NextFin News - On Friday, November 28, 2025, AI leads wall street’s best Thanksgiving week in a decade despite mixed November finish.
The US stock market closed with continued momentum from a strong Thanksgiving week, despite a shortened trading session due to the Black Friday early close and a CME Group data-center outage that froze futures trading earlier in the day. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow ended the week with gains of approximately 3.2%, 4.2%, and 2.6% respectively, marking the best Thanksgiving week performance in over a decade. However, November still posted a slight decline in the S&P 500 by about 0.4%, highlighting ongoing volatility amid stretched tech valuations and macro uncertainties.
Among the largest and most active movers by volume on Friday were prominent AI and semiconductor-related companies, underpinning the market’s leadership in growth sectors. Notably, Nebius Group (NBIS), a Dutch AI infrastructure specialist, edged upward by approximately 0.2% intraday, closing near $94.9 after recent mega AI contracts with Microsoft and Meta, while maintaining year-to-date gains exceeding 210%. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rebounded 3.9% to around $214.24, following a challenging November which was its worst monthly performance since 2022, dragged by concerns over competition from custom AI chips and valuation fatigue. Despite this, AMD's strong Q3 revenue growth and aggressive AI roadmap continue to fuel optimism.
Other tech and software names linked to AI and cloud growth continued to attract volume, with ETF proxies like SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Invesco QQQ showing modest pre-market gains given the CME futures freeze. Retail-focused companies, while influenced by Black Friday shopping patterns, witnessed mixed reactions as consumers displayed cautious spending amid inflationary pressures.
Looking at the broader weekly patterns, the US market experienced rotation within its key sectors. The AI-enabled tech sector led gains, whereas rate-sensitive sectors showed uneven performance amidst rising expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December, with futures pricing in an 80-85% probability of a 25 basis point easing. This dovish tilt supported growth and high-beta equities.
Institutionally, market watchers highlighted active accumulation in some quality tech names even as Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest notably decreased its AMD holdings by roughly $38-39 million in a tactical sector rotation, adding exposure to platform giants Alphabet and Meta, as well as to crypto-linked firms Coinbase and Circle. This move signals a nuanced repositioning rather than a rejection of the AI chip narrative.
Deepening the analysis, Nebius’s high volatility beta (estimated between 1.5 and 3.3) reflects investor sensitivity to its ongoing aggressive capital expenditure programs valued at $5 billion in 2025 CapEx and the associated dilution risk from large equity and convertible debt raises. Its Q3 revenue soared 355% year over year to $146 million, driven by mega contracts, but operating losses remain substantial at approximately $130 million due to scale-first buildout strategies. Analysts assign robust upside potential with price targets averaging $164.20, implying over 70% upside contingent on successful execution of expansion plans and AI demand durability.
AMD’s November setback juxtaposes solid Q3 financials which reported $9.25 billion in sales and 36% year-on-year growth, led by data center revenue surging 22%. The company’s strategic partnerships for AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and with hyperscalers sustain long-term growth trajectories, supported by institutional buyers including Norges Bank and Quadrature Capital. However, increased competition from Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and cloud provider custom silicon solutions introduces potential market share risk. Wall Street maintains a positive consensus with an average target price near $243, a modest 12-15% premium from recent prices, acknowledging both opportunity and elevated execution risks.
From a fund flow perspective, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest adjustment embodies a broader thematic shift, reflecting profit-taking in AI hardware plays while pivoting toward platform and crypto sectors leveraging innovation-driven growth. This repositioning highlights the evolving focus of fundamental growth investors amidst cyclical and competitive pressures.
Overall, the weekly US market narrative combines robust AI sector leadership and growth optimism driven by new contracts and earnings beats, tempered by healthy caution on valuation stretch, funding risks, and evolving technology competition. The CME futures outage on Black Friday accentuated liquidity constraints and encouraged ETF-based price discovery, underscoring potential volatility in the near term. Looking ahead, investors should monitor the resolution of CME trading, December’s Fed meeting outcomes, continued AI infrastructure deployments, and retail spending trends as key determinants shaping year-end market sentiment and 2026 trajectories.
