The Wall Street Wrap: October 29, 2026

Stocks slip as Alphabet suffers its worst day on record and ServiceNow plunges 27%, while GDP beats and health care surges, then Intel and Amazon fall after the bell

Welcome to Wall Street Wrap, your quick end-of-day rundown of what moved US markets today, plus what's shaping global sentiment overnight.

MARKETS TODAY

US stocks fell on Thursday as Alphabet's worst day on record and a selloff in software shares outweighed stronger-than-expected economic growth and a surge in health care, snapping the S&P 500's three-day advance. The S&P 500 fell 0.30% to 7,720.39 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 1.38% to 26,184.724, while the Nasdaq 100 fell 1.38% to 29,402.508, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.25% to 52,342.56, and the Russell 2000 rose 1.01% to 2,859.217. The VIX rose 1.71% to 17.20. Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors rose, led by health care at 2.50% and real estate at 2.25%, while communication services fell 6.60%, information technology 0.88%, and consumer discretionary 0.63%. Gen Digital rose 15.811% and Carvana 15.682%, while ServiceNow fell 26.95% and Alnylam 25.129%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 10.8 basis points to 4.937%, crude oil fell 2.08% to 100.638, and gold fell 1.05% to 4,025.26.

ANALYTICAL VIEW

Alphabet did the damage. The stock fell 12.641% for its worst day since the company went public, erasing about $500 billion of market value, after third-quarter earnings and revenue missed, search revenue of $63.35 billion fell short of estimates for a second straight quarter, and free cash flow came in at negative $9.07 billion. The company kept its 2026 capital spending forecast at $195 billion to $205 billion and said spending will rise significantly in 2027. The pain spread to software, where ServiceNow fell 26.95% on its worst day on record and Fortinet fell 20.094%, and to Marvell, which lost 13.237%, while neocloud names CoreWeave and Nebius fell 4.99% and 5.676%. Microsoft ended 0.164% lower after Azure revenue rose 48% and its capital spending came in below estimates, a combination that one research head at a UK wealth manager said showed the company "building out its architecture in a measured way."

Money moved elsewhere. Third-quarter GDP grew at a 3.4% annualized pace against 3.1% expected, the fastest in a year, while the September PCE price index rose 0.5% for an annual rate of 3.6% and core PCE held at 3.1%, leaving markets pricing roughly an 80% chance of a December rate hike, yet Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down about 11 basis points to 4.937% and the two-year down 13.3 basis points to 4.602%. The Russell 2000 rose 1.01% and the NYSE Composite 1.05%, health care jumped as Eli Lilly gained 6.629% after raising its 2026 revenue guidance to $91 billion to $92 billion, and real estate, consumer staples, and utilities each gained more than 1.5%. Oil gave back some of its Iran-related premium, with Brent down 1.51% to 113.583. In Europe, the European Central Bank held its deposit rate at 2.5% but left a December hike open, and President Christine Lagarde said she will leave in February 2027.

What could change the picture: Whether the after-hours selloff in Intel, Amazon, Roblox, Reddit, and Twilio spills into Friday's open, whether the slide in Alphabet and software shares deepens, whether Friday's Employment Cost Index and Chicago PMI add to the case for a December rate hike, and whether crude holds near $100 as reports of renewed US-Iran diplomacy develop.

SECTOR PERFORMANCE

WINNERS & LOSERS

Top 5 Gainers (across S&P, Nasdaq, Dow):

• Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN): +15.811%
• Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA): +15.682%
• Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH): +13.45%
• Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HII): +13.231%
• Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT): +11.67%

Top 5 Decliners:

• ServiceNow, Inc. (NYSE:NOW): -26.95%
• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALNY): -25.129%
• Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT): -20.094%
• Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRVL): -13.237%
• Alphabet Inc. Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL): -12.641%

Note: Norwegian surged after beating third-quarter estimates and raising its 2026 outlook, ServiceNow fell on results that underwhelmed, Fortinet extended Wednesday's after-hours slide, Alphabet fell after missing earnings and revenue estimates, and Carvana rose a day after reporting third-quarter revenue of $8.04 billion against $7.71 billion expected. No specific cause was provided for the moves in Gen Digital, Huntington Ingalls, Textron, Alnylam, or Marvell. Alphabet's Class C shares fell 12.293%.

