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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Wall Street analysts have high hopes for Meta's third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. </li><li>Investors are keeping an eye on growth opportunities from AI. </li></ul>Wall Street analysts are upbeat ahead of Meta's third-quarter earnings report on Wednesday after the closing bell. Analysts generally expect positive revenue and earnings figures, thanks to the Facebook parent's AI ad optimization and the firm's <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-reorganized-major-businesses-eliminated-roles-whatsapp-instagram-reality-labs-2024-10#:~:text=Meta%20has%20gone%20through%20several,%22efficiency%22%20would%20be%20permanent.&amp;text=As%20of%20March%2C%20Meta%20had,of%202022%2C%20BI%20previously%20reported.">sweeping cost cuts</a>, which included several rounds of layoffs in recent years and saw the firm backing away from some of its <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-cuts-spending-reality-labs-meta-report-2024-7">virtual reality projects</a>. Investors will be keeping a close eye on signs Meta can continue that growth, with the company <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=4d0247c89eeec6faa3e72d5dee88e7c60fa1cc284a9699c5902f9e7a696dc773&amp;postID=6720fbaf3a35c2732d44c2bb&amp;postSlug=meta-q3-earnings-preview-meta-stock-price-ai-growth-guidance-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theinformation.com%2Farticles%2Fmeta-develops-ai-search-engine-to-lessen-reliance-on-google-microsoft">reportedly</a> working on a new search tool that will surf the web for its AI chatbot. Wall Street is also looking for strong guidance for the current quarter, though analysts see potential for costs to come in higher than expected.Here's what analysts are saying ahead of the tech giant's earnings report. <h2 id="a8b0515c-9d85-4b4d-b1cf-6fce44552568">"Long-term story is as strong as ever": Bernstein</h2>Meta's long-run growth trajectory looks solid, according to Bernstein senior analyst Mark Shmulik. The stock is up 70% this year and is up 550% since bottoming in 2022."Near term risk and reward feels balanced," Shmulik wrote in a note, adding that the firm had a "perma-bull position on all things Meta.""But the long-term story is as strong as ever. As we look ahead we're constructive on the core business with an expected launch of ads on Threads, continued Reels ramp, more AI/Advantage+ ad tools offer investors top-line upside with a potential TikTok ban not currently priced in," he later added.The firm issued an "Outperform" rating on the stock and a $675 price target, implying 15% upside from current levels.<h2 id="dc7c6a08-8f5f-4c79-812c-4fa35a463037">"Uniquely well positioned to monetize search": JMP</h2>Meta's reported search engine could be a huge positive for the company, JMP analysts said in a note."Meta is uniquely well positioned to monetize search given its 200M+ active SMBs and 12M+ active advertisers," the firm wrote. "To that end, we believe Meta could offer a compelling commercial experience for search given its existing advertiser and SMB relationships while also using search intent signal to power its core advertising product on Facebook and Instagram."The search tool, though, could raise capital expenditures and costs, analysts said, possibly by more than investors are expecting. The firm issued an "Outperform" rating on the stock and a $635 price target, implying an 8% increase from current levels.<h2 id="3ae15c9a-d200-4592-ae15-3f19e716186b">"Top AI pick": Bank of America</h2>BofA analysts expect a "modest" earnings beat from the tech giant on Wednesday. They forecast the firm to report as much as $47.5 billion in revenue, which would represent an 18% year-over-year increase.Meta is a "top AI pick," the analysts added, pointing to a handful of tailwinds, like strong growth in Meta's AI-powered ads business, continued growth among younger users, and more AI growth opportunities in general."Our checks suggest Meta could see strength from: 1) new AI tools and new CRM integration driving higher ROI and incremental ad spend, 2) ramping messaging and Reels monetization, and 3) modest (100-200bps) political ad spend benefit," analysts wrote.The bank reiterated its "Buy" rating and $630 price target on the stock, implying 7% upside from current levels.<h2 id="2fdf202a-5a5b-4d15-a99d-48ed4f86b7d1">"Clear leader in social media": Morningstar</h2>Meta is a "<a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=8e3a91b023e95d600e3f54d96021a46339a33c3d1cf4d2a1d57384a4edc6bc4a&amp;postID=6720fbaf3a35c2732d44c2bb&amp;postSlug=meta-q3-earnings-preview-meta-stock-price-ai-growth-guidance-2024-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningstar.com%2Fstocks%2Fraising-fair-value-meta-stock-ai-ad-leadership">clear leader</a>" on an "unmatched scale" in the social meaning space, Morningstar said in a recent note, pointing to the firm's 4 billion monthly active users across its applications.Investors though, are keeping hawkish eye over signs Meta can sustain its growth, according to Dave Sekera, Morningstar's chief US market strategist."The market is going to be listening for any update on capex spending, specifically on generative AI. I'd really like to hear from them more specifically about how and when they will be able to monetize that spending. That's the big question for Meta," Sekara said. "Other than that, I'll be listening for an update on growth and digital ads; they had a big benefit from ad spending in Temu and Shein over the past couple quarters, so the question is whether that growth will continue or will it start to slow."The firm previously issued a 3-star rating for the stock and a fair value of $560, implying 5% downside from current levels.<h2 id="b7a7a27b-67d4-4195-b1a2-3e4d05b93099">"A tough bar to surpass": CFRA Research</h2>Meta could face challenges ahead due to the risk that growth decelerated in the last quarter, CFRA Research said."META has a tough bar to surpass in upcoming Q4 2024 and Q1 2025. We estimate Q3 growth decelerated to 18% from 22% in Q2 and see further deceleration to 15% in Q4 2024 and 13% in Q1 2025," CFRA senior equity analyst Angelo Zino wrote. He added that the challenge in the coming quarters will be to keep up with strong growth compared to the year-ago quarters. "We think year-over-year deceleration is due to lapping strong growth from China-based advertisers as well as strong Reels impression growth from a year ago. Still, we think digital ad trends remain healthy, with broad-based health across most regions and verticals," Angelo Zino, a senior equity analyst at CFRA, wrote.CFRA raised its price target on the stock to $650 a share, implying 11% upside.

