Market Beats | Oracle Delays Completion of Some OpenAI Data Centers; Broadcom Shares Sink After AI Sales Outlook Disappoints; South Carolina Measles Outbreak Puts 300+ in Quarantine; Saks Debt Slides as Interest Payment Looms; US States Sue Trump Administration Over $100,000 H-1B Fee; House Democrats Release New Epstein Estate Photos; X Revenue Jumps 17% in Q3

—— Oracle Delays Completion of Some OpenAI Data Centers; Broadcom Shares Sink After AI Sales Outlook Disappoints; South Carolina Measles Outbreak Puts 300+ in Quarantine; Saks Debt Slides as Interest Payment Looms; US States Sue Trump Administration Over $100,000 H-1B Fee; House Democrats Release New Epstein Estate Photos; X Revenue Jumps 17% in Q3

1. Oracle Delays Completion of Some OpenAI Data Centers

Oracle Corp. has pushed back the completion dates for some of the data centers it is developing for artificial intelligence model maker OpenAI to 2028 from 2027, according to people familiar with the work.

The delays are largely due to labor and material shortages, the people said, asking not to be identified because the timelines are not public.

Oracle has been working to deliver on a $300 billion contract signed this summer to supply the computing power needed to train and run OpenAI’s models. Even with the setbacks, the timelines for the US-based projects remain ambitious, as the sites are expected to become among the largest data centers in the world. Oracle and OpenAI declined to comment.

“We have ambitious achievable goals for capacity delivery worldwide,” Oracle Co-Chief Executive Officer Clay Magouyrk said on an earnings call this week. He added that the first data center being developed for OpenAI — in Abilene, Texas — remains on track, with more than 96,000 Nvidia Corp. chips already delivered.

Oracle shares fell as much as 6.5% following the news, and were down 5.3% at $188.26 as of 11:03 a.m. in New York on Friday.

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2. Broadcom Shares Sink After AI Sales Outlook Disappoints

Broadcom Inc., a chipmaker competing with Nvidia Corp. for artificial-intelligence computing revenue, suffered its steepest stock decline in nearly 10 months after its outlook for the AI market failed to live up to investors’ lofty expectations.

The shares fell as much as 12% in New York trading on Friday, marking the biggest intraday drop since late January. The selloff followed comments from Chief Executive Officer Hock Tan during a conference call with analysts a day earlier. Tan said the company has a backlog of $73 billion in AI product orders scheduled to be shipped over the next six quarters — a figure that disappointed some investors. He later stressed that the number represents a “minimum.”

“We do expect much more as more orders come in for shipments within that next six quarters,” Tan said. “So our lead time, depending on the particular product, can be anywhere from six months to a year.”

The conference call came after a sharp run-up in Broadcom shares, with investors seeking clearer guidance on when and how the company would translate AI demand into sustained profits. Instead, they were left with a vague timeline, no AI revenue forecast for 2026 and growing concerns that margins are tightening as AI products make up a larger share of sales.

The outlook followed a similarly unsettling report from Oracle Corp. a day earlier. Oracle, another Wall Street AI favorite, rattled investors after reporting a surge in data-center spending that raised doubts about how quickly those investments would translate into revenue. Oracle shares fell 11% on Thursday and dropped again Friday after news that some data centers being built for OpenAI have been delayed until 2028.

Although Tan said Broadcom secured an $11 billion order from AI startup Anthropic PBC in the fourth quarter — following a $10 billion deal in the third quarter — he cautioned that overall margins are narrowing. Broadcom also declined to provide a full-year AI revenue forecast, with Tan calling the figure “a moving target.”

“It’s hard for me to pinpoint what ’26 is going to look like precisely,” he said. “So I’d rather not give any guidance.”

The cautious commentary overshadowed an otherwise solid earnings report released Thursday. Broadcom said first-quarter revenue will be about $19.1 billion, above the $18.5 billion average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 10% to 65 cents a share.

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3. South Carolina Measles Outbreak Puts 300+ in Quarantine

More than 300 people in South Carolina are in quarantine after being exposed to a measles outbreak that has sickened over 125 individuals, state officials said Friday.

The number of confirmed infections rose by 15 since Tuesday, when the South Carolina Department of Public Health last provided an update. The outbreak is centered in Spartanburg County in the northern part of the state and has been spreading since October through local churches and schools.

Eleven schools have been affected. Some students have been placed in quarantine for a second time due to new exposures or a lack of immunity from vaccinations, state epidemiologist Linda Bell said earlier this week.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 1,912 measles cases across 42 states on Wednesday, the highest level in more than three decades. The largest statewide outbreak began in January in West Texas within a Mennonite community, spread to neighboring states and resulted in three deaths. While that outbreak has since been declared over, other states are reporting sharp increases in cases.