AFTER-HOURS MOVERS

Gainers:

• CareDx, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNA), +15.70% after hours: Shares rose to $82.75 after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.70 a share crushed the $0.25 estimate and revenue of $139.36 million, up 39% from a year earlier, topped the $121.96 million expected. Management raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $520 million to $530 million from $490 million to $500 million and its adjusted EBITDA guidance to $90 million to $100 million from $66 million to $78 million. The stock had closed 0.85% lower at $71.52.
• Ingram Micro Holding Corporation (NYSE:INGM), +7.06% after hours: Shares rose to $30.63 after third-quarter net sales of $15.22 billion, up 20.8% from a year earlier, topped the $13.83 billion expected, with adjusted earnings of $0.91 a share against $0.78. Fourth-quarter guidance of $17.5 billion to $17.9 billion in sales was well above the roughly $15.8 billion estimate and adjusted earnings guidance of $1.05 to $1.15 a share was in line with to slightly above the $1.06 expected, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.088, though gross margin narrowed to 6.55% from 6.90% on a lower-margin GPU and AI mix. The stock had closed 0.74% higher at $28.61.
• Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN), +6.46% after hours: Shares rose to $12.19 after third-quarter adjusted loss of $0.48 a share came in narrower than the $0.64 loss expected and revenue of $2.15 billion, up 38% from a year earlier, topped the $2.00 billion estimate. The company raised its 2026 delivery guidance to 67,000 to 70,000 vehicles from at least 65,000, improved its pre-tax adjusted loss guidance to $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion, and cut its capital spending forecast to $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion, as the R2 became its best-selling model and quarterly deliveries hit a record 19,248. The stock had closed 1.89% lower at $11.45, near a 52-week low.
• ResMed Inc. (NYSE:RMD), +6.40% after hours: Shares rose to $269.00 after fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.91 a share, up from $2.55 a year earlier, beat the roughly $2.67 to $2.69 consensus and revenue of about $1.415 billion, up 5.9%, topped the $1.39 billion estimate. Fiscal 2027 non-GAAP earnings guidance of $12.00 to $12.25 a share on revenue of $5.75 billion to $5.85 billion bracketed the $12.18 and $5.81 billion consensus, easing some concern about GLP-1 effects on device demand. The stock had closed 1.06% higher at $252.83.
• Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), +3.86% after hours: Shares rose to $172.00 after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.55 a share beat the $2.19 estimate and revenue of $8.30 billion topped the $7.81 billion expected, with HIV sales up 18% and prevention sales nearly doubling. Management raised its full-year product sales guidance to $31.0 billion to $31.3 billion, while lowering its adjusted earnings guidance on about $12.4 billion of deal-related charges. The stock had closed 4.03% higher at a record $165.61.

Decliners:

