📅 Thursday, October 22, 2026 | ☕ Morning Briefing 🕒 All times in Eastern Time (ET) ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 🔎 Market Overview: Markets are starting Thursday on a weaker note. A drone attack on a Saudi oil field is driving oil prices higher and fueling inflation concerns. At the same time, doubts about the profitability of massive AI investments are weighing on technology stocks, with Asian markets particularly hard hit. Today’s focus is on U.S. jobless claims and a packed earnings calendar featuring Spotify, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, and after-hours reports from Western Digital and Bloom Energy. ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📊 Economic Data / Macro: • 8:30 AM 🇺🇸 Initial Jobless Claims • 11:00 AM 🇺🇸 Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 💰 Earnings Pre-Market: • 6:00 AM Comcast $CMCSA • 6:00 AM Spotify $SPOT • 6:00 AM Honeywell $HON • 6:15 AM Huntington Bancshares $HBAN • 6:25 AM Lockheed Martin $LMT • 6:30 AM Valero Energy $VLO • 6:30 AM PulteGroup $PHM • 6:55 AM CBRE Group $CBRE • 6:55 AM Tractor Supply $TSCO • 7:00 AM American Airlines $AAL • 7:00 AM Procter & Gamble $PG • 7:00 AM Nasdaq $NDAQ • 7:45 AM Union Pacific $UNP • 8:15 AM Norfolk Southern $NSC • Before Open Blackstone $BX ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 💰 Earnings After-Hours: • 4:00 PM Western Digital $WDC • 4:00 PM Omnicom Group $OMC • 4:05 PM Bloom Energy $BE • 4:05 PM MaxLinear $MXL • 4:05 PM RingCentral $RNG • 4:05 PM Newmont $NEM • 4:05 PM Deckers Brands $DECK • 4:05 PM Comfort Systems USA $FIX • 4:05 PM VeriSign $VRSN • 4:05 PM Robert Half $RHI • 4:10 PM Kinsale Capital $KNSL • 4:15 PM Enova International $ENVA • 4:15 PM Rexford Industrial Realty $REXR • 4:30 PM Sallie Mae $SLM • After Close AppFolio $APPF ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📈 Trading & Positioning: • U.S. futures lower • DAX −0.8% • WTI crude +2.5% • Kospi −3.5% • Nikkei 225 −2.7% • Hang Seng −3.0% • CSI 300 −1.7% ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📅 Events & Other: • NEXTPredict Summit featuring Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, focusing on the future of prediction markets • Tiger Gold $TGRGF presents at the Kinvestor Day 2026 Virtual Investor Conference • Spotify $SPOT: Focus on subscriber growth, margins and guidance • Lockheed Martin $LMT and Honeywell $HON provide insights into defense, aerospace and industrial markets • Western Digital $WDC: Focus on storage demand and AI infrastructure • Bloom Energy $BE and Comfort Systems USA $FIX: Focus on power supply and data center infrastructure expansion ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📌 What Matters Today? The key question is whether rising oil prices will further intensify inflation and interest-rate concerns. At the same time, AI investments are facing growing scrutiny. After the close, Western Digital, Bloom Energy and Comfort Systems USA will be particularly important, as their results could provide valuable signals on actual demand for data center and energy infrastructure. U.S. jobless claims could add another macroeconomic catalyst.

Here is an early look at the front page of The Wall Street Journal on.wsj.com/4BlhaOn

🌅 THURSDAY'S SETUP | OCT 22 $LMT, $NOK, $CMCSA, $BX, $AAL and $VLO headline a packed premarket. One extra catalyst: Nokia and NVIDIA just announced the first AI-RAN call on a live T-Mobile network. 📊 Wall Street's revenue & EPS estimates below. 👇

Thursday, October 22 Earnings Before Open $LMT — Lockheed Martin $NOK — Nokia $CMCSA — Comcast $ARGX — argenx $TSCO — Tractor Supply $HBAN — Huntington Bancshares $DOW — Dow $BX — Blackstone $AAL — American Airlines $VLO — Valero Energy After Close $BE — Bloom Energy $MXL — MaxLinear $RNG — RingCentral $WDC — Western Digital $SRCE — 1st Source Corporation $VRSN — VeriSign $SLM — Sallie Mae $MRTN — Marten Transport $NEM — Newmont $KN — Knowles

