Top Stories This Morning: Amazon May Remove $8 Billion in Chips from Its Balance Sheet; Nike Announces Layoffs

Amazon is considering a deal that would remove approximately $8 billion worth of Nvidia chips from its balance sheet while continuing to use the hardware, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. Nike announced a new restructuring plan involving layoffs starting in 2027, which is expected to yield about $2.5 billion in savings by fiscal year 2031. Meanwhile, Mattel’s stock jumped nearly 20% following reports that Authentic Brands Group is considering buying the Barbie maker for approximately $6 billion. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of October 2.

Amazon is considering a deal that would remove approximately $8 billion worth of Nvidia chips from its balance sheet, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. The deal involves thousands of state-of-the-art Grace Blackwell chips installed in more than ten of the company’s data centers in the U.S.

According to the publication, the chips are set to be transferred to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that will be financed by external investors. This arrangement will allow Amazon to continue using the equipment while transitioning to a less capital-intensive financing model, as the chips will no longer appear on its balance sheet. According to FT sources, this entity will be able to raise debt financing and sell up to a 10% stake to investors. Representatives from Amazon and its cloud division, Amazon Web Services, did not respond to the FT’s requests for comment.

Nike has announced a new restructuring plan that will result in job cuts starting in 2027, according to CNBC. The plan calls for modernizing supply chains and reorganizing the business into three regions, and is expected to save approximately $2.5 billion by fiscal year 2031. This is the third round of layoffs announced by the company this year, the network notes.

At the same time, Nike reported a 4% decline in quarterly revenue to $11.21 billion and a 2% decline in net income to $712 million. Sales in China fell by 26%. For fiscal year 2027, the company expects revenue to decline by a high single-digit percentage, and its stock lost about 3% following the earnings report.

Anthropic expects to hold its IPO in mid-November and may begin promoting the offering on November 9, sources told Bloomberg. This would allow the developer of Claude to begin trading before Thanksgiving on November 26. While the timing is still subject to change, the company still plans to go public before the end of the year.

Potential investors value Anthropic at approximately $1.8–2 trillion, and the company itself hopes to match or exceed the size of SpaceX’s IPO, the agency notes. In 2025, Anthropic’s revenue rose to $4.6 billion from $386 million a year earlier, but its net loss reached nearly $42 billion. On October 14, according to the agency, the company plans to meet with potential investors in San Francisco.

Mattel's stock rose nearly 20% following a report by The Wall Street Journal that Authentic Brands Group is considering a bid to acquire the maker of Barbie, according to CNBC. According to the publication, the price under discussion could exceed $20 per share, which would value Mattel at approximately $6 billion.

A CNBC source confirmed that talks are underway but are still in the very early stages. The news came shortly after Mattel announced a change in CEO: Roger Lynch, the current CEO of Condé Nast, will take the helm of the company.

New Mexico authorities have asked a court to order Meta to pay between $35 billion and $40 billion in fines after a jury found the company had misled Facebook users about the privacy of their data, Reuters reports. The case stems from the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica, which obtained data from up to 87 million users without their consent.

The jury found 26 of Meta’s 29 claims to be misleading and counted more than 43 million violations of consumer protection law. Meta insists that the amount sought is excessive and proposes capping the fine at $3.45 billion. The judge plans to issue a ruling on the amount of the penalty in October.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed new rules that will make it easier for investment advisors and regulated funds to hold crypto assets on behalf of clients, according to CNBC. Specifically, self-custody will be permitted under certain conditions, and state trust companies will be able to act as custodians.

The SEC hopes this will remove some regulatory barriers and expand funds’ ability to offer strategies involving crypto assets. The initiative came after the Clarity Act, a sweeping bill to regulate the crypto market, stalled in the Senate. The SEC’s proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days.

— Japan's broad Topix index fell 0.8%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.9%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 2.6%. Stock exchanges in mainland China are closed for the holidays.

— In South Korea, the KOSPI rose 0.2%, while the KOSDAQ fell 0.2%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7%.

— Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.5%, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.3%.

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