AI Stocks Close
🔔 AI Stocks Close — Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 2:15 PM
Closes: SPX 7,719.52 (-0.32%) · Nasdaq Comp 26,230.07 (-1.20%) · DJI ~52,320 (-0.30%)
Day narrative: Alphabet's record ~13% post-earnings collapse yanked the AI complex down with it, and hot September PCE (3.6% headline, 3.1% core) poured concrete under the "higher for longer" trade. But breadth was genuinely good — advancers beat decliners nearly 2-to-1 on the NYSE and eight of eleven sectors finished green, so this was a mega-cap AI problem, not a market-wide one.
Sectors: Best Health Care (XLV +2.06%, all-time high) · Worst Communication Services (XLC -1.47%)
Movers:
• GOOGL -12.9% — Q3 search ad revenue missed and free cash flow cratered on accelerating AI capex. Steepest one-day drop on record for Alphabet.
• NOW -25% to -27% — ServiceNow guidance gutted; the whole software tape (IGV) went with it.
• FTNT -21% — raised total revenue but cut service revenue guidance. Market only heard the cut.
• LLY +6% — 39% revenue growth on GLP-1 strength plus raised guidance; carried health care to a record.
• ADT +33% — Thrive Holdings buying it at $10/share cash, a ~46% premium.
• CAT -12% at the lows — forecast disappointed on an otherwise defensive day.
After-hours / Earnings:
• AMZN double miss — revenue $201.94B vs $202.26B est., EPS $1.89 vs $1.96 est. Down roughly 8-11% AH. Capex at $220B for 2026 and negative free cash flow left no margin for a soft print.
• INTC beat big — revenue $16.5B (+21% y/y), adj. EPS $0.52 vs ~$0.40 est. Down about 20% AH anyway on brutal Q4 guidance: $15.0-16.0B revenue, $0.25 EPS, gross margin sliding to 38%.
• SNDK also reported tonight; options had priced a ~12% swing into memory's hottest tape in years.
Watchlist:
• MU $952.89 (-3.1%)
• NVDA ~$213.70 (-0.8%)
• MSFT ~$531.01 (+2.6% on 48% Azure growth)
• GOOGL $283.04 (-12.9%)
• META $625.67 (+2.2%)
• AMZN $250.38 (-4.6% day, -8% to -11% AH)
• AAPL $348.22 (+1.2%)
• AMD $566.45 (-2.1%)
• TSLA $374.58 (-3.1%)
• PLTR ~$194.87 (-1.0%)
• ARM ~$235.90 (-3.2%)
• SMCI ~$35.80 (+2.1%)
• ORCL $137.86 (-4.6%)
• SOUN $4.43 (-0.2%)
• IONQ $32.43 (-1.6%)
• BBAI ~$2.57 (+4.7%)
• AVGO $345.05 (-1.9%)
• CRM (-4.5%)
• ADBE — lower with software (exact close unconfirmed, flagging as a gap)
• IBM ~$253 (roughly flat)
• SNOW ~$334.95 (+3.0%)
• MDB — lower with software (close unconfirmed)
• NET — lower with software (close unconfirmed)
• CRWD (-6%+)
• TSM (-2.4%)
• ASML ~$1,662.85 (lower)
Macro:
• September PCE +0.5% m/m, 3.6% y/y headline; core 3.1%. Services ex-housing back to 3.6% — a multi-year high. Year-end hike odds firmed.
• Fed held rates steady yesterday in a 10-2 split vote, so today's inflation print lands on a committee that just chose patience.
• IPO watch: Anthropic has filed final paperwork to list under ticker ANT, targeting before Thanksgiving. Investor chatter has the valuation at ~$1.5T, trimmed from ~$2T a week ago. OpenAI is scrambling to close a ~$30B round at $1.4T-plus ahead of that listing. Neither is tradable yet.
Tomorrow: Bank of Japan rate decision overnight. Earnings from ExxonMobil, Chevron, AbbVie, BP, Sanofi and General Dynamics — an energy-and-pharma Friday, a welcome change of pace. Apple's Q4 lands Monday, November 2, with consensus near $1.99 EPS on $113.31B.