AI stocks weigh on markets as Government continues to go dark.
Tuesday's Market Moves
S&P 500 – 6,771.67 (-1.17%)
Dow Jones – 47,085.24 (-0.53%)
NASDAQ – 23,355.78 (-2.01%)
Weekly Recap- U.S. stocks retreat on AI-linked tech weakness: Investors grew cautious as Palantir and other AI-related names weighed on markets.
- Bitcoin slides below $100K: Investors pulled back from risk assets, driving Bitcoin under six figures.
- Markets log solid gains in October: For the month, the Dow rose 2.51%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.27%, and the Nasdaq jumped 4.7%, marking a six-month winning streak for the S&P 500.
- Fed rate cut expectations fade: Futures now imply a 67% chance of a 25-basis-point rate cut in December, down from 90% prior to last week’s Fed meeting.
- Gold slips as stronger dollar weighs on market ahead of U.S. jobs data: Gold fell more than 1% on Tuesday as a stronger dollar pressured prices, with investors awaiting key U.S. employment data.
- Oil eases amid weaker manufacturing data and OPEC+ pause: Oil prices retreated as weaker U.S. manufacturing numbers and a stronger dollar dampened demand. OPEC+ signaled caution by pausing output hikes in early 2026, hinting at concerns over a potential supply glut.
- Third-quarter earnings continue to exceed expectations: About 71% of S&P 500 companies have reported results, with 83% beating analyst forecasts—well above the 10-year average of 75%.
- Government shutdown ties record length as aid and premiums remain uncertain: The federal shutdown has now stretched into November, set to tie the U.S. record at 35 days. SNAP funding continues partially, but uncertainty remains for 40 million recipients, and ACA open enrollment brings sharp premium increases.
- BLS struggles to release October jobs report: The Bureau of Labor Statistics has already missed the September report and is unlikely to release October’s, originally due this Friday.
- Advanced Micro Devices dips ahead of earnings: AMD fell as it guided for $8.7 billion in quarterly revenue, excluding sales of its M1308 chip in China.
- Uber slides despite beating earnings and revenue expectations: Uber shares fell as investors took profits, even after revenue, gross bookings, and earnings topped estimates.
- Tesla drops amid risk-off sentiment and executive pay news: TSLA declined following a broad market pullback and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund voting against Elon Musk’s pay package.
- Pfizer falls despite beating earnings and raising guidance: PFE dipped, showing muted investor enthusiasm despite stronger-than-expected earnings and upgraded guidance.
- Eli Lilly climbs to six-month highs: LLY extended its rally, rising 4% after last week’s strong earnings, despite no new company announcements.
- Spotify rises after topping earnings, mixed guidance for Q4: SPOT advanced after beating quarterly expectations, though fourth-quarter revenue guidance came in slightly below consensus.
- Norwegian Cruise Line plunges on revenue miss: NCLH sank after reporting weaker-than-expected revenue, despite earnings per share beating estimates and raising guidance.
- Amazon rises after $38 billion OpenAI cloud deal: AMZN gained after announcing a massive AWS agreement with OpenAI to power AI workloads, building on last week’s strong earnings. Shares reached all-time highs but slipped 1.5% amid profit-taking.
- Bitcoin tests key support as risk-off sentiment spreads: BTC fell 2.5%, testing its 200-day moving average near $104,315. Crypto-linked stocks, including COIN and MSTR, dropped around 3%.
- U.S. dollar tops 100, Treasuries dip ahead of Fed speech:
The DXY crossed 100 for the first time since August as investors sought safe havens. Treasury yields fell ahead of remarks by Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman. - Berkshire Hathaway posts strong Q3 results: BRK.B saw operating profit rise 34% year over year, with cash reserves hitting a record $381 billion. The firm sold more stock than it repurchased, signaling caution amid high valuations.
- Kenvue shares soar on $48.7 billion Kimberly-Clark acquisition: KVUE rallied after KMB announced its purchase of Tylenol maker Kenvue. The combined company is projected to generate roughly $32 billion in annual revenue.
- Palantir drops despite strong earnings: PLTR slid about 8% on valuation concerns, even after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter results and guidance.
- Nvidia shrug off Trump comments on chip access in China: NVDA shares held steady following remarks suggesting Blackwell chips may not be available in China.
- Roku rises on strong earnings and analyst upgrade:
ROKU advanced after last week’s earnings beat and a Piper Sandler upgrade to Overweight from Neutral. - Iren surges on AI cloud deal with Microsoft:
IREN shares climbed after the Australian firm agreed to a $9.7 billion AI cloud capacity deal with MSFT. - IBM announces global layoffs: IBM plans to cut roughly 1% of its workforce, impacting nearly 3,000 employees globally this quarter.
