Tech Weekly: Tech Stocks Recover; Meta, Alphabet Reportedly in Partnership Talks

This week's tech sector performance

North American stock markets reversed an early November decline that had been fueled by concerns over an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble, closing the holiday-shortened week higher.

However, despite the weekly gain, which was also spurred by hopes of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December, all major indexes ultimately closed the month of November lower.

The Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) broke its seven month winning streak due to ongoing valuation concerns alongside profit taking in digital assets and AI stocks like NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA).

3 tech stocks moving markets this week

1. Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL)

Dell Technologies reported earnings for its third fiscal quarter of 2026 on Tuesday (November 25), boasting record revenue of US$27.01 billion. The number fell short of estimates, but was an 11 percent increase from last year. Additionally, earnings per share exceeded analysts’ expectations of US$2.47, clocking in at US$2.59.

The company’s Infrastructure Solutions Group saw growth of over 20 percent year-on-year, highlighting strong demand in AI server shipments. Its Client Solutions Group experienced modest revenue growth of 3 percent amid weakening consumer demand. Dell said it expects its revenue to grow to US$31.5 billion in its fourth fiscal quarter, news that sent its share price up between 4 and 6 percent in pre-market and early trading the next day.

Dell’s share price closed 6.85 percent higher for the week at US$133.35.

The current market reaction stands in stark contrast to earlier sentiment, which has been marked by declines in key AI stocks since Michael Burry’s high-profile bearish bet against AI darling NVIDIA. Market players have increasingly voiced concerns about sky-high valuations outpacing actual AI adoption.

2. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

Alphabet and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are reportedly in advanced talks for Meta to spend billions on Google's tensor processing units (TPUs) for its data centers starting in 2027, with chip leasing via Google Cloud potentially coming as early as 2026. If successful, the deal would be a major strategic pivot for both Google and Meta. Google's existing strategy has been to confine its TPUs to its own cloud data centers, renting them out for large-scale AI processing. Conversely, Meta's AI infrastructure has historically relied on NVIDIA GPUs.

The Monday (November 24) news drove Alphabet shares up over 2 percent after hours that day toward record highs, while pressuring NVIDIA, Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD). This week’s rally builds on Alphabet's strong performance following the release of Gemini 3 last week.

3. Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

Meta shares rose 8.22 percent for the week to hit US$647.95, driven by momentum following Monday’s reports of TPU deal talks. This optimism spilled over into the broader tech sector.

Top tech news of the week

• NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang’s team reportedly circulated a memo to analysts this week, saying startups like OpenAI are on paths to profitability despite losses. The statement is in contrast to Burry’s recent claims that AI stocks are overvalued. Burry fired back in a Substack post, saying companies like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) risk writedowns for inflating GPU lifespans beyond four years.

• A Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) study released on Wednesday (November 26) found that AI could replace 11.7 percent of the US labor market, affecting up to US$1.2 trillion in wages across sectors, including finance, healthcare and professional services. The study used the Iceberg Index, an MIT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory labor simulation tool, which analyzes 151 million simulated US workers to map AI disruption across every state.

• Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) designer Jony Ive and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed in an Emerson Collective Demo Day interview with Laurene Powell Jobs that they have a working prototype for their first physical AI device, which they described as “elegantly simple." The stealth project, developed after OpenAI’s US$6.4 billion acquisition of io in May, aims for a launch in less than two years.

• Advanced nuclear startup X-energy has raised US$700 million in a Series D round led by Jane Street to fund next-gen reactors for powering hyperscalers. New investors include ARK Invest and XTX Ventures. X-energy, based in Rockville, Maryland, designs and licenses high-temperature, gas-cooled small modular reactors (SMRs) and their fuel. The funds will help X-energy fulfill orders exceeding 11 gigawatts (144 SMRs), with commercial commitments from Dow, Amazon and Centrica (LSE:CNA,OTC Pink:CPYYF). The first project, a Dow facility on the Texas Gulf Coast, is set to begin in the early 2030s.

Tech ETF performance

Tech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) track baskets of major tech stocks, meaning their performance helps investors gauge the overall performance of the niches they cover.

This week, the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) advanced by 10.71 percent, while the Invesco PHLX Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXQ) saw a weekly gain of 10.53 percent.

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) increased by 8.62 percent.

Tech news to watch next week

With December rate cut odds currently sitting at around 80 percent, investors will be watching for pivotal US data next week, as well as Fed signals. Several large tech stocks will also share their latest results.

Earnings from CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) and Marvell Technology (NASDAQ:MRVL) on December 2, as well as Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) on December 3, will shed light on sustained cybersecurity demand, AI chip custom silicon growth and cloud data platform adoption amid enterprise AI investments.

December 1 will bring the ISM Manufacturing PMI, while December 2's JOLTS report and December 3's ADP payrolls and ISM Services PMI will provide data that will help the Fed in its decision-making process.

Nonfarm payrolls and the Employment Cost Index on December 5 will cap the week as key wage and inflation proxies ahead of the Fed's next meeting, set to run from December 9 to 10.

Canada's Big Six banks will begin releasing Q4 earnings following Friday's (November 28) Q3 GDP report, which shows a surprising 2.6 percent annualized rebound thanks to trade and export gains.