Apple shares AAPL traded lower on Thursday after Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target on the iPhone maker, while investors also weighed growing concerns about the impact of agentic artificial intelligence on Apple’s business.

Apple stock was down about 0.8% in trading, compared with a 0.13% decline in the S&P 500.

The Nasdaq was nearly flat, down about 0.015%.

Morgan Stanley lowered its Apple price target to $355 from $360 while maintaining an Overweight rating.

The stock was trading at $330 per share on Thursday.

The brokerage said agentic AI represented both “a potential emerging risk” and an opportunity for the company.

Apple shares have gained about 30% over the past six months, leaving less room for further upside based solely on the company’s latest product launches, according to the firm.

Morgan Stanley said Apple’s product roadmap remains among the most exciting in more than a decade, but its earnings outlook changed little following the latest iPhone launch.

Revenue growth may not translate into earnings

Morgan Stanley modestly raised its revenue estimates after Apple’s fall product launches, citing stronger iPhone production, higher Mac revenue and pricing benefits in its Services business.

However, the brokerage expects those gains to be largely offset by lower iPhone average selling prices and higher memory costs.

The firm continues to forecast earnings per share of about $10 for fiscal 2027 and close to $11 for fiscal 2028, which would put its estimates 0% to 3% above Wall Street expectations.

Morgan Stanley said the September quarter could benefit from resilient iPhone production, stronger Mac revenue, Services pricing tailwinds and tariff refunds.

The December quarter presents a more mixed picture.

The brokerage said Street estimates have not fully incorporated the staggered iPhone launch, leaving projected iPhone shipments for the quarter potentially too high.

Meta’s AI ambitions raise ecosystem concerns

Needham also reiterated a Hold rating on Apple on Thursday, citing competitive threats from Meta Platforms and other AI-focused companies.

Analyst Laura Martin said the biggest investment risk for Apple shareholders would be Meta or another AI-first company developing an AI-agent, hardware and monetization stack capable of disintermediating the iPhone.

Such a shift could weaken the ecosystem that has supported Apple’s valuation, according to Martin.

She noted that Meta’s projected fiscal 2026 revenue of $263 billion is roughly half of Apple’s, and said the social media company aims to narrow that gap.

Martin also pointed to the long-running competitive tension between the companies following Apple’s 2021 App Tracking Transparency changes.

Meta has previously said the privacy changes reduced its advertising revenue by billions of dollars.

AI agents could reshape digital commerce

Bank of America raised a similar concern earlier this week after Apple shares declined following its analysis of Meta’s Muse AI agent.

Analyst Wamsi Mohan warned that AI agents could shift online shopping activity away from Apple’s ecosystem.

Muse can browse websites, complete forms and continue tasks after users leave the application.

It has also gained access to commerce services including Shopify, Expedia and PayPal, although Amazon has blocked the agent.

The concern is not necessarily that Apple would immediately lose device sales.

Instead, Apple could retain control of the hardware while losing some of the digital activity surrounding product discovery, referrals and transactions.

Mohan also noted that Apple’s updated Siri, built around Apple Foundation Models and Private Cloud Compute, currently lacks some of Muse’s background-task capabilities and broader third-party actions.

Bank of America nevertheless maintained its Buy rating on Apple, citing its large installed base, customer trust, and privacy-focused technology.

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Corteva (CTVA) shares are undergoing a massive price adjustment on October 1^st, plunging rather sharply after the market opened.

While a glance at CTVA stock might look alarming, the crash isn’t because of a sudden operational collapse or unexpected earnings miss.

Instead, it marks the planned execution of a major corporate restructuring.

Corteva officially completed the separation of its massive seed and advanced genetics division into a newly independent, publicly traded enterprise, shedding massive market value to form a standalone agriculture powerhouse.

What’s behind the massive decline in Corteva stock

The main force driving Corteva stock price down today is the official debut of Vylor Inc. (VYLR) on the New York Stock Exchange.