Wall Street is bullish on Meta earnings as analysts eye an AI boost for the tech titan

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Indexes fell for a second day on Thursday as a huge week for tech earnings shows mixed results.</li><li>Meta and Microsoft slid after slight earnings beats, and Amazon and Apple are set to report after market close.</li></ul>Indexes slid on Thursday, heading for a second day of declines as big tech earnings fail to impress investors so far.The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq both slid, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 200 points shortly after the opening bell.The drop comes amid a <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-tech-earnings-gdp-inflation-jobs-report-economy-2024-10?_gl=1*lobd5h*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDMxNTM4MS4zMzguMS4xNzMwMzE5NTU1LjYwLjAuMA..">packed week for earnings</a>, with several of the biggest tech stocks reporting third-quarter results.Microsoft and Meta reported earnings that beat estimates after the closing bell on Wednesday, but the shares of both tech giants slid on forward guidance. Microsoft declined more than 4% after it shared expectations for slower growth in its cloud business, while Meta shares lost over 2% after forecasting "significant" capital expenditures growth next year.Earlier in the week, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-third-quarter-earnings-report-q3-2024-2024-10#:~:text=Google's%20parent%20company%2C%20Alphabet%2C%20released,AI%20products%2C%20the%20company%20said.">Alphabet's earnings</a> beat generated more enthusiasm among investors as CEO Sundar Pichai said the company's AI investments are "paying off."Investors are bracing for earnings from Apple and Amazon after market close today. They will be paying particularly close attention for <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/apple-q4-earnings-preview-wall-street-ai-fuels-iphone-demand-2024-10">signs that AI is driving iPhone demand for Apple</a>, especially after the company rolled out its iOS 18.1 update earlier this week, and they expect a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-earnings-preview-aws-consumer-spending-retail-ai-project-kuiper-2024-10">strong beat from Amazon</a>.Meanwhile, the personal-consumption expenditures index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, cooled to 2.1% year over year in September from 2.2% in August. That marks progress toward the Fed's 2% inflation target, but the core index—which excludes food and energy prices—came in hotter than expected at 2.7%.Jobless claims from last week fell by more than expected to 216,000, a 12,000 drop from the week prior. Economists had expected claims to come in at 230,000.Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">S&amp;P 500</a>: 5,764.93, down 0.84% </li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dow_jones?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a>: 41,943.67, down 0.47% (-198.87 points)</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/nasdaq_composite?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Nasdaq composite</a>: 18,372.58, down 1.25% </li></ul>Here's what else is going on:<ul><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-harris-immigration-jobs-arizona-economy-mass-deportation-employment-wages-2024-10">Arizona is the epicenter of the debate</a> about how mass deportations under Trump would hit the US economy. </li><li>Bringing manufacturing back to the US is a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-manufacturing-production-boom-economy-made-in-america-trade-war-2024-10">$10 trillion opportunity</a> for the economy, Morgan Stanley says.</li><li>Stocks are gripped by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-election-impact-trump-harris-economy-ai-citi-2024-10?_gl=1*1sq6l9x*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDM4MDA3NS4zMzkuMS4xNzMwMzgwNjUyLjM3LjAuMA..">"near-euphoric sentiment"</a> and the election may offer a chance to pull back, Citi says.</li><li>Nvidia stock is undervalued because AI companies <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-undervalued-9-trillion-ai-spend-masayoshi-son-softbank-2024-10?_gl=1*l4g43y*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDM4MDA3NS4zMzkuMS4xNzMwMzgwNzQwLjU5LjAuMA..">need to spend another $9 trillion</a> to achieve superintelligence, Softbank CEO says.</li></ul>In commodities, bonds, and crypto:<ul><li>Oil futures were up. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti">West Texas Intermediate crude</a> rose almost 1% to $69.27 a barrel. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Brent crude</a>, the international benchmark, climbed 0.8% to $73.13 a barrel.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/gold-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Gold</a> rose slipped almost 1% to $2,776.80 an ounce.</li><li>The 10-year Treasury yield rose two basis points to 4.292%.</li><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin</a> edged up to $71,869.</li></ul>

