tech

Salesforce jumps as Q3 earnings top expectations

Salesforce jumped after-hours Wednesday as it posted earnings and guidance that beat analysts’ expectations. Its adjusted earnings per share came in at $3.25 for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, above the FactSet analyst consensus estimate of $2.86. Its revenue rose 9% to $10.3 billion, in line with expectations.

The software-as-a-service company issued fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $11.13 billion to $11.23 billion, well above the $10.9 billion analysts had predicted. It also forecast adjusted earnings of $3.02 to $3.04 per share, compared with analysts’ expectations of $3.04.

Shares were up 4.3% in recent trading.

“Our Agentforce and Data 360 products are the momentum drivers,” CEO Marc Benioff said in the press release.

Last quarter, Salesforce shares fell after the company issued disappointing third-quarter guidance. Coming into today’s report, the stock was down about 30% year to date.

Investors will be watching the earnings call closely for updates on the company’s AI strategy — particularly progress on Agentforce and broader adoption of its AI-driven cloud offerings.

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Report: Meta poaches Apple design chief Alan Dye

Meta has poached Alan Dye, the head of Apple’s user interface design team since 2015, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The hire follows several major leadership changes at Apple as it struggles to catch up after a slow start to the AI explosion.

Per the report, Dye will head a new design lab at Meta tasked with integrating AI into its consumer electronics, software, and interface designs.

Apple shares were down about 0.6% in late trading.

Apple Design Executive Alan Dye Poached by Meta in Major Coup

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Per the report, Dye will head a new design lab at Meta tasked with integrating AI into its consumer electronics, software, and interface designs.

Apple shares were down about 0.6% in late trading.

tech

Google’s Waymo to expand autonomous driving service to Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh

Alphabet-owned Waymo announced Wednesday that it’s planning on expanding to four additional cities — Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh — though it hasn’t provided a timeline for when customers will be able to access autonomous services in those cities. It’s begun autonomous testing with a safety monitor in Philadelphia, and is collecting data with manual drivers in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh.

The latest announcement comes after a slew of other expansion announcements last month, growing its footprint across the country and strengthening its lead against Tesla. Waymo is currently operating commercial services in five cities and has plans to expand that service to about 20 more.

tech

Tesla sales drop in Germany, adding to declines across Europe

Tesla sales in Germany, one of its biggest European markets, fell 20% in November and are down nearly 50% through November compared with a year earlier, deepening what has largely been a year of sales declines across the continent.

CEO Elon Musk has said Europe, Tesla’s third-largest market, is its “weakest market,” blaming the lack of regulatory approval for its Full Self-Driving tech.

For what it’s worth, even in places where FSD is allowed, adoption isn’t strong. On the company’s most recent earnings call, CFO Vaibhav Taneja said that globally, only 12% of Tesla’s existing fleet pays for FSD.

tech

Report: Anthropic hires law firm to prepare for possible IPO in 2026

Anthropic has taken the first steps toward a possible initial public offering next year, according to a new report from the Financial Times.

Anthropic has hired West Coast law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin work on the IPO, per the report.

Anthropic’s valuation has skyrocketed recently, reaching as high as $350 billion by some estimates. An IPO for Anthropic would allow investors one of their first real cracks at tapping into white-hot demand for the private companies at the heart of the generative-AI boom that started three years ago with OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT.

Anthropic taps IPO lawyers as it races OpenAI to go public

Anthropic Projects $70 Billion in Revenue, $17 Billion in Cash Flow in 2028

Anthropic’s valuation has skyrocketed recently, reaching as high as $350 billion by some estimates. An IPO for Anthropic would allow investors one of their first real cracks at tapping into white-hot demand for the private companies at the heart of the generative-AI boom that started three years ago with OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT.

tech

Microsoft drops after report that it lowered AI sales quotas in the face of lower-than-expected demand

Microsoft was down around 3% this morning after The Information reported that multiple divisions within the tech giant have lowered their sales quotas for AI products as traditional customers resist paying more for largely unproven tech. The stock pared some of those losses after CNBC reported that Microsoft issued a statement saying it hadn’t lowered sales quotas or targets. The Information has updated its headline to say “Microsoft Lowers AI Software Growth Targets as Customers Resist Newer Products.”

While AI spending has been a major revenue lift for Microsoft, The Information noted that much of that revenue is booked from AI companies themselves, which rent cloud infrastructure from the hyperscaler — arrangements critics have described as circular deals that inflate apparent growth. Microsoft’s stock has been struggling following its earnings report in late October, when the company reversed its guidance on capital spending, meaning its AI expenses would continue to grow.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft salespeople were having trouble selling the company’s chatbot, Copilot, with consumers preferring OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead.

Microsoft Lowers AI Software Sales Quotas as Customers Resist Newer Products

Microsoft Lowers AI Software Sales Quotas as Customers Resist Newer Products

While AI spending has been a major revenue lift for Microsoft, The Information noted that much of that revenue is booked from AI companies themselves, which rent cloud infrastructure from the hyperscaler — arrangements critics have described as circular deals that inflate apparent growth. Microsoft’s stock has been struggling following its earnings report in late October, when the company reversed its guidance on capital spending, meaning its AI expenses would continue to grow.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft salespeople were having trouble selling the company’s chatbot, Copilot, with consumers preferring OpenAI’s ChatGPT instead.

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