By spinning off its advanced seed and genetics division, Corteva transferred a substantial portion of its total enterprise capitalization into the new entity.

Under the terms of the split, Corteva shareholders of record as of September 24 received pro-rata VYLR common shares while keeping their existing CTVA stakes.

The resulting price drop in Corteva reflects this equity transfer rather than an actual loss of wealth, as investors’ combined holdings across CTVA and VYLR preserve their underlying portfolio value.

Legal clearance and court ruling

The transaction almost faced a last-minute disruption after the State of California filed a motion for a temporary restraining order – alleging the spin-off was designed to shield valuable seed assets from historical environmental liabilities related to PFAS chemicals.

However, on September 30, a US District Court denied California’s motion, arguing the state had waited until mere days before closing despite knowing about the plans for nearly a year.

This critical legal clearance removed the final obstacle blocking the corporate separation, allowing Corteva and Vylor Inc. to execute the stock distribution as scheduled on October 1 without lingering regulatory delays.

Should you invest in CTVA shares today?

With the Vylor separation complete, Corteva Inc emerges as a lean, pure-play global leader in crop protection.

For long-term investors, today’s crash offers a fresh baseline valuation to evaluate the streamlined business.

CTVA shares now focus entirely on high-margin crop protection solutions – backed by $11 billion innovation pipeline that has consistently delivered margin expansion.

Meanwhile, risk-tolerant growth investors can look toward Vylor stock for direct exposure to next-generation hybrid technologies and agricultural gene editing.

Rather than signaling fundamental distress, Corteva’s post-spin profile presents a compelling entry point for investors seeking stable, innovation-driven exposure to crop health and agricultural inputs

Note that Wall Street firms also currently have a consensus Overweight rating on CTVA, signaling continued confidence in what the future holds for the agri-science company.

A rather lucrative 5.92% dividend yield tied to the NYSE-listed firm makes it even more attractive as a long-term holding heading into next year (2027).

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SanDisk shares SNDK rose in afternoon trading Thursday after Citi reiterated its Buy rating on the memory and storage company following Micron Technology’s latest earnings report.

The stock was up over 2% after staying under pressure in morning trading.

Citi maintained a $2,100 price target for SanDisk, implying more than 20% upside from current levels.

The brokerage said Micron’s results offered a favorable read-through for NAND fundamentals, particularly as demand from artificial intelligence data centers continues to expand.

Micron reported a 42% sequential increase in NAND revenue, while NAND prices rose about 30%, well ahead of the roughly 20% increase expected by consensus estimates.

Micron management also indicated that its NAND supply is expected to grow more slowly than overall industry supply growth in calendar 2026, reinforcing expectations that the market will remain tight.

“Sequentially, NAND revenue +42%, B/S +10% as prices increased ~30% (vs. consensus +20% qq/Citi +34% qq) on tight NAND conditions,” said Citi analyst Atif Malik in a Thursday investor note.

“Mgmt expects Micron NAND supply to grow less than industry supply growth in CY26. For CY27/CY28, expect industry NAND bit shipments to grow in the mid-20% range and the industry to remain supply constrained during both years.”

AI demand supports NAND outlook

Citi said the NAND market could remain supported by structural demand from AI infrastructure.

One key driver is the increasing use of solid-state drives to offload key-value cache, or KV cache, from more expensive and constrained high-bandwidth memory and other computing resources.

“We remain constructive on favorable NAND S/D fundamentals on durable AI-led datacenter demand (KV cache offloading to more cost-effective SSDs), and this read-through supports SanDisk’s thesis of strong business fundamentals and increased visibility,” Malik said.

Citi acknowledged that Micron’s expected NAND supply growth is higher than SanDisk’s expectation for industry compound annual growth of roughly the mid-teens.

However, the brokerage maintained its constructive view because of resilient demand and visibility provided by non-binding manufacturer agreements.

“We note while MU NAND B/S growth is higher than SanDisk’s expectations for industry CAGR of mid-teens, we remain constructive given durable demand and visibility via NBMs,” Citi said.

