Meta Seeks $95 Billion for AI Buildout as Anthropic Files for Nasdaq IPO

Elon Musk said SpaceX had secured a $40 billion debt deal to pay for AI chips and had closed the door on neocloud companies. Writing on X, Musk said the debt markets have almost entirely closed to companies that need financing but do not do more than data centers. He wrote that the 200-plus neoclouds would see 'guppy-level death and consolidation,' adding that some would make it through but not many. Neocloud stocks, including CoreWeave, were getting hit.

Anthropic released its long-awaited IPO prospectus. The frontier AI lab plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ANT. No terms were disclosed; those will come later, after the roadshow. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are named as top underwriters. Before the filing, speculation put the valuation of the company behind Claude at as much as $2 trillion.

Stocks pointed to a higher open after a volatile week for names tied to the artificial intelligence boom. Lower oil prices and tame bond yields were helping the market, CNBC reported. The week includes a two-day October meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers, and 11 companies in CNBC's Investing Club portfolio report earnings, including Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Boeing and Starbucks. A third of the companies in the S&P 500 report quarterly results this week.

Bernstein cut its price target on FedEx to $377 from $397 ahead of Wednesday evening's earnings. The analysts maintained a buy rating, said their quarterly estimates were ahead of consensus and expected solid guidance. FedEx Freight reports Thursday evening in its first official earnings report as a standalone firm.

UBS raised its price target on Amazon to $348 from $318. The analysts said Amazon's 2027 capital expenditure could exceed $300 billion, which would wipe out free cash flow. Last week, Meta reported negative free cash flow. UBS kept a buy rating on Amazon, citing accelerating cloud growth and faster e-commerce margin expansion.

EQT is buying Range Resources in a $13 billion deal to create the nation's biggest natural gas producer. The combined company expects $20 billion in free cash flow over the next five years. EQT shares were down more than 6%, while Range stock was up roughly 11%. Devon completed its purchase of Coterra in May.

Apple's first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, hit stores Friday with mixed reviews. Supply was limited for purchase, and preorder wait times stretched several months. Some users were pleased with their purchases, while others reported screen cracks; Reddit users called it 'crackgate.'

Morgan Stanley cut its price target on Affirm to $79 from $82 ahead of earnings early next month. It kept a hold rating, citing 'valuation and macro sensitivity.'