• Alphatec Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATEC), -31.75% after hours: Shares fell to $7.76 after third-quarter revenue of $221.17 million, up 13% from a year earlier, fell short of the $225.15 million expected, with adjusted earnings of $0.09 a share against $0.10 expected. Management cited lower-than-expected biologics attachment and guided 2026 revenue to about $862 million, adjusted EBITDA to about $137 million, and free cash flow to about $10 million, though case volumes grew about 20%. The stock had closed 0.70% lower at $11.37.
• Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO), -18.81% after hours: Shares fell to $196.39 after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.65 a share beat the $1.47 estimate and revenue of $1.56 billion, up 20%, topped the $1.52 billion expected. Management raised its full-year revenue growth guidance to 20% and guided fourth-quarter revenue to $1.595 billion to $1.605 billion, above consensus, but the outlook implies organic growth of only 11% to 12%, which disappointed after a rise of roughly 98% this year. The stock had closed 4.68% lower at $241.90.
• Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), -17.45% after hours: Shares fell to $76.00 even though third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.52 a share beat the $0.41 estimate and revenue of $16.51 billion, up 21%, was roughly in line with the $16.56 billion expected. Fourth-quarter guidance of $15 billion to $16 billion in revenue and $0.25 in adjusted earnings fell well below the roughly $17.07 billion and $0.43 expected, as the company said the PC slowdown would last at least through the first half of 2027 and an explosion at its Israel factory would cost about $600 million in revenue over two quarters. Client computing revenue fell 5% to $8.1 billion while data center and AI revenue rose 78% to $7.3 billion. The stock had closed 3.62% lower at $92.07.
• Roblox Corporation (NYSE:RBLX), -17.18% after hours: Shares fell to $43.45 after fourth-quarter bookings guidance of $1.89 billion to $2.00 billion came in below the roughly $2.00 billion expected, overshadowing a third-quarter adjusted loss of $0.32 a share that was narrower than the $0.43 loss expected. The company also guided for an adjusted EBITDA loss in the fourth quarter. The stock had closed 1.54% lower at $52.46.
• Reddit, Inc. (NYSE:RDDT), -16.04% after hours: Shares fell to $108.90 even though third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.40 a share beat the $1.33 estimate and revenue of $894.96 million, up 53% from a year earlier, topped the $874.91 million expected. Fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $1.00 billion to $1.03 billion fell short of the $1.05 billion expected, daily active uniques of 130.3 million trailed the 133.7 million estimate, and US users fell 2% to 50.7 million, as the company said it plans to test requiring logins outside the US in the fourth quarter. The stock had closed 3.71% lower at $129.70.

COMMODITIES & RATES

US TREASURY YIELDS

TOP STORIES: US

Alphabet sinks nearly 13% for its worst day on record, wiping out about $500 billion of value. The Google parent fell 12.641% after reporting negative free cash flow of $9.07 billion for the third quarter, about three times the deficit analysts expected, and maintaining its 2026 capital spending forecast of $195 billion to $205 billion while saying spending will rise significantly in 2027. Search revenue grew 12% to $63.35 billion but missed estimates for a second straight quarter, while cloud revenue more than doubled to nearly $31 billion and cloud backlog reached roughly $560 billion. Microsoft reported capital expenditures and finance leases of $45.2 billion, below the $50.67 billion expected, and Azure revenue up 48% to $33.2 billion, and its shares ended 0.164% lower. A research head at a UK wealth manager said Alphabet's results were "a fairly messy set of results and a poorly handled earnings call."

ServiceNow plunges 27% to its worst day on record as software stocks sell off. The enterprise software company fell 26.95% after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.00 a share missed the $1.02 expected and revenue of $4.11 billion, up more than 20%, was roughly in line with estimates, reviving fears that AI will upend traditional software business models. It slightly raised its 2026 subscription revenue outlook to $15.78 billion to $15.79 billion, and net new AI contract value jumped 65%, but an analyst at a large bank called the report "a little bit uncharacteristic for ServiceNow standards," and investors worried about the lack of an immediate payoff from its new forward-deployed engineering team. Fortinet closed 20.094% lower, extending its after-hours slide from Wednesday, while Salesforce lost 4.63% and Datadog 4.515%, and Atlassian also sold off.

The US economy grows 3.4% in the third quarter as September inflation accelerates. GDP rose at a 3.4% annualized pace, above the 3.1% expected and the 2.2% of the second quarter, as consumer spending grew 3.8%, business equipment spending surged 20.9%, the fastest since the third quarter of 2020, and gross private domestic investment rose 19.4% on the AI buildout. The PCE price index rose 0.5% in September, the largest monthly gain since March, for an annual rate of 3.6%, 0.1 percentage point below forecasts, while core PCE rose 0.3% and 3.1%, and gasoline and other energy goods jumped 9.2% for the month. Consumer spending rose 0.5% against 0.6% expected and personal income 0.2% against 0.3%, while initial jobless claims fell to 194,000 against 200,000 expected, near 57-year lows. A chief economist at a fixed-income research firm said "economic growth is powering ahead," and economists expect the Fed to raise rates in December.

