Chipmakers' Growth Beyond Phones, Arm's Server Share Grows

The Dow jumped 1,569 points on Wednesday as the midterm result reset expectations for Washington. Oil fell more than 8%, giving consumer businesses a different backdrop while punishing energy shares.

Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. Investors treated the coming divided government as a possible check on policy shifts and a source of pressure to pull back from the Iran war. That is a change in expectations, not confirmation that the conflict is over.

THE ROTATION: CONSUMERS UP. ENERGY DOWN.

Consumer discretionary shares led the sector ETF board: XLY gained 4.26%. Financials XLF rose 3.51%, and communication services XLC added 3.47%. Energy XLE fell 4.74%, industrials XLI lost 1.09%, and technology XLK was nearly flat at -0.01%.

That left a 9 percentage-point gap between consumer discretionary and energy in one session. The simple explanation is that cheaper oil can help fuel users and household budgets while hurting producers. The size of the gap shows how differently the same headline can affect businesses.

This is a price-rotation signal, not evidence of measured institutional money flows. The next test is whether those expectations appear in company margins and forecasts.

HEALTHCARE: CVS PLANS A TWO-COMPANY FUTURE.

CVS plans to separate into two publicly traded companies in the first half of 2028. CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) would keep Aetna, Caremark, its specialty pharmacy operations and care-delivery businesses. CVS Pharmacy would take roughly 9,000 stores, mail pharmacy, MinuteClinic and Health100.

The plan remains subject to approvals and other conditions. On the earnings side, quarterly revenue reached $108.4 billion, and adjusted earnings were $2.09 a share versus GAAP earnings of $1.68. CVS raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to at least $8.20 a share.

Shares still closed 12.53% lower. A stronger quarter and a major corporate redesign can coexist with investor uncertainty about what comes next.

CVS HEALTH $CVS IS SPLITTING INTO TWO PUBLIC COMPANIES

The healthcare company keeps the CVS Health name, with Aetna, CVS Caremark, CVS Specialty, Oak Street Health and Signify Health. The other, CVS Pharmacy, takes about 9,000 CVS pharmacies, mail pharmacy, MinuteClinic and the… pic.twitter.com/Dx5TbRK4eg

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

THE PLATFORM ECONOMY: UBER DELIVERY NEARLY CATCHES RIDES.

Uber’s (NYSE:UBER) delivery business generated $28.5 billion in gross bookings in the third quarter, close to the $29.5 billion booked by its rides business. Gross bookings measure customer spending through the platform, before the split among drivers, merchants and Uber.

Delivery bookings grew 22% from a year earlier, faster than rides at 18%. Across the company, gross bookings climbed 20% to $59.8 billion. The narrowing gap shows that Uber’s operating story increasingly reaches beyond getting people from one place to another.

Its driverless plans are still targets: about 700 fully driverless vehicles by year-end 2026 and more than 2,000 in 2027. Those numbers describe expected expansion, not today’s completed fleet.

UBER $UBER'S DELIVERY BUSINESS IS NOW ALMOST AS BIG AS RIDES

Delivery gross bookings grew 22% to $28.5 billion in Q3, just under Mobility's $29.5 billion, which grew 18%. A year ago the gap was about $1.8 billion. Now it is about $1.0 billion.

Delivery revenue rose 23% to $5.5… pic.twitter.com/GCr9TkX4pP

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

ADVERTISING SOFTWARE: APPLOVIN PASSES LAST YEAR’S PROFIT.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) earned $3.91 billion in the first nine months of 2026, above its $3.33 billion of net income for all of 2025. Nine-month revenue of $5.95 billion also exceeded last year’s $5.48 billion total.

The latest quarter brought $2.18 billion in revenue, up 55%, and $1.44 billion in net income, up 72%. Its 66% net margin means roughly two of every three revenue dollars became profit. The full-year comparison uses total net income; 2025 included discontinued operations.

Shares gained another 23.09% after hours at 7:11 p.m. Eastern, measured from Wednesday’s regular close. That is a time-stamped reaction, not a promised final price.

APPLOVIN $APP HAS ALREADY EARNED MORE IN 2026 THAN IN ALL OF 2025

Net income for the first nine months reached $3.91 billion, above the $3.33 billion it made in all of last year. Nine-month revenue of $5.95 billion has also passed 2025's full-year $5.48 billion.

Q3's 66% net… pic.twitter.com/wnsnFNxatE

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

CHIPS BEYOND PHONES: QUALCOMM’S CAR BUSINESS HITS $6 BILLION.

Qualcomm’s (NASDAQ:QCOM) automotive revenue reached $6.0 billion in fiscal 2026, up 52%. The fourth quarter contributed $1.99 billion, up 89%, while handset-chip revenue fell 26% in that quarter.

The company is building other growth engines while its largest business remains under pressure. It expects non-handset revenue to grow more than 60% in fiscal 2027 and reiterated a $5 billion data-center revenue target for that year. Those are management forecasts.

For the quarter, GAAP revenue was $10.322 billion; adjusted revenue was $10.442 billion. Adjusted earnings were $2.17 a share versus GAAP earnings of $1.17. Keeping those accounting bases separate matters when comparing results.

