Moves That Matter

What happened

ESPN announced Wednesday that Super Bowl LXI (February 14, 2027, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood) will simulcast on Disney+ alongside ESPN, ABC and ESPN Deportes, in both English and Spanish and across 55 international markets including Brazil, Latin America, South Africa and Australia. It will be the first Super Bowl on Disney+ and the first ever produced by ESPN (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman calling, with ESPN's first Super Bowl since ABC last aired it in 2006). Disney+ will also carry two Monday Night Football games this season, starting with Cowboys-Eagles on October 26, as a trial run. Separately, the Television Academy and Amazon announced the Emmys will move to Prime Video starting in 2027 under a six-year exclusive global streaming deal, free to all viewers in 240+ countries, reportedly worth $20-25 million per year. Disney said Super Bowl ad inventory sold out in August — the earliest sellout by any network in history, with 58 brands across 34 categories.

What happened

Securitize said Thursday it is rolling out tokenized stock trading for U.S. investors, letting eligible investors trade 12 stocks — including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Alphabet, Tesla, Meta and Amazon — through its regulated broker-dealer platform on the Solana blockchain. The tokens represent direct ownership of the underlying shares and are structured to preserve investor rights and economic benefits. Securitize said the tokens will initially trade during extended hours, with 24/7 availability planned, and expects them to also trade on the NYSE's forthcoming 24/7 tokenized securities venue and the tokenized venue from OKXICE, the ICE/OKX joint venture. The products are available to eligible investors in the U.S., EU and other permitted jurisdictions.

What happened

Goldman Sachs upgraded Palantir to Buy from Neutral with a $230 price target on Thursday, saying Palantir's total addressable market is poised to grow. The target implies roughly 18% upside from Wednesday's closing price of $194.12, and shares rose 2.5% in Thursday morning trading following the upgrade.

What happened

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, reported record third-quarter revenue of T$1.49 trillion (~$46.7 billion) on Thursday, up 50% year over year and above the LSEG SmartEstimate of T$1.46 trillion drawn from 19 analysts. September revenue alone rose 54.6% to T$511.86 billion, near August's all-time monthly high. The quarter also beat TSMC's own July guidance of $44.6-45.8 billion. The company gave no forward guidance in the brief sales statement; full Q3 earnings land next Thursday (Oct 15).

What happened

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday, October 8, that additional interest rate hikes will likely be needed to bring inflation down to the Fed's 2% target, though he added there was 'flexibility' about the pace, according to Reuters. The remarks reinforce the message from the September FOMC minutes released October 7, which showed most policymakers in September saw more interest rate rises ahead, with markets now pricing three more hikes over the coming year starting in December. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has downplayed the bond moves as global rather than US-specific, but the 10-year term premium — the extra compensation investors demand beyond expected Fed rates — has risen to its highest in 12 years.

What happened

Dell expanded its Windows computing portfolio with new NVIDIA-powered systems developed with NVIDIA and Microsoft. The XPS 16 Creator Edition is Dell's first XPS laptop built around NVIDIA RTX Spark hardware, pairing a Blackwell GPU with a Grace CPU and up to 128GB of unified memory, with a 3.2K tandem OLED display; U.S. Best Buy pre-orders opened October 7. Dell also introduced the Creator Edition Desktop (up to one petaflop of FP4 compute, able to run up to 200-billion-parameter models, availability to follow soon) and renamed its Dell Pro Max workstation range to Dell Pro Precision, including GB300-based systems for Windows delivering up to 20 petaflops of FP4 and 748GB of coherent memory, capable of running up-to-1-trillion-parameter models locally. Shares rose 1.3% to $581.47 on the announcement.

What happened

The Wall Street Journal reported that Broadcom has spent recent weeks working to arrange more than $50 billion in financing for the custom AI chip it is developing with OpenAI, with Apollo and Blackstone among the lenders approached. Separately, Oracle is in talks with Apollo and Goldman Sachs to fund a large chip purchase, likely through a separate entity that would buy the chips and lease them to Oracle. SpaceX has also spoken with lenders in recent days about a roughly $40 billion financing tied to Nvidia chips, first reported by the FT. Talks are at an early stage and deal sizes could change, but Broadcom and Oracle aim to close before year-end. Reuters' Thursday 'Open Interest' market piece highlighted these reports as the latest turn in the 'circular financing' wave in AI.

What happened

Wolfspeed surged 16% in premarket trading after landing a financing deal with the Pentagon. The Defense Department will provide the company with $1.5 billion in long-term, 30-year financing, contingent on Wolfspeed producing silicon carbide materials and other power devices in the United States. The deal was reported by Barron's in its Thursday stock-movers roundup as AI-related chip names (Intel, Marvell, Coherent, Corning, Dell, Micron) slid on rising bond yields and oil prices.