Stock market today: Indexes drop as tech shares slide before Apple, Amazon earnings

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Indexes slipped on Wednesday led by a sell-off in chip stocks.</li><li>Alphabet rose after delivering a big earnings beat.</li></ul>US stock ended lower on Wednesday as encouraging tech earnings were eclipsed by a sell-off among semiconductor shares. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/goog-stock">Alphabet's</a> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-third-quarter-earnings-report-q3-2024-2024-10#:~:text=Revenue%20from%20Google%20Cloud%20grew,%25%20in%20after%2Dhours%20trading.&amp;text=Alphabet%20and%20Google%20CEO%20Sundar,investments%20were%20%22paying%20off.%22">big earnings beat</a> helped send its stock up almost 3% in the session, but major indexes fell as <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/chipmakers-amd-smci-super-micro-stock-auditor-earnings-report-guidance-2024-10?_gl=1*1ys7uu1*_ga*MTMxNDIwNDI1Ni4xNjc1Njg3OTU4*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDMxNDE2OC43NzkuMS4xNzMwMzE4MDQ4LjYwLjAuMA..">chipmakers suffered losses.</a>AMD and Super Micro Computer led the rout. The former fell on weak fourth-quarter guidance, while Super Micro plummeted on news that its auditor resigned due to company concerns. AMD dropped almost 11%, while SMCI plunged 33%. However, investors have more big tech earnings to look forward to.Shares of <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/msft-stock?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Microsoft</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/meta-stock?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Meta</a> traded higher as traders anticipated their <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/meta-q3-earnings-preview-meta-stock-price-ai-growth-guidance-2024-10?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">financial results</a> on after the closing bell. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/aapl-stock?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Apple</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/amzn-stock?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Amazon</a> are on deck to report after the close on Thursday.Macroeconomic data released on Wednesday highlighted ongoing strength in the US economy, diluting concern that interest rates might need to drop quickly to propel growth.Third-quarter US real GDP came in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gdp-gross-domestic-product-third-quarter-economy-2024-10?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">at an annualized rate of 2.8%</a>, driven by a strong consumer. PCE, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, reached 2.2% — close to the central bank's target rate of 2%."This is excellent on the GDP, particularly when you look at the consumer spending," economist Claudia Sahm told <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2024-10-30/gdp-report-not-one-to-be-afraid-of-economist-claudia-sahm">Bloomberg TV</a>. "It's not just one quarter: we have now put together four quarters that are about three percent growth in consumer spending, inflation-adjusted. "The labor market also appears strong, as ADP hiring rose by its fastest rate in over a year. The data potentially sets the stage for another big nonfarm payrolls report on Friday, which will help inform the Fed's next move at its November 6-7 policy meeting. Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Wednesday:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">S&amp;P 500</a>: 5,813.67, down 0.33% <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dow_jones?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a>: 42,141.54, down 0.22% (-91.51 points)</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/nasdaq_composite?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Nasdaq composite</a>: 18,607.93, down 0.56% </li></ul>Here's what else is going on:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-outlook-us-vs-canada-david-rosenberg-bull-rally-2024-10?_gl=1*w92gmg*_ga*MTMxNDIwNDI1Ni4xNjc1Njg3OTU4*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDMxNDE2OC43NzkuMS4xNzMwMzE1OTIyLjU5LjAuMA..">Top economist David Rosenberg says Canadian stocks look poised to outperform the S&amp;P 500.</a></li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/nvidia-stock-undervalued-9-trillion-ai-spend-masayoshi-son-softbank-2024-10?_gl=1*15nw6jj*_ga*MTMxNDIwNDI1Ni4xNjc1Njg3OTU4*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDMxNDE2OC43NzkuMS4xNzMwMzE2MDk0LjQ0LjAuMA..">Nvidia is undervalued as $9 trillion is still needed for superintelligent AI,</a> SoftBank's CEO said.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-manufacturing-production-boom-economy-made-in-america-trade-war-2024-10">US industrial re-shoring could be a $10 trillion economic opportunity,</a> according to Morgan Stanley.</li></ul>In commodities, bonds, and crypto:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">West Texas Intermediate</a> crude oil jumped 2.38% to $68.81 a barrel. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Brent crude</a>, the international benchmark, climbed 2.31% at $72.76 a barrel.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/gold-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Gold</a> inched up 0.59% to $2,797.6 an ounce.</li><li>The 10-year Treasury yield stayed essentially flat at 4.282%.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Bitcoin</a> eased by 1.43% to $71,786.57</li></ul>

