Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. It's good to be with you on this Wednesday, January 28th. I'm Julie Morgan. ASML Holding plans to cut about 1,700 jobs, mainly across technology and IT.
Most of the job reductions will take place in the Netherlands, with some in the U.S., and will largely affect those in management and leadership. The cuts represent roughly 4% of ASML's workforce. The CFO said in a call with reporters that ASML has a complex organization, often requiring excessive coordination.
Roger Dassin added that the changes are aimed at streamlining operations so that engineers can be engineers again. The announcement was made as ASML reported its fourth quarter results. The company had a huge fourth quarter. New orders hit a record 13.2 billion euros, which is about $16 billion. nearly double what analysts were expecting.
For all of 2025, ASML made 32.7 billion euros in sales, or about $39 billion, which was 16% more than 2024. Looking ahead, ASML now expects 2026 sales to land between 34
Chapter 2: What job cuts is ASML planning and why?
and 39 billion euros, roughly $41 to $47 billion, and that's higher than previous guidance. ASML is up 5% in pre-market action after gaining nearly 3% on Tuesday. C3.AI is up 16% in pre-market action after the information reported that the AI company is in talks to merge with Automation Anywhere.
The report said, citing people familiar with the discussions, if the deal goes through, Automation Anywhere would acquire C3.AI and go public as part of the transaction. C3.AI is an enterprise AI application software company. whose shares have plunged nearly 62% over the past year, pressured by declining financial performance and uncertainty around its strategy and leadership.
According to the report, Automation Anywhere developed software that automates repetitive functions and was valued by private investors at $6.8 billion in 2019. Amazon is in the spotlight of the grocery sector after it announced its plans to close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go storefronts to prioritize investment and growth areas.
The e-commerce giant intends to focus on expanding its Whole Foods Market brand, with plans to open more than 100 new stores over the next few years, in addition to expanding its same-day delivery service to new cities and towns in 2026. Analyst Dan Ives said the Whole Foods Markets announcement is an important step forward in Amazon's broader strategy.
He thinks the initiative should help the company capture incremental share in perishable categories where they have struggled historically. The grocery mix at large general merchandisers such as Walmart, Target, and Costco has made the category of critical importance to Amazon. I have a few other trending articles. SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest $30 billion more in OpenAI.
China is said to greenlight the first batch of NVIDIA H200 chip imports. And back to Amazon. Amazon reportedly sends premature layoff email to workers fearing big cuts. On our Catalyst Watch for the day, Microsoft will hold its earnings conference call at 5.30 p.m. Key topics will include AI and Azure growth and margin forecasts, co-pilot monetization trends, and AI CapEx spending.
Options trading is pricing in a 5% move following the earnings release, which would be a bigger post-earnings swing than normal. On Wall Street at this early hour, Dow S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the green. Crude oil is down 0.4% at $62 a barrel. Bitcoin is up 0.2% at $89,000. Gold is up 1.7% at $52.70. The FTSE 100 is down 0.4% and the DAX is little changed.
Stride is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. LRN is up 36% after the EdTech company posted a blowout fiscal Q2, with results and guidance well ahead of expectations. And on today's economic calendar at 7 a.m., MBA mortgage applications. And at 2.30 p.m., we'll hear from Fed Chair Jerome Powell following the two-day FOMC meeting.
Of course, we'll cover that with a later edition of Wall Street Lunch with Kim Kahn. That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening. For a full offering of news, analysis, ratings, and data on stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Learn more at SeekingAlpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.
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