US stocks hit records on AI as government shutdown shrugged off, Nike steps up its recovery

Despite the feared US government shutdown coming to pass, investors have shrugged off the news as Wall Street indices have reached fresh record levels.

The focus instead has been on the continued buzz around the AI sector as OpenAI’s latest fundraise revealed its valuation had hit a record level for a private company at $500 billion.

Stocks linked to cryptocurrencies were also in heavy demand as Bitcoin hit $120,000 for the first time since reaching its all-time high back in August. Cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Global was among the top gainers over the past week.

Credit score agency Fair Isaac advanced as it said it would provide consumer credit scores directly to firms which sell consolidated credit reports to mortgage lenders. This in turn was expected to put pressure on the big established credit bureaus with Equifax among the names coming under pressure.

Private equity was out of favour with KKR and Apollo both seeing their shares come under pressure.

Nike

Private equity was out of favour with KKR and Apollo both seeing their shares come under pressure.

Company veteran Elliott Hill, who returned to the business as CEO last year, has a new strategy based on focusing more on sport than leisurewear and boosting investment in product innovation.

Hill is also taking steps to improve Nike’s digital business and rebuild relationships with wholesale partners after a previous strategy of focusing heavily on direct-to-consumer sales proved unsuccessful. In the running space, where Nike had been steadily losing share to upstart rivals like On and Hoka, it appears the company is making progress.

It was not all good news. Chinese revenue remains soft, and sales in general are expected to fall by low single digits in percentage terms in the current quarter.

Berkshire Hathaway / Occidental Petroleum

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathway is set to acquire Occidental Petroleum’s chemical division, OxyChem, in a $9.7 billion, all-cash agreement.

For Occidental, the deal allows it to pay down debt built up through its own purchases of Anadarko Petroleum and CrownRock in 2019 and 2023 respectively, with $6.5 billion worth of the proceeds being used for this purpose.

This is Berkshire’s largest single transaction since 2022 when it snapped up insurance firm Alleghany in a deal worth nearly $12 billion. It also seems likely to be one of the last significant moves under Buffett’s leadership as he prepares to retire as CEO at the end of this year.

Berkshire was already Occidental’s largest shareholder. OxyChem will operate as a subsidiary within Berkshire with an Occidental business unit retaining some legacy environmental liabilities.

Generating a combined $2.4 billion in revenue in the first two quarters of 2025, OxyChem is a specialist in chemicals used in battery recycling and water retreatment in addition to vinyl products used in the medical space.

Paychex

Human resources software outfit Paychex was under pressure after its first-quarter earnings report on 30 September revealed a significant increase in spending.

The 29% year-on-year increase in expenses was largely driven by the integration of Paycor, acquired for $4.1 billion earlier this year, and investment in technology and employee compensation. This overshadowed revenue growth of 17% to $1.54 billion, slightly above the forecasts, and management’s decision to lift full-year earnings guidance from $5.40-$5.50 to $5.43-$5.53.

Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter was ahead of consensus at $1.22 against an anticipated $1.21, and operating cash flow totalled $718.4 million.

Operating income was down 1% to $541.9 million, and the margin contracted by 630 basis points to 35.2%. The company left full-year expectations for revenue of $6.49 billion to $6.6 billion unchanged.