Dow Falters as Cloud Deals Boost Nasdaq; Kenvue Stock Soars on Kimberly-Clark Takeover

This Bitcoin Miner’s Stock Is Soaring on a $9.7B AI Data Center Deal With Microsoft

17 minutes ago

IREN (IREN) shares jumped to an all-time high Monday after the Australian Bitcoin miner and data center company said it inked a $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft (MSFT).

Shares of IREN were up over 8% near $66 in recent trading after reaching an intraday high of $75.73 earlier in the session. Shares of Microsoft were little changed.

The company said the deal would give Microsoft access to Nvidia (NVDA) chips in its data centers over five years. IREN also said it struck a deal to purchase related Nvidia chips and ancillary equipment from Dell Technologies (DELL) for about $5.8 billion.

IREN said it plans to pay for all the capital expenditures involved by “a combination of existing cash, customer prepayments, operating cashflows and additional financing initiatives.”

Co-founder and CEO Daniel Roberts said that the Microsoft agreement represents “another major step forward for IREN as we continue to expand large-scale GPU deployments across our 3GW secured power portfolio in North America.”

With Monday’s gains, IREN shares are up close to 600% for 2025.

–Bill McColl

The Nasdaq Is Getting a New Quantum Computing Stock

1 hr 10 min ago

Xanadu Quantum Technologies announced it would go public via merger with Crane Harbor Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company, in a deal that will value the combined company at about $3.6 billion. 

The merger is expected to make Toronto-based Xanadu “the first and only publicly traded pure play photonic quantum computing company,” according to a press release. Shares of the new company are expected to trade on both the Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange. 

The listing is expected to raise $500 million for the company, with $275 million of the total coming from a group of investors committing to a private investment in public equity (PIPE) to purchase shares at $10 a piece. According to Xanadu, more than 90% of PIPE participants are new investors. 

“Today marks a transformative milestone for quantum computing as we bring the leading photonic quantum platform to the public markets,” said Xanadu CEO Christian Weedbrook.

According to the company, photonic quantum computing offers several commercial benefits compared with alternative methods, including the ability to compute at room temperature. Photonic quantum computing is also scalability due to its compatibility with photonic chips and fibre optic cables. 

Investors have piled into quantum computing stocks over the past year in the hopes that companies will soon find commercial applications for the nascent technology. Rigetti Computing (RGTI) and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) have each risen more than 3,000% over the past 12 months, while Quantum Computing Inc. (QUBT) has advanced more than 1,000% and IonQ (IONQ) has gained nearly 300%. 

Shares of Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp. (CHAC) were up more than 13% at $12.63 in recent trading. 

Amazon Stock Climbs to Fresh High on $38B Cloud Computing Deal With OpenAI

2 hr 7 min ago

Amazon shares rose to a record high Monday after the tech giant said it struck a $38 billion deal with OpenAI.

Shares of Amazon (AMZN) were up close to 5% around $255 in recent trading, leaving them on track to close at a record high.

Amazon said the agreement, which begins immediately and runs over seven years, gives OpenAI access to Amazon Web Services’ bank of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia (NVDA) chips, with the option to expand.

The company said that “AWS’s leadership in cloud infrastructure combined with OpenAI’s pioneering advancements in generative AI will help millions of users continue to get value from ChatGPT,” OpenAI’s popular AI chatbot.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the partnership “strengthens the broad compute ecosystem that will power this next era and bring advanced AI to everyone.”

AWS CEO Matt Garman said that OpenAI’s use of AWS “will serve as a backbone for their AI ambitions.”

With Monday’s surge, Amazon shares have added close to 17% in 2025, with most of those gains coming in the past week since the tech giant posted better-than-expected earnings on strong growth in its cloud business.

–Bill McColl

Here’s How Much Traders Expect Palantir Stock To Move After Monday’s Earnings

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AI investor favorite Palantir is set to report its latest quarterly results after the closing bell today, with traders expecting a big move in the data analytics software maker’s stock that could take it to new highs.

Options pricing suggests traders expect Palantir Technologies (PLTR) shares could move nearly 10% in either direction by the end of this week. A move of that size from Friday’s close just above $200 would push shares to a new all-time high near $220 at the high end—or pull them down to about $182, where they were last month.

Palantir’s stock took a big hit in August in the wake of a short-seller’s report that added fuel to worries it could be overvalued. It’s more than recovered since, lifted by optimism about a series of new deals and partnerships.

Wall Street analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha see Palantir reporting third-quarter earnings per share of $0.17 on a 50% year-over-year jump in revenue to a record $1.09 billion, thanks to growing demand for the software maker’s Artificial Intelligence Platform. 

A majority of analysts, however, hold neutral ratings for the stock amid persistent concerns that Palantir’s torrid rally this year could leave it due for a pullback. The stock is up about 165% for 2025, making it one of the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500.

Its most ardent supporters, however, are unfazed. Analysts at Wedbush, led by longtime bull Dan Ives, boosted their target for the stock to $230 ahead of today’s report, saying they expect Palantir’s market capitalization to reach $1 trillion dollars—more than twice recent levels—in the next two years.

