AppLovin stock climbs as Axon expands AI-generated interactive ads and automated video tests
AppLovin shares rose about 4% after the company said it is expanding access to AI-generated interactive
Oracle sets March 10 earnings date as investors brace for a cloud reality check
Oracle will report fiscal third-quarter results on March 10 after U.S. markets close. Shares rose about 1.8% in Thursday morning trading. The company highlighted a recent Motel One migration to its OPERA
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) stock jumps on Telus equity stake in Canada satellite-to-phone plan
AST SpaceMobile shares rose 13% Wednesday after Telus announced it will take an equity stake and invest in ground infrastructure to support
Robinhood stock jumps ahead of JFK “Take Flight” event as CFO previews $5.5 billion February inflows
Robinhood shares jumped about 8% Wednesday ahead of its “Take Flight” product keynote in New York. CFO Shiv Verma said February net
ServiceNow stock rises as CEO share-buy filing lands and Morgan Stanley chat nears
ServiceNow shares climbed 1.3% to $114.66 Wednesday afternoon, rebounding after weeks of losses but still 46% below last July’s high. CEO William
Cisco stock (CSCO) rises as Splunk lands a telecom win and investors eye the next readout
Cisco shares rose 2.1% to $80.64 in afternoon trading Wednesday after announcing TPG Telecom will use Splunk software to upgrade security and
Why Intuit stock is up again: TurboTax momentum meets Direct File bill risk
Intuit shares rose 1.6% to $440.24 in early afternoon trading Wednesday, extending a six-day rally. CEO Sasan Goodarzi reported strong TurboTax growth and dismissed chatbot disruption concerns. Democrats introduced a bill to revive the IRS “Direct File” program, posing potential competition for paid tax software. Trading volume in Intuit stock topped its 50-day average for two straight sessions.
BAE Systems share price rises: buyback update and Iran conflict keep BAES.L in focus
BAE Systems shares rose 1.1% to 2,245 pence by 0919 GMT after disclosing the repurchase of 98,810 shares at a VWAP of
FuboTV stock gets a fresh ‘Hold’ call: $3.33 target, insider sale and a looming reverse split
Analysts maintained a “Hold” rating on fuboTV with a $3.33 average price target, MarketBeat reported Monday. Shares traded near $1.20 Tuesday, close
IQE share price slides after hitting 52-week high as takeover-code filings stack up
IQE shares dropped 6.8% to 23.85p in London after hitting a 12-month high of 29.5p earlier Tuesday. The stock remains in a
GOOG stock price drops as oil spikes on Middle East conflict; what to watch for Alphabet next
Alphabet’s Class C shares fell 2.4% to $304.06 Monday as oil surged over 8% on renewed Middle East tensions, sending volatility to
Palo Alto Networks widens industrial 5G security push with Siemens as AI factory build-out grows
BARCELONA, March 5, 2026, 21:55 CET Palo Alto Networks widened its industrial security push after Siemens on Wednesday unveiled a jointly built cybersecurity package for private 5G factory networks. Palo Alto shares were up $4.68 in U.S. afternoon trading on Thursday. (Siemens Press) The move matters because private 5G — dedicated wireless networks run on-site instead of through public carriers — is spreading across factories packed with connected sensors, robots and moving equipment. Siemens said a breach in those systems can halt output or endanger worker safety, while the European Union’s NIS2 rules are tightening cybersecurity duties across 18 critical
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) lands TELUS equity deal for Canada satellite-to-phone service, adds Africa’s Axian
AST SpaceMobile and TELUS signed a deal to launch satellite-powered texting, voice, and data in remote Canada by late 2026, with TELUS investing in ground infrastructure and taking an equity stake. AST also partnered with Axian Telecom for direct-to-device mobile broadband in Africa, pending approvals. Financial terms were not disclosed. AST shares fell about 12% to $92.72 in New York trading.
Shopify rolls out POS Hub and faster checkout tools as SHOP shares climb
Shopify unveiled a redesigned POS system and new POS Hub hardware for in-store checkouts, adding inventory transfer reports and stricter staff access to customer data. Shares rose about 3% in New York on Thursday, after a 6% jump in Toronto on Wednesday. The POS Hub connects tablets to checkout hardware via USB, replacing Bluetooth. Updates follow Shopify’s recent upbeat revenue outlook and $2 billion buyback plan.
