MSFT News & Events

The major averages closed in a mixed fashion for the day as traders reacted to a full slate of earnings releases as well as the January consumer price index release. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said that CPI for last month rose 0.2%, reflecting a gain of 2.4% on an annualized basis. Both inflation figures were lower than consensus estimates of 0.3% and 2.5%, respectively. Despite the positive finish, the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq still had weekly losses of 1% to 2% as investors continued a rotation out of technology and other risk-sensitive sectors amid worries about AI.Looking to commodities, gold traded higher once again, surpassing the $5,000 threshold as precious metals continue to show signs of strength as a defensive hedge. Oil, meanwhile, was fractionally higher to cap off a strong week for the commodity.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Pinterestreportedand provided a lower-than-expected outlook for Q1Airbnbreportedbut better-than-expected revenueDraftKingsreportedand provided downbeat FY26 revenue guidanceCoinbasereportedAlibabawill be added to a U.S. list of firms aiding China's military,2. WALL STREET CALLS:Pinterestwasto Neutral or equivalent ratings by at least 8 firms after earningsRokuto Buy at RosenblattAirbnbto Outperform at Evercore ISI and to Buy at Deutsche BankNorwegian Cruise Lineto Neutral at JPMorganMerckto Buy at Deutsche Bank3. AROUND THE WEB:Zillowis betting on AI as Google'sreal estate tests spark buyout chatter, Wired reportsSpaceX is weighing dual-class IPO shares to "empower" founder Elon Musk, Bloomberg saysRussia has blocked WhatsApp, citing Meta's"unwillingness to comply with Russian law," and is proposing that Russians switch to the state-owned Max app, Reuters reportsAmazonis directing internal teams to use its in-house AI coding assistant, Kiro, for production work, a move that has drawn criticism from roughly 1,500 employees advocating for the use of Anthropic's Claude Code instead, Business Insider saysMicrosoftis planning to pursue "true self-sufficiency" in the AI space by building its own models and reducing reliance on OpenAI, FT says4. MOVERS:TRI Pointeincreases after announcing it will befor $47.00 per share in cashCorsair Gaminggains after, providing guidance for Q1 and FY26, and announcing its Board authorizes the repurchase of up to $50M sharesRivianand Magnahigher in New York afterBright Horizonsfalls afterand providing guidance for FY26Disc Medicine (IRON) drops after confirming receipt of afor bitopertin5. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Moderna, with EPS and revenue beating consensusInstacart, with the company commenting, "In Q4, we delivered our strongest quarterly GTV growth in three years"Wendy'sand provided guidance for Fy256Wynn Resorts, with EPS missing consensusDauch Corporationand provided guidance for FY26INDEXES:The Dow rose 48.95, or 0.099%, to 49,500.93, the Nasdaq lost 50.48, or 0.22%, to 22,546.67, and the S&P 500 advanced 3.41, or 0.05%, to 6,836.17.

A consortium of 15 companies led by Microsoft (MSFT) and Ericsson (ERIC) have launched the "Trusted Tech Alliance," an initiative built around five principles to safely use technology regardless of where it is developed, Reuters' Supantha Mukherjee reports. The alliance is meant to address concerns over where data is stored as the increasingly isolationist U.S. has sharpened Europe's and Asia's focus on so-called "digital sovereignty," the author notes. "This is a period of time when many governments and countries are feeling pressure to create stronger technology borders, to focus more on their own digital sovereignty," Microsoft President Brad Smith told Reuters in an interview. "Our companies are working together to set this high standard to really make clear what the definition of trust is," he added.

Catch up on the top artificial intelligence news and commentary by Wall Street analysts on publicly traded companies in the space with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.IPO RUMORS:Some OpenAI executives were surprised by a Wall Street Journal report that said OpenAI was aiming to IPO in December, The New York Times' Cade Metz and Mike Isaac, with two people familiar with the company's internal discussions saying that their main reason for concern was their belief that the company "wasn't ready." OpenAI is hoping to triple its revenue this year from the roughly $13B in 2025 revenue, the report notes.NEW FUNDING:Anthropicit raised $30B in Series G funding led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380B post-money. The round was co-led by D. E. Shaw Ventures, Dragoneer, Founders Fund, ICONIQ, and MGX. The investment will fuel the frontier research, product development, and infrastructure expansions that have made Anthropic the market leader in enterprise AI and coding. Significant investors in this round include Accel, Addition, Alpha Wave Global, Altimeter, AMP PBC, Appaloosa LP, Baillie Gifford, Bessemer Venture Partners, affiliated funds of BlackRock, Blackstone, D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, General Catalyst, Greenoaks, Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Insight Partners, Jane Street, JPMorganChase through its Security and Resiliency Initiative and Growth Equity Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, NX1 Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, Sands Capital, Sequoia Capital, Temasek, TowerBrook, TPG, Whale Rock Capital, and XN. This round also includes a portion of the previously announced investments from Microsoftand Nvidia.CLASSIFIED NETWORKS:The Pentagon is urging leading AI companies, including Google, xAI, OpenAI and Anthropic, to deploy their models on classified military networks with fewer standard user restrictions, Reuters' David Jeans and Deepa Seetharaman. The goal, according to officials, is to make advanced AI tools accessible across both unclassified and classified domains to support defense applications, according to the report.AI SELF-SUFFICIENCY:Microsoftis planning to pursue "true self-sufficiency" in the AI space by building its own models and reducing reliance on OpenAI, Melissa Heikkila of The Financial Times, citing comments made by AI chief Mustafa Suleyman. According to Suleyman, this strategic shift following a restructuring of the company's relationship with OpenAI in October, prompting Microsoft to advance its AI technology independently.IN-HOUSE AI CODING ASSISTANT:Amazonis directing internal teams to use its in-house AI coding assistant, Kiro, for production work, a move that has drawn criticism from roughly 1,500 employees advocating for the use of Anthropic's Claude Code instead, Business Insider's Eugene Kim. The situation highlights growing internal debate over tooling preferences and broader competition among enterprise AI coding platforms, Kim writes.BETS ON AI:As the housing market stalls, Zillow'sCEO Jeremy Wacksman sees AI as "an ingredient rather than a threat" that can both help the company protect its turf and reinvent how people search for homes, Wired's Steven Levy. Zillow is integrating AI into every aspect of its business, from the way it showcases houses to having agents automate its workflow. Meanwhile, working with a real-estate analytics company called HouseCanary, Googlehas been experimenting in several cities with putting home listings alongside Google real estate agent ads in search. If the test works out, it's easy to imagine that Google one day might bring the same data to AI products like Gemini, Wired says. Predictably, the Google experiment led to yet another dip in Zillow's stock price. It also generated speculation that Google might buy Zillow, the publication adds.