Stock Market Live October 20: S&P 500 (VOO) Gaining Momentum Ahead of Big Earnings Week
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Key Points
- On Tuesday, General Motors (GM) will post earnings ahead of the bell.
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Tesla missed expectations last quarter due to a drop in auto revenue. This quarter, the company is expected to post a year-over-year drop of about 20%.
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Markets Now at New All-Time Highs
Oct 20, 2025 9:51 AM
Live
As we speak, markets are hitting new all-time highs.
The Dow is now up 300 points to 46,488. The S&P 500 is up about 51 points to 6,715. The NASDAQ is up 230 points to 22,909. From here, they could all test higher highs, on hopes for strong earnings, and a potential end to the government shutdown.
Shares of Apple were also upgraded to buy at Loop Capital, with a price target of $315.
The firm’s supply chain analysis indicates “that we are NOW at the front end of AAPL’s long-anticipated adoption cycle that suggests ongoing iPhone shipment expansion through CY2027,” wrote analyst Ananda Baruah said Monday in a note to clients. “While [Wall] Street is baking in some degree of outperformance from AAPL’s iPhone 17 family of products, we believe there remains material upside to Street expectations through CY2027,” as quoted by CNBC.
Futures are gaining momentum ahead of a big earnings week.
At the moment, the S&P 500 is up about 12 points. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: VOO) is up another $1.34 in premarket. The Dow is up 50, as the Nasdaq gains 67. More than 80 S&P 500 companies are slated to post earnings this week, including Netflix, General Motors, and Tesla.
General Motors will post earnings on Tuesday
On Tuesday, General Motors (NYSE: GM) will post earnings ahead of the bell at 8:30 am EST.
“Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu thinks GM can deliver an earnings beat. But, while pricing should remain consistent, results will likely be hurt by a small volume decline as well as a higher net tariff impact, quarter over quarter. Yu has a hold rating on General Motors,” says CNBC.
Analysts Expect Netflix to Post 30% Earnings Beat
Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) will also post earnings on Tuesday after the close at 4:45 pm EST.
Last quarter, the company beat estimates with 16% revenue growth. This quarter, analysts see a year-over-year earnings beat of 30%.
“Bernstein’s Laurent Yoon, who has an outperform rating on the stock, in a note last week said that ‘K-Pop Demon Hunters’ will be key to Netflix seeing strong results. ‘Netflix’s global engagement rose modestly QoQ, reversing the 2Q dip that came with a weaker content slate last quarter. The significant driver of the rebound was due to K-Pop Demon Hunters, which added roughly 500M viewing hours, with another ~400M expected in 4Q25,” added CNBC.
Wells Fargo Expects an Earnings Beat from Tesla
On Wednesday, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) will post earnings after the bell at 4:30 pm EST.
The company missed expectations last quarter due to a drop in auto revenue. This quarter, the company is expected to post a year-over-year drop of about 20%.
“Colin Langan of Wells Fargo expects an earnings beat from Tesla. After that, though, he sees a massive decline for the EV maker, noting there’s ‘too much ‘hype’ baked’ into the stock. ‘Full self-driving ‘ is now under another NHTSA investigation, impacting TSLA’s credibility on AV. Robots could be +10 years away from true commercialization, given the importance of touch & nimbleness,” as quoted by CNBC.
Other than major earnings, we’re still waiting to see what happens with the government shutdown. At the moment, it could last until Thanksgiving. An end requires the White House or Democrats to wave the white flag. And, so far, neither side is budging.
As for the trade wars, it would appear President Trump is softening his tone on them.
“I’m not looking to destroy China,” he said, contrasting with his remarks in August when he said he holds “incredible cards” that “would destroy China,” if he chose to use them, as noted by Fortune.com.
In short, a lot is going on that could have a substantial impact on markets this week.