SanDisk stock has soared in 2026

The favorable NAND backdrop has already translated into a dramatic rally for SanDisk shares.

The stock has gained more than 530% this year and more than 1,300% over the past 12 months, as investors have increasingly focused on AI-driven demand for memory and storage products.

Micron shares, however, were down more than 0.15% Thursday despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly results and providing an upbeat outlook.

One concern for investors is that Micron’s earnings beat was smaller than those delivered in previous quarters.

Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore noted that Micron posted an earnings beat of about 5% in the latest quarter, compared with beats of roughly 20% to 40% in several preceding quarters.

The company’s gross-margin guidance of about 86.25% also came in slightly below elevated expectations.

Micron attributed the sequential decline to temporary costs, including inventory absorption, higher fiscal 2027 bonus accruals and cleanroom startup expenses.

Management described the quarter as the cyclical floor for gross margins in fiscal 2027 and expects profitability to expand as revenue grows through the remainder of the year.

Analysts remain bullish on Micron

Analysts nevertheless continued to see support from tight supply conditions.

“The report ‘isn’t an earnings surprise story anymore,'” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“We’re into the realm where earnings durability is driving shares higher, rather than any single set of blowout results.”

Raymond James analyst Melissa Fairbanks highlighted Micron’s comments that it has no clear visibility into when NAND supply will catch up with demand.

While the shortage could allow Micron to continue raising prices and expanding profitability, Fairbanks said the constrained supply environment could also limit near-term volume growth.

Goldman Sachs raised its price target for Micron to $1,250 from $1,100 while maintaining a Neutral rating.

Analyst James Schneider cited strong demand and a growing base of customer commitments.

Micron now has 26 long-term agreements covering about 35% of projected revenue through fiscal 2030, with roughly 75% of those agreements carrying structured pricing.

For SanDisk, the combination of AI-driven storage demand, limited NAND supply, and long-term customer commitments provides a supportive backdrop, even after the stock’s extraordinary gains this year.

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Synopsys (SNPS) shares jumped 13% on Thursday after the chip-design software maker issued fiscal 2027 revenue and profit forecasts above analysts’ expectations and announced multi-year agreements with OpenAI and Amazon Web Services.

The company outlined its long-term growth targets at its 2026 Investor Day in New York, highlighting demand for chip-design and simulation tools as artificial intelligence investment drives increasingly complex semiconductor development.

Synopsys raises fiscal 2027 outlook

Synopsys expects fiscal 2027 revenue of between $11.1 billion and $11.2 billion, above the $10.81 billion average analyst estimate compiled by LSEG.

Its forecast for earnings per share of $19.04 to $19.12 also exceeds the $17.81 consensus estimate.

The company is targeting roughly 15% compound annual revenue growth between fiscal 2026 and 2030.

It expects its adjusted operating margin to reach about 44% in fiscal 2027 and approximately 50% by fiscal 2030.

Synopsys also expects non-GAAP earnings per share to grow at a mid-20% compound annual rate through fiscal 2030.

Within its business, the company forecasts electronic design automation revenue growth of at least 13% annually, simulation and analysis revenue growth of at least 10%, and Design IP growth of at least 17%.

Berenberg said the investor day “provided significantly more than the market expected,” according to a note to clients.

OpenAI and AWS deals support growth

The updated outlook came alongside new agreements with OpenAI and AWS.

Synopsys agreed to share revenue with OpenAI as part of a partnership to develop an AI model for chip-design work.

Amazon Web Services also signed a multi-year agreement worth more than $1 billion to license Synopsys’ chip-design intellectual property.

Deutsche Bank analyst Gianmarco P. Conti maintained a Buy rating on Synopsys and raised his price target to $640.

Conti said the Amazon and OpenAI agreements could support “higher segment growth floors, faster Ansys revenue synergy ramp, and a steeper operating-margin trajectory.”

Conti raised his fiscal 2030 revenue estimate for Synopsys to $15.87 billion from $15.15 billion.

