Microsoft pushes buyouts to fund AI

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Before The Bell

Change over the last 24 hours · as of Oct 27, 2026, 7:08 AM ET

Microsoft pushes buyouts to fund AI efficiency LINK

• Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees, more than a quarter of its global workforce, as it cuts costs and reshapes operations around artificial intelligence.
• The time-limited offer covers staff at vice-president level and below in the US, Canada, India and the UK, with standard severance-style pay, continued stock vesting and until early December to decide; the 60,000 are eligible workers, not confirmed cuts.
• The move sits against Microsoft's heavy AI spending, roughly $175 billion projected for 2026, even as it posted $90 billion in quarterly revenue; next earnings land tomorrow.

Meta sells $35B in stock for AI buildout LINK

• Meta began selling about $35 billion of new stock yesterday to help pay for its AI infrastructure, with a planned follow-on program that could push total fundraising toward $95 billion.
• The sale splits into roughly $22.5 billion of common shares and $12.5 billion of convertible preferred stock, with Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom each flagging nonbinding interest in buying up to $5 billion of the common stock combined.
• Meta expects $135 billion to $145 billion in 2026 capital spending, funded by cash flow, debt, partnerships and equity; it generated $97 billion in operating cash flow over the first three quarters and held about $82 billion in cash and securities.

Anthropic files for its first IPO LINK

• Anthropic has filed to sell shares to the public for the first time, with an initial public offering that could come as early as November, the company said yesterday.
• The Claude maker has pledged to commit 5% of its shares to a new Anthropic Public Benefit Fund for donations to nonprofits or to people harmed by AI, though shareholders must approve it after the IPO completes.
• Critics, including the Institute for Policy Studies, argue such nonprofit pledges can generate public goodwill without guaranteeing companies act in the public interest, noting public benefit corporations remain lightly regulated by the federal government.

Ripple wins US approval for national trust bank LINK

• Ripple has secured final approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to open Ripple National Trust Bank, a federally supervised trust bank, completing a process that began with conditional approval in December 2025.
• The bank will hold and manage the reserves backing Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin, which has a market value of about $2.6 billion, placing the token under both federal and New York state supervision.
• The crypto trust charters remain contested: Senator Elizabeth Warren says they breach the National Bank Act, and the Independent Community Bankers of America has sued the OCC, arguing the charters let crypto firms skip bank capital rules and FDIC insurance.

Broadcom lands $63B to finance Anthropic's chips LINK

• Bank of America, Blackstone, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley have committed $63 billion to finance Broadcom's AI chips and networking gear for Anthropic, a deal some lenders had reportedly considered abandoning in recent weeks.
• A new special-purpose vehicle will buy Broadcom's AI accelerators and networking products, then lease them to Anthropic, with deliveries starting in 2027; Broadcom is backing the senior debt against losses if Anthropic defaults.
• The financing nearly collapsed over rising rates and AI funding risk until CEO Hock Tan's weekend talks secured higher interest rates and stronger guarantees; Anthropic filed yesterday for a Nasdaq IPO targeting a $1.5 trillion-to-$2 trillion valuation.

Macro News

• Appeals court strikes down Federal Reserve's 21-cent debit-fee cap. LINK
• Europe's ESM sells first blockchain bond settling on Eurosystem's Pontes platform. LINK
• EU prepares restrictions on Chinese chemicals, furniture and machinery imports. LINK
• European lawmakers back fund to invest in miners and domestic refining. LINK
• China's industrial profits surged 14.4%, fastest growth since June, on AI manufacturing. LINK
• Yuan held near four-year high as China's central bank tempered gains. LINK
• Oil fell as US-Iran diplomacy eased fears of Middle East supply disruptions. LINK
• Russian refiners raised diesel output as Moscow tied exports to supply commitments. LINK
• India says US hasn't pressured it to reduce Russian crude imports. LINK

Corporate News

• FTC orders Anthropic executives to testify in consumer-harm investigation. LINK
• BlackRock, SBI and Startale explore linking tokenized funds with yen stablecoin. LINK
• Aviva launches blockchain share class for £22 billion money-market fund. LINK
• Intel agrees to buy Israeli quantum-software startup Classiq for $2.3 billion. LINK
• UK regulators investigate Revolut's product-approval process and launch-related risks. LINK
• Apollo nears deal for almost 10% stake in Mubadala Capital. LINK
• EQT to acquire Range Resources, creating natural-gas producer valued above $50 billion. LINK
• HSBC plans up to $1 billion share buyback after quarterly results. LINK
• Verizon lifts profit outlook and signs $2 billion dark-fiber deal with AWS. LINK
• Bedrock Robotics raises $600 million at $4.1 billion valuation. LINK

Stocks

▲ Biggest winners

Range Resources rose 18% after EQT agreed to buy Range Resources in an all-stock deal valued at about $12.8 billion. LINK

INNIO rose 9% after RBC Capital upgraded Innio to Outperform with a $35 price target. LINK

Maplebear rose 8% after reports DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire Instacart for roughly $17 billion. LINK

▼ Biggest losers

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrob fell 15% after President Lula da Silva won re-election over Bolsonaro. LINK

Itau Unibanco Banco Holding fell 20% after Lula da Silva's surprise re-election in Brazil's presidential runoff. LINK

Research & Reports

• Agentic AI could cut bank KYC times, but governance concerns slow adoption. LINK
• Bernstein favors Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle, citing tokenization and prediction-market opportunities. LINK
• Euro-area banks tightened lending standards as loan demand weakened across sectors. LINK
• IEA warns clean-energy transition depends on dangerously concentrated supply chains. LINK
• Asia may need $1 trillion annually in energy investment for 15 years. LINK
• Circle shares fell after Mizuho warned AI assistants threaten USDC revenue. LINK

Market Calendar

Earnings  ·  Economic events