Big Tech is graded on cash, not clouds, as chips slide and oil climbs

Microsoft cleared the bar while Alphabet, Amazon and Intel were punished for AI spending; the Fed held at 3.75–4.00% with two dissents, and oil finished October up 15%.

Deepakshi Sharma

Kristal Research

30 Oct2 min

Key takeaways — AI summary

Money rotated out of tech rather than out of stocks: the Nasdaq 100 lost 1.98% and the S&P 500 0.57% for the week, while the small-cap Russell 2000 gained 1.3%; Intel fell 28.6% on Friday on weak Q4 guidance and Alphabet dropped more than 12% as Search growth slowed to 12% and free cash flow turned negative.
The Fed held at 3.75–4.00% in a 10–2 vote, with Beth Hammack and Lisa Cook dissenting for a 25 bp hike; strong Q3 GDP of 3.4% and PCE inflation at 3.6% kept markets pricing about an 85% chance of a December hike.
Oil kept climbing on Gulf tensions: WTI settled at $104.12, its highest since late April, and finished October up 15.2% after a limpet-mine attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz; gold fell 3.0% to a one-year low.
Kristal.AI published ten earnings notes asking who pays for the AI build-out: Microsoft grew Azure 48% but saw free cash flow fall to $18.6 billion, Amazon's trailing free cash flow hit −$42.4 billion, and Meta raised $37.5 billion of equity toward a plan for up to $95 billion in AI infrastructure.
Elsewhere, Lula won a fourth term in Brazil, sending the real to its worst day against the dollar since at least 1994; and hackers reportedly stole $6.3 billion from Binance, pushing bitcoin below $77,000.

Generated by Kristal AI · reviewed by the research desk

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