US stocks bounced back Friday, with Wall Street notching weekly and monthly wins as investors embraced strong earnings from Amazon (AMZN) that eased some doubts about prospects for Big Tech.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.6%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.3%, both restoring solid gains after wavering earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech stocks, rose 0.1%.
All three major averages ended the month with wins, with the Nasdaq gaining more than 4% for a second month in a row. The tech-heavy index scored its seventh consecutive monthly victory, while the S&P 500 and Dow notched their sixth month of wins in a row. All three indexes ended with solid weekly gains, as well.
Fresh “Magnificent Seven” earnings reports rekindled optimism for sustained growth for tech megacaps, easing concerns about overspending on AI infrastructure.
Amazon shares rose around 10% and closed at an all-time high, after its third quarter results easily topped analysts’ forecasts. In particular, its cloud division, Amazon Web Services, posted a 20% jump in revenue, signaling renewed strength in enterprise demand.
Apple (AAPL) also tapped its own record on the heels of stronger-than-expected results and upbeat guidance for the all-important holiday quarter. The stock hit a high above $277 shortly after the market open but quickly reversed direction.
Elsewhere in tech, Nvidia (NVDA) shares fluctuated as the company made a fresh push into South Korea, saying it would supply as many as 260,000 of its AI chips to companies and the country’s government. Meanwhile, shares in Netflix (NFLX) held onto gains after the media giant announced a 10-for-1 stock split.
Federal Reserve officials stepped up to speak for the first time since this week’s meeting, which brought an interest rate cut and revealed deepening divisions among policymakers. Kansas City Fed president Jeff Schmid said he would have preferred to hold rates steady, as inflation is “too high.” Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan, who is not a voting member this year, said Friday that she would have preferred to hold steady.
Traders are paring bets on a rate cut in December. Just over 60% now expect one, compared with over 90% one week ago.
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Stocks climbed on Friday, with all three major averages ending the month with gains, as investors digested a week of Big Tech earnings and the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower rates earlier in the week.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.6%, notching its second month in a row of gains of more than 4% as tech stocks powered the markets higher.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.2%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose less than 0.1%.
Some of this week’s big winners include e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) and social media giant Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG).
Nvidia (NVDA) shares also gained for the week after topping the $5 trillion market cap level earlier in the week.
Investors went risk off again with crypto. Bitcoin (BTC-USD) bounced back on Friday after a choppy week, to hover above $109,800 per token.
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Yahoo Finance’s Francisco Velasquez reports:
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Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:
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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) bounced back on Friday after a choppy week, to hover near $109,000 per token.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency is down about 4% for October, which historically has tended to be a strong month for the token.
Bitcoin reached an all-time high earlier this month, north of around $126,000. But the token has failed to sustain that momentum in recent weeks.
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Yahoo Finance’s Francisco Velasquez reports:
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Crude oil was little changed on Friday as a slew of energy companies, including the supermajors Exxon Mobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), reported earnings.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures traded at around $60 per barrel, while Brent (BZ=F) contracts traded at around $64 per barrel. Prices are down by about 3% over the past month and 14% year to date.
Exxon reported adjusted earnings of $1.88 per share, which topped the $1.81 per share that Wall Street was looking for. Chevron also beat earnings estimates, reporting earnings of $1.85 versus $1.66 estimated, as profits from the $53 billion Hess Corp. acquisition boosted oil production and cash flow.
Despite falling oil prices during the quarter, the supermajors increased production. For Exxon, this translated to the equivalent of 1.1 million barrels per day in added production compared to the second quarter.
“More than just not slowing down production, they’re actually acquiring more and more reserves,” Hedgeye Risk Management energy analyst Fernando Valle told Yahoo Finance on Friday.
“It’s really about hoarding the resources and capitalizing on scarcity value at the current low prices… and then preparing for an essentially an upturn in the next two to three years, maybe three to five years depending on your time scale,” Valle noted on recent M&A activity. “So these CEOs make decisions thinking on five to 10 years as opposed to the current oil price.”
Chevron stock rose 2% in afternoon trading, while Exxon shares fell 0.7%.
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Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:
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Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose more than 1% Friday morning after the tech giant announced a slew of deals in South Korea that will see the country’s government and biggest companies buy up to 260,000 of its AI chips.
The deals are part of Nvidia’s push into the “sovereign AI” market. Sovereign AI refers to countries building out their own AI infrastructure as a means of becoming technologically independent, and Nvidia expects the market to grow to $1.5 trillion in the next several years.
The push comes as Nvidia’s business in China is effectively being killed off by an ongoing and volatile trade conflict between that country and the US.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared somewhat optimistic at the APEC Summit in South Korea on Friday, following high-stakes trade talks there between President Trump and Chinese President Xi. Huang said he is “hopeful that both governments will arrive at a conclusion someday where Nvidia’s technology could be exported to China.”
The early Friday uptick helped Nvidia stock partly recover from the previous day’s loss of 2%. The AI giant’s market cap stood at $4.99 trillion, having crossed the $5 trillion mark for the first time earlier this week.
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The major stock indexes were set to end October on a high note.
Stocks looked to finish out a volatile week — packed with high-stakes trade talks, a Fed interest rate decision, and a wave of Big Tech earnings — positively.
The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) was on track to see a 2.8% gain for the five trading sessions through Friday. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) looked to add 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.
Stocks were also set to finish out the month strong. The Nasdaq was on track to add 5.3% for the month. The S&P 500 and the Dow both looked to notch gains of more than 2.6% for October.