🚨 $NVDA IS TURNING TELECOM NETWORKS INTO AI INFRASTRUCTURE NVIDIA is bringing AI computing closer to users by embedding it across telecom data centers, metro sites, and cell sites. Key developments: • $TMUS completed the world’s first AI-RAN call on a live network with NVIDIA and Nokia. • BT, Deutsche Telekom, and Elisa announced live-network AI-RAN pilots using Nokia software. • 9 operators across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa are building or expanding NVIDIA-powered infrastructure. The bigger picture: Telecom networks could evolve beyond connectivity into distributed AI computing platforms. As Jensen Huang put it, telecom networks “will also carry the world’s intelligence.”

🔔 CLOSING BELL | Wednesday, October 21, 2026 Wall Street Gains • Nasdaq Rises Over 1% • SpaceX and Tesla Fuel Merger Speculation • AI Stocks Rebound • Meta and Tesla Report Earnings ⠀ 🔎 Market Overview U.S. stocks closed solidly higher on Wednesday. The S&P 500 gained 0.59%, the Dow rose 0.69%, and the Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.13%. Technology and semiconductor stocks benefited from strong corporate earnings and improving AI sentiment. ⠀ SpaceX and Tesla drew attention after Elon Musk revealed discussions about a potential merger. Strong results from SpaceX and Supermicro also boosted confidence in AI demand, while lower Treasury yields provided additional support. ⠀ 📉 Sentiment • CNN Fear & Greed: 31 (Fear) • Crypto Fear & Greed: 63 (Greed) ⠀ 📊 Indices & Markets • S&P 500: 7,757.71 (+0.59%) • Dow Jones: 52,856.09 (+0.69%) • Nasdaq 100: 29,822.52 (+1.13%) • Russell 2000: 2,782.22 (+0.32%) • DAX: 25,645.04 (+1.35%) • VIX: 16.68 (-3.64%) • US 10Y: 5.119% (-0.3 bps) • US 2Y: 4.808% (+2.1 bps) ⠀ 🏦 Stock & Sector Highlights • $SPCX SpaceX +7.8% and $TSLA Tesla +3.4% after Musk confirmed special committees were formed to explore a potential merger. No agreement has been reached ⠀ • $SMCI Supermicro +9.6% after sharply raising its revenue and margin outlook. $DELL Dell +5.3% and $HPE Hewlett Packard Enterprise +3.7% also benefited ⠀ • $NVDA Nvidia +2.5% amid the AI rebound. The semiconductor index gained around 2% following recent heavy losses driven by concerns over massive AI investments ⠀ • $NFLX Netflix -5.3% after disappointing Q4 guidance despite beating Q3 estimates. $T AT&T -6.5%, $TMUS T-Mobile -2.5%, and $VZ Verizon -2.2% amid growing competition from Starlink ⠀ • $META Meta +4% after hours following an earnings beat and strong Q4 guidance. Revenue reached $64.6B, with EPS of $3.83 vs. $3.57 expected. $TSLA Tesla gained another 2% after hours after beating estimates ⠀ • $IBM IBM +6% after hours following an earnings beat. $LRCX Lam Research -6% despite solid results, while $CSX CSX gained 5% after beating profit expectations ⠀ Technology led S&P 500 sectors with a 1.6% gain, while communication services fell 1.3%. AI infrastructure and server stocks were among the biggest beneficiaries of the rebound. ⠀ 💰 Commodities & Energy Oil prices rose amid ongoing Middle East tensions. Talks between Iran and Pakistan produced no breakthrough, while renewed Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure kept supply risks elevated. • WTI: $97.88 (+0.75%) • Gold: $4,155.82 (+0.14%) • Silver: $57.983 (+0.47%) ⠀ 🪙 Crypto Update Cryptocurrencies rallied, while the Crypto Fear & Greed Index remained in "Greed" territory at 63. • Bitcoin: $84,788.00 (+2.06%) • Ethereum: $2,495.35 (+1.61%) ⠀ 📰 Macro & Market Structure • SpaceX and Tesla exploring a potential merger, with Musk emphasizing there is no guarantee of a deal • SpaceX Q3 revenue $14.6B (+161% YoY), profit $4.4B, CapEx $19.6B • Supermicro sharply raises revenue and margin guidance, boosting confidence in AI infrastructure demand • Meta approves a new publicly traded non-voting share class to help finance its AI expansion • Meta Q4 revenue guidance of $73–76B, with 2026 CapEx projected at $135–145B • Tesla Q3 revenue $28.05B, adj. EPS $0.48 vs. $0.45 expected • Iran demands the removal of U.S. sanctions and threats before further negotiations • Trump considers a trilateral meeting with China and Russia on nuclear disarmament • NYSE advancers outnumber decliners 1.37 to 1 • Trading volume: 16.11B shares vs. the 20-day average of 17.10B ⠀ 📅 Outlook & Takeaways Wall Street extended its recovery, led by technology and AI stocks. Strong SpaceX results, Supermicro's upbeat outlook, and potential Tesla-SpaceX merger supported sentiment. Weakness in telecom stocks and Netflix highlighted the market's selective performance. ⠀ Attention now turns to market reactions to Meta and Tesla earnings and upcoming technology reports. The key question remains whether massive AI investments can be justified by revenue growth and profits. Financing costs, geopolitical risks, and the sustainability of AI demand remain major factors.