Caterpillar says it needs 38,000 more technicians as CONEXPO puts the labor crunch on display
Caterpillar said its dealer network may need to hire over 38,000 technicians globally by end-2028, citing rising infrastructure demand and a tighter skilled-labor market. CEO Joe Creed announced the push at CONEXPO in Las Vegas. Shares fell 4.7% to $697.74. Vanguard disclosed a 10.06% stake in Caterpillar in a new SEC filing.
AbbVie closes $8 billion bond offering to refinance debt as shares slide
AbbVie completed an $8 billion multi-tranche senior notes sale on March 4, according to a regulatory filing. Shares fell 2.6% to $229.98 in afternoon trading. The company expects about $7.95 billion in net proceeds, most of which will repay a term loan due in May. The notes mature as far out as 2066, with coupons ranging from 3.775% to 5.650%.
Exxon Mobil’s rare Australia gasoline shipment shows how the Strait of Hormuz shock is rewriting fuel trade
Exxon Mobil has booked two tankers to ship about 600,000 barrels of gasoline from Houston to Australia in mid-March, sources said, marking a rare U.S. Gulf-to-Australia cargo. The move follows disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz that have stalled oil and LNG shipments, driving up Brent crude by 5% to $85.49 a barrel and pushing Singapore refining margins to nearly $30. Hundreds of tankers remain stranded off Gulf producers.
Western Digital flags hyperscaler orders through 2028 as AI video tests storage supply
Western Digital CEO Irving Tan said some major cloud customers have placed hard drive orders through 2028, citing surging demand from AI video applications. Shares fell about 2% Thursday. Tan reported firm purchase orders for all of 2026 from the company’s top seven customers. Western Digital is not adding drive unit capacity, focusing instead on automation and higher data density.
CoreWeave-Perplexity deal puts fresh demand behind its Nvidia-heavy AI cloud buildout
CoreWeave signed a multi-year deal to run Perplexity’s AI inference workloads on dedicated Nvidia GB200 NVL72 clusters; financial terms were not disclosed. Shares fell 6.6% Thursday as investors focused on CoreWeave’s rapid spending and data center expansion. Perplexity will use the new infrastructure to support rising usage and new services. CoreWeave will also deploy Perplexity Enterprise Max internally.
JPMorgan’s next big test: $10.5B U.S. debt sale for the $55B Electronic Arts buyout
JPMorgan is leading lenders preparing to split $15 billion in debt for the Electronic Arts buyout into a $10.5 billion U.S. offering and a €4 billion European package, sources said. Pre-marketing is expected within weeks. JPMorgan is also advising on a potential $400 million sale of Four Loko by Phusion Projects.
Costco earnings today: what COST stock has to prove after its early‑2026 rebound
Costco will report fiscal Q2 results and February sales after markets close Thursday, with a webcast at 1:15 p.m. PT. Analysts expect an 8% rise in sales and adjusted EPS up 12% to $4.53, according to Visible Alpha. The company last reported January net sales up 9.3% to $21.33 billion. Membership fees reached $1.329 billion in the last quarter, up from $1.166 billion a year earlier.
Visa’s stablecoin-linked cards are headed to 100+ countries — here’s what’s changing
Visa and Stripe-owned Bridge will expand stablecoin-linked Visa cards to over 100 countries by the end of 2026, the companies said Tuesday. Some transactions will settle on blockchain rails via Lead Bank. Bridge-enabled cards are currently live in 18 countries and let users spend stablecoin balances at Visa’s 175 million merchant locations. Mastercard is also rolling out a stablecoin settlement option.
Medline backers cash out in $3.1 billion share sale priced at $41
Selling shareholders priced a 75 million-share secondary offering of Medline Inc. at $41 a share, totaling about $3.1 billion. Medline will not sell stock or receive proceeds. Sellers include affiliates of Blackstone, Carlyle, Hellman & Friedman, and ADIA. The deal is expected to close March 10.
Oil prices jump on Iran war as Hormuz logjam lifts Brent above $84, WTI near $79
Oil prices surged over 3% Thursday as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz for a fifth day, stranding about 200 tankers and cutting Iraq’s output by 1.5 million barrels per day. Brent rose to $84.32 a barrel, WTI to $79.06. Qatar declared force majeure on LNG exports. Goldman Sachs raised its Brent forecast by $10, warning a price spike could slow global growth.
U.S. economic calendar today: Jobless claims steady as Fed’s Bowman and payrolls take center stage
U.S. weekly jobless claims held at 213,000, while continuing claims rose to 1.868 million, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Fourth-quarter productivity growth slowed to a 2.8% annual rate and unit labor costs rose 2.8%. Import prices increased 0.2% in January. Employers announced 48,307 job cuts in February, down sharply from January.
