FinksDaily
Sponsored by MV.Health
💡 Bright idea
Good morning. Walmart is ending the shopping scavenger hunt. The retailer's shelf labels now light up (opens in a new tab) to point you to the item you searched for in the app, and shoppers have triggered that 5M times since it began rolling out this summer. Associates get matching tools for picking online orders and stocking shelves, and all of it goes chainwide by the holidays. Finding one jar of pickles among 120K items just got easier.
Top Idea
The AI Boom Is Moving Beyond Chips. Software Could Power the Next Leg
The AI boom is moving beyond the chip aisle. Four years in, more of the opportunity is shifting toward the agents and platforms that turn all that computing power into products customers pay for. That rotation is already showing up on the tape and in analysts’ fourth-quarter shopping lists.
Agents go mainstream: Enterprise AI agents arrived in early 2026, while Meta Platforms’ Muse points to the technology’s next push into consumer use. Cheap open-weight models have also pressured OpenAI and Anthropic on price, pushing customers to reserve premium models for tougher jobs. But hardware still matters. Agents call models far faster than humans, driving demand for cloud compute and the CPUs powering it.
- Nvidia stock is up 1,263% since ChatGPT launched, with analysts' average target implying another 44%.
- Estimates for 2030 server CPU sales jumped from $50B (opens in a new tab) late last year to nearly a quarter trillion today.
Where Deutsche Bank Is Putting Fresh Money
Deutsche Bank’s fourth-quarter “Fresh Money” report names nine tech picks around that shift. Digital Realty is benefiting from heavy leasing by Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, with a $1.4B contracted revenue backlog last quarter. Lumentum’s 200G lasers are sold out at roughly double prior-generation pricing. In software, analyst Benjamin Black sees Muse opening subscription and transaction-fee revenue while improving ad conversion.
- Shopify plans to monetize its Sidekick assistant via price hikes, sustaining 20%-plus revenue growth (opens in a new tab).
- SiriusXM's YouTube audio-ad deal could generate ~$1.5B through 2028 versus $250M in consensus.
The second phase: Models are commoditizing, and the margin is shifting to whoever owns the customer. ServiceNow made the list as enterprises need tools to govern their agents, while Entegris, with ~75% of revenue tied to chip volumes, shows the hardware trade still has legs. Software stocks lifted the open Oct. 1 even as Treasury yields hit (opens in a new tab) two-decade highs. The chips still do the work, but software may keep more of the upside.
(opens in a new tab)Sponsored by MV.Health
Your Portfolio Is Compounding. Is Your Intimacy?
You rebalance quarterly, track your yield, and have a plan for the next 20 years. Almost nobody applies that discipline to their own body.
Aging changes things nobody warns you about, and it shows up in your relationship before it shows up anywhere else. ED and performance anxiety are the line items men quietly write off as permanent.
Tenuto 2 is an FDA-registered wearable device (opens in a new tab) — and clinically studied to increase erectile firmness by 2x.
- No pills, no prescriptions. Doctor-recommended technology (opens in a new tab) you use at home, on your own terms.
- Four motors, 16 intensity levels, built for you and your partner.
- FSA/HSA eligible, so pre-tax dollars cover it.
Some assets you hold. This one you use — and the returns compound quietly.
Large-Cap Recap
Bank Stocks Dive After Fed Hike, Earnings May Offer Relief
Bank stocks fell sharply after the Fed’s September 0.25% rate hike lifted short‑term borrowing costs and squeezed margins. The SPDR S&P Bank ETF is down about 12% from its August peak, while large banks such as Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase all posted declines. With earnings due in October, investors will watch whether revenue trends can justify the low 10‑times earnings multiple. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Smart Glasses Become New Tech Battleground
Meta Platforms unveiled its AI‑driven Muse glasses at September’s developer conference, signaling a race among Apple, Alphabet, and Samsung to dominate the fast‑growing smart‑eyewear market. Global shipments jumped to 8.7 M units in 2025, and suppliers like Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries stand to capture billions in revenue as the category expands. Investors should watch these hardware and component makers for exposure to the emerging market trend now rapidly. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Mag Seven Valuation Premium Shrinks
Massive AI capital expenditures pushed free cash flow into negative territory and triggered a steep de-rating for the market leaders. That pushed the group valuation premium over the rest of the S&P 500 down to 10%, which is the lowest level in over a decade. Meanwhile, Wall Street strategists argue the sell-off has gone too far, given strong projected earnings growth. Investors can capture exposure through quality factor funds or direct tech holdings. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Idea Desk
Five Dividend Stocks to Weather a Volatile Market
Investors are moving past the AI hype and looking for steady income again. These five US companies offer some of the highest yields on our list, pairing regular dividend checks with established businesses that have historically been better suited to riding out rougher markets.
