Welcome to the ‘AI burnout trade’ — as investors grow tired of debating tech’s promises

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  Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) are set to report third-quarter results on Wednesday, October 21, after the market close, and both could influence the tech sector after a recent pullback. Zacks estimates Meta's Q3 revenue will rise more than 23% year over year to $63.24 billion, while earnings are projected to fall nearly 10% to $6.54 per share. Investors will focus on whether heavy AI spending can pay off, given free cash flow of just $784 million in Q2 and 2026 CapEx guidance of $130-$145 billion. Tesla delivered 486,532 vehicles in Q3, beating expectations of roughly 462,000 but down 2% from a year earlier; the Zacks consensus expects earnings to fall 12% to $0.44 per share and revenue to dip 1% to $27.78 billion. Attention will also be on automotive margins, the energy business, and progress on robotaxi and Optimus.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 17:35• META• TSLA• QQQ• AAPLMETATSLAearnings
• “Suddenly Meta Is in Second Place” in AI, and Unlike OpenAI It Doesn’t Need the Money

  Meta has launched Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, which it calls its most capable AI models yet, and Dragonfly's Haseeb Qureshi said the release puts Meta in second place. Meta has not set API pricing yet and the models are only available within its own products, while the article argues that ad revenue lets Meta price aggressively in a way OpenAI and Anthropic cannot. Meta's operating margin was 41.4% in 2025, and its $116 billion in operating cash covered $69.7 billion of capex, but 2026 capex guidance of $115 billion to $135 billion could absorb most of that cash. The article also cites a Financial Times report that OpenAI expects to burn $278 billion of cash from 2026 through 2030. The main uncertainty is whether Meta's eventual pricing will be low or premium.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 17:16▲ METAMETAartificial intelligenceAI investment
• Can Meta's Fiber Partner Corning Capitalize On Rising AI Fiber Prices?

  Prices for specialized AI data-center optical fiber are forecast to average more than five times their 2025 levels this year, and Corning has a supply agreement with Meta worth up to $6 billion. Its Optical Communications sales rose 32% to $2.07 billion in the second quarter, while segment net income surged 77% to $438 million. CEO Wendell Weeks said higher fiber prices are not the main driver of profitability; higher-value connectivity products are. TrendForce forecasts a global fiber shortage of 180 million fiber-kilometers this year, with capacity utilization at 92% and inventories at one month's supply, while expansion takes 18 to 24 months. Despite strong demand, Corning shares have lost roughly half their value since a June record high, though UBS, Citi and Bernstein have set price targets ranging from $140 to $220.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 16:52• METAMETAdata centersartificial intelligence
• AI Trade Is at a Critical Moment As Rising Rates Threaten a Capex Slowdown

  James Russo, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein, says the AI trade is at a “critical moment” as corporate bond rates rise, making companies less willing to borrow for AI spending and putting AI infrastructure stocks in a perilous position. Causes include surging Treasury yields driven by oil prices, inflation concerns and ballooning government debt, along with heavy borrowing to fund the AI buildout. Bond yields on CoreWeave hit 15% last week amid concerns about its debt levels. Russo expects a significant slowdown in capex growth in 2027 and further deceleration in 2028, with hyperscalers estimated to spend $725 billion in 2026 and potentially up to $1.2 trillion. Upcoming third-quarter earnings reports from hyperscalers could reveal changes in their capex plans.

  businessinsider.com·19/10, 16:45▼ NVDA▼ QQQ▼ AMZN▲ DXYAI investmentartificial intelligencebonds
• AI stocks lead rebound on Wall Street as European markets dropcanoncitydailyrecord.com·19/10, 16:45▲ NVDA▲ QQQ▲ GOOGL▲ METAWall Streettech stocksartificial intelligence

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  Tech stocks rebounded Monday even as most of Wall Street stayed weak. Palantir (PLTR) and Datadog (DDOG) each gained over 4%, with chip stocks also recovering from last week's losses. Bernstein upgraded Datadog on stronger AI-related demand, while Palantir announced a government-cloud partnership but faced a potential selling zone around $195–$200. Amazon (AMZN) rose 5% after Morgan Stanley named it a top pick, helping the Nasdaq Composite gain 1.1% and the S&P 500 add 0.4%. CoreWeave (CRWV), however, finished slightly lower at $61.12, just above its July closing low of $60.82, and nearly two-thirds of S&P 500 stocks fell.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 20:40▲ AMZN▲ NVDA▲ QQQ▲ SPYWall StreetAMZNNasdaq
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  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 20:35Visacard paymentsvaluation
• This Nvidia-Backed Cloud Computing Firm Is Reportedly In Talks To Sign A $45B Compute Deal With Anthropic

  According to Bloomberg, Anthropic is in advanced talks to acquire about $45 billion of computing power from Nvidia-backed Nscale, centered on a second building at Nscale's Monarch campus in West Virginia that is slated to deliver 460 megawatts using Nvidia's Vera Rubin chips. Final terms are not set, and an agreement could come within days; both companies declined to comment. The site was first intended for Microsoft, which withdrew after signing a preliminary letter of intent. Anthropic already has infrastructure commitments with Nscale worth about $44.6 billion, according to filings tied to Nscale's upcoming public offering. Nscale closed a $3.36 billion pre-IPO round led by Third Point and is targeting a $30 billion valuation for its debut.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 20:29▲ NVDANVDAAnthropiccloud computing
• Why CoreWeave's Struggles Could Weigh Down Nvidia's Stock

  CoreWeave (CRWV) shares crashed last week over concerns about rising interest rates and its heavy debt load. Because Nvidia (NVDA) is a key customer and has invested billions in CoreWeave, the article argues its own stock could suffer if confidence in CoreWeave weakens. Nvidia has fallen about 2% over the past month, while CoreWeave is down well over 20%. The article notes Nvidia trades at a forward P/E of 25 and a PEG of about 0.48, well below the 1.0 cutoff, but its valuation depends on future growth, which could be questioned amid rising rates and competition from in-house chips.

  Yahoo Finance·19/10, 20:29▼ NVDANVDACoreWeaveinterest rates
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• Tether: Senator's investigation misses positive work that's led to lower Iran volumes

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  CoinDesk·19/10, 20:21cryptostablecoinssanctions