US stocks climbed on Thursday as the US confirmed a highly anticipated meeting with China next week and investors parsed through a fresh batch of quarterly results after Tesla (TSLA) and IBM (IBM) earnings fell short.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the gains, rising 0.9%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) drifted 0.3% higher.
Meanwhile, oil futures spiked more than 5% after the US placed sanctions on Russia’s giant producers, piling pressure on President Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Brent crude (BZ=F) rose to settle above $65 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) settled above $61.
Elsewhere, Tesla shares pared earlier losses to gain 2% after the EV maker posted mixed third quarter results on Wednesday, kicking off the “Magnificent Seven” earnings cycle. IBM stock dropped around 1%, as stronger-than-expected profits were offset by in-line software revenue that nevertheless disappointed investors.
After reporting quarterly results before the open, American Airlines (AAL) stock jumped as the carrier’s fourth quarter earnings guidance topped expectations. Shares in T-Mobile (TMUS) dipped as the telecom company’s customer base grew more than expected.
Results from struggling chipmaker Intel (INTC) take center stage after the bell.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been receiving pitches for the US to take stakes in several quantum computing companies, the Wall Street Journal reported — the latest move in its push to become a shareholder in critical sectors. Shares of IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), and other targeted companies surged on the news.
Stocks rebound as Trump confirms meeting with China’s Xi will take place next week
Stocks jumped as quarterly earnings flooded in, and hopes of a trade deal between the US and China increased after President Trump confirmed he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping next Thursday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 0.9%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched up 0.3%.
Oil prices climbed more than 5% after the Trump administration unveiled sanctions on two major Russian energy companies in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, gold (GC=F) rose more than as investors got back into the trade following the recent slide in the safe haven asset.
Investors will pay close attention to Friday morning, when the latest inflation data is set to come out.
Today at 7:19 PM UTC
Oil prices jump 5% as US imposes sanctions on Russian energy giants
Oil prices climbed more than 5% on Thursday after the Trump administration unveiled sanctions on two major Russian energy companies in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) futures jumped to $61.79 per barrel. Meanwhile, Brent futures also climbed to $65.99, marking their biggest one-day move since June 13 when tensions in the Middle East escalated.
The move to sanction Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil comes on the heels of tougher measures from European allies to stop Moscow from capitalizing on its energy products in order to stop the Ukraine conflict.
“The key question is enforcement,”Rebecca Babin, CIBC Private Wealth senior energy trader, told Yahoo Finance. “How aggressively those measures are enforced will determine how much of an actual impact these sanctions have on flows.”
Today at 6:30 PM UTC
Thursday is set for highly anticipated summit between Trump and Xi Jinping
Binance coin (BNB-USD), the cryptocurrency created by the Binance exchange, shot up over 5% on Thursday afternoon after President Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Zhao, who goes by CZ, led the world’s largest crypto exchange. He served prison time after pleading guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money laundering requirements, which failed to stop criminals from using the platform for illicit purposes, including sex abuse, drug trafficking, and terrorism.
The Associated Press reports:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday that the Biden administration prosecuted Zhao out of a “desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry.” She said there were “no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims,” though Zhao had pleaded guilty in November to one count of failing to maintain an anti-money-laundering program.
Mortgage rates drop to lowest level in over a year, existing home sales jumped in September
Mortgage rates dropped to their lowest level in more than a year after the 10-year Treasury yield (^TNX) fell below 4%.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was 6.19% through Wednesday, according to Freddie Mac data, down from 6.27% a week earlier. Average 15-year mortgage rates were 5.44%, from 5.52%, Yahoo Finance’s Claire Boston reported.
Claire also reported that home sales picked up last month as lower mortgage rates and higher inventory brought some buyers off the sidelines. She writes:
Intel (INTC) is set to report its third quarter financial results after the bell on Thursday as Wall Street looks for signals on the future of its struggling manufacturing business.
Analysts expect Intel to report $13.15 billion in quarterly revenue, lower than the $13.28 billion it reported last year, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. They project the chipmaker will record adjusted earnings per share of $0.01, which would mark a swing from a loss of $0.46 during the same period in 2024.
Intel’s stock price has surged more than 60% since its last quarterly report in July. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) is up just 7% in that time frame.
