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Shopify (SHOP) delivered a robust Q3, showcasing consistent growth and profitability, though the stock is trading lower post-earnings, likely due to investor concerns over Q4 guidance and tariff impacts. The company reported strong gross merchandise volume (GMV), revenue, and free cash flow, underpinned by strategic AI integrations and international expansion.

• GMV reached $92 bln, up 32% yr/yr (30% in cc), marking the highest growth rate since 2021. Growth was broad-based across merchant sizes, with notable strength in merchants generating over $25 mln annually.
• International GMV surged 41%, particularly in Europe (49% growth), highlighting SHOP’s global traction.
• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) rose 10%, with 35% from higher-priced Plus plans, though yr/yr comparisons were impacted by last year’s one-month paid trials and Plus pricing changes.
• Free cash flow margin hit 18% ($507 mln), up from 16% in Q2 and 15% in Q1, reflecting disciplined cost management.
• SHOP’s AI initiatives, including Sidekick (used by 750,000 shops in Q3) and agentic commerce tools like Catalog and Checkout Kit, are gaining traction. Partnerships with ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity position SHOP at the forefront of conversational commerce.
• The company expects Q4 revenue growth in the mid-to-high 20s, a step down from Q3’s 32%, reflecting a tough comparison to 4Q24’s high growth and lapping the PayPal (PYPL) partnership expansion.
• Gross profit growth for Q4 is projected in the low-to-mid 20s, with free cash flow margin slightly above Q3’s 18%, tempered by elevated payment losses and tax receivable timing.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:

SHOP’s Q3 results underscore its ability to balance growth and profitability, with 32% GMV and revenue growth paired with an 18% free cash flow margin. The company’s AI-driven tools and international expansion are clear strengths, positioning it to capture the evolving commerce landscape. However, the stock’s post-earnings decline likely reflects investor caution around Q4’s softer guidance and ongoing tariff concerns, which have prompted modest price increases by merchants but no significant GMV impact yet. While SHOP’s diversified merchant base and enterprise wins (e.g., Estée Lauder, e.l.f. Cosmetics) bolster its resilience, the high valuation (P/S of roughly 20x) and potential macro headwinds suggest caution.

Palantir Technologies (PLTR) is trading lower today after reporting its Q3 results last night. The report was a blowout, but the sell-off appears more tied to valuation concerns than fundamentals. EPS surged 110% yr/yr to $0.21, while revenue jumped 63% yr/yr (+18% sequentially) to $1.18 bln, marking its highest reported growth rate. The company also guided Q4 revenue of $1.327-1.331 bln and raised FY25 revenue to $4.396-4.40 bln, both above consensus. Palantir has issued upside guidance for every quarter and full-year period since MayQ'24.

• The US commercial business continues to drive the story, now making up 34% of total revenue. Sales rose 121% from a year ago and 29% sequentially to $397 mln, fueled by what management called "insatiable" demand for AIP as customers scale across their operations. The company closed $1.3 bln in US commercial TCV bookings, up 342% from a year ago, with total remaining deal value up 199% year over year and 30% sequentially.
• The US government segment remained strong, growing 52% year over year and 14% sequentially to $486 mln. Growth was supported by continued execution across existing programs and new awards as demand for AI in defense and public sector applications accelerates.
• AIP remains the core catalyst, driving rapid enterprise adoption as customers move from single use cases to full company-wide deployments. Management said AIP is delivering measurable results in weeks, not years, highlighting its ability to create tangible value across industries.
• Record bookings and backlog provide strong visibility, with total TCV reaching a record $2.8 bln (+151% yr/yr), customer count up 45% yr/yr to 911, remaining deal value rising to $8.6 bln (+91%), and RPO climbing to $2.6 bln (+66%).
• Profitability and cash flow hit new highs, with adjusted operating margin of 51% and free cash flow of $540 mln (46% margin). Palantir's Rule of 40 score rose to 114%, its highest ever.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight

With the results that Palantir just delivered, one might think the stock would be moving higher, not lower. The sell-off looks tied to valuation concerns and some profit taking after a remarkable run. Even after the pullback, shares still trade at a lofty forward P/E above 230x and P/S near 100x, leaving little room for error. That said, the fundamentals are impressive. The US commercial business continues to fire on all cylinders, AIP adoption is accelerating, and the government business is posting strong, broad-based growth. With record bookings, expanding margins, and a deepening backlog, Palantir enters the final quarter of FY25 with strong momentum and excellent visibility into next year.

Sanmina (SANM +12%) is surging after closing out FY25 with strong Q4 (Sep) results and upbeat FY26 guidance. The EMS provider beat EPS and revenue expectations for the second straight quarter, aided by broad-based demand and excitement over its ZT Systems acquisition. Sanmina has now posted back-to-back double-digit EPS beats for the first time in two years.

• Q4 revenue rose 3.9% yr/yr to $2.10 bln, modestly above expectations. IMS revenue climbed 3.3% yr/yr to $1.68 bln, led by communication networks, cloud, and AI infrastructure. CPS revenue grew 7.3% yr/yr to $448 mln, reflecting balanced end-market demand.
• Strongest trends came from cloud, AI, and communication networks, driven by high-performance switches and enterprise storage.
• Industrial, energy, and medical markets remain healthy heading into FY26, while defense and aerospace stay solid.
• Automotive remains soft near term, though growth is still expected in FY26.
• The ZT Systems recently closed acquisition (annual run rate $5-6 bln vs. SANM FY25 revenue $8.1 bln) is transformative, expanding Sanmina's AI and cloud capabilities and enabling full-system integration at scale.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:

Sanmina's fiscal Q4 and FY25 results reflect a company in transition from a steady EMS player to a higher-value systems integrator in the AI and cloud infrastructure space. The ZT Systems acquisition meaningfully boosts its scale and strategic positioning, giving it a credible foothold in high-performance computing. While integration risk remains—especially given the deal's size relative to Sanmina's base—management's upbeat commentary and expanding pipeline suggest solid visibility into FY26. With earnings momentum, diversified end-market exposure, and AI tailwinds, SANM looks attractively positioned. However, after the recent surge, investors may want to monitor execution on ZT integration and margin sustainability before chasing the rally.