- Rare earth miners slip on China export changes: NB and MP drifted lower after China suspended some rare earth export controls under a new U.S. agreement.
- Beyond Meat drops after delaying Q3 results: BYND plunged following a delay of its third-quarter report to November 11, raising investor concerns.
- Amazon hits record high on OpenAI cloud deal: AWS secures $38 billion agreement with OpenAI, boosting shares.
- Kimberly-Clark to acquire Kenvue in $48.7 billion megamerger: Deal combines major consumer health and household brands.
- Starbucks partners with Boyu Capital for China expansion: $4 billion joint venture transfers operational control of China stores.
- Papa John’s stock tumbles 15% after Apollo withdraws offer: Private equity firm pulls back take-private bid ahead of earnings.
_____________________________________________________________
“We’re not in the coffee business serving people. We’re in the people business serving coffee.” — Howard Schultz, Starbucks founder and former CEO
_____________________________________________________________
Notable Stocks
- Amazon (AMZN)
- Papa Johns (PZZA)
- Starbucks (SBUX)
- Nvidia (NVDA)
- IBM (IBM)
Weekly Notables
Amazon Hits Record High After Striking $38 Billion Cloud Deal with OpenAI
Amazon shares hit a record high Monday, climbing 4% after announcing a landmark $38 billion cloud agreement with OpenAI—a major win for AWS, the world’s largest cloud infrastructure provider. The e-commerce and tech giant has now surged 14% over the past two sessions, marking its strongest two-day rally since November 2022. Under the deal, OpenAI will immediately begin running its workloads on AWS infrastructure, using hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs in the U.S. The agreement also includes plans for expanded capacity and new data center buildouts in the years ahead.
Kimberly-Clark to Acquire Tylenol Maker Kenvue in $48.7 Billion Deal, Creating Consumer Staples Powerhouse
Kimberly-Clark announced Monday that it has reached an agreement to acquire Kenvue in a $48.7 billion cash-and-stock transaction that would create one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies. The deal amounts to roughly $40 billion on an equity basis, excluding debt. Following the news, Kenvue shares surged 12%, while Kimberly-Clark stock fell 14%.
The merged company will combine iconic brands such as Huggies, Kleenex, Band-Aid, and Tylenol, and include 10 billion-dollar brands, the companies said. The transaction, expected to close in the second half of 2026, ranks among Wall Street’s largest deals of the year.
Earnings Spotlight: Qualcomm (QCOM)
Qualcomm will report its fourth quarter earnings after the bell today. The announcement comes as the smartphone chip giant seeks to further diversify its business offerings by entering into the AI data center market. Last week, Qualcomm debuted its AI200 and AI250 data center chips and rack-scale server products. The AI200 will be available in 2026, while the AI250 will land in 2027. A third chip is scheduled for 2028. For the quarter, Qualcomm is expected to report earnings per share (EPS) of $2.85 on revenue of $10.7 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. The company saw EPS of $2.69 on revenue of $10.2 billion during the same quarter in 2024.
What to Watch Ahead:
- Wednesday (Nov. 5): ADP Employment Change, EIA Crude Oil Inventories, ISM Services, MBA Mortgage Applications Index. Earnings from AppLovin Corp. (APP), Arm Holding PLC (ARM), Cameco Corp. (CCJ), Cencora Inc. (COR), DoorDash Inc. (DASH), Humana Inc. (HUM), Johnson Controls International PLC (JCI), McDonald's Corp. (MCD), Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO), Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD).
- Thursday (Nov. 6): Continuing Claims, EIA Natural Gas Inventories, Initial Claims, Productivity-Preliminary, Unit Labor Costs, Wholesale Inventories. Earnings from Airbnb Inc. (ABNB), AstraZeneca PLC (AZN), ConocoPhillips (COP), Cummins Inc. (CMI), EOG Resources Inc. (EOG), Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE), Trade Desk Inc. (TTD), TransDigm Group Inc. (TDG), Vistra Corp. (VST).
- Friday (Nov. 7): Average Workweek, Average Hourly Earnings, Consumer Credit, Nonfarm Payrolls, Unemployment Rate, University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment. Earnings from Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), Constellation Energy Corp. (CEG), Duke Energy Corp. (DUK), Enbridge Inc. (ENB), Franklin Resources Inc. (BEN), KKR & Co. (KKR), Ubiquiti Inc. (UI), YPF SA (YPF).
