US stock markets struggled this week against the stiff headwind provided by a bond market sell-off, which saw 10-year Treasury yields rise to 5.4%, their highest levels since the start of the century.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, PCE (personal consumption expenditures) came in lower than expected with the core measure landing at 3.1% compared to 3.3% forecast by economists.
Meanwhile, GDP growth came in at 2.2% quarter-on-quarter, above the 1.5% forecast and prior reading of 1.5%.
Anthropic, which is expected to complete its IPO (Initial Public Offering) before the end of the year, saw some reporting around key numbers from its prospectus.
Revenues for 2025 increased by around 12-fold year-on-year to $4.6 billion while the company racked up losses of $42 billion. Nearly a quarter of revenue came from just two customers.
The list of key risk factors, which reportedly covered around a third of the prospectus, warned investors that advanced AI systems could create "catastrophic or existential risks to humanity,” from actions like deceptive behaviour, manipulation and systems resisting shutdown.
Compounding these safety concerns fellow AI company OpenAI said it had abandoned plans to release an upgraded version of its flagship AI model after internal testing raised concerns that it was unreliable and sometimes ignored instructions.
CEO Sam Altman has previously said the company will delay its planned IPO to put in place further safety measures.
Accenture was the best performing stock in the S&P 500 after the IT consulting firm projected full year revenue growth above analysts' expectations, highlighting strong client demand for AI-related services.
Credit rating score provider Fair Isaac fell by more than a fifth after the US housing regulator said it was considering moving to a single credit scoring system, threatening the company’s dominant position.
Micron delivers earnings beat and raises outlook
With its shares more than tripling in 2026 and rising five-fold over the last year, there was a lot riding on Micron to deliver earnings significantly above analysts' expectations.
On the face of it, Micron didn’t disappoint with fourth quarter revenue and earnings per share coming in comfortably ahead of estimates while the company projected first quarter revenues above the average analysts forecast.
While the results were outstanding, because they largely confirmed what investors were expecting, the shares traded flat to slightly down in response.
Micron is the only US-based manufacturer of high bandwidth memory used alongside Nvidia’s AI chips in datacentres, and it has seen a dramatic increase in demand with core datacentre revenue growing tenfold year-on-year.
This has allowed Micron to raise average selling prices which helped the company achieve record gross margins of 87%, a level more associated with software companies than semiconductor manufacturers.
Investors are questioning if current extraordinary margins and profitability are sustainable or peak-cycle profits fuelled by temporary shortages.
CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said he expects memory supply and demand conditions to be tighter in 2027 and 2028 compared with 2026. Micron revealed that long-term supply agreements represent just over a third of estimated revenues through 2030.
Nike remains off the pace
Expectations heading into first quarter earnings were low, but that didn’t prevent Nike shares falling around 9% in the pre-market after the company projected a high single-digit revenue decline and announced a new restructuring programme.
For context, analysts were forecasting revenues to decline by around 2%.
Nike’s Pace transformation programme is targeting $2.5 billion in cumulative savings by 2030.
The weak spot remains China where sales fell 26% and management acknowledged it needs to take action to rebuild the brand.
CEO Elliot Hill commented: “We have more work to do in NIKE Sportswear, Jordan Brand and Greater China, and we're taking deliberate actions to strengthen those businesses the right way for the long-term.”
The company recently announced it will pull online sales rights from some of its biggest retail partners in China, starting in 2027 as it attempts to gain greater control over pricing and distribution.
Including the latest results-inspired losses, the shares have lost around half their value so far in 2026.
Carnival sees demand growing faster than capacity
The cruise operator reported record third quarter profits, beating analysts' estimates and raised its full year outlook as booking trends remained strong, driven by demand from affluent customers.
Customer deposits increased by 7% year-over-year to a record $7.6 billion, while 2027 capacity was already half booked, and bookings for 2028 were off to an ‘excellent’ start.
Chief executive Josh Weinstein said: “For full-year 2027, both booked occupancy and pricing are at record levels, providing a strong foundation for another year of solid yield growth.”
Net yield, a key metric of efficiency for the cruise industry, measuring revenues generated per berth, increased by 2.5%, significantly ahead of management’s prior guidance.
The record results were achieved despite a $131 million adverse impact from higher fuel prices and foreign exchange effects. This reflected more than $150 million of operational improvements versus Carnival’s June outlook.
Following the results on 29 September, the shares steamed ahead by 13%, helping to lift shares in fellow operators Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines.
Martin Gamble: Shares and Markets Writer
Martin Gamble is Shares and Markets writer at AJ Bell. He was previously the Education Editor of Shares Magazine. He has been with the business since 2019.
Martin graduated from the University of Kent in...