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postUS stock futures wavered on Wednesday after a record-setting session for the Dow as investors fielded the latest wave of earnings in a busy day highlighted by Tesla (TSLA) and IBM (IBM).
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) and the S&P 500 (ES=F) were little changed. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) was down around 0.2% as stocks swung between small gains and losses.
Wall Street is looking to earnings to lift spirits after upbeat blue-chip results on Tuesday helped propel the Dow (^DJI) to a new all-time closing high. Tesla’s (TSLA) quarterly report is due after the bell, kicking off a round of “Magnificent Seven” updates that could test the resilience of the recent stock rally.
In premarket, Netflix (NFLX) stock dropped more than 7% after the streaming giant’s earnings missed expectations thanks in part to a Brazil tax dispute. Shares in Mattel (MAT) also pulled back as the toymaker’s North American sales fell short.
Meanwhile, gold (GC=F) added to its losses after booking its biggest one-day decline in over a decade on Tuesday. Markets appear to be setting aside trade-war worries for now, even as President Trump injected fresh uncertainty around tensions with China. At the same time, the US and India are reportedly closing in on a deal to cut tariffs on Indian exports to as low as 15% from the current 50%.
Official economic releases are still on hold as the US federal shutdown continues. The September Consumer Price Index report on Friday will be the next major data point for markets. The inflation print will help guide expectations ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week, where traders widely anticipate a 25-basis-point interest-rate cut.
LIVE 10 updates
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Early US earnings point to best corporate results in 4 years
Bloomberg reports:
The proportion of US companies beating earnings expectations this quarter is the highest in more than four years, providing stock investors with relief at a time the rally is slowing.
About 85% of S&P 500 (^GSPC) firms to have reported third-quarter earnings so far have surpassed profit estimates, on course for the best performance since 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
It’s still early in the season, given that less than a fifth of the index’s market capitalization has announced results, but it’s an indication that US profits remain strong in the face of tariffs and an uncertain economy.
A majority of S&P 500 firms typically surpass expectations, but this season stands out considering that analysts had set the bar higher by raising projections heading into the reporting period. Robust earnings and signs of sustained investment in artificial intelligence are countering threats to stocks from China trade tensions and the government shutdown.
Read more here.
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Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
Economic data: MBA mortgage applications (week ended Oct. 17
Earnings calendar: Tesla (TSLA), SAP (SAP), IBM (IBM), Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO), AT&T (T), Lam Research Corporation (LRCX), GE Vernova (GEV), Amphenol Corporation (APH), Boston Scientific Corporation (BSX), CME Group (CME), O’Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Moody’s (MCO), Barclays (BCS), Vertiv Holdings (VRT), United Rentals (URI), Hilton Worldwide Holdings (HLT), Kinder Morgan (KMI), Crown Castle (CCI), Las Vegas Sands (LVS), Teck Resources (TECK), Northern Trust (NTRS), Southwest Airlines (LUV)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
Stock investors are about to care about the calendar
Samsung, Google’s Galaxy XR headset takes on Apple’s Vision Pro
US said to near deal with India as Trump wobbles on Xi meeting
Early US earnings point to best corporate results in 4 years
Gold extends rout in volatile pullback from historic surge
Netflix stock falls after earnings miss
Tesla’s rebound faces test in earnings today
TI stock slides as bleak outlook sparks chip sector worries
Trump’s pharma probe plan raises threat of new drug tariffs
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Premarket trending tickers: DraftKings, Mattel and Humana
DraftKings (DKNG) stock rose 5% before the bell on Wednesday following the announcement that the American gambling company had made its debut into the prediction markets with the acquistion of Railbird Technologies.
Mattel’s (MAT) earnings slumped 6% in premarket trading on Wednesday after missing Wall Street earnings on revenue for its third-quarter earnings report.
Humana (HUM) stock fell almost 3% before the bell on Wednesday. over the last six months Humana stock has been up 20% and over the last 12 months it has risen 16%.
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Anthropic, Google in talks for multimillion-dollar cloud deal
Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) stock stepped higher in premarket after Bloomberg reported that the Google parent is in talks with Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) to provide the AI startup with cloud services.
Meanwhile, shares in Amazon (AMZN), also an Anthropic investor and cloud provider, slipped 1%.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
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Google in focus on possible Anthropic cloud deal
Bloomberg reporting late yesterday Google (GOOG) is in talks with Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) on a cloud deal possibly worth “tens of billions” of dollars.
Good call out on this from Keybanc analyst Justin Patterson this morning:
“This is yet another sign that demand for AI remains strong and that leading frontier model providers are rapidly adding capacity (note: Anthropic’s investment would follow OpenAI’s recent series of announcements). For Google Cloud, we believe an expanded Anthropic partnership would be viewed as another sign that Google Cloud is gaining market share and that TPUs are strategically important.”
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What not to like from Texas Instruments’ earnings call
Commentary like this last night from Texas Instruments (TXN) CEO Haviv Ilan on his earnings call warrants watching out for in other semi earnings releases:
“The overall semiconductor market recovery is continuing, though, at a slower pace than prior upturns, likely related to the broader macroeconomic dynamics and overall uncertainty.”
Since we are still devoid of government economic data, clues on the economic outlook like this from public companies are more important than the norm. Along these lines, General Motors (GM) CFO Paul Jacobsen did slip into my chat with him the company is seeing a pickup in loan delinquencies.
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TI shares slide as bleak outlook signals delayed industry recovery
Texas Instruments (TXN) stock fell 8% in premarket trading on Wednesday after the chipmaker forecast downbeat fourth-quarter profit and revenue, leading investors to grow concerned over the company’s outlook and recovery.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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Intuitive Surgical stock jumps after earnings beat
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) stock jumped 15% before the bell on Wednesday after beating Wall Street earnings for its third-quarter earnings.
Reuters reports:
Read more here.
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Netflix stock sinks after profit and revenue miss
Shares in Netflix (NFLX) fell over 7% before the bell after its third quarter results missed the mark, even as the streaming giant nudged up its guidance for the current quarter.
The streaming giant said late Tuesday it booked an unexpected $619 million expense in a tax dispute with Brazil, which weighed on profit. Meanwhile, revenue came in just shy of expectations.
Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal reports:
Read more here.
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Gold and silver see steep drop after blistering rally
Gold (GC=F) and silver (SI=F) stabilized after sharp falls overnight as investors took profits from precious metal investments.
Bloomberg reports:
Read more here.