Stock market today: Indexes slide as chipmaker rout drags tech ahead of key earnings

As the results season kicks in, the <keyword id="20097634" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="quarterly-earnings" source="keywords">quarterly earnings</keyword> numbers of several <keyword id="22405488" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="blue-chip-firms" source="keywords">blue-chip firms</keyword> — such as <keyword id="19906778" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Infosys" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Infosys" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> and Reliance Industries — along with <keyword id="20837523" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-trends" source="keywords">global trends</keyword> and <keyword id="20223116" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="trading-activity" source="keywords">trading activity</keyword> of foreign investors, will determine <keyword id="22405487" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="equity-market-movement" source="keywords">equity market movement</keyword> in the holiday-shortened week ahead, according to analysts. The domestic <keyword id="22405489" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="WPI-inflation-data" source="keywords">WPI inflation data</keyword> for June — scheduled to be announced on Monday — will also influence trading sentiments, traders said. Markets will remain closed on Wednesday for Muharram. Among major quarterly earnings to be tracked this week are from HDFC Life Insurance Company, Bajaj Auto, BPCL, JSW Steel, Asian Paints, Infosys, and Reliance Industries. "Q1 earnings will be a key focus this week as numerous companies, including heavyweights Infosys, and Reliance, are set to release their results. Additionally, <keyword id="22194639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pre-Budget-discussions" source="keywords">pre-Budget discussions</keyword> are expected to contribute to market volatility," Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd, said. On the global front, a significant focus will be on China. The country is scheduled to announce its GDP and Industrial Production (IIP) numbers, Meena said. "Other global factors to watch include the speech by the US Federal Reserve Chairman, US retail sales figures, and macroeconomic data from Japan," he added. Meanwhile, IT services company HCL Tech on Friday posted a 20.4 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,257 crore for the June-ended quarter and gave a revenue growth guidance of 3-5 per cent for FY25 on GenAI diversification and strong operational execution. "On Monday, markets will react to India's inflation data. Key results this week include Jio Financial Services, HDFC Life, Asian Paints, LTIMindtree, Infosys, Wipro, JSW Steel, Paytm, etc. Also globally, investors will take cues from China's GDP numbers, US core retail sales data, and ECB (European Central Bank) interest rate decision," Siddhartha Khemka, Head, Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said. Retail inflation increased to four-month high of 5.08 per cent in June as food items, including vegetables, became dearer, according to government data released on Friday. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, "We expect stock-specific moves to gain traction due to the ongoing earnings season; indeed, IT will be in the limelight due to the good start to the earnings and outlook." In the week ahead, economic data like China GDP, EuroZone CPI inflation, ECB policy, and the US Fed chair speech will be watched by investors to get cues on market momentum, Nair added. On a weekly basis, the BSE benchmark jumped 522.74 points, or 0.65 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 178.3 points, or 0.73 per cent. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 622 points, or 0.78 per cent, to settle at a record closing level of 80,519.34 on Friday. During the day, it zoomed 996.17 points, or 1.24 per cent, to hit an all-time high of 80,893.51. The NSE Nifty surged 186.20 points, or 0.77 per cent, to settle at a record closing high of 24,502.15. Intra-day, it jumped 276.25 points, or 1.13 per cent, to hit a new lifetime peak of 24,592.20.

