Business & Markets

NEW YORK — Two software companies lost a large share of their value in after-hours trading Wednesday despite upbeat parts of their reports. ServiceNow posted adjusted earnings of $1.00 a share, short of analyst estimates, and gave a fourth-quarter outlook some investors judged soft, even though it raised its AI sales target and its free-cash-flow margin goal. Its shares fell between about 15% and 19% in extended trading, depending on the source. Fortinet, the cybersecurity firm, reported adjusted earnings of $0.91 against a $0.86 consensus and raised its 2026 guidance, but its stock still dropped about 20% or more. The Information said the ServiceNow slide shows investors still fear AI will erode traditional software businesses. Both stocks had rallied in recent weeks, which raised expectations.

SEATTLE — Amazon eliminated about 250 jobs, mostly software development roles, in its devices and services unit on Wednesday. Employees were told by text and email. The company said the cuts would help it operate more efficiently and match its product roadmap. It follows about 1,000 cuts in its core retail division earlier this month, Reuters reported. Newsweek reports that Netflix is laying off about 1,000 workers, roughly 6% of its staff, its largest round since 2022. It says eBay is cutting about 1,000 jobs, around 9% of its workforce. Crunchbase's tracker counted at least 1,790 tech workers affected in a recent two-week stretch, including Electronic Arts' closure of its BioWare studio in Edmonton. Newsweek noted that nationwide layoff figures remain relatively low despite the tech cuts.

WASHINGTON — The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index fell 0.8 points in September to 97.9, one-tenth of a point below its 52-year average, the group reported Oct. 13. Its Uncertainty Index rose to 90, far above the historical norm of 68. Labor quality was the top problem for 26% of owners. Inflation was cited by 20%, up 4 points from August. A net 31% plan to raise prices, the highest since June, and the average rate on short-term loans rose to 8.2%. Only 7% of owners called it a good time to expand. NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg said owners are proceeding with caution. Bloomberg, via The Edge Malaysia, tied persistent price pressure to high energy costs from the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine. NFIB's October reading is due Nov. 10.

Search Engine Roundtable reported on Oct. 27 a larger spike in ranking volatility and community chatter over the previous 24 hours. That followed an unconfirmed signal on Saturday, Oct. 24. Google has announced nothing. The last entry reported on its Search Status Dashboard was the September spam update, which ran from Sept. 24 to Oct. 8, and the most recent core update began May 21. Several site owners have also complained of delayed Search Console data. Google's John Mueller told people on Reddit not to put much weight on how fresh the page-indexing report is, advising them to save their energy. Separately, advertisers cannot agree on whether one local ad unit in results counts as a Local Services ad. Google generally posts confirmed updates on the dashboard with a start time.

Search Engine Roundtable reported Oct. 28 that Google is asking some businesses for an Employer Identification Number and a privacy-policy link when they edit parts of their Business Profile. Google is also emailing businesses that it is automatically adding Facebook Messenger m.me links to their profiles. Neither report says why. The EIN requests appear to fit a broader tightening of identity checks, which includes a government-ID verification test reported last week. Separately, Google's Lisa Landsman announced on LinkedIn that restaurants can switch off individual third-party ordering providers, such as delivery apps, from the dashboard, with separate controls for pickup and delivery. A Google product manager said the setting is available in all countries. Bing is testing a phone icon in desktop local-pack results that shows a scan-to-call QR code.

NEW YORK — Alphabet shares fell more than 10% in after-hours trading Wednesday after third-quarter results missed on both lines. Adjusted earnings were $2.67 a share against $3.02 expected. Revenue was $127.58 billion against $128.22 billion expected, even though sales rose 25% from a year earlier. Free cash flow was negative $9.07 billion, far worse than the roughly $2.70 billion negative figure analysts had expected. The company held its 2026 capital-spending forecast, expected to top $200 billion, and said spending will exceed $300 billion in 2027. Reuters reported the drop erased nearly $400 billion of market value and pushed Nasdaq futures about 1% lower. Microsoft shares rose in extended trading after its own report. Amazon and Intel report later Thursday.

OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% on Wednesday, its first increase since July 2023. The Bank Rate is now 2.75% and the deposit rate 2.45%. Policymakers said high energy prices risk spreading to other goods and services. CPI inflation has run near 3% since April and is projected to reach about 3.5% by year-end. Excluding gasoline, it was 2.2% in September. Governor Tiff Macklem said the Middle East conflict, now in its eighth month, has no clear path to resolution. He said there could be a need to raise the rate further but that the Bank will proceed carefully, one meeting at a time. TD Economics expects one more quarter-point hike in the first quarter of 2027, to 2.75%.

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks closed higher for a third straight session Wednesday after the Fed's decision. The S&P 500 gained 0.28% to 7,743.98, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27% to 26,549.85, and the Dow added 97.53 points to 52,475.10. CNN reported it was the first time since December 2025 that the S&P 500 finished higher on a Fed decision day. The 10-year Treasury yield rose about three basis points to 5.02%. After Warsh's press conference the yield curve steepened, and the 2-year yield fell about 6 basis points to near 4.69%. Futures turned lower overnight after Alphabet's results, with Nasdaq-100 futures down about 1.2% and S&P 500 futures down 0.5% in late Wednesday trading. Thursday's PCE inflation report and Amazon and Intel earnings are next.

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has finalized a rule that lets developers of commercial reactors cite safety evaluations and testing already done under Department of Energy or Defense Department authorization. The goal is to avoid duplicate technical reviews. The rule was published in the Federal Register on Oct. 26 and takes effect Nov. 25. The agency says it will still run independent safety reviews, and applicants must show how federal demonstration results apply to their commercial sites and designs. NRC Chairman Ho Nieh described targets of about 18 months for first-of-a-kind applications and 12 months for later ones. He cautioned that actual timelines will vary. It is the first major reactor regulation finalized under President Trump's May 2025 executive order on nuclear licensing. Financing, fuel supply and construction remain the larger hurdles. The NRC also approved a construction permit for TVA's 300-MW Clinch River small modular reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Sept. 29.

JAKARTA / VANCOUVER — Two large LNG export projects moved closer to final investment decisions this week. In Indonesia, Japan's Inpex finished front-end engineering design for the Abadi LNG project at the Masela block on Oct. 27, about three months ahead of schedule. Regulator SKK Migas wants a decision by January 2027 at the latest. Its chief said total investment could reach about $22 billion, above Inpex's $21 billion estimate. Production is targeted for 2030. In British Columbia, Ksi Lisims LNG on Oct. 26 turned a preliminary deal with Germany's state-owned SEFE into a binding 20-year purchase of one million tonnes a year. That takes binding contracts to 7 million of a planned 12 million tonnes a year, about 58%. Large projects typically need around 75% contracted to secure financing. Developers say they still expect a decision by the end of 2026. Neither final decision has been taken.