What happened

PepsiCo reported fiscal Q3 profit of $3.05 billion ($2.23/share), up from $2.6 billion ($1.90/share) a year earlier. Adjusted EPS came in at $2.34, beating the FactSet consensus of $2.29. Net revenue rose 5.6% to $25.27 billion, ahead of the $24.95 billion Wall Street estimate, with organic revenue up 3.1%. However, management cut the full-year adjusted EPS outlook to growth of 1-2%, down sharply from the prior forecast of 4-6%, and narrowed the organic revenue outlook to roughly +3% from a previous range of +2-4%. CEO Ramon Laguarta said North America trends improved sequentially as lower net pricing spurred volume and market-share gains, and flagged more structural cost-reduction actions to be implemented in the coming months.

What happened

Samsung reported preliminary Q3 results with a ninefold jump in operating profit, yet the print fell below market expectations, per the WSJ, sending the stock down 2.4% and dragging Asian tech lower. U.S. chip makers fell premarket as the market treated the miss as a read-through on the red-hot memory cycle. Fellow memory plays Micron, Sandisk and SK Hynix were flagged by IBD as the names to watch Thursday; Micron had jumped 4.1% Wednesday on D.A. Davidson's $3,000 price target. TSMC reports sales early Thursday, keeping the sector news flow dense.

What happened

Brent crude jumped about 4% Thursday morning to top $104 a barrel and WTI rose above $91.50, per the WSJ, as the White House asked the Pentagon to develop options for strikes against Iran ahead of the midterm elections next month, according to a report in The Atlantic. Separately, a tanker was struck off the coast of Qatar according to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, Houthi militants escalated attacks on Saudi Arabia, and Shell and Chevron halted production at several Gulf of Mexico sites as a tropical storm approached. U.S. stock futures slid (Dow -0.7%, S&P -0.3%, Nasdaq -0.5%) and the 30-year Treasury yield rose 5 bps to top 5.710% as oil-driven inflation fears compounded an already hawkish rate backdrop.

What happened

Samsung Electronics projected a 783% jump in third-quarter operating profit from a year earlier, beating analysts' estimates, as booming demand for artificial-intelligence chips drove strong memory earnings. The world's largest memory chipmaker estimated an operating profit of 107.4 trillion won ($80.17 billion) for the July-September period, compared with an LSEG SmartEstimate of 106.1 trillion won, according to a regulatory filing. Third-quarter revenue is expected to rise 127% to 195 trillion won from a year earlier. The company said prices have soared due to tight supply of conventional DRAM and NAND chips as well as growing demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and that the supply gap is expected to persist into 2027. Samsung will release detailed results, including a division breakdown, later this month.

What happened

Lululemon named former Athleta CEO and Nike veteran Maggie Gauger as chief product officer, starting October 26, and appointed Joseph Godsey as chief operating officer, Reuters reported October 7. Two senior executives are leaving: chief brand officer Nikki Neuburger and chief supply chain officer Ted Dagnese depart November 6, with CFO Meghan Frank overseeing global brand and technology on an interim basis. The moves are the first major leadership overhaul under new CEO Heidi O'Neill, who called them 'an important first step in reinvigorating our enduring connection with guests.'

What happened

Walt Disney Company agreed on October 2 to license a slate of films and TV shows to Netflix, the first licensing pact between the two since 2023 and the first to include Disney+ originals. The first two seasons of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" and all five existing "Ice Age" films began streaming globally on Netflix on October 4 for a three-month window; the Percy Jackson timing builds hype ahead of Season 3's Disney+ premiere on November 20, and the Ice Age window promotes the theatrical release of "Ice Age: Boiling Point" on February 5, 2027. Additional titles follow: "Will Trent" seasons 1-4 globally on November 3, "Shifting Gears" on December 1, "Tracker" internationally in February 2027, and Pixar's "Soul," "Elio," plus "Raya and the Last Dragon" in early 2027. The deal is non-exclusive — everything remains on Disney+ and Hulu — so Disney keeps its own exclusivity narrative intact while monetizing the catalog.

What happened

Levi Strauss reported fiscal third-quarter results after the close on Wednesday, October 7 (quarter ended August 30): adjusted earnings of 48 cents a share, up 41% year over year and well above the 36-cent FactSet consensus. Net revenue rose 4% to $1.61 billion, a shade below the $1.62 billion consensus, with sales up 4% in the Americas and Europe and 5% in Asia. A large share of the profit beat came from tariff refunds — 16 cents a share in the quarter, with about 5 cents redeployed into the business, leaving a net benefit of 11 cents. Management raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $1.54–$1.56 from $1.46–$1.52, including the refund benefit (some of which will be reinvested in Q3–Q4), while narrowing organic revenue growth to about 6% (the high end of the prior 5.5–6% range) and guiding reported sales up 7% (the low end of the prior 7–7.5% range). Shares fell 5% in the regular session to $19.51 and dropped more than 2% after hours.