Trading activity to hinge on Q1 results, global trends in holiday-shortened week: analysts

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Stocks tumbled sharply on Thursday, dragged down by tech. </li><li>Microsoft and Meta stock dropped on renewed concerns over AI spending. </li></ul>US stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq sliding almost 3% as Meta and Microsoft faced steep losses.The tech sell-off was sparked by the latest earnings from mega-cap firms that mostly exceeded estimates but disappointed investors in other areas and exacerbated concerns about heavy investment in artificial intelligence. The S&amp;P 500 dropped almost 2% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 370 points. Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Thursday:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">S&amp;P 500</a>: 5,705.37, down 1.86% </li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/dow_jones?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Dow Jones Industrial Average</a>: 41,763.19, down 0.9% (-378.35 points)</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/nasdaq_composite?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Nasdaq composite</a>: 18,095.15, down 2.76%</li></ul>Much of the disappointment came down to the tech giants' guidance. Microsoft said it expects the current quarter's revenue to come in between $68.1 billion and $69.1 billion, while analysts polled by FactSet had expected $69.89 billion. The company attributed the slowdown partially to its investment in cloud computing capacity for AI demand.Microsoft's stock fell 6% to close at $406.35. Meta, meanwhile, said it expects a ramp up in capital expenditures in the next year as it continues to spend on AI, and raised its capex forecast for this year to a range of $38 billion to $40 billion, from $37 billion to $40 billion.Analysts from UBS, though, remain positive that the increased spend will deliver."While Meta continues to signal a significant increase in CapEx for 2025, the results also highlighted multiple offsets to illustrate what the investments will start to bring - as we have been calling out previously, the easiest item to observe is the absolute step up in revenue dollar growth in 2024 which stands at ~$28B currently and nearly matching the Pandemic-driven acceleration from 2021 of ~$29B," the analysts wrote in a Thursday note.Meta's shares lost 4% to close at %567.68. Also on Thursday, investors digested the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge. The personal consumption expenditures index cooled to 2.1% year over year in September from 2.2% in August, but the core index—which excludes volatile food and energy prices—came in higher than forecasts at 2.7%.Jobless claims, meanwhile, fell by more than expected to 216,000 last week, a fall of 12,000 from the week prior. Economists had expected 230,000 claims.Here's what else is going on:<ul><li>3 reasons why surging gold prices will <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/gold-price-record-outlook-3-reasons-continued-rally-goldman-sachs-2024-10">climb another 8%</a> by the end of 2025, according to Goldman Sachs.</li><li>AI hype is a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-crash-prediction-ai-artificial-intelligence-bubble-jeremy-grantham-2024-10?_gl=1*jsb4bv*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDQwMDU1MC4zNDQuMS4xNzMwNDAxMDQ5LjIuMC4w">bubble set to burst</a> as it follows the path of tech manias throughout history, legendary investor Jeremy Grantham says.</li><li>Coinbase CEO says next Congress will be the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/election-crypto-political-funding-pac-coinbase-ceo-trump-harris-congress-2024-10?_gl=1*1rwo0ws*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDQwMDU1MC4zNDQuMS4xNzMwNDAxMDcwLjQzLjAuMA..">"most pro-crypto" ever</a> and pledges another $25 million in political funding.</li><li>Microstrategy is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/microstrategy-bitcoin-michael-saylor-crypto-btc-record-high-mstr-2024-10?_gl=1*iiycnz*_ga*MTY3OTgyNjg0MS4xNzIxMDE2MDM2*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTczMDQwMDU1MC4zNDQuMS4xNzMwNDAxMDk5LjE0LjAuMA..">raising $42 billion</a> — almost its entire market value — to buy more bitcoin.</li></ul>In commodities, bonds, and crypto:<ul><li>Oil futures were up. <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?type=wti">West Texas Intermediate crude</a> rose 2.8% to $70.53 a barrel. <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/oil-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Brent crude</a>, the international benchmark, climbed 0.8% to $73.17 a barrel.</li><li><a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/gold-price?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">Gold</a> rose slipped 1.6% to $2,756 an ounce.</li><li>The 10-year Treasury was about flat at 4.278%.</li><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd">Bitcoin</a> traded around $70,000. </li></ul>

