Pre-market news roundup for U.S. stocks: Agility, the first humanoid robotics stock in the U.S., will go public tonight; Apple plans to slash its internal AI budget; Microsoft rejected a tens-of-billion-dollar capacity expansion deal.
Key pre-market news for US stocks on Thursday:
1. Apple plans to cut internal AI usage budgets, lowering the daily spending cap for engineers using AI models from $300 to $200 to control costs.
2. Microsoft failed to reach a potential multi-billion-dollar new deal with UK AI startup Nscale, as it refused to expand its existing data center computing power lease contracts by more than double.
3. Goldman Sachs noted that the outcome of the US midterm elections may boost tech firms' capital expenditure growth through 2027, rather than suppressing capital investment.
4. OpenAI reaffirmed it will cover all costs related to powering its data centers. For data centers it owns and operates, it will solicit input from local communities and disclose construction plans.
5. Optical communications leader Lumentum will release its Q3 earnings after trading closes tonight; market consensus expects revenue of $1.248 billion, up around 138% year-over-year, and adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.19, up around 307% year-over-year.
6. The US Republican Party's setback in the midterm elections may instead relieve Federal Reserve Chair Wash of some political pressure, allowing him to reduce political interference and focus more on curbing inflation.
7. Challenger, Gray & Christmas data shows US companies cut 43,994 jobs in October, down 71% year-over-year, marking the lowest level for the same period in three years.
8. Agility, the first US humanoid robot stock backed by NVIDIA, will list on Nasdaq tonight.
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Polygon has proposed PIP-93, which would integrate the Protocol Council and other bodies into a unified Security Committee, implementing an 8/11 multi-signature scheme and a 7-day timelock.
Polygon’s community forum has released draft proposal PIP-93, which proposes integrating the existing Protocol Council, Polygon PoS, and AggLayer multisigs into a unified Polygon Security Council. The security council will comprise 11 signers from 10 institutions, adopting an 8/11 signature policy covering both Ethereum and Polygon. Polygon Labs holds 2 seats, while each of the other participating institutions (including Sherlock, Hexens, Sigma Prime, Curve, QuickSwap, EthCC, L2Beat, Coinbase, etc.) holds 1 seat. For daily upgrades and parameter changes, proposals can be submitted via Polygon Labs Operations multisig with a 7-day timelock; the Security Council may veto such proposals within the window, or skip the timelock to immediately execute or lift contract pauses. The proposal will replace the governance structure set out in PIP-29, and will only disclose the list of seat-holding institutions, no longer revealing individual signer identities. The proposal is currently in Draft status.
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Kraken’s parent company Payward and its clients have purchased AAVE, with both parties exploring further cooperation opportunities.
Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, and its asset management clients have purchased an undisclosed amount of AAVE on the secondary market via its affiliated fund Digital Asset Special Investments I, and may continue to increase holdings. Payward said the move is aimed at advancing its asset management business expansion, and the two parties are exploring future cooperation opportunities. Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave Labs, noted that the partnership with Payward is a strategic step to bring Aave to more retail and institutional users. A source familiar with the matter revealed that the deal evolved from earlier negotiations, which had previously included both tokens and equity, though today’s announcement only covers the token purchase. The Aave protocol currently holds approximately $33 billion in net deposits, with active loans totaling around $11 billion.
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Qualcomm's core business has declined across the board, with its pre-market shares dropping more than 12%.
According to data from the BIT Stock Platform, Qualcomm (QCOM) saw its pre-market shares fall more than 12% at one point, and are now down 11% at $154.4. The decline is mainly driven by negative factors from its Q4 2026 fiscal year earnings report and guidance released on November 4. Mobile chip revenue in Q4 2026 plummeted 26% year-on-year to $5.14 billion, missing market expectations. Additionally, rising memory and wafer costs due to AI data center demand significantly pressured margins: QCT’s pre-tax margin dropped from 29% to around 24%. While the company has implemented price hikes, full benefits will not materialize until the second half of fiscal 2027. Meanwhile, the midpoint of Qualcomm’s Q1 2027 fiscal year Non-GAAP EPS guidance ($2.15–$2.35) is below market expectations. Apple’s self-developed baseband chips continue to erode its revenue, and the company forecasts the overall mobile phone market will stay flat in 2027. Though new businesses such as automotive and data centers are growing strongly, they are not yet sufficient to fully offset the decline in core operations, leading multiple institutions to cut Qualcomm’s price targets.
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Security Alert: Multiple iOS self-custody wallet users report losses, users are advised to update to the latest version.
GoPlus Security has issued a security alert noting that security organization SEAL has recently reported multiple incidents of asset losses among iOS self-custody wallet users, impacting several individuals. The alert advises users to update their iPhones to the latest iOS version promptly and verify if any malicious apps are installed on their devices. Between October 28 and November 3, six related reports were received, with total losses reaching roughly $127,000. In the preceding week, four reports were filed, leading to losses of approximately $434,000. The attacks are suspected to be tied to iOS vulnerability exploitation tools for wallet applications, including DarkSword and Coruna, with victims primarily from regions such as Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
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Fed's Harker: Gradual interest rate hikes are less disruptive, and he favors frequent, small adjustments to interest rates.
In 2026, FOMC voting member Harker will deliver a speech on stablecoins and safe-haven currency exchange rates. He stated that monetary policy needs to shift to a restrictive stance, noting that inflation has remained too high and is moving in the wrong direction, and gradual interest rate hikes cause less disruption to the economy and financial system. Harker also emphasized that the U.S. dollar remains the world's top reserve currency, adding that it is hard to envision the dollar losing its reserve currency status. He further pointed out that the independence of the U.S. central bank is critical to bringing inflation down to the 2% target, and favors frequent, small-scale interest rate adjustments.
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