Brew Markets — Episode Summary

Podcast: Brew Markets by Morning Brew
Episode: Does Walmart Fancy Itself A Tech Company? & Nvidia Fails to Assuage Fears
Date: November 20, 2025
Host: Ann Berry
Core Theme:
A lively breakdown of market-moving stories featuring Walmart’s transformation into a “tech-powered” retailer, Nvidia’s massive—but somewhat underwhelming—earnings in the current AI hype cycle, and notable industry moves including a major healthcare M&A deal and the departure of AI pioneer Yann LeCun from Meta.

1. Healthcare Merger: Abbott Labs Acquires Exact Sciences

Main Takeaways:

• Abbott Labs, one of the largest healthcare companies, is acquiring Exact Sciences, makers of Cologuard cancer detection tests, in a $21 billion (mostly cash) deal.
• This acquisition doubles Abbott’s addressable market in cancer diagnostics and is part of a larger industry trend toward precision oncology and personalized medicine.
• Margin improvement is a key goal; Abbott claims the deal will boost diagnostics segment margins by 7 percentage points.

Key Insights & Industry Context:

• The post-COVID slump (where Abbott sold $8B+ in COVID tests in 2022) left a gap, and Abbott is betting on cancer diagnostics as the next growth engine.
• Recent similar deals: Johnson & Johnson’s $3B acquisition of Hulda Therapeutics, also expanding into cancer treatment.
• Precision oncology is expected to grow more than 2.5x by 2034.
• Market was initially uncertain: Abbott’s shares fell 1.5% as analysts weighed integration challenges.

Notable Quote:

• “[The deal] particularly caught our eye as the latest data point, shining a light on the focus on oncolo that's dominating the healthcare sector broadly...” (Ann, 01:48)

Timestamps:

• Segment start: [00:49]
• Industry trends on oncology/pharma: [01:48]

2. Walmart’s Earnings and Path to Becoming a Tech Company

Main Takeaways:

• Walmart posted strong results: $180B in revenue (+5.8% YoY), operating income up 8%, and raised guidance—making it a market standout among retailers.
• Stock jumped 6.5% today, +18% YTD.

Key Discussion Points:

• Omnichannel Success: Walmart is “all things to all people” and excelling at both in-person and e-commerce.
• Tech Emphasis: Repeated use of “tech-powered” and “AI” in earnings call/messages.
• Rapid Delivery: Using stores as fulfillment centers for picking and fast delivery (35% of store-fulfilled orders delivered in under 3 hours; expedited channel sales up 70%).

Notable Strategic Move:

• Stock Market Re-Listing:
  • Walmart moving its listing from NYSE to NASDAQ to underscore its technology-forward image.
  • “Even about where you’re listed is effectively a marketing tool…we are tech and think of us as a tech consumer facing brand.” (Ann, 08:46)

Leadership Parallel:

• CEOs at both Walmart and Target stepping down in February. Successors are company insiders, leading to speculation about rival motivations and succession planning strategies.

Notable Quotes:

• “The company called itself a people-led, tech-powered, omnichannel retailer.” (John, 06:23)
• “Walmart is making it very clear it wants the market to think of it in the tech world, not think of it just as a retailer.” (Ann, 07:56)
• “I do sort of wonder when you get these rivalries… whether having that same rival across the way from you…[is] a bit of a motivator.” (Ann, 09:39)

Timestamps:

• Earnings overview: [04:55]
• Tech emphasis & fulfillment operations: [06:23]
• NASDAQ move: [07:56]
• Leadership changes: [09:39] – [10:46]

3. Nvidia Earnings: Blockbuster Numbers, Market Skepticism

Main Takeaways:

• Nvidia delivered record results: $57B revenue (+62% YoY), data center revenue $52B (vs. $49B est.), upped guidance to $65B.
• Stock went on a volatile ride: initial optimism gave way to a sell-off as the day wore on.

Key Insights:

• Huge ongoing demand for Blackwell GPUs (“off the charts” per CEO Jensen Huang).
• $500B in revenue visibility for the latest GPU lines through 2026.
• Reassuring leadership rhetoric around the "AI virtuous cycle."