Earnings tomorrow before market open! $LMT $NOK $CMCSA $TSCO $PG $SPOT $VLO $DOW $BX $AAL $HBAN $UNP $ARGX $HON $NDAQ $PCG $ORI $NSC $BFH $ALLE $DOV $DGX $CBRE $POOL $PHM $ROP $SNA $SBFG $THRM $STBA $FBP $CIVB $CRS $COCO $CNOB $AMAL $BMI $MSM $LNN $HFWA $IIIN $LAZ $VLY $NVR $KRNY $FSV $FCFS $BPOP #earnings

Earnings for Tomorrow, October 22nd 🕘 Before Market Open: AAL, ALLE, AMAL, AMBP, ARGX, BCS, BESIY, BFH, BMI, BPOP, BX, CBRE, CIVB, CMCSA, CNOB, COCO, CRS, CURB, DGX, DOV, DOW, FBP, FCFS, FSV, HBAN, HFWA, HON, IIIN, KRNY, LAZ, LMT, LNN, MSM, NDAQ, NOK, NSC, ORI, PCG, PG, PHM, POOL, R, ROP, SBFG, SDVKY, SNA, SPOT, STBA, THRM, TSCO, TTMI, UNP, VC, VLO, VLY, YARIY, ZGN, 🕓 After Market Close: ABCB, AMTB, APPF, ASB, BBD, BBDO, BE, BWMX, BY, BYD, COLB, CUBI, DECK, EBC, ENVA, FIBK, FIX, FPH, FRBA, FRST, GBCI, HTH, JAKK, KN, KNSL, KRC, MSBI, MXL, MYFW, NEM, OMC, ORC, PINE, REXR, RHI, RNG, SAM, SIGI, SLM, SPFI, SRCE, SSNC, USCB, UVE, VRSN, VTMX, WDC, WSFS

HERE'S WHAT THE 🇺🇸 STOCK MARKET LOOKED LIKE TODAY Up 8: Datadog $DDOG +6.6% Ciena $CIEN +5.7% Dell $DELL +5.3% CrowdStrike $CRWD +5.3% Palantir $PLTR +4.7% Danaher $DHR +4.3% GE Vernova $GEV +4.0% IBM $IBM +3.9% Down 8: AT&T $T -6.5% Netflix $NFLX -5.3% Booking Holdings $BKNG -3.4% American Tower $AMT -3.2% T-Mobile $TMUS -2.5% Boston Scientific $BSX -2.3% Intuitive Surgical $ISRG -2.3% Stryker $SYK -2.2% Tech led the market, with 42 of 48 names in the sector finishing higher. Chips bounced back, with AMD $AMD +3.4%, Nvidia $NVDA +2.5% and Micron $MU +2.0%, and Tesla $TSLA rose +3.4% ahead of its earnings report after the close. Telecom went the other way. AT&T fell after its earnings report and pulled Verizon $VZ -2.2% and T-Mobile down with it. Netflix slid after last night's results, and medical device makers like Boston Scientific, Intuitive Surgical and Stryker also had a rough day.

