$META

PAYDAY: Aces High, a VR heist shooter by Fast Travel Games, will launch on Meta Horizon+ on November 5. Quest owners with a Horizon+ subscription can play it at no extra cost. The game also releases on Steam for PC VR, requiring a VR headset. Horizon+ is a paid subscription with a rotating game catalogue.

State Street Communication Services Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLC) sold $175.5 million in stocks on Nov. 2, including $38.1 million of Meta (META), $19.4 million of Alphabet Class A (GOOGL), and $15.7 million of Alphabet Class C (GOOG). XLC holds 22 stocks, with top holdings including META (21.73%), GOOGL (11.06%), and GOOG (8.93%).

Third-quarter earnings overall beat estimates, with S&P 500 profits up 25% for the third straight quarter. Big Tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft underperformed, raising concerns about AI investments. The broader market showed resilience, with value stocks outperforming growth. Alphabet and Amazon shares fell after missing revenue expectations. The Magnificent Seven's earnings growth slowed to 29%, while the rest of the S&P 500 grew 33.6%.

Meta Platforms (META) started its first euro bond sale on Wednesday, offering six tranches with maturities from 4 to 38 years. The company plans to raise $15 billion through a US dollar bond offering to fund AI infrastructure investments, as announced on Tuesday.

Americans lost $148.2 billion to digital fraud in 2023, with crypto and AI scams driving losses, according to the Consumer Federation of America. Meta's platforms (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) were linked to over 87% of scam reports. Meta faces lawsuits and scrutiny over fraudulent ads. The U.S. and Nigeria are collaborating to combat cybercrime, with 41 extraditions since 2022.

Meta paid $1.2 million in bug bounties for its Muse AI agent, including $300,000 for a pre-launch flaw. The program, launched in April, received 630 reports, with 64 valid. Meta fixed issues like authentication bypass and malicious web page exploits. It offers up to $300,000 per valid report, higher than competitors.

A São Paulo court barred Meta from using news content from three Brazilian media groups to train its AI, citing concerns over intellectual property. The provisional order prohibits Meta from collecting and using material from these outlets and imposes a fine of up to 100 million reais for non-compliance. Meta must keep accounts active and cannot penalize outlets that refuse its new terms, which were set to start on November 20.

Meta partnered with Shanghai-based Fourier to develop 'Max,' a humanoid robot. Fourier, ranked sixth globally in 2025 humanoid-robot shipments, has attracted investors like SoftBank and Aramco. Max, built in three months, uses Nvidia's Jetson Thor and is not intended for sale. Fourier's experience in rehabilitation and robotics aligns with Meta's goals. The collaboration highlights Fourier's rapid development and access to China's robotics supply chain.

Google is disabling AI features in its products for schools that opt out, effectively removing access to its search engine. Reddit is testing ads in its search pages, aiming to boost ad revenue and reduce reliance on Google. Versant Media Group reported mixed Q3 earnings, with a 4% revenue decline but 10% growth in platform revenue. Other tech updates include Apple's age restrictions for dating and AI apps, Shopify app security issues, and Netflix's new AI-driven interface.

US equities closed mixed on Tuesday. The Nasdaq rose 0.83% and the S&P 500 gained 0.36%, driven by a rebound in semiconductor stocks. The Dow fell 0.38%, weighed down by a 1.90% decline in Apple due to rising memory-chip costs. Investors positioned ahead of midterm elections and digested economic data and quarterly reports.