The moves added to a bright month for the indexes in September, when they rose 5.6%, 3.5%, and 2%, respectively — wrapping up the best third quarter for stocks since 1986.
This past month was also the best October for stocks since 2022. In October of 2024 and 2023, the major gauges posted losses.
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Shares in Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) touched all-time highs Friday shortly after the market open.
Amazon stock touched a fresh intraday record of $250.50 before paring gains. Shares in the tech giant are up 10.5%.
Apple shares climbed to hit an all-time high of $277.32 before reversing direction to trade down fractionally.
The new records come after the two reported quarterly earnings after the bell Thursday that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations.
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US stocks rose on Friday at the market open
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) surged 1.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech stocks, added 0.1%.
The gains come as Wall Street embraced strong earnings from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) and Nvidia (NVDA) shares rose amid big AI deals abroad, easing doubts about prospects for Big Tech.
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Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:
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Netflix (NFLX) stock rose 2% in premarket trading on Friday following a report that the company was exploring a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) studio and streaming business and after the company announced a 10-for-1 stock split.
On Friday, Reuters reported that the streaming company hired Moelis & Co, the investment bank that advised Skydance (PSKY) Media on its successful bid for Paramount Global, to evaluate a prospective offer on Warner Bros. Discovery. Owning that studio business would give Netflix control over successful franchises, such as Harry Potter and DC Comics.
Meanwhile, Netflix also announced a 10-for-1 stock split on Thursday afternoon. Netflix shareholders will receive 10 shares for every one share of the company they currently own on Nov. 17, the company said, meaning the stock will trade at one-tenth of its current price.
Yahoo Finance’s Myles Udland notes that while it doesn’t change the overall value of the company, some academic research has suggested shares outperform following the announcement of a stock split.
Thursday’s announcement marks the third time that Netflix has split its stock, having announced a 7-for-1 stock split in 2015 and a 2-for-1 split in 2004.
Read more here about the stock split.
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Economic data: Personal income (September); Personal spending (September) PCE price index, (September); Employment cost index (third quarter); MNI Chicago PMI (October)
Earnings calendar: Exxon Mobil (XOM), AbbVie (ABBV), Chevron (CVX), Linde (LIN), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), Canadian National Railway Company (CNI), Dominion Energy (D), Imperial Oil (IMO), Charter Communications (CHTR), Cenovus Energy (CVE), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), T. Rowe Price (TROW), Piper Sandler (PIPR)
Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:
Trump urges GOP to go ‘nuclear’ on filibuster as shutdown drags on
Google is finally finding answers to its AI questions
Amazon, Apple shares surge as earnings shine
Walmart rolls out AI shopping tools after OpenAI deal
Nvidia to supply more than 260,000 AI chips to S. Korea
Blackwell chips sales in China rest on Trump: Nvidia CEO
How the Cybercab could solve Tesla’s big EV problem
AI-led investments are driving US economic growth
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Seagate (STX) and Western Digital (WDC) are rising on the heels of upbeat earnings, building on this year’s AI-fueled rally for the companies.
The two stocks are the second- and third-highest percentage gainers this year on the S&P 500 (^GSPC), only behind trading platform operator Robinhood (HOOD), per Reuters.
Reuters reports:
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Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban reports:
If Google has already moved past its most perilous legal challenge and wiggled out of the perception of playing catch-up to its rivals, the remaining question is one of search economics: How can Google make money from AI without dismantling the foundation of its search business?
In every quarter this year, and most resoundingly this week, Google’s answer to that existential question is that AI will expand its users’ appetites for information.
Google’s AI assistant, AI overviews, and AI Mode may eventually supplant the legacy search bar that has built the company. But the search giant’s first $100 billion quarter suggests cannibalization isn’t the right frame for Google’s AI transition. Augmentation is more like it. …
“Alphabet’s execution on artificial intelligence, evidenced by strong traction for its Gemini app, which has more than 650 million monthly users, along with its ability to deliver solid advertising revenue, continues to drive results while refuting the AI-led disruption narrative,” Morningstar senior equity analyst Malik Ahmed Khan wrote in a note on Thursday. …
Investors’ reaction to Big Tech’s nonstop capex spree can seem fickle. But a reliable way to win approval is to present dazzling earnings, softening the blow of a bigger AI bill, or in Google’s case, showing that even gargantuan investments are already paying off.
Read more here in the takeaway from today’s Morning Brief.
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Big Tech earnings from Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) were released on Thursday after the bell, with both tech giants beating Wall Street estimates.
Apple’s fourth quarter earnings beat on the top and bottom lines, but iPhone sales fell short of expectations. Apple’s stock rose more than 1% before the bell on Friday.
Amazon’s stock jumped 12% in premarket trading, as investors applauded the e-commerce company’s earnings beat.
Yahoo Finance tech editor Daniel Howley reports on the latest earnings releases from Big Tech.
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Reddit (RDDT) stock rose 12% before the bell on Friday after releasing its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, reporting a rise in daily active users (DAUs) of 19% to 116 million during the third quarter from the same period last year.
Rocket (RKLB) stock rose 7% in premarket trading on Friday after earnings and revenue beat Wall Street estimates.
Strategy (MSTR) stock gained 6% before the bell after reporting third quarter profit of $8.42 a share compared with a prior year loss of $1.72. The company said its Bitcoin (BTC-USD) holdings rose to 640,808 in the period.
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Bloomberg reports:
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Bloomberg reports:
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