What happened

The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump administration housing officials are launching an investigation into Wells Fargo over commitments the bank made to increase homeownership among Black Americans. Shares fell nearly 2%, slightly more than other big-bank shares on a day when financials were already under pressure from rising Treasury yields.

What happened

The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a joint public inquiry into potential anticompetitive practices in agricultural equipment manufacturing and distribution markets, inviting public comments on business models, restrictions, retaliation, and competitive implications. Regulators cited a growing number of farmer complaints to the USDA about barriers to acquiring equipment and repair services. The move was framed as part of the FTC's broader agriculture-competition project, citing its recent settlements with Deere and Corteva.

What happened

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria raised his price target on Micron to $3,000 from $2,100, a 43% increase and a new Street-high-style marker. Micron shares advanced 3.6-4% to about $1,084-1,086, with the stock having roughly tripled this year. The rerating came even as the semiconductor industry faced a threatened strike in Taiwan, underscoring how dominant the memory-demand narrative is right now.

What happened

The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its September 15–16 FOMC meeting at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The meeting had concluded with a quarter-point rate hike, the first since 2023. The minutes show that "most participants assessed that another increase in the target range for the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate by year end," though participants stressed they approached each meeting with an open mind and decisions would depend on incoming information and the balance of risks. Per CME FedWatch, traders now see a 17% chance of a hike at the late-October meeting but an 84% chance of at least a quarter-point increase by the December meeting.

What happened

Webull shares plunged more than 20% on Wednesday after CNBC reported on a bipartisan House Select Committee on China report, set for release today, concluding the online brokerage is 'tied in structural ways' to China's government and constitutes a national security risk. The committee found a 'profound gap' between Webull's public marketing and actual control, with its corporate structure — software development, data pipelines, and core engineering operations — dependent on infrastructure subject directly to Beijing's laws, including a China-based subsidiary for technology development and platform operations. Siebert Financial analyst Brian Vieten suspended his buy rating and price target, saying 'the potential regulatory and operational implications of these findings create a level of uncertainty that we cannot reasonably incorporate into our estimates.' Webull's spokesperson said the report contained 'significant inaccuracies and unsupported conclusions,' and that U.S. customer data is stored and controlled in the U.S.

What happened

Alphabet-owned Google and Unity Software on Wednesday launched Playground, an AI-powered game platform that lets users create games without prior coding experience, using natural-language prompts to auto-generate custom games instantly on Google's web platform. The move targets amateur creators — Roblox's core audience — and aims at creators over 18, where Roblox has struggled to expand beyond its Gen Z/Alpha base. Google and Unity also said they will expand on Playground later this year with Unity Spark, adding professional-level mechanics, 3D capabilities and flexibility within the gaming template.

What happened

Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives, the longtime prominent tech bull, initiated coverage on 49 names across the tech landscape on Wednesday with Outperform ratings across the board, including: Apple (AAPL) $400 and Alphabet (GOOGL) $400 price targets, Amazon (AMZN) $300, Meta (META) $900, Microsoft (MSFT) $615, Nvidia (NVDA) $300, Tesla (TSLA) $500, plus SpaceX at $225. SoftBank was initiated at Outperform with a $290 target and CrowdStrike (CRWD) at Outperform with a $335 target. Ives' thesis centers on the infrastructure layer staying supply-constrained 'through at least 2027,' with companies owning scarce compute, memory, and power capturing growth; enterprise software has recovered, cybersecurity takes a growing share of IT budgets, and 'physical AI' is the newest front. The initiation comes a month after Ives launched the Ives Ultra AI Opportunities closed-end fund (IVAI) targeting late-stage private AI companies.

What happened

Wednesday's session is a broad risk-off repricing after Tuesday's record highs: the Dow tumbled roughly 500 points (futures down 311, ~0.6%) while the 30-year Treasury yield rose to its highest since 2002, with the 10-year at 5.31%. Brent crude pushed back above the $100-a-barrel mark (up 0.7% to $101.25) as Middle East supply concerns persist. Chip stocks led the early downside — Seagate and Western Digital sank, while Astera Labs and Teradyne each fell more than 4%. Traders are braced for two afternoon catalysts: the release of minutes from the Fed's September 15-16 meeting at 2 p.m. ET (the meeting that delivered the first rate hike since 2023, with one more hike penciled in before year-end) and a 10-year Treasury auction at 1 p.m. ET. CME FedWatch pricing now shows only a 22% chance of an October hike — down from 50% a week ago — while a December hike remains largely priced in.

What happened

Fair Isaac (FICO) said it will cut 15% of its staff and integrate 'AI-driven product development,' per a company announcement covered by Barron's on Wednesday morning. The credit-score provider framed the move as an AI-led operating overhaul. Shares slipped about 0.1% in premarket trading, a muted reaction that contrasts with the scale of the headcount cut.