Nasdaq gains as Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla revive tech rally! $MSFT $AAPL $GOOGL $AMZN $SPCX $CMCSA $CRM $AMD $MU $QCOM $NVDA $META $PLTR $NFLX $HD $JNJ $PFE $ABBV $LLY $GILD $MRK $AMGN $TSLA $DIS $PYPL $CSCO $INTC $ORCL $XOM $GS $PG $SBUX

Happy Wednesday.

Earnings today after the close! $TSLA $META $IBM $LRCX $TXN $TCBI $CACI $LUV $MEDP $CCI $WDFC $SAP $ROL $KNX $LVS $URI $CSX $GL $MOH $KMI $PKG $NTST $QS $PNFP $KALU $ESI $ASIC $BDN $ARR $EGBN $HXL $HBNC $GTY $GSBC $FBNC $LBRT $RS $SLG $SSB $TCBX $WCN $WSBC $SON $SEIC $RPT $OII $LOB $FAF #earnings

Big earnings night ahead 👀 $TSLA, $META, $IBM, $LRCX and $TXN headline the after-hours slate, with $CACI, $MEDP, $TCBI and $CCI also reporting. AI, autos, semis and cloud all in focus. Street estimates in the slides below.

Stocks Reporting Today — After Market Close 🕓 After Market Close: ASIC, BANR, BBT, BDN, CACI, CASH, CATY, CCI, CSX, CVBF, EFSC, EGBN, EGP, EPRT, ESI, FAF, FR, FRME, FULT, GGG, GL, GSBC, GTY, HBNC, HXL, IBM, KALU, KMI, KNX, LBRT, LOB, LRCX, LUV, LVS, MEDP, META, MMLP, MOH, NTST, NVEC, OII, OSBC, PKG, PNFP, QS, ROL, RPT, RS, SAP, SEIC, SLG, SON, SSB, STC, TCBI, TCBX, TFIN, TRST, TSLA, TXN, URI, WCN, WDFC, WH, WSBC

The 20 Most Visited Websites in the World 1. Google: 1.19T visits (34.54% market share) 2. YouTube: 595.66B visits (17.35% market share) 3. Facebook: 112.29B visits (3.27%) 4. Instagram: 70.67B visits (2.06%) 5. ChatGPT: 65.85B visits (1.92%) 6. Reddit: 60.37B visits (1.76%) 7. Wikipedia: 52.85B visits (1.54%) 8. X (Twitter): 45.77B visits (1.33%) 9. Gmail: 43.19B visits (1.26%) 10. Yahoo!: 32.55B visits (0.95%)

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Meta, IBM, Texas Instruments and Lam Research among the major companies reporting quarterly results after hours today: $META $IBM $TXN $LRCX $URI $PKG $CSX $LVS $KMI $CCI $MEDP $RS $LUV $KNX $PNFP $EGP $TSLA

U.S. STOCK MARKET – #EARNINGS CALENDAR | WEEK OF OCTOBER 19–23, 2026 🔹 Wednesday, October 21 — Before Market Open (BMO) 🔹 Abbott Laboratories $ABT | EPS Est. $1.43. 🔹 NextEra Energy $NEE | EPS Est. $1.19. 🔹 CME Group $CME | EPS Est. $2.97. 🔹 Danaher $DHR | EPS Est. $1.93. 🔹 AT&T $T | EPS Est. $0.61. 🔹 Thermo Fisher Scientific $TMO | EPS Est. $6.47. 🔹 Philip Morris $PM | EPS Est. $2.34. 🔹 Wednesday, October 21 — After Market Close (AMC) 🔹 Tesla $TSLA | EPS Est. $0.43-$0.45 | Revenue Est. $27.9B. 🔹 Meta Platforms $META. 🔹 IBM $IBM | EPS Est. $2.89. 🔹 Lam Research $LRCX | EPS Est. $2.22. 🔹 Texas Instruments $TXN | EPS Est. $2.44. 🔹 CACI International $CACI. 🔹 Texas Capital Bancshares $TCBI. 🔹 Crown Castle $CCI. 🔹 Medpace $MEDP | EPS Est. $4.51.

