US Stocks Slip Slightly as Anthropic Is Set to Report Third-Quarter Earnings; AI Hardware Stocks Recover Early Losses, SpaceX Drops Over 4%

TradingKey - As the U.S. stock earnings season approaches, Anthropic plans to disclose its third-quarter financial results on October 14. U.S. stocks fell slightly today, while AI hardware stocks erased early losses.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.35% to 51,670.10 points; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.15% to 27,204.38 points; and the S&P 500 Index fell 0.02% to 7,805.45 points.

Tech Stock Performance

Meta rose 2.63% to $762.50.

Pivotal Research sharply raised Meta's price target from $790 to $930 while maintaining a "Buy" rating, implying roughly 25% upside potential. Analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak's core rationale is that Meta's return on investment in AI is "coming into view"—early adoption of the Muse personal AI assistant has been strong, and the Muse Wonder model joined the frontier ranks following its release.

Among megacap tech stocks, Meta Platforms (META) rose 2.63%, Nvidia (NVDA) gained 0.97%, Broadcom (AVGO) advanced 0.73%, Microsoft (MSFT) added 0.43%, Google (GOOGL) rose 0.30%, TSMC (TSM) gained 0.17%, and Apple (AAPL) rose 0.09%; on the downside, SpaceX (SPCX) fell 4.21%, Tesla (TSLA) dropped 0.74%, and Amazon (AMZN) declined 0.37%.

[Source: FutuBull]

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 0.23% to 12,208.85 points; among its 30 constituents, 20 advanced and 10 declined. Among them, Texas Instruments (TXN) rose 2.17%, AMD (AMD) gained 1.90%, Intel (INTC) climbed 1.44%, Qualcomm (QCOM) advanced 1.39%, and Marvell Technology (MRVL) added 1.08%.

Company News

Anthropic Plans to Disclose Third-Quarter Financial Data for the First Time

According to CNBC, AI company Anthropic plans to disclose its third-quarter financial data for the first time at a potential investor meeting on Wednesday, October 14. As the San Francisco-based AI firm prepares to go public, the figures could serve as a crucial basis for investors evaluating its growth rate, profitability, and IPO valuation. Anthropic will present the financial data to a group of institutional investors, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information has not been made public. Bloomberg previously reported that Anthropic is preparing a pre-IPO investor day event. Anthropic declined to comment.

Apple Launches $299 AI Smart Display HomeView

Apple introduced a new device named HomeView. Priced at $299, the smart display will serve as Apple's centerpiece product to challenge Amazon and Google in the smart home market. HomeView will be available on November 13 and is primarily operated via hands-free voice commands, using facial recognition technology to deliver personalized software experiences for each family member. The device features no physical buttons but comes equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen that uses an app grid layout familiar to iPhone and iPad users. Apple is positioning HomeView as an ideal platform to showcase the capabilities of its Siri AI assistant. With a built-in camera, the device can instantly recognize up to six different users and deliver customized responses, whether helping with cooking, video calling friends and family, or playing music through its speakers.

Google Fully Launches Gemini 4 Argon

Google announced on Tuesday the official release of its flagship large model Gemini 4 Argon. This means that two additional companies offering services that rival the flagship models of Anthropic and OpenAI have joined the field in the first two days of this week alone, highlighting once again how rapidly the balance of power in the AI landscape can shift. Performance data previously disclosed by Google showed that compared to major competitors, Argon excels in professional knowledge tasks such as finance, law, and long-document analysis.

Nvidia Plans to Announce $2 Billion Investment in Europe Next Week

Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said in Paris on Tuesday that the company plans to announce a new $2 billion investment in Europe over the coming week. Adding to the $8 billion already invested in Europe over the past year, Nvidia will further expand its local presence. Huang's European trip will also include stops in London and Berlin. Huang also announced a new round of financial support for four French startups: healthtech company Doctolib, robotics firm Genesis AI, business software company Pigment, and Entalpic, which uses artificial intelligence for chemistry and materials research.

Industry & Macro News

Fed's Williams: One More Rate Hike Possible This Year

New York Fed President Williams stated that one more rate hike this year is appropriate, but if the economic outlook aligns with expectations, no further rate hikes may be necessary in 2027. He noted that he supported the September rate hike decision, with primary drivers including rising energy prices and increased investment in AI infrastructure. Williams stated that the conflict in the Middle East is driving up energy prices, which are passing through to core inflation via transportation, food, and other sectors; meanwhile, demand for data centers and chips generated by AI deployment is pushing up the costs of certain commodities and affecting labor costs in construction. He added that although tariffs, energy prices, and AI demand have kept inflation higher than expected this year, inflation expectations remain stable, core inflation metrics continue to decline, and inflation is projected to drop significantly next year toward the 2% target. Williams noted that the scale of growth in AI demand is substantial, outstripping supply in the short term, but as chip capacity expands and productivity increases, the supply side is likely to improve over time, forming a force to curb inflation.

Bridgewater's Dalio Warns: U.S. Treasury Bear Market Far From Over as Supply-Demand Imbalance Risks Accumulate

Ray Dalio, co-founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, believes the U.S. is entering a mutually reinforcing vicious cycle of debt expansion and contracting demand, where rising interest rates elevate borrowing costs, in turn pushing up the total debt volume; overseas demand is shifting, as major creditors China and Japan both have motives to reduce holdings, making shorting U.S. Treasuries easier than going long given expected shifts in new supply and demand; corporate bonds and the AI financing boom are intensifying the scramble for capital, rendering the corporate credit market a 'canary in the coal mine'; debt-servicing costs are eroding fiscal space; and intensifying global debt competition means stock markets will not emerge unscathed, as the supply of financial assets—including debt and equity—seems to far exceed what demand can absorb.