What Big Oil Tells Us About AI Memory Stocks

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, October 29, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Alphabet shares dropped 10% in premarket trading on October 29, 2026, after the company missed revenue expectations for its core search advertising unit, despite strong performance in its cloud division. Microsoft stock rose 3% following reports of accelerating growth in its cloud-computing business, which alleviated concerns about demand for its AI infrastructure. Samsung Electronics shares fell 4% as its net profit came in below analyst forecasts, even though the company recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of record earnings. Shell climbed nearly 3% in London after reporting high profits from its refining operations, while Chipotle Mexican Grill and eBay both gained more than 6% premarket on better-than-expected quarterly results.

Background

• ExxonMobil and Chevron are scheduled to report earnings on Friday, with both companies expected to post some of their most profitable quarters due to high crude oil prices driven by conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.
• Brent crude oil prices have climbed to approximately $110 per barrel, a level last seen in late April, despite a significant rebound in Persian Gulf oil exports that has surpassed prewar volumes.
• Computer memory stocks, including Micron and Sandisk, have seen massive gains since early 2025, with shares rising between 1,000% and 3,700%, significantly outpacing the increase in analysts’ consensus free-cash-flow expectations.
• Amazon and Intel are set to report their earnings after the market close on October 29.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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