Underlying Market Concerns:

• Despite great results, investors worried about cash flow and rising inventory (inventory has doubled since January) and accounts receivable—signaling Nvidia is sitting on pricey chips and cash usage is escalating.
• Broader skepticism about the sustainability of AI-driven capex—Nvidia benefits from cloud giants’ spend, but what if that spend slows?
• The AI “bubble” debate: CEO Jensen Huang directly refuted the bubble narrative, but hosts note he can hardly say otherwise.

Notable Quotes:

• “Jensen Huang is never going to say we are in a bubble, right?...That’s just never going to happen.” (Ann, 14:38)
• “From our vantage point, we see something very different.” (Jensen Huang, quoted, 14:04)
• “We’ve entered the virtuous cycle of AI. AI is going everywhere, doing everything all at once.” (Jensen Huang, 14:28, from press release)

Operational Notes:

• Automotive division revenue up 32% YoY, gaming chip revenue up 30% YoY to $4.3B.
• Nvidia’s gaming/software platforms still seeing significant growth and relevance.

Timestamps:

• Earnings numbers: [12:11]
• CEO/CFO guidance: [13:00]–[14:15]
• Quote from Jensen Huang responding to bubble talk: [14:04]
• Deeper dive on cash flow/inventory: [15:20]
• Automotive/gaming segments: [18:23]

4. Yann LeCun Leaves Meta: Next AI Revolution?

Main Takeaways:

• Turing Award winner Yann LeCun (“the godfather of AI”) is leaving Meta after 12 years to launch a new AI startup (Meta will be a partner).
• His focus: world models—AI systems that learn via video, not just text, to better “understand the physical world, have persistent memory, can reason, and can plan complex action sequences.”
• Significance: May signal a new cycle in AI beyond large language models (LLMs), with innovation moving toward world-model approaches (training with richer, multimodal data).
• Meta’s ability to retain/partner with luminaries may signal potential new directions and competitive dynamics in global AI research.

Notable Quote:

• “Modern LLMs train on an amount of text that would take a human 20,000 years to read...but that's still a smaller body of information than the total amount of data seen visually absorbed by the time a child is only two years old.” (Ann paraphrasing LeCun, 20:56)

Timestamps:

• LeCun’s move and vision: [19:52]–[21:50]

5. Market Wrap: Headlines & Economic Data

Main Takeaways:

• Major indices reversed sharply: S&P 500 down 1.5%; NASDAQ down 2.2%.
• Verizon announced 13,000 layoffs (20% of non-union staff) under new CEO Dan Schulman; shares down slightly.
• September’s BLS jobs report: Modest payroll gains, but unemployment at a four-year high; market now gives less than 40% odds for a Fed rate cut next month.

Notable Quote:

• “Some big jobs related market headlines today: Verizon Communications… laying off over 13,000 employees, or about 20% of its non union workforce.” (John, 22:32)

Timestamps:

• Market close & Verizon news: [22:32]–[23:43]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Walmart as a Tech Company:

  • “It really is interesting now to think even about where you’re listed is effectively a marketing tool…It’s marketing yourself, not just to your investors, but…to your consumers, we are tech…” — Ann (08:46)

• On Nvidia’s Bubble Debate:

  • Jensen Huang: “From our vantage point, we see something very different. As a reminder, Nvidia is unlike any other accelerator. We excel at every phase of AI.” (14:04–14:15)
  • Ann: “Jensen Huang is never going to say ‘we are in a bubble,’ right?...That’s just never going to happen.” (14:38)

• On the Changing Face of AI:

  • Ann paraphrasing LeCun: “Modern LLMs train on an amount of text that would take a human 20,000 years to read…but that's still a smaller body of information than the total amount of data seen visually absorbed by the time a child is only two years old.” (20:56)

Useful For:

Anyone wanting clear, actionable insights on recent earnings from Walmart and Nvidia, major healthcare M&A, executive shifts in AI, and what these headlines signal for broader market and industry trends.
Perfect for investors, business leaders, tech watchers, and anyone curious how the headlines actually move markets.