Business & Markets

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Intel shares fell 28.6% on Friday to $65.76, the stock's worst day since 1974, after the company gave a fourth-quarter outlook below Wall Street's. It guided revenue of $15 billion to $16 billion against expectations near $17 billion. It guided adjusted earnings of 25 cents a share against about 43 cents expected. The company also said it does not expect positive cash flow this year. Management blamed weak PC demand, which is worsened by memory prices as suppliers favor AI chips. A fatal explosion at its Kiryat Gat fab in Israel also hurt. The loss erased more than $100 billion of market value. CNBC put the cut to the U.S. government's 10% stake at about $12 billion, though that stake is still up about $20 billion. Several analysts downgraded the stock. The Philadelphia chip index fell 7.2% that day.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple reported September-quarter revenue of $114.48 billion on Monday, up 12% and above the $113.39 billion analysts expected. It was the first report under CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook on Sept. 1. Earnings were $2.10 a share against $1.99 expected, and net income was $30.7 billion. iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.58 billion despite only eight days of iPhone 18 Pro sales. Services revenue of $31.57 billion grew less than 10%, its slowest pace since 2022. Apple guided gross margin to 45% to 46%, down from 47.9%, as memory costs climb. Fortune reported the stock fell as much as 4% after hours, then recovered to trade down about 2.2%. Fiscal 2026 revenue reached a record of about $479 billion.

SAN FRANCISCO — DoorDash signed a definitive agreement on Oct. 29 to acquire Instacart, which operates as Maplebear, for $65 a share. That values the equity at about $17 billion and is a 26% premium to Instacart's Oct. 22 close, the last day before media reports. At least 75% of the consideration will be cash. Instacart holders can elect cash, DoorDash stock or a mix, subject to proration. JPMorgan has committed financing, and there is no financing condition. Instacart's board approved unanimously. NBC News noted DoorDash already handles about two-thirds of U.S. food delivery volume. Trade outlet MLex expects in-depth reviews by federal and state antitrust agencies. The companies expect to close the deal at the end of 2027 or in the first half of 2028 and will operate separately until then.

ANKARA — Turkey's Competition Authority announced on Monday an investigation into whether Google abused a dominant position with AI Overviews and AI Mode. The board had already imposed interim measures at an October 8 meeting. It cited strong suspicion of discriminatory and exploitative conduct toward news publishers. Under the measures, Google must set terms that do not discriminate among publishers and that reflect the economic value of their content. Publishers must also be able to decide whether their material appears in the AI features without losing visibility or indexing elsewhere on Google. The authority is also examining Google's licensing agreements, traffic effects, and possible harm to rival AI assistants. No violation has been found and no fine has been announced. Google had not publicly responded in the coverage reviewed. Google launched both features in Turkey in February 2026.

Search Engine Roundtable's November webmaster report summarizes Google's October changes. Google updated its documentation to advise fact-checking and reviewing AI-generated content. It revised its helpful-content guidance on how main content is judged and warned against faking authorship. It also cautioned about tools that produce user-generated-content spam, and the report says Google may be issuing more manual actions. The September spam update finished in October, and the report notes that several unconfirmed ranking shifts have occurred while the industry waits for the next core update. On the local side, Google is rolling out its new Business Home, advanced performance reports, third-party ordering controls and AI-powered messaging for Business Profiles. Review appeals remain delayed. The report also says Search Console added country filters.

WASHINGTON — The Institute for Supply Management said its October manufacturing index rose to 55.5 from 54.5, above the roughly 54.5 economists expected. It was the tenth straight monthly expansion. Production jumped to 59.0, the highest since November 2021, and new orders edged up to 55.5. Employment slipped to 52.4. The prices-paid gauge eased to 75.2 from 77.9 but has now stayed above 70 for nine straight months. Respondents' comments were mostly gloomy, with 66% negative, citing tariffs, the Iran war and inflation. The Federal Reserve held its target range at 3.75%-4.00% on Oct. 28, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland's Beth Hammack dissenting in favor of a hike. FXStreet reported that CME FedWatch put the chance of a December hike near 73%, down from 80% a week earlier. Friday's October payrolls report is the next test; consensus is for about 65,000 jobs.

NEW YORK — Oracle filed with the SEC on Monday to sell $10 billion of common stock and $10 billion of senior notes. It said the money would go to general corporate purposes, which could include capital spending, debt repayment and future investments. The company outlined the plan at an investor day last week. It said it would cap new capital-markets funding at $20 billion for fiscal 2027 through 2030 and forecast at least $225 billion of revenue in fiscal 2030, Quartz reported. CNBC reported that Oracle shares fell about 8% on the day. Bloomberg said Oracle led 17 issuers in the U.S. investment-grade bond market ahead of the midterms, the longest slate since September. Separately, Marvell Technology agreed to buy Lumentum in a $115 billion deal. Marvell fell almost 13% and Lumentum 18%.

SYDNEY — The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its cash rate by a quarter point to 4.85% on Tuesday, the highest since 2008 and the fifth increase this year. Six board members backed the move and three wanted to hold at 4.60%. The bank said inflation remains elevated and broadly based, and cited the Middle East war and higher oil prices. SBS reported the bank acknowledged a cooling labor market, with unemployment up to 4.7% in September, but judged inflation risks justified another hike. ABC News said the bank left the door open to more increases and accepted that bringing inflation down will take longer than it expected a few months ago. Capital Economics, quoted by ABC, expects the bank's next move to be a cut in late 2027. Oil's sharp fall on Monday may ease some of the inflation concern behind the decision.

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — PJM Interconnection filed an amended Reliability Backstop Procurement at FERC on Oct. 29. FERC had accepted the original plan Sept. 29 but suspended its execution for five months. The revised plan opens bidding March 1, 2027, and closes it March 28. PJM would set the final target April 28 and post results May 10. It aims to buy up to 15 years of supply against a 6,831 MW shortfall from its 2028/29 capacity auction, with a $555 per MW-day weighted-average ceiling. The target will be recalculated and cut by capacity contracted bilaterally between large loads and suppliers. Costs would follow large-load growth, measured from actual 2026 summer peak to the 2028/29 forecast. Credit requirements would be lowered and standardized. Exiting load-serving entities would stay liable for charges. An earlier opt-out for some municipal utilities and cooperatives would be removed. FERC has not yet acted on the amendment.

SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI announced Monday that data-center campuses it develops directly will cut electricity use during extreme weather or other grid emergencies. The pilot is Project Camellia in Effingham County, Georgia, a planned 3.2 GW campus. Under a 25-year agreement, Georgia Power can reduce deliveries by up to 1,000 MW, enough for roughly 700,000 homes. OpenAI says it will pay the full infrastructure and electric-service costs. Terms will vary by campus, with details to follow. The company also argues steady AI demand can spread grid costs across more sales. The pledge comes as public opposition to data centers grows; a Gallup poll in May found 71% of Americans opposed one nearby. Policymakers are pushing flexibility too: FERC's large-load interconnection orders encourage it, and the Senate permitting bill would let states require curtailment as a condition of grid service. Effingham County is due to vote on the site plan Tuesday.