News about META

Third-quarter earnings from Netflix, Meta Platforms, IBM and Western Digital this week are expected to set the tone for tech stocks. Netflix is forecast to lift revenue 12% to $12.88 billion and EPS 40% to $0.82, while Meta's revenue is expected to rise 24% to $63.39 billion, with investors watching its Muse AI tools closely. Western Digital's results may indicate whether memory demand is durable. Bloomberg reported that Nscale faces investor resistance to the $30 billion valuation it seeks for its IPO, with a group of investors urging $16–19 billion, after Microsoft exited a UK data center deal over power-related delays. Product events from Nvidia, Cloudflare and Oracle are also on the calendar, following a week in which SOXX fell 11.8%.

U.S. stock index futures rose overnight ahead of Monday after a rough week, as investors looked to Big Tech earnings to restore momentum amid fears of an AI bubble. As of 11:30 p.m. ET, S&P 500 futures were up 0.8%, Nasdaq futures rose more than 1%, and Dow futures gained 0.5%. Last week the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 4.5% and the S&P 500 dropped 1.95%, their worst weeks since early June, while the Dow rose 0.67% for its second straight weekly gain. Netflix, SpaceX, Tesla and Meta report this week, with Meta expected to post EPS of $6.58 on revenue of $63.34 billion. Oil eased, with Brent falling nearly 1.9% to $107.88 a barrel, while retail sentiment on Stocktwits was neutral on QQQ and bearish on SPY and DIA.

From October 30, 2026, businesses using Meta's commercial tools will automatically grant Meta permission to deploy bots that scan all their websites, domains and URLs to train AI, according to a report by The Register published October 16, 2026. The updated terms also let Meta create test credentials to access login-protected areas and shift copyright liability onto businesses, which must indemnify Meta if third parties sue. The News/Media Alliance, through its CEO Danielle Coffey, called the move overreaching and possibly illegal. Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman described it as a “Hobson's choice,” since businesses can only accept or leave the platform, and noted the terms do not commit to honoring robots.txt.

The article frames Meta's upcoming earnings as a test of investor confidence in AI-driven ad monetization, following a sharp pullback in Nvidia and the Nasdaq 100. It profiles three stocks it sees as positioned to benefit if that confidence holds, including Zeta Global (ZETA), an AI-focused marketing cloud with about US$1.6b in revenue and an US$8.0b market cap. Adobe, with a US$95.4b market cap, is also covered for its creative and marketing clouds that help brands design campaigns and measure performance. The piece flags an unresolved pressure on Zeta's model: balancing richer AI tools against long-term margins.

Wall Street closed lower as a broad tech sell-off pushed the S&P 500 down 1.1%, the Nasdaq down 2.1% and the Dow down 0.3%. The S&P 500 lost about 2% for the week, erasing the gains it made last week when it set an all-time high. Chipmakers including Micron, AMD, Broadcom and Intel led the declines amid worries that the AI spending boom may not last and that big tech may struggle to keep borrowing as bond yields climb. The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 5.09% but had topped 5.30% earlier this month, while CME Group data showed the odds of a Fed rate hike in December jumping to 74.3%. Brent crude rose 3.7% to $109.86 a barrel as there is still no U.S.–Iran deal to end the war.

Third-quarter earnings season is entering its busiest stretch, with Capital One reporting Tuesday night and Meta after Wednesday's close. After last week's bank earnings were met with selling even when profits beat expectations, the backdrop remains tough: rising bond yields, two September inflation reports hotter than expected, Middle East tensions, and doubts about the durability of AI spending. According to LSEG, Capital One is expected to earn $5.50 per share on $16.26 billion in revenue, with focus on net interest margin, charge-offs, expenses and the Discover acquisition; its shares trade below 9 times forward earnings. Meta is expected to report EPS of $5.94 on $63.32 billion in revenue, and investors will watch how management justifies large AI infrastructure spending alongside its Muse AI assistant.

Earnings season moves into a busier phase, with SpaceX (SPCX) reporting Tuesday and Tesla (TSLA) on Wednesday. Investors will watch Starlink and SpaceX's AI operations, along with Tesla's margins, cash flow and plans to fund robotaxi, Optimus and AI. Analysts expect Tesla to post EPS of $0.45 on $28.11 billion in revenue, and SpaceX EPS of $0.18 on $13.16 billion. Meta Platforms (META) reports Wednesday after the bell, with expected EPS of $6.76 on $63.39 billion in revenue, while Netflix, IBM, GE Aerospace and several airlines also report this week. In after-hours trading Friday, SPY fell 0.26%, QQQ dropped 0.27% and DIA slipped 0.21%.

Chris Thomas, a Pittsburgh business owner, wears Meta glasses, a Fieldy pendant and an Amazon Bee wristband to record and organize his daily life. A bystander at a bar objected because he could not be sure the devices were off, so Thomas now takes them off completely. More always-listening AI devices are emerging, including Amazon's Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse and Apple's Siri Recap on Apple Watch Series 12, raising concerns about covert recording without bystanders' consent. Unlike earlier smart speakers, some of these products interpret speech without retaining the underlying audio, leaving unresolved whether this could count as unlawful interception. Attorney Colin Zick says broadly worded state laws such as Massachusetts' could apply, and in some states the wearer may face greater legal risk than the manufacturer.

CoreWeave (CRWV) shares fell sharply this week, pushing its six-month decline to 46%, as two factors collided: its corporate bonds across maturities were sold off on fears of an AI slowdown and concern over its precarious balance sheet. A Gartner report forecasting that over 80% of neocloud providers will cease independent operations by 2030 added to the pressure. CoreWeave said it is confident in its funding, and several Wall Street firms defended it, including BofA's Tal Liani, who called the move sentiment-driven rather than about the company's ability to pay its debt and maintained a $140 price target. Liani expects fundamentals such as revenue growth to matter once the period of concern passes.

Investor confidence in AI leaders weakened this week, with Nvidia losing over $350bn in market value and the Nasdaq 100 down 5.5%, making Meta's results after Wednesday's close a key test before Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon report. Analysts expect Meta's third-quarter revenue above $63bn, but adjusted operating income of $18.8bn is seen lower than in the previous quarter and a year earlier, with margins a little under 30% as AI costs rise. In the eurozone, growth has beaten expectations despite high energy costs, but 3.8% inflation makes an October ECB rate rise more likely, while PMI readings are expected to ease slightly to 52.5. In the UK, annual inflation is forecast to rise to 3.4% in September from 3.1% in August, above the Bank of England's forecast and adding pressure for a November rate rise.

AI stocks had a brutal start to October: the Roundhill Neocloud ETF (NCLD) fell 31%, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) dropped 13%, and the Defiance AI and Power Infrastructure ETF (AIPO) lost 14%. Rising borrowing costs, investor concern over neocloud leverage, and hot inflation readings that pushed bond yields near two-decade highs drove the sell-off. Baird's Ross Mayfield is overweighting healthcare, financials and energy as hedges, while still adding to hyperscalers and power infrastructure. Travis Prentice of Infomed Momentum favors agentic AI cybersecurity names like CrowdStrike, Okta and Palo Alto Networks, plus AI adopters such as MetLife and Visa. AllianceBernstein's James Russo is pivoting to quality stocks that don't rely on external borrowing, including larger hyperscalers, and chipmakers with durable competitive advantages.