📅 Wednesday, October 21, 2026 | ☕ Morning Briefing 🕒 All times in Eastern Time (ET) ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 🔎 Market Overview: Markets are starting Wednesday mostly higher. U.S. futures are positive, while the DAX slips 0.1% and WTI crude rises 1.0%. Asian markets are mixed, with strong gains in technology stocks. The Kospi jumps 3.3% and the Nikkei gains 0.9%, while Chinese equities decline. Hopes for a sustained AI investment cycle are supporting sentiment. Today’s main focus is a major earnings session featuring Meta, Tesla, Lam Research and Texas Instruments after the U.S. market close. ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📊 Economic Data / Macro: • 2:00 AM 🇬🇧 CPI YoY, September • 10:30 AM 🇺🇸 Crude Oil Inventories ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 💰 Earnings Pre-Market: • 5:30 AM Lithia Motors $LAD • 6:00 AM AT&T $T • 6:00 AM Elevance Health $ELV • 6:00 AM Thermo Fisher Scientific $TMO • 6:00 AM Danaher $DHR • 6:30 AM Wabtec $WAB • 6:55 AM Teledyne Technologies $TDY • 6:59 AM Philip Morris $PM • 7:00 AM Moody’s $MCO • 7:00 AM CME Group $CME • 7:00 AM Healthcare Services Group $HCSG • 7:10 AM Northern Trust $NTRS • 7:30 AM Abbott Laboratories $ABT • 7:30 AM NextEra Energy $NEE • Additional Earnings: Integra LifeSciences $IART ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 💰 Earnings After-Hours: • 4:01 PM Meta Platforms $META • 4:01 PM Texas Instruments $TXN • 4:05 PM Lam Research $LRCX • 4:05 PM SAP $SAP • 4:05 PM Rollins $ROL • 4:05 PM WD-40 $WDFC • 4:05 PM Knight-Swift Transportation $KNX • 4:14 PM Tesla $TSLA • 4:15 PM Southwest Airlines $LUV • 4:15 PM Medpace $MEDP • Additional Earnings: IBM $IBM, CSX $CSX, Crown Castle $CCI, CACI International $CACI, Texas Capital Bancshares $TCBI ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📈 Trading & Positioning: • U.S. futures higher • DAX −0.1% • WTI crude +1.0% • Kospi +3.3% • Nikkei 225 +0.9% • CSI 300 −1.2% • Hang Seng −0.7% • Technology stocks lead the recovery in South Korea and Japan • Hopes for a sustained AI investment cycle support sentiment • Options markets are pricing in double-digit earnings moves for Molina Healthcare $MOH and Winnebago $WGO ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📅 Events & Other: • The J.P. Morgan-Robin Hood Investors Conference features prominent speakers including U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Stanley Druckenmiller, David Einhorn, Jim Chanos, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Robin Hood CEO Richard Buery • Meta $META reports earnings after the close. Key areas to watch include AI investments, advertising growth, CapEx and Reality Labs • Tesla $TSLA reports after the close, with attention on automotive margins, deliveries, robotaxi progress and guidance • Lam Research $LRCX and Texas Instruments $TXN provide important insights into semiconductor demand, AI infrastructure and the broader chip cycle • SAP $SAP also reports after the close, with focus on cloud growth, cloud backlog and demand for AI-powered enterprise software ⠀ ⸻ ⠀ 📌 What Matters Today? Today’s trading session is dominated by major technology earnings. Following recent weakness in AI-related stocks, Meta, Tesla, Lam Research and Texas Instruments could provide important market catalysts. Meta’s investment outlook will be particularly relevant for AI infrastructure stocks, while Lam Research and Texas Instruments offer key signals on semiconductor demand. SAP and IBM are also in focus for enterprise software and AI. The strong rebound in South Korean technology stocks is supporting sentiment ahead of a packed earnings session after the U.S. market close.

Ken Griffin does not believe that artificial intelligence will ever replace investors According to the Citadel CEO, the fundamental job of an investor is research, akin to being a journalist. Trading is simply how that research is monetized. There are bits and pieces of the research process that artificial intelligence can automate, but the narrative still needs to be assembled by a human