Evening Scan

Intuit's earnings beat sounds fine until you read the guidance — a growth slowdown forecast wiped 8% off the stock after hours. OpenAI's talent bleed continues, and Apple shipped a Mac mini with a cost-cutting spec swap that breaks the expected upgrade path.

Intuit Beats on Revenue, Then Spooks Investors With Soft Guidance (paywall)

Q4 revenue topped estimates, but a forecast of 9-10% growth for FY2027 (below the ~11% Street wanted) sent the stock down more than 8% after hours. (WSJ)

OpenAI's Data Center Chief Is the Latest to Head for the Exit

Chris Malone joined to build out infrastructure just last year; OpenAI says it "reorganized," which is corporate for "it's fine, stop asking." (TechCrunch / WSJ)

Apple's Silicon Refresh Lands: M6, M5 Max, M5 Ultra Across Mini and Studio

New chips, a 2nm process, and the usual barrage of "4x faster" marketing obscure the entry-level mini's cost reduction: cheaper hardware to hit its price point. (Michael Tsai)

"Apple was testing a Mac mini with a brand new M6 in the cheap model and a carried-over M5 Pro in the expensive one" — turns out the $899 base model skipped M5 entirely and kept the 2024 body instead. *(Yanko Design)