Bank of America also raised its price target to $600 from $500 while maintaining a Buy rating.

Analyst Vivek Arya said Synopsys’ targets imply roughly 23% compound annual growth in pro forma EPS from fiscal 2026 through 2030.

KeyBanc raised its price target to $605 from $600 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing the fiscal 2027 guidance, higher long-term growth targets and planned margin expansion.

Synopsys plans $1 billion buyback

Synopsys expects free cash flow to grow at a mid-20% compound annual rate from fiscal 2026 through 2030.

After investing in the business, the company expects to return up to 50% of free cash flow to shareholders through share repurchases.

The company plans to buy back about $1 billion of its shares over the coming months, subject to market conditions.

Synopsys is also seeking to diversify its revenue beyond traditional software licensing through usage-based fees, customised products and royalties, according to Deutsche Bank.

The company’s updated framework comes as it positions its design and simulation portfolio around the expansion of digital and physical AI and the wider shift towards AI-powered engineering.

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Anthropic is considering launching its initial public offering as soon as mid-November, potentially putting the artificial intelligence model maker on track to begin trading before the Thanksgiving holiday, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 

The company behind Claude could begin formal marketing for the IPO as early as the week of Nov. 9, the people said.

Anthropic is still expected to go public no later than the end of the year, although deliberations are ongoing and the timeline could change.

Anthropic considers November IPO

Anthropic had previously been expected to file publicly for an IPO after the summer.

The potential November timeline would place its offering among a broader market for new listings that has faced several delays and postponements.

The company is also entering the public markets amid intensifying competition from OpenAI, which has gained sales momentum in recent months.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has argued that the pace of advances in AI models should slow, publishing an essay on his personal website focused on the need to “pace the frontier.”

OpenAI has also postponed its IPO plans. CEO Sam Altman recently argued that taking the company public now would be ill-advised.

Despite concerns surrounding competition and AI safety, prospective investors are said to view Anthropic at a valuation of between $1.8 trillion and $2 trillion.

The company is also expected to match or exceed the size of SpaceX’s IPO, according to previous Bloomberg News reporting.

Anthropic’s financial losses rise

Anthropic reported a net loss of almost $42 billion in 2025, up roughly fivefold from about $8.3 billion a year earlier, according to documents previously reported by Bloomberg News.

Revenue increased sharply during the same period, reaching about $4.6 billion in 2025 from $386 million in 2024. However, the company’s operating loss expanded to more than $8 billion.

More than $34 billion of Anthropic’s 2025 net loss came from a change in the fair value of its liabilities, according to the documents.

The potential IPO comes as investors assess a wider market for new listings.

Oura recently became the third company in several weeks to postpone its debut shortly before a planned share sale.

Other companies have also seen their IPO timelines slip as the performance of newly listed stocks weakened.

Excluding SpaceX and SK Hynix, the weighted-average return for more than 100 newly listed stocks is a loss of 4% this year, according to Bloomberg data.

That compares with a 12% gain for the S&P 500 and a 20% rise for the Nasdaq 100.

Broadcom plays key role in AI buildout

Anthropic’s IPO filing also highlights the company’s extensive infrastructure relationships with major technology firms, including Broadcom, Amazon and other partners.

Broadcom has a particularly broad relationship with Anthropic, spanning compute supply, equipment leasing and financing.

Reuters reported that Broadcom has agreed to lend Anthropic up to $42 billion to finance infrastructure spending.

The arrangement could make Anthropic Broadcom’s largest customer in its chip design business next year.

It also highlights the reciprocal spending relationships between AI companies and infrastructure providers that have drawn scrutiny from some investors.

Under the financing arrangement, Broadcom could designate a financing partner, while the debt instruments could potentially be converted into Anthropic shares.

Anthropic said in its filing that it does not expect any notes to be sold before completing its IPO.

The convertible note could finance about a third of Anthropic’s $125.2 billion commitment for a five-year lease of TPU computing capacity, according to Reuters.

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