markets

Luke Kawa11/25/25

Alibaba gains as Q2 cloud revenues beat estimates on “robust AI demand”

China’s leading cloud giant is cashing in on the huge appetite for AI compute.

Alibaba ADRs are up big in premarket trading after the e-commerce and cloud giant reported second-quarter sales above analysts’ estimates.

Revenues in its Cloud Intelligence Group rose to 39.8 billion yuan (~$5.6 billion) for the three months ended September 30, ahead of estimates for roughly 38 billion yuan (~$5.35 billion).

“We have entered into an investment phase to build long-term strategic value in AI technologies and infrastructure and a consumption platform integrating daily life services and e-commerce,” said CEO Eddie Wu. “Robust AI demand further accelerated our Cloud Intelligence Group business, with revenue up 34% and AI-related product revenue achieving triple-digit year-over-year growth for the ninth consecutive quarter.”

For traders, the potential benefits from establishing a dominant cloud position in the region are outweighing Alibaba’s bottom-line figures. The positive reaction to these quarterly results comes despite adjusted net income falling 72% compared to the same quarter last year.

Management made it clear that profits are not the top near-term priority.

“We are re-investing our profits and free cash flow for the future while near-term profitability is expected to fluctuate,” Chief Financial Officer Toby Xu added in the press release. “Over the past four quarters, we have deployed approximately RMB120 billion in capital expenditure toward AI and cloud infrastructure.”

This continues the trend of Alibaba’s commitment to AI capex being received enthusiastically by the market. Ahead of earnings, the company announced that its Qwen AI app was downloaded more than 10 million times in the week following its relaunch.

Elsewhere, its domestic e-commerce business — still far and away the firm’s biggest revenue driver — beat sales estimates, while international digital commerce came up short.

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J. Edward Moreno7/7/26

SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

US job growth falls far short of estimates in June; unemployment rate unexpectedly dips to 4.2%

Job growth was 57,000. Analysts foresaw job growth of 113,000; prediction markets were more optimistic, looking for job growth above 125,000 but below 150,000.

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Meta surges on report it’s starting a cloud business to sell excess AI compute

The story of the hyperscalers in 2026 has largely been “the beatings will continue until the cash flow outlook improves;” this could help change the story for Meta. Or not.

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markets

Paige Oamek6/30/26

Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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