Hey Snackers,
Apple TV may have dropped the plus sign, but it still knows how to do addition: starting October 20, customers will be able to bundle Apple TV and Peacock for 30% off the price of streaming them separately, in what an NBCUniversal exec called a “perfect combination of entertainment.” Maybe there’s a big overlap between “Poker Face” fans and “Severance” watchers, but we’d bet on another reason. Any way you slice it, Apple has more pressing issues than its lack of viewers, as we discuss in our main story below.
Test your knowledge of this week’s news with our Snacks Seven Quiz. Here’s a fun one:
What is the average price of a new vehicle in the US?
Check your answer.
Bitcoin, banks, and speculative pockets of the market beloved by retail traders (from quantum computing to nuclear energy) were bludgeoned on Thursday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 closed 0.4% and 0.6% lower, respectively, while the Russell 2000 fell about 2%.
Apple falls far from the tree
Apple’s increasingly desperate efforts to get back into the AI race took another hit with news from Bloomberg that the head of AI search for a revamped Siri is leaving for Meta, which has pursued the strategy of loading money into a cannon and shooting it wherever there’s a glimmer of AI talent not nailed down.
According to the report, Ke Yang took charge of Apple’s “Answers, Knowledge and Information” team just weeks ago.
The team is reportedly targeting a March 2026 launch for the new version of Siri, which will feature the ability to search the web for answers to user queries. Sure, that’ll do it.
Yang’s exit is the latest in a series of executive departures that have plagued Apple, and continues Meta’s hiring spree across the tech industry to lure top AI talent to the company with reported eye-popping nine-figure pay packages.
Bloomberg reports that roughly a dozen members of the Apple Foundation Models team have also departed recently, many joining Meta’s “superintelligence” team.
Apple has been behind the eight ball for much of the AI trend, despite being relatively early to the voice assistant game with Siri. That being said, Siri never really managed to become the kind of killer product that Apple executives were clearly hoping for, and consistently fell short of expectations when it came to its ability to actually execute the tasks intended.
The Takeaway
Ultimately, this departure is just the latest in a long line of missed opportunities for Cupertino, which finds itself without answers, lacking knowledge, and bereft of information to win this.
But hey, at least they’ve got television figured out, right? Right?
StartEngine Has Raised $80M+ From the Crowd. Now, They’re B
StartEngine doesn’t just talk about democratizing finance. They live it.
Since 2014, they’ve built one of the leading alternative investing platforms in the U.S. With $80M+ raised to date and 50K+ shareholders across all offerings, their momentum keeps compounding:
$1.5B invested on the platform with a community of 2.1M+.1,2
3x revenue YoY in H1 2025 with a record total revenues for H1 2025 of $70M. (Up from $48M annual revenue in 2024)2
Supported by Activision Co-Founder and strategic advisor Kevin O’Leary.3
Growth driven by StartEngine Private, offering exposure to the likes of Databricks and xAI.4
Unlike most players in the space, StartEngine raises capital from the crowd just like the companies on its platform.
Learn more about this opportunity and help fuel the future of finance.5
Salesforce hikes revenue target, but traders are still concerned AI is going to absolutely devour Benioff’s lunch
Salesforce finished the day up 4% Thursday after issuing an upbeat revenue target and projecting a return to “double-digit growth” within the next 12 to 18 months.
At an investor event Wednesday, the software maker said it expects annual revenue to top $60 billion by fiscal 2030, ahead of Wall Street’s $58.37 billion estimate, per CNBC.
The new outlook comes less than six weeks since Salesforce issued underwhelming Q3 revenue guidance, extending a slowdown to single-digit sales growth since mid-2024 — as the company has yet to translate the AI hype into cold, hard cash.
Salesforce’s biggest bet is Agentforce, the AI assistant launched a year ago that CEO Marc Benioff calls “the core of every product we make now.”
Still, AI is likely to make up just ~3% of the company’s FY 2026 revenue, with concerns emerging that new AI tools could replace legacy software providers like Salesforce — a notion that Benioff called “nonsense.”
Chief Financial and Operating Officer Robin Washington acknowledged the company had “some lower-stage growth for a while,” but said it’s now “reaccelerating.”
The Takeaway
Earlier this week, Salesforce rolled out Agentforce Voice, which allows AI agents to handle customer calls, and expanded partnerships with Anthropic and OpenAI to integrate their latest models into its platform. Despite the bump today, investors do seem pretty spooked about what widespread AI adoption might do to a company like Salesforce. Shares remain down 26% year to date and 32% below their peak last December.
