Meta Built a Stock to Sell | Lam and IBM Beat and Fell | Brent Held Above $110

AI Shares Fell Before the Open. Bonds Rallied as Oil Rose.

The S&P 500 rose 0.6% on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1%. By early Thursday, S&P 500 futures were down about 1.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures about 1.8%. The selloff spread through Asia, where the Kospi fell 3.5%.

Meta's AI spending is now running ahead of its cash flow. Brent rose on a Gulf attack, yet the 10-year Treasury yield fell to about 5.09%.

Bitcoin fell about 2.6% to near $81,800, even after several days of inflows into spot bitcoin funds.

Investor Signal

Investors are now judging the AI trade on who pays for the build-out. Weekly jobless claims come before the open, and the Fed meets Oct. 27 to 28. Soft labor data would support the bond rally and ease borrowing costs for the biggest spenders.

Meta Created a Stock It Plans to Sell. Its AI Spending Already Tops Its Cash Flow.

Meta Platforms (META) will create a listed Class C stock with no vote. Once a new charter takes effect on Jan. 19, 2027, Class A and Class B holders will get one Class C share for each share they own. That works like a two-for-one split, and Meta has not yet set the record or payment dates.

The filing says Meta "expects to conduct offerings" of the new stock. Entities tied to Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, with about 56.1% of the vote, approved it without a shareholder meeting. A separate agreement lets Zuckerberg sell about 10% of his economic stake without losing majority voting control.

Revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion, but capital spending of $34.91 billion topped $32.79 billion of operating cash flow. Free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion. Meta raised its 2026 spending floor to $135 billion. The shares jumped more than 7% after hours, then slipped almost 3% below Wednesday's close before the open.

Investor Signal

The new class turns Meta's AI build-out into a question of what new shareholders will pay. Each Class C offering by Meta would dilute existing holders' economic stake while leaving their votes intact. The size and price of the first offering will show how much of Meta's spending bill outside investors carry.

Lam and IBM Beat. Tesla Cut Spending. All Three Fell Before the Open.

Meta's spending ends up as revenue for chipmakers and their equipment suppliers. Lam Research (LRCX) posted record revenue of $8.22 billion, up 54% from a year earlier. Lam traded about 7.3% lower before the open, and Applied Materials (AMAT) and KLA (KLAC) also fell.

IBM (IBM) beat on revenue and raised its cash outlook. Its shares rose more than 7% after hours, then fell below its Wednesday close during the call. Chief Executive Arvind Krishna said clients worry that some AI spending is out of control with no real return, according to accounts of the call. IBM was down about 5% early Thursday.

Tesla (TSLA) went the other way. It cut its 2026 capital budget to about $20 billion from more than $25 billion and produced about $1.5 billion of free cash flow. Operating income still fell 56%, and the stock was down about 4% before the open.

Investor Signal

The selloff hit Meta, which is spending more, Tesla, which is spending less, and chip-equipment makers such as Lam. That suggests investors are pricing the return on AI spending more than its size. Lam's December range runs from a slight decline to about 10% growth, and that quarter will show whether orders follow the doubts.

Texas Instruments Grew 28%. Its Forecast Calls for a Flat Quarter.

Texas Instruments (TXN) sells mostly analog chips used in factories, cars and other equipment. Revenue rose 28% from a year earlier to $6.06 billion, and both of its main segments grew. Operating profit rose 73% to $2.87 billion, and earnings of $2.62 a share beat estimates. Its fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $5.80 billion to $6.30 billion has a midpoint that matches the quarter just reported. The shares were down less than 1% before the open.

Investor Signal

The operating margin rose to about 47.5% from roughly 35% a year earlier, so higher volumes are flowing straight to profit. The small premarket move suggests investors see TI as outside the AI spending debate that hit Lam. After 11% growth from the second quarter, a flat midpoint means the company expects the recovery to pause.

Brent Held Above $110 After a Drone Attack on a Saudi Field. Treasuries Rallied Anyway.

Saudi Arabia said a drone aimed at the Shaybah oil field was intercepted and falling debris killed two people, with operations unaffected. The State Department ordered nonessential U.S. government staff to leave Saudi Arabia. Brent traded near $111.80 early Thursday, up about 2.7%, a day after a similar spike faded within hours.

Treasuries rallied anyway. The 10-year yield fell and gold slid more than 1.5%. Lower yields reduce the base rate on new AI borrowing.

Investor Signal

Oil and Treasury yields moved in opposite directions. Bonds rallied as Gulf attacks spread and tech stocks sold off, and nothing yet shows which drove it. Bypass routes, many across Saudi territory, have kept Gulf oil exports flowing, so attacks there go at that cushion itself. A sale of five-year inflation-protected Treasuries on Thursday will test whether lower yields hold with Brent above $110.

EQT Offers 46.50 Euros a Share for Qiagen. Most of the Premium Was Already in the Price.

An EQT buyout fund, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and CPP Investments as co-investors, agreed to make a recommended cash offer for Qiagen (QGEN). The deal values the diagnostics company at about 10.8 billion euros including debt.

The offer is 40.3% above Qiagen's price before takeover interest surfaced in July. It is only 8.6% above Wednesday's Frankfurt close of 42.80 euros, so about 72% of the premium was already in the stock. Six banks have committed the debt, and the offer has no financing condition.

Investor Signal

Banks committed debt to a steady diagnostics business on the same evening AI spenders were asked to prove their returns. The offer sat about 3% above Qiagen's Frankfurt price on Thursday morning, a narrow gap for a deal expected to close in mid-2027. Approval of the offer document by German regulator BaFin will open the acceptance period.

The AI build-out now costs more than the cash one of its biggest buyers produces. Meta answered with a stock it plans to sell. Investors answered by selling the suppliers, the spender that cut back and the company whose clients voiced doubts, while a chipmaker outside the build-out held steady.

Bonds offered some relief as oil rose, and banks kept funding steady cash flows. The open will show whether the gap between AI spending and the cash behind it now sets prices across the sector.