Issue · Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Dow +1.02% on earnings; Braze +52% on Salesforce deal, GM −6.8%
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TL;DR
- Earnings carried the Dow up 1.02%, helped by 3M. The S&P 500 added 0.28% and the Nasdaq was flat (−0.02%).
- Oil and yields both eased. The 10-year Treasury yield slipped to about 5.12% and Brent settled at $108.79.
- Netflix fell 5% to 6% after hours on a weak outlook. SpaceX rose after its AI revenue overtook Starlink.
📊 Indices (close, Tue 20 Oct)
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones | 52,495.88 | +529.85 (+1.02%) |
| S&P 500 | 7,712.57 | +21.84 (+0.28%) |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,424.82 | −6.07 (−0.02%) |
Also: traders now see a 17.2% chance of a Fed rate hike at next week's meeting, down from 57.6% a month ago (CME FedWatch).
🪙 Crypto (Wed morning)
- Bitcoin: about $82,700, up about 0.9% over 24h.
- Ether: about $2,440, up about 1.4% over 24h.
🚀 Movers
- Braze (BRZE) +51.7% to $45.57. Salesforce agreed to buy the customer-engagement platform for $47.50 a share in cash, about $5.66B in enterprise value.
- Equifax (EFX) +11.3% to $176.54. Adjusted Q3 EPS of $2.26 beat the $2.20 consensus, even though the credit bureau trimmed its 2026 revenue guidance.
- 3M (MMM) +5.8%. Adjusted EPS of $2.50 beat estimates, it raised its 2026 forecast to $9.10–9.15 a share, and it is expanding its data-center partnership with Amazon.
- General Motors (GM) −6.8% to $77.09. Q3 beat estimates and GM announced a $20B buyback, but it said the Middle East conflict is pushing up copper, steel and diesel prices, adding $400M to 2026 costs.
- Netflix (NFLX) −1.7% to $68.66, then 5% to 6% lower after hours. Its Q4 profit forecast (67 cents a share vs. 73 expected) fell short, and it cut its 2026 ad revenue outlook to about $2.7B from about $3B.
🤖 AI/Tech story: SpaceX is now mostly an AI company
SpaceX's Q3 revenue rose 161% to $14.58B, well ahead of estimates, and it swung to a $4.4B net profit, its first since its June IPO. Its AI segment, which it calls "Super Intelligence," grew ninefold to $7.56B and is now bigger than Starlink ($5.25B). Capital spending ran at about $19.6B, mostly for AI infrastructure, so free cash flow was negative. Shares rose about 6% to 8% after hours. On the call, Elon Musk said SpaceX and Tesla have formed special committees to discuss a merger, with no agreement yet. About 1.3B SpaceX shares unlock on Thursday.
👀 What to watch today (times CEST)
- Before the US open: AT&T, Abbott, NextEra, Thermo Fisher, Philip Morris and CME report.
- 16:30: US weekly crude inventories (EIA).
- 19:00: US Treasury sells $13B of 20-year notes, a check on demand at yields above 5%.
- After the US close (from 22:00): Meta, Tesla, IBM, Lam Research, Texas Instruments and SAP. Tesla's call comes a day after the SpaceX merger talk.
Sources: Reuters via Euronext, "Stocks mostly rise as oil, US yields ease" (20 Oct); WSJ markets wrap (20 Oct); Exa market data (DJI/SPX/IXIC, 20 Oct); Salesforce release (20 Oct); StockAnalysis and Yahoo Finance price history (BRZE, GM, EFX); CNBC midday movers (20 Oct); Proactive Investors market movers (20 Oct); AFP via FMT on GM (21 Oct); Reuters via Investing.com on Netflix; Investing.com Netflix call summary; Yahoo Finance/Stocktwits, CNBC, WSJ and Axios on SpaceX Q3; CoinGecko prices (21 Oct, 06:30 CEST); eOption weekly calendar and Earnings Whispers (21 Oct).
Informational only. Not financial advice.
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