Highlights for the morning: Alphabet and Microsoft records, US-China deal, OpenAI IPO

China and the U.S. have agreed on a trade deal that includes a reduction in some duties. Alphabet reported record revenue of $102.4 billion and Google Cloud division grew 34%, becoming the main beneficiary of the AI boom. The IPO of ChatGPT chatbot developer OpenAI could take place in 2026 and bring its valuation to $1 trillion. These and other topics are covered in our review of key events for the morning of October 30.

US President Donald Trump said that at a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, the two sides reached an agreement to continue exports of rare earth and strategic minerals for a year, and also agreed that Washington will reduce duties imposed because of the supply of fentanyl to the US market from 20% to 10%, CNBC reports. Thus the total rate of trade duties against Chinese goods will decrease to 47%. In exchange, Beijing promised to "actively fight fentanyl" and resume purchases of American soybeans and agricultural products.

According to Trump, the deal will be renegotiated annually and the conversation "went great." Nvidia's supply of chips was also discussed, but without mentioning the latest Blackwell, as Trump announced , the TV channel notes.

OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, has begun preparing for an IPO that could value the company at up to $1 trillion, sources told Reuters. And, according to their information, the offering may take place in late 2026 or 2027. In the publication of The Wall Street Journal, which came out the day before, October 29, it was only about 2027.

OpenAI is considering raising at least $60 billion, interlocutors told Reuters.

Although the company's representatives say that "IPO is not a priority", the decision is due to the need for large-scale financing for the development of AI infrastructure, estimated at trillions of dollars, the agency writes. According to its sources, OpenAI's annual revenue may reach $20 billion, but losses are also growing. After the completion of internal restructuring , the company reduced its dependence on Microsoft, retaining control of the non-profit structure OpenAI Foundation, which owns 26% of shares.

Alphabet reported revenue and profit growth in the third quarter, exceeding analysts' forecasts, Yahoo Finance writes. The company's revenue rose from $88.3 billion a year earlier to $102.4 billion for the first time against expectations of $99.85 billion. Earnings per share reached $2.87, also better than Wall Street estimates ($2.27).

The main growth driver was Google Cloud, which brought in 34% more than a year ago at $15.2 billion, with future contracts reaching $155 billion. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the number of deals over $1 billion in 2025 surpassed the total for the previous two years. The company raised its capex forecast to $92 billion, emphasizing that demand for AI infrastructure is greater than supply.

Alphabet's growth has been boosted by the AI boom and the success of the Gemini model, as well as agreements with OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic to use Google Cloud, the publication notes. Despite risks to the search business due to competition from ChatGPT Atlas, search revenue also grew to $56.6 billion, Pichai said. "AI is expanding search capabilities and driving business growth," he said.

Microsoft reported strong results for the first quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations: earnings per share totaled $3.72 on revenue of $77.7 billion, versus forecasts of $3.68 and $75.5 billion, respectively, Yahoo Finance reports. Sales of the cloud business increased by 26% to $49.1 billion, while capital expenditures jumped 74% to $34.9 billion, half of which was spent on purchasing GPUs and CPUs for Azure.

Meta reported third-quarter revenue growth ahead of Wall Street forecasts, but earnings per share came in worse than expected due to a one-time tax expense and increased investment in AI infrastructure, Yahoo Finance writes.

The company is aggressively expanding its AI investments, including a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, the construction of a $1.5 billion data center in Texas, and a $27 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund the giant Hyperion center in Louisiana. Ma raised its 2025 capital expenditure forecast to $70-72 billion and expects it to rise further in 2026. According to CFO Susan Lee, infrastructure and growth in AI specialist compensation will be the main drivers of spending.

For the second time in a row, the US Federal Reserve reduced the key rate by 0.25 p.p. to a range of 3.75-4.00%. - The decision was not unanimous: the new member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Stephen Miran insisted on a sharper reduction - by 0.5 p.p., while the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Jeff Schmid suggested leaving the rate unchanged. The last time the disagreement in both sides was recorded in 2019, recalls Yahoo Finance.

The regulator admitted that due to the ongoing shutdown since October 1, it is deprived of key macro data - labor market and inflation reports. Nevertheless, the Fed indicated that it "will assess economic risks on the basis of available indicators" and warned of increased risks to employment.

As of Dec. 1, Federzev will stop shrinking its balance sheet to avoid a liquidity shortage similar to the 2019 money market crisis.

Fed chief Jerome Powell emphasized that a December rate cut is "far from a foregone conclusion," noting disagreements within the committee and caution in the absence of data. "When you're driving in a fog, you have to slow down," he said. The likelihood of another cut in December has fallen from 87% to 56%, according to market data.

- Japan's broad Topix index rose 0.7 percent, while the Nikkei 225 added 0.25 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 0.2 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 index was little changed.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was up 0.4 percent, while the Kosdaq fell 1.1 percent.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor