabilities to scale its operations [1]

Core Insights - Anthropic plans to invest $50 billion in building data centers in the US to enhance its artificial intelligence infrastructure [1][5] - The data centers will be established in collaboration with Fluidstack in Texas and New York, with additional sites planned for the future [1][3] - The investment aligns with the Trump administration's AI Action Plan aimed at maintaining US leadership in artificial intelligence [4][5] Company Overview - Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is backed by major investors including Amazon and Alphabet [5][7] - The company serves over 300,000 enterprise customers and is known for its Claude large language models, which are considered among the most powerful in the market [7] Economic Impact - The data center project is expected to create approximately 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs in the US by 2026 [4] - This investment is part of a broader trend where tech companies are significantly increasing their spending to expand their presence in the US [3][4]

Group 1 - Anthropic plans to invest $50 billion in building data centers in the U.S. to expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure [1] - The data centers will be established in Texas and New York in collaboration with infrastructure provider Fluidstack, with additional sites planned for the future [1] - The investment is expected to create approximately 800 permanent jobs and 2,400 construction jobs in the U.S. by 2026 [3] Group 2 - The investment aligns with the Trump administration's AI Action Plan aimed at maintaining American leadership in artificial intelligence and strengthening domestic technology infrastructure [4] - Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, serves over 300,000 enterprise customers and is recognized for its Claude large language models [5] - The company is backed by major investors including Google-parent Alphabet and Amazon.com, and was valued at $183 billion in early September [4]

Core Insights - Amazon's cloud business, AWS, experienced its fastest revenue growth in nearly three years, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence [6][4] - The company is on track to potentially reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion, given its current momentum and performance [2][16] AWS Performance - AWS generated a record $33 billion in revenue during Q3 2025, marking a 20% year-over-year increase, up from 17% in the previous quarter [6] - The growth in AWS is attributed to the adoption of AI technologies and the use of Amazon's proprietary chips, such as Trainium2, which reduced AI training costs by up to 40% [4][5] Financial Metrics - AWS accounted for 18% of Amazon's total revenue of $180 billion in Q3, but contributed 65% of the company's operating income, highlighting its role as a profitability driver [9] - Amazon's earnings per share reached $1.95 in Q3, a 36% increase from the previous year, surpassing Wall Street's estimate of $1.57 [13] Market Position - Amazon's current market capitalization stands at $2.6 trillion, with a potential path to $3 trillion based on projected earnings growth [2][14] - The stock is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.1, which is comparable to the Nasdaq-100 index's P/E of 34.7, indicating it is fairly valued relative to peers [14] Strategic Initiatives - The company plans to invest $125 billion in AI data center infrastructure by 2025, with a significant order backlog of $200 billion indicating strong demand for AWS services [8] - Efficiency improvements in the e-commerce segment, including the use of over 1 million robots, are aimed at enhancing profit margins [12][10]

Core Insights - Anthropic PBC is negotiating with Google for a deal that could provide the AI company with additional computing power valued in the high tens of billions of dollars [1][2] - The discussions involve Google offering cloud computing services to Anthropic, which has previously received investments and cloud support from Google [2] - Anthropic's Claude AI models are positioned as significant competitors to OpenAI's GPT models, highlighting the competitive landscape in the AI sector [3] Funding and Valuation - Anthropic recently concluded a $13 billion funding round, which nearly tripled its valuation to $183 billion, indicating strong investor interest and financial backing [4] - The funding round was led by Iconiq Capital, with participation from Fidelity Management and Research Co. and Lightspeed Venture Partners [4] - Google has invested approximately $3 billion in Anthropic, with commitments of $2 billion in 2023 and an additional $1 billion early this year, while Amazon has pledged about $8 billion [5] Market Position - Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former OpenAI employees, is focused on advancing AI technology and competing in a rapidly evolving market [3] - The company is a significant customer of Amazon Web Services and utilizes Amazon's custom AI chips, further solidifying its partnerships with major tech firms [5] - The ongoing discussions with Google and the substantial investments from both Google and Amazon underscore the strategic importance of Anthropic in the AI industry [1][2][5]