The Best Thing We Read Today
Retail traders’ favorite risky, speculative stocks got taken to the woodshed
Speculative pockets of the market, featuring companies with no to low revenues, had a rough ride on Thursday. There’s no material news driving the price action in these groups, which have very different business models but a thing or two in common: most are names that retail traders love and/or had displayed strong positive price momentum that now seems to have flipped on its head. In other words, they’re stocks with common owners, and that has given them common cause to act alike.
AI-enabled software, electrified aircraft, and a nationwide flight network — is this the future of regional air mobility?
Surf Air Mobility (NYSE: SRFM) is developing an AI-enabled software platform to accelerate and transform air mobility. By connecting underutilized airports and leveraging its SurfOS AI-enabled software, Surf Air Mobility aims to create a faster, more efficient, and more accessible way to fly.
Learn more about the company redefining the future of air travel.6
What Else We're Snackin'
Big games in the markets: Going into the weekend, traders on Robinhood are pricing an Eagles win over the Vikings on Sunday at $0.54 on the dollar, a Chargers win over Indianapolis at $0.55, and for the night games are pricing a San Francisco win at $0.55 and an Atlanta win at $0.46
United and rival airlines were battered after an analyst criticized the industry’s capacity growth
Microsoft said it’s moving most of its production out of China
Anthropic is reportedly catching up to OpenAI, and is on track for a $9 billion annual run rate by the end of the year
The Federal Reserve is generally expected to cut rates by 0.25 percentage points in two weeks
Snack Fact Of The Day
TiVo, which launched in 1999, has sold its last DVR.
Today's Events
September housing starts and building permits
Earnings expected from American Express, Truist, SLB, State Street, Fifth Third Bancorp, Ally, and Regions Financial
1 Count determined as number of unique email addresses in StartEngine’s database as of 04-03-2025. One individual may have more than one email address. In May 2023, StartEngine acquired assets of SeedInvest, including email lists for SeedInvest’s users, investors and founders. Click here for more details.
2 Based on our Q2 2025 Form 10-Q/A. This revenue growth has been driven by StartEngine Private, a new product line that offers funds in late stage companies. This product line has driven over $34.1 million of the $39 million in revenue from Q2 2025. To understand the impact on margins, see financials. Past performance may not be indicative of future performance.
See page 4 of the Q2 2025 Form 10-Q for the H1 2025 and H1 2024 total revenues. See page 35 of the offering circular and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for 2024 annual revenues.
3 Kevin O’Leary is a paid spokesperson for StartEngine. See his 17(b) disclosure, here.
4 The underlying companies held by StartEngine Private Funds LLC, and StartEngine Private LLC (together, “StartEngine Private”) are not participating or involved in the offering. The availability of company information does not indicate that the company has endorsed, supports or otherwise participates with StartEngine Private or any of its affiliates. StartEngine Crowdfunding LLC purchases shares from current and former employees, early investors, and advisors of the companies and sells the shares to StartEngine Private for each offering. When you make an investment in a company on StartEngine Private, you are purchasing an interest in a series of StartEngine Private Funds LLC or StartEngine Private LLC, each a Delaware limited liability company (together the “Series LLCs”), which were created to hold shares of privately held companies. An investor will not directly own or hold shares of the private company but instead will own member interests in a series of the Series LLCs, which either directly or indirectly, will hold shares in the company. There may not be a one-to-one economic parity on the value of the Series LLCs interests and the underlying shares.
5 This is a paid advertisement for StartEngine’s Regulation A+ offering. For more information, please see the most recent Offering Circular and Risks related to this offering.
This Reg A+ offering is made available through StartEngine Crowdfunding, Inc. No broker-dealer or intermediary is involved in the offering. In addition, as described in the Offering Circular, the Company retains the right to continue the offering beyond the Termination Date, in its sole discretion.
Investing in private company securities is not suitable for all investors. This investment is highly speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment. It should only be considered a long-term investment. There is no guarantee that a market will develop for such securities.
6 Stock markets are volatile and can fluctuate significantly in response to company, industry, political, regulatory, market, or economic developments. Investing in stock involves risks, including the loss of principal. Before investing, carefully assess whether a particular stock aligns with your investment objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation.
This is a paid advertisement for Surf Air Mobility, Inc.