Uber (UBER) delivered a strong Q3 with clear top-line acceleration but also an earnings print that’s cloudy for comparability. The company reported EPS of $3.11, but that included a meaningful benefit from a tax-valuation release that makes the GAAP EPS number difficult to compare to consensus. Adjusted EBITDA, the cleaner profitability read, grew 33% yr/yr to roughly $2.3 bln, ahead of the company’s $2.19–$2.29 bln guidance. Gross Bookings accelerated to +21% yr/yr, reaching about $49.7 bln (at the high end of UBER’s guidance range), compared with Q2’s 18% growth in constant currency -- a clear acceleration. 

• Mobility Gross Bookings rose 19% and Delivery Gross Bookings increased 24% in constant currency. Trips grew +22% -- UBER’s fastest trip growth since 2023 -- and platform engagement and audience hit record levels.
• Grocery & Retail is now a meaningful, higher-growth contributor. UBER cited a $12.0 bln annual gross-bookings run-rate for grocery/retail, growing materially faster than restaurant delivery and already contributing positively to margin.
• Adjusted EBITDA set an all-time record and free cash flow remains very strong. UBER reiterated its multi-year framework of mid-to high-teens GB growth target and high-30s/40s EBITDA CAGR.
• Q4 adjusted EBITDA was guided to $2.41–$2.51 bln. That midpoint appears slightly below expectations, and the stock is selling off on what looks partly like a sell-the-news move after a 65% year-to-date run.
• In Mobility, an affordability and product push (e.g., Wait & Save, sparse-geography focus, moto/shared options) increased accessibility and drove broad user growth and frequency, especially in the U.S., LATAM and parts of APAC. 
• UBER emphasized a strategic AV push, highlighting NVIDIA’s (NVDA) Hyperion reference architecture and a Stellantis (STLA) initial 5,000-vehicle program, and described a hybrid future that integrates human drivers and autonomous vehicles.
• Management expects AVs to scale revenue per car/day and to be a multi-year build where UBER can lean on its balance sheet initially but ultimately expects third-party financialization of fleets.

Briefing.com Analyst Insight:

UBER delivered a high-quality quarter with accelerating bookings, record EBITDA, and strong engagement trends, underscoring the durability of its multi-year growth story. The sell-off looks largely like a “good results, tough setup” dynamic after a sizable YTD rally, especially given a Q4 EBITDA guide that came in a touch light at the midpoint. The expanding grocery/retail flywheel and early traction in autonomous partnerships (notably NVDA) add attractive long-term optionality and margin potential. Still, AV investments and scaling retail logistics will require sustained capital and patience, so near-term valuation support will hinge on continued bookings momentum and margin discipline. Overall, UBER remains well-positioned, but the bar is higher after such a strong run.

IREN Limited (IREN) announced a landmark $9.7 bln five-year cloud-services contract with Microsoft (MSFT), granting MSFT access to cutting-edge NVIDIA (NVDA) GB300/Blackwell GPUs via IREN’s infrastructure. The deal, which also includes a separate $5.8 bln procurement agreement with Dell Technologies (DELL) to supply the hardware, has sent IREN’s shares launching to new highs and underscored the firm’s transformation into a serious AI-cloud platform player.

• IREN has surged by about 630% year-to-date, driven by the AI infrastructure narrative and major contract announcements. That meteoric rise has pushed its 1-year forward P/E ratio to a lofty 65x, reflecting elevated investor expectations.
• Under the MSFT deal, IREN will provide access to NVDA's GB300/Blackwell GPUs over five years; MSFT’s choice of IREN underscores IREN’s turnkey capability -- from power, cooling, datacenter shell through to GPU stack.
• This contract follows IREN’s October 7 announcement of several multi-year cloud contracts with AI companies (leveraging NVDA Blackwell GPUs) and its target to exceed $500 mln in annualized run-rate revenue by end of Q1 2026, based on approximately 23,000 GPUs currently operating or on order.
• Several catalysts are driving this growth: booming demand for AI training/inference infrastructure, constrained supply of next-gen GPUs and power/cooling capacity, and IREN’s vertically integrated model (renewable-powered grid capacity plus large data-center campus footprint) which positions it to scale cost-effectively.
• In parallel, MSFT reported that its 1Q26 capex surged to $34.9 bln, up from prior guidance of over $30 bln, and that FY26 capex will outpace FY25 -- reversing its earlier moderation plan. MSFT also plans to increase GPU/CPU spending sequentially in Q2 and boost its datacenter footprint and AI capacity (up roughly 80% this year, doubling over two years), all of which reinforces the tailwinds facing IREN as a provider of that infrastructure.

Briefing.com Analyst insight:

IREN’s transformation from mining/power-centric business into a high-performance AI-cloud infrastructure provider is being validated in real time with a marquee hyperscaler as an anchor tenant. The $9.7 bln deal with MSFT significantly de-risks IREN’s growth trajectory and anchors long-term GPU-demand visibility. That said, the stretched valuation (65× forward P/E) leaves little margin for execution missteps, delays or supply/cost inflation. Delivering on GPU deployment, meeting MSFT’s milestones, managing capex and power infrastructure risk are key to justifying the premium. For investors, IREN offers a compelling structural story if you believe the AI-compute boom is in early innings, but it’s not without risk given the scale and complexity of what’s required.