Stock Movers: Disney's Sales Dip, Cisco's AI Boost, Anthropic's $50B Data Center Plan

Disney's Financial Performance

• 📉 Disney's sales fell short of Wall Street estimates, with revenue remaining flat at $22.5 billion for the fourth quarter.
• 💰 Despite beating earnings estimates at $1.11 a share, the company anticipates challenges in streaming, films, and TV.
• ⚠️ Upcoming big-budget films like a new Avatar picture and expenses for new ships and dock work are projected to reduce earnings by $400 million and $150 million respectively.
• 📊 The theme park and cruise unit remains a steady business, showing 13-15% profit growth per quarter.

Cisco Systems' AI Investment

• 🚀 Cisco Systems shares surged premarket after boosting its 2026 forecast, signaling progress in capturing AI spending.
• 📈 The company now expects sales of up to $61 billion, exceeding previous expectations and analyst estimates by about $1 billion.
• 💡 Cisco's CEO highlighted the demand for secured networking in AI as a key driver for growth.
• 🛠️ The company is updating chips and networking gear to better support complex AI tasks in data centers.

Anthropic's AI Infrastructure Investment

• ⚡ Anthropic plans to invest $50 billion to build custom data centers for artificial intelligence work across the US, including Texas and New York.
• 🗓️ These new sites are expected to begin operations throughout 2026.
• 🏗️ This marks Anthropic's first major direct involvement in data center construction.
• ⚠️ The significant power demand for these AI data centers could pose challenges, particularly in regions like Texas with its independent grid.