NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 13:40 ET — Regular session
- Nvidia and AMD were modestly higher in afternoon trade, while Microsoft, Broadcom and Meta slipped.
- Deal headlines from Meta and fresh infrastructure moves by Brookfield and xAI kept attention on the cost and scale of AI buildouts.
- Traders are watching January volumes, earnings guidance and the Fed’s late-January meeting for the next catalyst.
Nvidia rose about 0.6% and AMD was up about 0.5% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, while Microsoft, Broadcom and Meta Platforms edged lower as investors wound down the final U.S. session of 2025. Palantir and Super Micro Computer also traded in the red.
The moves came as Wall Street drifted lower in holiday-thin trading, with investors focused on how much spending on AI infrastructure can translate into earnings in 2026. Markets are closed Thursday for New Year’s Day. 1
The backdrop is a market that was propelled this year by enthusiasm for AI-linked companies, even as the last few sessions have turned choppy and prompted profit-taking. That late-year pattern matters because thin liquidity can exaggerate price swings and set a jittery tone into January. 1
Investors also entered the week weighing a broader rotation out of heavyweight technology shares after a long run-up, and debating whether rich valuations leave less room for upside if growth cools. Minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting showed a nuanced debate before the central bank cut rates, and the Fed’s next policy meeting is Jan. 27-28, Reuters reported. 2
Nvidia was last at about $188.74, while AMD traded around $216.31. Broadcom slipped about 0.5% to roughly $348.07 and Microsoft fell about 0.4% to around $485.59.
One fresh headline in the AI infrastructure race came from Brookfield, which is starting a cloud business to lease chips inside data centers directly to AI developers, according to a report by The Information that Reuters cited. The new effort would be tied to a $10 billion AI fund and a cloud company called Radiant, Reuters reported. 3
The move highlights a key pressure point for AI stocks: capital expenditures, or capex — the big-ticket spending required for chips, power and data centers — is rising across the ecosystem, and investors are scrutinizing returns. Reuters noted Brookfield’s push could add competitive pressure on traditional cloud giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle by bundling power, real estate and data-center capacity. 3
In deal news, Meta said it would acquire Chinese-founded AI startup Manus, with a source saying the transaction values the Singapore-based firm at $2 billion to $3 billion. “Scrutiny is almost guaranteed; anything with Chinese roots and ‘AI’ in the headline now triggers Washington’s reflexes,” said Jeremy Goldman, senior director at Emarketer. 4
Meta said it plans to integrate Manus into its products, including Meta AI. The announcement helped lift Meta shares in the prior session, even as the stock traded lower on Wednesday. 2
Separate infrastructure headlines underscored how quickly demand for computing power is scaling. Elon Musk said xAI bought a third building to expand its AI infrastructure, aiming to boost training capacity to nearly 2 gigawatts of compute power, Reuters reported. 5
Funding remains a parallel theme. SoftBank said it completed a $41 billion investment in OpenAI that would give it a stake of about 11% in the ChatGPT maker, Reuters reported, reinforcing expectations that AI compute demand will stay elevated. 6
For traders, the next test comes when normal volumes return after the holiday and companies start updating investors on spending plans and profit trajectories. The market’s core question is whether AI-driven revenue growth can keep pace with the costs of building the hardware and data-center footprint that underpins the boom.