Eli Lilly raises its sales outlook as obesity drugs power a blowout quarter. The drugmaker reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $7.48 a share against $6.26 expected and revenue of $24.40 billion against $22.61 billion, and raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $91 billion to $92 billion from $85 billion to $87 billion. Mounjaro revenue rose 65% to $10.72 billion and Zepbound 49% to $5.35 billion, both ahead of estimates, while sales of the new obesity pill Foundayo of $184 million fell short of the roughly $229 million expected. Adjusted full-year earnings guidance of $35 to $36 a share compares with $35.50 to $36.50 before, as a $4.07 raise at the midpoint was offset by $4.57 a share of deal charges. The shares closed 6.629% higher at $1,373.70, and Merck rose 3.832% after raising its profit outlook.

Intel and Amazon fall after the bell on weak forecasts. Intel dropped 17.45% after guiding fourth-quarter revenue to $15 billion to $16 billion against the $17.07 billion expected and adjusted earnings to $0.25 a share against $0.43, citing a PC slowdown it expects to last at least through the first half of 2027 and a factory explosion in Israel that will cost about $600 million in revenue over two quarters. Amazon reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.89 a share against $1.97 expected and revenue of $201.94 billion against $202.22 billion, with AWS revenue up 39% to $45.98 billion against $45.29 billion expected but advertising revenue of $19.64 billion short of the $20.82 billion expected. It guided fourth-quarter revenue to $240 billion to $247 billion against the $244.51 billion consensus, held its 2026 capital spending forecast at about $220 billion, and its shares fell 5.59% after hours to $230.16, with trailing twelve-month free cash flow negative $42.4 billion.

Also today: Norwegian Cruise Line rose 13.45% after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.12 a share beat the $0.94 expected, revenue of $2.95 billion topped the $2.88 billion estimate, and it raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA outlook to $2.55 billion and adjusted earnings to about $1.70 a share, while Chief Financial Officer Mark Kempa will step down and Meghan Montana takes over on January 1; DoorDash agreed to buy Instacart for about $17 billion, or $65 a share, a premium of about 26%, with closing expected at the end of 2027 or the first half of 2028; Starbucks reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.80 a share against $0.72 expected and US same-store sales up 7.7%, but revenue of $9.14 billion fell short of the $9.22 billion estimate and international comparable sales rose only 0.9% against 3.2% expected, and its shares fell about 2% after hours; Pinterest fell 11.35% after hours to $17.65 after third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.46 a share missed the $0.49 expected, revenue of $1.17 billion trailed the $1.21 billion estimate, and fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $1.425 billion to $1.475 billion fell short of the $1.52 billion consensus; Stryker fell 11.68% after hours to $275.00 after missing third-quarter estimates and trimming its 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $14.80 to $14.90 a share from $14.95 to $15.10; Mondelez rose 3.04% after hours after adjusted earnings of $0.78 a share beat the $0.71 expected; Sandisk fell about 2% after hours despite beating estimates and announcing an eight-for-one stock split; Coinbase returned to a quarterly profit of $718.7 million, or $2.51 a share, on lower expenses; Salesforce agreed to buy defense technology company Rune Technologies.

TOP STORIES: GLOBAL

The ECB holds its key rate at 2.5% but signals a December hike is still possible. The European Central Bank kept its deposit rate unchanged after a quarter-point increase in September, with the Governing Council deciding unanimously that it was "well positioned enough" to hold, though it debated a hike. Euro area inflation reached 3.8% in September, the highest since September 2023, with energy inflation at 18.8% amid turbulence in the Middle East, and President Christine Lagarde said the bank was not seeing "second round effects" beyond its projections. Money markets priced about a 67% chance of a December hike, and economists at two large banks said another increase remained possible, with one calling the decision a hawkish pause rather than the end of the tightening cycle.