One of the largest ongoing outbreaks involves fundamentalist Mormon communities in Utah and Arizona, with a combined total of 291 cases. The surge in US infections is putting the country’s long-standing measles elimination status at risk. Canada lost its designation last month after holding it since 1998.

Vaccination remains the most effective prevention. Two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine are about 97% effective at preventing measles.

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4. Saks Debt Slides as Interest Payment Looms

Saks Global Enterprises’ debt has sunk to fresh lows in recent days as the luxury retailer faces a more than $100 million interest payment deadline at the end of the month, amid declining sales and strained vendor relationships.

A portion of its first-lien debt that is subordinated to other lenders was quoted at about 12 cents on the dollar on Friday, down sharply from around 30 cents on Monday, according to broker runs viewed by Bloomberg. This so-called “second-out” tranche was created as part of a June debt restructuring aimed at easing the company’s ongoing financial difficulties. More senior debt was quoted at roughly 60 cents on the dollar on Thursday. Under the bond terms, Saks owes more than $100 million in interest payments by month-end.

The selloff reflects growing concerns about pressure on the company’s cash reserves and its relationships with suppliers in a lackluster retail environment, according to people familiar with the matter. In October, Saks cut its full-year outlook and reported declining sales, citing challenges in managing inventory flow.

Separately, lenders holding the company’s most senior debt have been working with boutique advisory firm M3 Partners to help fend off potential losses on their loans.

The retailer, which operates Saks Fifth Avenue along with Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, reported a 13% year-over-year drop in second-quarter revenue to $1.6 billion due to inventory challenges. Management has also said it is exploring a sale of a minority stake in Bergdorf Goodman to raise funds.

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5. US States Sue Trump Administration Over $100,000 H-1B Fee

A group of states announced they are suing the Trump administration to block a $100,000 fee for any new applications for H-1B visas, which allow US employers to hire skilled foreign workers.

The lawsuit, expected to be filed Friday, argues that the fee creates a costly and illegal barrier for employers using the popular visa program and that the administration failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures in adopting the policy. The case is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell.

“As the world’s fourth-largest economy, California knows that when skilled talent from around the world joins our workforce, it drives our state forward,” Bonta said in a statement. “The Trump administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise.”

The suit would be at least the third challenge to the fee increase, which Trump announced in September, but the first brought by US states. The US Chamber of Commerce sued in October, as did a global nurse-staffing agency and several unions. Those cases remain ongoing.

The H-1B visa program is a cornerstone of employment-based immigration in the US, allowing companies to hire college-educated foreign workers for specialized roles. Trump announced an overhaul of the program in September, arguing that abuse of the H-1B pathway has displaced American workers.

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6. House Democrats Release New Epstein Estate Photos

House Democrats have released a new batch of photos from the estate of the late Jeffrey Epstein, featuring President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Steve Bannon and Larry Summers.

The photos, which are undated, show Trump before his presidency. Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, brother of King Charles III, also appears in some of the images.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson criticized Democrats for “cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative.” Trump has repeatedly said he severed ties with Epstein nearly two decades ago and was unaware of the financier’s misconduct. Representatives for Clinton, Gates, Bannon and Summers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The 19 photos are among 95,000 images produced by the Department of Justice, Representative Robert Garcia said in a statement Friday. Garcia, the senior Democrat on the House panel investigating Epstein, said the files include “images of wealthy and powerful men who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein,” as well as photographs of women and Epstein properties. He said Democrats will continue releasing additional images to the public.

House Democrats have been publicly releasing material ahead of the Republican-led Oversight Committee in an escalating campaign to force full disclosure of all records related to the Epstein investigation.

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7. X Revenue Jumps 17% in Q3

Sales at Elon Musk’s X rose sharply in the third quarter, reaching $752 million — up more than 17% from the same period a year earlier — according to people familiar with the results. Revenue exceeded $2 billion for the first nine months of 2025.

However, X continues to face substantial expenses, including restructuring charges, resulting in a net loss of $577.4 million for the quarter.

Despite this large loss, indicators suggest the business is stabilizing after severe turbulence following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition. Ebitda — annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — reached roughly $454 million in the quarter, a 16% annual increase. X also posted year-over-year revenue growth in Q2.

Historically reliant on advertising, X has attempted to diversify through subscriptions and data-licensing deals. The company did not specify what portion of revenue came from ads.

Still, X remains significantly smaller than when Musk bought it. In the second quarter of 2022, Twitter — then still a public company — reported revenue of $1.18 billion.

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