Market Pulse
Accenture plc
The consulting giant’s shares surged after earnings beat expectations and a stronger-than-expected revenue outlook eased fears that AI could disrupt its business.
Synopsys, Inc.
The chip-design software maker’s shares increased after a strong fiscal 2027 growth outlook and new OpenAI and AWS partnerships boosted confidence in AI demand.
Paramount Skydance Corporation Class B Common Stock
The media company’s shares fell despite clearing its final major Warner Bros. merger hurdle as investors focused on the heavy debt needed to finance the deal.
Sponsored by BluSky AI
This AI Infrastructure Company Works For The People, Not Against Them
Communities across the country are pushing back on big data centers that drain water and strain power grids. That resistance is slowing buildouts nationwide. BluSky AI is among the few companies addressing community concerns while keeping AI infrastructure builds moving forward. (opens in a new tab) Their SkyMod pre-fab AI compute centers are scheduled to deploy 3x faster, fit onto smaller footprints, use less power, and near-zero water.
This solution earned them a “Buy” rating from a 3rd party analyst and an estimated fair value of $15.81. But you can invest today at $5.50/share. (opens in a new tab)
Markets & Economy
SEC approves five-year sandbox for tokenized stocks: The agency issued a five-year exemptive order allowing on-chain trading of tokenized National Market System stocks through automated market pools. Issuers retain veto power over third-party tokenization. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
US manufacturing expands for ninth month as prices surge: Prices surged, with the index jumping 6.8 points to 77.9% amid higher steel, aluminum and petroleum costs. ISM reported a 54.5% activity reading in September, the ninth month of expansion. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Data center boom masks broader US construction slump: US construction spending rose 0.9% in August to an annualized $2.2T rate, easily topping expectations. However, data centers accounted for roughly three-quarters of private nonresidential gains. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Business & Tech
Broadcom to lend Anthropic $42B for chip leases: Broadcom is financing up to $42B in custom tensor processing unit leases for Anthropic, covering a portion of the AI lab's massive $125.2B commitments. The deal allows Broadcom to convert debt into equity. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Vylor spin-off launches independent seed giant: Vylor completed its separation from Corteva to trade on the New York Stock Exchange as a standalone agriculture leader valued at $22B. The firm is targeting up to $11.9B in net sales by 2029. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Google tests AI chips in space: Alphabet launched its custom tensor processing units into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to test AI workloads in space. The refrigerator-sized Planet Labs satellite runs Gemini models using power from near-constant sunlight. [Read (opens in a new tab)]
Chart
Digit of the Day
America’s Copper Hoard Hits 2M Tons as Tariff Questions Linger
Sometimes the best policy is no policy at all. The US has pulled as much as 2M tons of copper (opens in a new tab) onshore, per BMO Capital Markets, without announcing a single tariff on the refined metal. Some analysts now suspect the ambiguity is the plan, and everyone else is paying for the suspense.
- The stockpiling traces to last July, when Trump tariffed wire and other copper products, then ordered a study on refined metal that still hasn’t produced a verdict.
- Deutsche Bank’s metals lead expects the US and China to lock up about 70% of global inventories by year-end — and sees an outlier 50% surge to $10/lb next year.
Late to the party: Even with prices approaching record highs, copper equities haven’t caught up to the metal. Scotiabank says miners are priced at only a 2% premium to spot copper, well below the 17% three-year average (opens in a new tab), and flags First Quantum and Lundin Mining as particularly undervalued, with Anglo American and Freeport-McMoRan as potential re-rating candidates. The bank expects the market to stay tight through the end of 2027, so there’s plenty of time for the stocks to catch up.
Post Credits
Disclosures
This is a paid advertisement for BluSky AI Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.bluskyaidatacenters.com (opens in a new tab)
*BluSky AI, Inc. has paid FRC a fee for research coverage and distribution of reports.