Lagarde announces she will leave the ECB in February 2027, nearly nine months early. She will step down on February 7, ahead of the French presidential election next spring, saying she wants "the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression" on matters beyond monetary policy. Her term was due to end in October 2027, and Chief Economist Philip Lane and board member Isabel Schnabel are also due to leave next year. Former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot and Pablo Hernandez de Cos, the head of the Bank for International Settlements, are seen as leading contenders to succeed her, as France's bond spread over Germany stands at its highest since the early 2010s debt crisis.

Asian markets are mixed, with Japan higher and South Korea lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 1.10% higher at 64,659.47 and the Topix gained 0.29% to 4,003.28, while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.24% to 5,937.66 and the tech-focused Kosdaq declined 2.34% to 753.23, a day after the Kospi surged 6.63% on SK Hynix's record profit. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.5% higher at 8,891.80, and mainland China's CSI 300 closed 1.03% higher at 4,041.84.

Oil falls as reports of renewed US-Iran diplomacy ease the geopolitical premium. West Texas Intermediate fell 2.08% to 100.638 a barrel and Brent fell 1.51% to 113.583, after Brent settled at $115.32 on Wednesday, even as gasoline prices remained above $4 a gallon in the US and energy drove September's jump in inflation. Natural gas fell 3.17% and heating oil 3.15%, while gold fell 1.05% to 4,025.26 and silver 2.66%, as Treasury yields slid.

MANAGEMENT & FED SPEAK

Anat Ashkenazi, Chief Financial Officer, Alphabet, on cash flow and TPU spending:

Ashkenazi said on the earnings call, "You see cash going out and we're building up the inventory base," as the company spends to build systems before it can recognize revenue from customer agreements that first appear in its cloud backlog. She said cash comes in once Alphabet starts "delivering and billing customers for these TPU systems."

Dave Ricks, Chief Executive Officer, Eli Lilly, on the obesity market:

Ricks said in an interview that the "room for expansion here of this market is dramatic," estimating that 3% to 10% of eligible patients in the US access obesity care. On Medicare's temporary pilot covering GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, he said, "This is a program that's really working."

Steve Huffman, Chief Executive Officer, Reddit, on Google search traffic and logins:

Huffman said Google's AI push is "a fundamental shift in how the Google product works," and that "search referral traffic is down meaningfully in this quarter," a trend he expects to continue in the fourth quarter. Reddit plans to test requiring users to log in outside the US in the fourth quarter, and he said the company remains in negotiations with Google over its data-licensing agreement.

Greg Case, Chief Executive Officer, Aon, on insuring AI data centers:

Case warned that clustering billions of dollars of equipment in a few locations "makes it more difficult to get insurance," and said data centers will measure "business interruption at millions of dollars per minute." He estimated the global insurance industry's roughly $4.5 trillion of capital must double or triple, and said Aon expects its $17 billion acquisition of USI Insurance Services to close in the fourth quarter.

Brian Niccol, Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks, on fiscal 2027:

Niccol said in a video, "We enter fiscal 2027 with momentum," as the company projected fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings of $3.15 to $3.25 a share, above the $3.14 expected, and a 1% revenue decline that includes the shift of its China business to a joint venture. In September the company said it would close about 250 North American locations as part of its turnaround.

CORPORATE ACTIONS & EARNINGS CALENDAR

Top Ex-Dividend Companies for Friday, October 30:

Earnings Reported After the Close (Thursday, October 29):

Upcoming Earnings (Friday, October 30):

Economic Calendar (Thursday, October 29):

Economic Calendar (Friday, October 30):

That's the wrap for today! Attention turns to Friday's Employment Cost Index and Chicago PMI, results from Exxon Mobil, Chevron, AbbVie, and Colgate-Palmolive, how Intel, Amazon, Roblox, and Twilio open after their after-hours drops, and whether crude holds near $100.