ExxonMobil and Chevron reported substantial third-quarter earnings expansions on Friday, surpassing consensus projections due to elevated refining margins and strong diesel prices. Chevron generated $9.9 billion in quarterly net income, nearly tripling its profit from the prior-year period, with adjusted earnings reaching $5.28 per share compared to expected estimates of $4.89. The company's domestic refining network processed record volumes of more than 1 million barrels daily while operating at 98% capacity.
ExxonMobil recorded net profit of $15.4 billion, more than doubling its earnings from the identical period in 2025. On an adjusted basis, the company delivered $4.23 per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $4.13. Management noted that wider downstream margins added roughly $4.5 billion to overall results, buoyed by international refinery disruptions tied to ongoing hostilities in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Shares of both oil producers advanced in premarket trading following the releases.
Nvidia stock retreated 3% in premarket trading following reporting from the New York Times indicating that an executive at an affiliated customer firm was subject to a United States counterintelligence investigation. Federal agencies suspect that Alice Huang, who led chip buyer Megaspeed and maintained direct contact with Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, functioned as an intelligence operative for authorities in Beijing. The allegations renewed investor attention regarding possible exposure of proprietary trade secrets and export compliance details.
In response to the inquiry, Chief Executive Jensen Huang stated that Nvidia's commercial dealings with Megaspeed International were standard and within ordinary business practices. The chipmaker has encountered long-standing hurdles in servicing the Chinese market due to Department of Commerce export controls restricting advanced semiconductor shipments, causing Nvidia to exclude Chinese revenue estimates from recent forward guidance amidst persistent regulatory obstacles.
Reddit disclosed plans to pilot mandatory user account registrations for site access after releasing third-quarter financial results that featured disappointing fourth-quarter revenue guidance. Although the digital discussion platform exceeded analyst forecasts for third-quarter revenue and net income, its stock dropped by more than 15% during extended trading as the tempered sales outlook raised questions about user expansion and ad monetization.
Chief Executive Steve Huffman linked the business pressures directly to changes in external search patterns, noting that inbound referral traffic from Google declined significantly over the quarter. The drop was attributed to the rollout of automated generative summaries and conversational overviews on search engines, which diminished traditional organic link click-throughs to online discussion forums. Management stated the mandatory login framework is designed to counter the loss of passive traffic by deepening engagement with direct, registered platform users.
Artificial intelligence research startup Anthropic released a comprehensive prospectus exceeding 300 pages for an impending initial public offering that could value the venture above $1 trillion. The regulatory filing revealed that the company brought in $16.29 billion in revenue across the initial six months of 2026, marking an increase from $1.16 billion reported during the corresponding span in 2025. Cost of revenue totaled $2.38 billion for the period, reflecting an initial gross margin of approximately 85%.
The disclosures also illustrated substantial equity holdings among top executives, with Chief Executive Dario Amodei and six fellow co-founders each maintaining positions exceeding 200 million shares. Despite the top-line expansion, market observers noted that revenue momentum tempered somewhat during the third quarter, directing investor attention toward escalating computational resource requirements and the long-term cost of sustaining marginal top-line expansion.