QUALCOMM $QCOM'S CAR CHIP BUSINESS HIT $6.0 BILLION IN FISCAL 2026, UP 52%

Qualcomm called Q4 its first $2 billion automotive quarter. For the full year, handset chip revenue fell 13% to $24.1 billion, while automotive and IoT together brought in $13.1 billion, more than half of… pic.twitter.com/HP0kFI9J85

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

CLOUD COMPUTING: ARM’S SERVER SHARE KEEPS CLIMBING.

Arm (NASDAQ:ARM) says its technology powered more than 50% of servers at the biggest cloud providers in 2025, up from 15% in 2024. It expects the share to exceed 60% by the end of 2026 as customers expand their own chip platforms.

That is Arm’s estimate for the top hyperscalers, the companies running enormous cloud data centers. It is not a claim about every server sold worldwide. Data-center royalties, the fees Arm receives when customers ship chips using its designs, doubled from a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue grew 27% to $1.443 billion. License revenue rose 50%, while royalties overall grew 8%, showing that contract timing and the mix of shipped chips still matter.

ARM $ARM SAYS ARM-BASED CHIPS NOW RUN MORE THAN HALF OF SERVERS AT THE TOP HYPERSCALERS

Arm says its server share at the biggest cloud providers more than tripled, from 15% in 2024 to more than 50% in 2025, and it expects more than 60% by the end of 2026 as Google Axion, AWS… pic.twitter.com/f8u3J4vbGa

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

AI INFRASTRUCTURE: GOOGLE BACKS THE FINANCING FRAMEWORK.

TeraWulf secured Google credit support for financing connected to about $19 billion in contracted Anthropic lease commitments at its Kentucky data campus. It also signed a definitive construction agreement with Fluor for three buildings.

The $19 billion is contracted lease revenue across the deal. It is not a $19 billion cash investment from Google or the stated amount of its guarantee. Credit support helps a borrower pursue financing by giving lenders another source of protection if specified obligations are not met.

The facilities are expected to begin entering service in late 2027, with phases continuing through the second quarter of 2028. Financing, construction and delivery remain separate execution steps.

GOOGLE TO BACK FINANCING FOR $WULF'S $19 BILLION ANTHROPIC DATA CENTER DEAL

TeraWulf has secured credit support from Google for debt financing tied to its 20-year Anthropic lease at the Justified Data Campus in Kentucky.

The agreement is expected to help TeraWulf obtain more… pic.twitter.com/Mtquh5LRse

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

DIGITAL DOLLARS: CIRCLE EXPANDS ITS BINANCE TIES.

Circle’s quarterly update confirmed a $100 million Binance equity investment and an expanded partnership to promote USDC. USDC is a stablecoin designed to track the US dollar; that design does not eliminate operational or redemption risk.

Circle reported $865 million of revenue and reserve income. The mix matters: reserve income fell 8% to $658 million, while $182 million from an ARC token presale helped other revenue. Total revenue growth therefore did not mean that the reserve-income business grew.

USDC ended the quarter at $73.9 billion in circulation. Circle’s defined share of the stablecoin market was 27%, down 1.83 percentage points from a year earlier. The partnership is one part of its effort to broaden distribution.

CIRCLE $CRCL SAYS BINANCE IS MAKING A $100 MILLION EQUITY INVESTMENT IN THE COMPANY

Binance also renewed and expanded its partnership with Circle to promote USDC across its global platform, with an emphasis on emerging markets.

The deal comes as USDC's stablecoin market share,… pic.twitter.com/mn7KLwBpNp

— WOLF (@WOLF_Financial) November 4, 2026

MORE ON THE SCOREBOARD: STRONG RESULTS. DIFFERENT REACTIONS.

Datadog: Revenue grew 35% to $1.20 billion. Adjusted earnings were $0.81 a share; GAAP earnings were $0.32. Shares fell 14.42% in regular trading. Growth alone does not determine how a stock responds when expectations are high.

McDonald’s: Global comparable sales, which track established restaurants, rose 1.5%, while US comparable sales slipped 0.2%. Adjusted earnings were $3.57 a share versus GAAP earnings of $3.51. Shares closed 6.53% higher.

The economy: The ISM services index eased to 54.5 from 54.9. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. ADP reported 86,000 additional private-sector jobs in October; that is a different survey from Friday’s government payroll report.

JOBS FRIDAY. EARNINGS THURSDAY.

Thursday, November 5: Cloudflare, Airbnb and Monster Beverage report earnings after the close.

Friday, November 6: The October employment report arrives at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment follows at 10 a.m. Governor Michelle Bowman has a supervision and regulation discussion at 12:15 p.m.

Monday, November 9: September wholesale trade is due at 10 a.m. Eastern. Treasury’s schedule includes 6-, 13- and 26-week bills and a 3-year note auction. Jobs, inflation expectations and demand for government debt will give the rally fresh tests.

MONEY BASICS: CHECK THE 2026 PAYROLL LIMIT.

The IRS lists a $24,500 employee 401(k) contribution limit for 2026. A year-end payroll review can compare contributions with that current-year limit rather than an older figure.

Eligible workers age 50 and older may have an $8,000 catch-up allowance; eligible ages 60-63 may have an $11,250 catch-up instead. Plan rules and eligibility apply, and employer contributions have a separate limit. Read the IRS limits.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES: This newsletter provides financial news and general education, not individualized financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Forecasts and plans can change. Regular-session prices refer to November 4 unless otherwise stated; after-hours quotes are observed snapshots. Adjusted earnings exclude company-defined items and differ from GAAP results. Verify current information before making decisions.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.