Major global financial headlines from last night and this morning that are drawing widespread attention:
1. Trump threatens further military action against Iran: "We hit them hard, and it could escalate further"
2. Trump phone call pushes Musk to lift Starlink speed cap for Ukraine; Ukrainian military communications partially restored afterward
3. Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) earnings massively beat expectations: profit up 161%, gross margin approaching 60%
4. OpenAI nears completion of funding round of up to $30 billion, with a pre-money valuation of $1.25 trillion
5. Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Merck (NYSE: MRK) shares plunge as melanoma vaccine data may have leaked
6. Apple's stock price diverges sharply from chip stocks, making it an ideal hedge against AI-themed shares
President Donald Trump said again on October 23 that the United States could take further military action against Iran. In a recent interview, Trump said, "We hit them hard, and we may go further." This is another military threat Trump has issued recently regarding Iran. As U.S.-Iran talks remain deadlocked, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted, and military conflicts in the Middle East continue, market concerns are rising again that the United States may expand military action against Iran.
President Donald Trump called SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on October 21, asking him to lift previously imposed speed limits on Ukraine's military version of the Starlink satellite communications service. U.S. officials said Trump was dissatisfied that the speed cap on the relevant systems remained at about 100 miles per hour (about 161 kilometers per hour), because this restriction prevented some Ukrainian attack drones and interceptor drones from carrying out missions properly. After the call, the relevant systems began returning to relatively normal operation on October 22, but some Ukrainian officials said service had not yet fully returned to previous levels.
In the early hours of October 23, U.S. hard drive manufacturer Western Digital (NASDAQ: WDC) released its fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings report. Driven by strong data center storage demand and higher product prices, the company's quarterly revenue rose 55% year over year to $4.381 billion, while adjusted earnings per share surged 161% year over year to $4.64, both exceeding Wall Street expectations. Western Digital also gave more optimistic guidance for the next quarter: revenue is expected to reach as high as $5.2 billion, and adjusted gross margin could exceed 60%. This means that demand growth and price improvement in the storage industry are still continuing to drive the company's profitability higher.
However, the strong earnings report stands in sharp contrast with the stock's earlier performance. Although Western Digital shares are still up more than 100% year to date, they have fallen about 53% from their high in June this year. Investor concerns over whether AI data center investment can continue and whether competitors' capacity expansion will weaken hard drive makers' pricing power have become important factors weighing on the stock recently.
On October 22, OpenAI moved closer to completing a funding round of up to $30 billion, with a pre-money valuation reaching $1.25 trillion. People familiar with the matter said the round was co-led by an investor from the United Arab Emirates and investment firm Coatue, and OpenAI plans to use it as bridge financing before a potential initial public offering (IPO). The people said the $1.25 trillion valuation does not yet include the new funding from this round. OpenAI told investors on Thursday that it plans to complete the signing of the funding agreement by the end of next weekend, but the final size of the round is still being determined.
On October 22, Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) shares plunged about 25% during intraday trading, while Merck (NYSE: MRK) shares fell more than 3% at one point. This followed the early disclosure of Phase III clinical trial data for a personalized mRNA cancer vaccine jointly developed by the two companies, triggering investor concerns about the vaccine's actual efficacy. Merck and Moderna, Inc. then released key efficacy data ahead of schedule, confirming that the core figures previously leaked were accurate: when used in combination with Merck's bestselling cancer drug Keytruda, the vaccine can reduce the risk of cancer recurrence or death in melanoma patients by 42%. Although the result reached statistical significance, it was lower than the 49% risk reduction shown in the earlier Phase IIb study, prompting a reassessment of its commercial prospects.
As market sentiment toward artificial intelligence (AI) trades swings sharply, a fairly stable trading pattern has gradually emerged in the stock market: no matter how AI-themed shares move, Apple often moves in the opposite direction. The iPhone maker's shares have risen 28% so far in 2026, making it the largest contributor to the S&P 500's 12% gain. Apple is also the best performer this year among the "Magnificent Seven" technology stocks, a sharp contrast with 2025. At that time, Apple rose only 8% for the full year, near the bottom of that group. The reasons for this divergence are relatively straightforward. Most large technology companies are heavily investing in AI infrastructure, while Apple has largely stayed out of this capital expenditure race, instead continuing to focus on what it has always done well: building products that capture consumer attention, such as the newly launched foldable iPhone Duo. As Wall Street's views on AI capital spending continue to shift, Apple stock has become a preferred choice for investors who want to keep exposure to large technology stocks while avoiding some volatility risk.
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