Shares of Palantir were recently up nearly 2%.

–Kara Greenberg

Kimberly-Clark To Buy Tylenol Maker Kenvue for Nearly $49B

3 hr 50 min ago

Kenvue (KVUE) shares skyrocketed in early trading Monday after Kleenex and Cottonelle maker Kimberly-Clark (KMB) said it’s buying the Tylenol maker in a $48.7 billion deal.

Kenvue shares were up over 16% in recent trading following the news, while Kimberly-Clark shares tumbled close to 13%.

Kimberly-Clark said that as part of the agreement, Kenvue investors would receive $3.50 in cash and 0.14625 shares of Kimberly-Clark for each Kenvue share they owned. At Kimberly-Clark’s closing price of $119.71 on Friday, that works out to $21.01 per share, a 46.2% premium to Kenvue’s closing price Friday. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of next year.

Kimberly-Clark CEO Mike Hsu said that over the past few years the company has undertaken a “significant transformation to pivot our portfolio to higher-growth, higher-margin businesses while rewiring our organization to work smarter and faster.” He called the acquisition of Kenvue “a powerful next step in our journey.”

Kenvue Chair Larry Merlo said the decision to merge with Kimberly-Clark came following a “comprehensive review of strategic alternatives for Kenvue.”

Kenvue, which was spun off of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) in 2023, has struggled since then, with shares hitting an all-time low last month. Among its challenges, the company faces ongoing claims alleging its talcum powder causes cancer, and has been targeted by the Trump administration, which has sought to draw a connection between its Tylenol and autism.

Kimberly-Clark, which saw its own shares hit a year-and-a-half low last month, also faces challenges as it’s grappled with tariffs and global economic conditions that have raised costs, and a pullback by consumers.

Shares of Kenvue and Kimberly-Clark have both lost about a fifth of their value in 2025 so far.

–Bill McColl

MongoDB Gains on CEO Transition, Business Update

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Shares of MongoDB (MDB) rose on Monday after the database software maker announced a new CEO and said it expected third-quarter results would exceed its prior guidance. 

MongoDB’s board of directors has appointed Chirantan “CJ” Desai as the company’s next CEO, effective Nov. 10, according to a press release. Desai will replace Dev Ittycheria, who is retiring from leading the company after 11 years at the helm. Ittycheria will remain on MongoDB’s board and act as an advisor to Desai during the transition. 

Desai most recently served as President of Product and Engineering at cybersecurity firm Cloudflare (NET). Desai previously held positions at ServiceNow (NOW) and Oracle (ORCL). 

“MongoDB has long been the partner of choice for building applications that transform businesses, and now it is uniquely positioned to power the next wave of AI-driven applications,” said Desai. 

MongoDB on Monday also said it expects its third-quarter revenue, adjusted operating income, and adjusted earnings to exceed the high end of the guidance it issued in August. The company said the quarter’s results, which have yet to be finalized, were “driven by continued strength in Atlas,” its database platform. MongoDB is scheduled to report final results on December 1. 

MongoDB stock was up almost 4% in recent trading, bringing its year-to-date return to 60%.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Cash Pile Swelled to Another Record

5 hr 30 min ago

Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A; BRK.B)’s cash stockpile hit yet another high, according to the conglomerate’s third-quarter earnings released Saturday.

Berkshire reported third-quarter operating earnings of $13.5 billion, up from $10.1 billion a year ago and $11.2 billion in the prior quarter. The gains were largely attributable to a surge in insurance income.

Its cash and equivalent holdings grew to $381.7 billion, hitting a record, after falling slightly to $344.1 billion in the second quarter. The vast majority of Berkshire’s cash stockpile is invested in short-term Treasury bills.

Cash stockpiles are important to Berkshire shareholders because they’re often thought of as “dry powder“—money that can be invested in businesses that meet Berkshire’s value-focused acquisition and investment strategy. 

The record cash pile could indicate that Buffet is waiting for a good deal. Investors don’t see big gains by holding cash and Treasury bills. Instead, the company is generating low-risk yields while likely waiting for better bargains in the stock market.

Investors have been keeping a particular eye on the company since the “Oracle of Omaha” said he would step down as Berkshire’s CEO at the end of the year.

Berkshire’s class B shares have risen 6.1% so far this year, trailing behind the benchmark S&P 500 index’s 16.3%. That’s a reversal of last year, when the conglomerate’s shares slightly outpaced the broader market.

The company’s stock growth is likely being affected by a loss in what analysts are calling the “Buffett premium.”

Analysts say that traders’ faith in Buffett’s investing abilities gave the company higher valuations for many years. Now that he’s handing the reins over to Vice Chair Greg Abel, the company may not benefit from that goodwill.

–Taylor Tompkins

Stock Futures Mostly Higher To Start the Week

6 hr 19 min ago

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down about 0.1% in premarket trading on Monday.

S&P 500 futures were up 0.3%.

Nasdaq 100 future advanced 0.6%.