Stock market today: Microsoft, Meta drag tech stocks lower on concerns over AI spending

<ul><li><keyword id="28721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cognizant" source="Orion">Cognizant</keyword>’s March quarter net profit for March quarter grew 3% on year to $580 million.</li><li>Meanwhile, its revenue declined 0.3% on year to $4.8 billion during the quarter.</li><li>Adding to the woes, Cognizant says full year guidance of 2023 is expected to be $19.2 - $19.6 billion, which would mean a decline of 1.2%.</li><li>Cognizant reported an operating margin of 14.6% for March quarter, which is lower than Indian IT giants TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra.</li></ul>The trend of weak quarterly numbers continued for IT services companies and the latest one to disappoint the markets is Cognizant. The company also announced that it would layoff 3500 employees as it sees revenues slowing further in 2023. The Nasdaq-listed company’s March quarter net profit grew 3% on year to $580 million. Meanwhile, its revenue declined 0.3% on year to $4.8 billion during the quarter. The company follows a January to December accounting year. Adding to the woes, Cognizant says full year guidance of 2023 is expected to be $19.2 - $19.6 billion, which would mean a decline of 1.2%. The next quarter revenue is expected to be at $4.83 - $4.88 billion, showing a decline of 0.6% to 1.6%, or a decline of 1.0% to flat in constant currency. Cognizant reported an operating margin of 14.6% for March quarter, which is lower than Indian IT giants TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra. For the full year 2023, the company has guided for adjusted operating margin to be in the range of 14.2%-14.7%. Following the peer IT major’s mixed bag of earnings which expects a decline in 2023 revenues, shares of most Indian IT companies were trading lower. Indian companies monitor Cognizant’s earnings as the company is listed in the US but a majority of its operations are based in India. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">IT companies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">% change </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Persistent Systems </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.98% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Mphasis </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.56% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">LTIMindtree </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.47% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HCL Technologies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.42% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tech Mahindra </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.27% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Infosys </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.09% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Wipro </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.03% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: NSE Moreover, the company informed investors that it will be laying off 3,500 employees and also reduce office space as part of the cost cutting measures. It attributed the move to its NextGen program through which it expects to simplify its operating model and optimise corporate functions. “In the second quarter of 2023, we initiated the NextGen program aimed at simplifying our operating model, optimizing corporate functions and consolidating and realigning office space to reflect the post-pandemic hybrid work environment. Our drive for simplification will include operating with fewer layers in an effort to enhance agility and enable faster decision making,” the company said in a statement. Cognizant has a total headcount of 3.51 lakh in the March quarter, which is a decrease of 3,800 from the previous quarter. Its voluntary attrition rate declined to 23% in Q1 FY23 from 30% in Q1 FY22. "Our accelerated bookings growth in the quarter, which included several large deals and a healthy mix of new and expansion work, reflects the strengths of our services, our brand, and the longstanding relationships we have with our clients. I am also encouraged by the continuing reduction in our voluntary attrition," said Ravi Kumar S, CEO at Cognizant. “Having spent more than three months assessing the business, meeting with over a hundred clients and thousands of employees, I firmly believe Cognizant has a strong foundation for accelerating growth," said Kumar S in a statement. This was the first quarter for new CEO Ravi Kumar S who assumed control on January 12 following the "involuntary termination" of former CEO Brian Humphries at a time when the industry is facing several challenges. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/hiring-in-it-companies-like-tcs-wipro-infosys-hcl-tech-plunges-by-66-in-fy23/articleshow/99960690.cms">Hiring in the IT sector plunges by 66% in FY23</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/titan-q4-net-profit-rises-50-to-734-crore-as-wedding-segment-makes-a-comeback/articleshow/99964029.cms">Titan Q4 net profit rises 50% to ₹734 crore as wedding segment makes a comeback</a>

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