Dow Jones drops 700+ points as oil jumps on Iran war fears; payrolls report next
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 745 points, or 1.5%, to 47,994.03 around midday Thursday as oil prices climbed. Merck and Walmart each dropped roughly 4%, weighing on the price-weighted index. Traders watched for comments from Federal Reserve officials and awaited Friday’s U.S. jobs report. Weekly jobless claims held steady at 213,000.
XRP price slips to $1.40 as U.S. crypto bill talks hit a new snag — what traders watch next
XRP dropped about 2% to $1.40 Thursday after a 5% jump the previous day, as a U.S. crypto market-structure bill stalled again over stablecoin reward disputes. Banks pushed back on a White House compromise, delaying the Clarity Act. Ripple announced an expansion of its payments platform, while traders awaited Friday’s U.S. jobs data.
Silver price slides back under $82 as dollar firms; jobs report next
Silver prices dropped 1.9% to $81.83 an ounce by late Thursday as a stronger dollar and higher U.S. Treasury yields pressured demand. The dollar index rose 0.5% to 99.257, while U.S. 10-year yields hit 4.14%. Traders are watching Friday’s U.S. jobs report and the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate decision for further direction.
Intuit gets a fresh “strong-buy” call as tax season puts margins in focus
Argus Research upgraded Intuit to “strong-buy” Thursday but cut its price target to $580 from $780. Intuit shares closed at $440.14 Wednesday, up for a sixth straight session but still far below last July’s $813.70 high. The company warned third-quarter profit will miss forecasts as it increases spending on marketing and support during tax season. Revenue for fiscal Q2 rose 17% to $4.651 billion.
CrowdStrike stock rises as cybersecurity firm flags stronger 2027 revenue outlook
CrowdStrike shares rose about 4% Thursday after forecasting fiscal 2027 revenue of $5.87 billion to $5.93 billion and reporting a 23% fourth-quarter revenue jump to $1.31 billion. Annual recurring revenue climbed 24% to $5.25 billion. The company reiterated plans to acquire SGNL for $740 million and Seraphic Security for $420 million. Costs tied to the July 2024 Windows outage reached $117.7 million in fiscal 2026.
Australia stock market today: ASX 200 rebounds as tech and healthcare lead a shaky recovery
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4% to 8,940 on Thursday, ending a two-day losing streak as technology and healthcare stocks advanced. Materials lagged, with BHP trading ex-dividend. Household spending rose 0.3% in January, signaling cautious consumer activity. Brent crude jumped over 3% on supply concerns linked to the Iran conflict.
ServiceNow launches EmployeeWorks for public sector, adds Autonomous Workforce as agencies seek trusted AI
ServiceNow launched EmployeeWorks and an Autonomous Workforce AI package for government agencies Thursday. The first Level 1 IT service desk AI specialist is in limited release, with wider availability set for Q2. A FastStart offer runs through April 30 for the first 50 eligible public-sector customers. The tools are designed for high-security government cloud environments.
Intel back in Washington spotlight as senators press China-linked tool tests and 18A plans shift
U.S. senators Warren and Cotton pressed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to explain reports the company tested ACM Research chipmaking tools linked to Chinese firms on a U.S. trade blacklist. Intel said ACM tools are not used in its production and that it complies with U.S. laws. CFO David Zinsner said Intel is reconsidering offering its 18A chipmaking process to outside customers.
Coinbase, Microsoft disrupt “Tycoon 2FA” phishing network as crypto rules hit another snag
Coinbase said it helped disrupt Tycoon 2FA, a phishing service used to bypass multi-factor authentication, tracing crypto payments to a suspected administrator in Pakistan. Microsoft seized 330 domains linked to the operation under a New York court order. Cloudflare banned thousands of related domains. Coinbase shares fell 0.8% Thursday after a 15% jump Wednesday as bitcoin neared $74,000.
AppLovin stock climbs as Axon expands AI-generated interactive ads and automated video tests
AppLovin shares rose about 4% after the company said it is expanding access to AI-generated interactive ads on its Axon platform and testing automated video creation. The company plans a broader rollout of these features early in the second quarter. AppLovin reported a “significant share” of HTML ad spend now comes from AI-generated ads. The company remains under SEC investigation.
Oracle sets March 10 earnings date as investors brace for a cloud reality check
Oracle will report fiscal third-quarter results on March 10 after U.S. markets close. Shares rose about 1.8% in Thursday morning trading. The company highlighted a recent Motel One migration to its OPERA Cloud platform and awards for its financial services arm ahead of the update.