AI Spending Boosts Reddit, Strains Chips and Apple

Reddit’s stock rose 16% in premarket trading after the company issued a higher-than-expected revenue outlook for the coming quarter. The company reported daily active visitors increased 17% to 126.8 million and average revenue per user worldwide climbed 44%.

Reddit has rolled out AI-powered advertising tools that place ads into relevant subreddit discussions and assist advertisers with writing copy, managing campaigns and automatically cropping images for different placements.

Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong noted, “Reddit is still hiring and adding to our talent base.”

Analysts say developers training large language models are using Reddit’s archive of text conversations as a data source. Analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote that execution on ad products, audience growth and data monetization will be important to Reddit’s value in a GenAI and agentic landscape.

Apple told investors demand for machines used to run local AI agent platforms exceeded forecasts. CEO Tim Cook said developers have adopted an AI agent platform called OpenClaw and that demand for the Mac mini and Mac Studio is growing faster than the company expected. He added that restoring supply-demand balance for those products may take several months.

Apple’s online store lists the base-model M4 Mac mini as sold out. Refurbished units have appeared on resale sites for as much as $979. Several Mac Studio configurations are also listed as sold out. A shortage of A18 Pro chips has made the $599 MacBook Neo difficult to find.

Cook warned that rising memory costs could affect Apple beyond the June quarter. Memory prices have risen as a large share of global chip production is being directed to AI data centers.

Research firm IDC projects overall PC shipments could fall about 11.3% in 2026 because of those supply constraints.

Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta and Amazon together invested about $410 billion in infrastructure last year and are projected to invest more than $670 billion in 2026.

Brent Thill, a tech analyst at Jefferies, observed, “We’re seeing constraints across the board. The hyperscalers who are trying to get into the gold mine, they’re having to wait, or spend more to get in.” He added that the spending benefits companies that provide parts and equipment while creating timing and cost challenges for those assembling systems.

Software businesses such as Reddit reported revenue gains tied to AI-related products and tools. Hardware manufacturers and device sellers reported higher costs and limited supply as data-center demand draws on the global chip and memory production chain.