Wall Street analysts bullish on IBM despite software business disappointing
Some analysts maintained bullish takes on IBM (IBM) even as the company’s software revenues disappointed investors, coming in a hair below analysts’ expectations.
Analysts at Wedbush, Bank of America, Stifel, and several other investing firms maintained Buy ratings on IBM shares following the results late Wednesday.
Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan raised his price target on IBM shares to $315 from $310, citing the company’s rising profits and cash flow.
Meanwhile, Wedbush’s Dan Ives maintained his $325 target and pointed to IBM’s AI projects “ramping big.”
“The company’s GenAI book of business continues to accelerate with its backlog now reaching $9.5 billion, well above the prior period of $7.5 billion as the company is seeing increasing demand for its AI agents and assistants while expanding its reach across various verticals,” Ives wrote.
IBM shares fell nearly 4% late Thursday morning.
Today at 2:15 PM UTC
Supermicro stock falls as AI server maker lowers Q1 revenue forecast
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) stock fell nearly 3% in early trading Thursday after dropping as much as 11% before the market open.
The decline comes after the AI server maker earlier in the morning lowered its first quarter revenue outlook to $5 billion, below its previous range of $6 billion to $7 billion. The company said its recent product design upgrades have pushed back some of the revenue it expected to see in the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year to the second quarter.
Supermicro will report full quarterly results for the three months ended Sept. 30 on Nov. 4.
The company said it’s seeing “robust demand” for its servers using Nvidia (NVDA) and AMD (AMD) chips and touted “recent design wins” resulting in more than $12 billion worth of orders.
“We see customer demand accelerating, and we are gaining AI share, reiterating revenue of at least $33B for FY 2026 with the expectation of delivering more,” CEO Charles Liang said in a statement.
Supermicro has been in the spotlight in the past year as it faced the risk of being delisted by the Nasdaq following a scathing report by short-selling firm Hindenburg Research in the summer of 2024, accusing the company of accounting and export controls violations.
Today at 1:40 PM UTC
Stocks trade flat at the open
US stocks traded flat on Thursday at the open. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose fractionally, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) hovered above the flat line.
The muted open comes as oil prices surge amid Russia sanctions. Investors are also digesting a fresh wave of quarterly results from the likes of AT&T (T) and T-Mobile (TMUS) and others after Tesla (TSLA) and IBM (IBM) earnings disappointed.
Today at 1:17 PM UTC
T-Mobile adds 1 million phone subscribers, but the stock is falling
T-Mobile (TMUS) reported stronger-than-expected subscribers for its cell service in the third quarter and upgraded its outlook for the fourth quarter, though the stock fell 1% just ahead of the opening bell.
The cell carrier added a total of 2.3 million new postpaid customers during the quarter, a 772,000 increase year over year.
Of the 2.3 million additions, 1 million were additions for its phone service, the company’s best customer additions performance in over a decade. Analysts were expecting T-Mobile to add 852,000 new mobile customers.
The company also reported earnings of $2.41 per share, which it said included an $0.18 per share impairment charge. Wall Street was projecting earnings of $2.40 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Quantum company stocks jump on report the US is seeking to take stakes
The Trump administration is in talks for the US to take equity stakes in several quantum computing firms in exchange for federal funding, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Shares in IonQ (IONQ), Rigetti Computing (RGTI), D-Wave Quantum (QBTS), and Quantum Computing (QUBT) surged over 10% after the WSJ report, which said the companies were among those in the discussions.
However, a Commerce Department official rebuffed the report in a response to Reuters.
Premarket trending tickers: IBM, LVS and Honeywell
IBM (IBM) stock slumped 7% in premarket trading after a decline in growth in its core cloud software segment spooked investors over its ability to seize the booming demand for cloud services.
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) stock jumped 5% in premarket trading on Thursday after the casino operator reported a rise in profit and sales due to its Macao and Singapore investments.
Honeywell’s (HON) stock rose 4% before the bell after raising its 2025 profit forecast despite the impact of a planned separation of its advanced materials unit, signaling robust growth prospects fueled by strong aerospace demand.
Today at 10:30 AM UTC
STMicro forecasts lower-than-expected Q4 sales, shares fall
STMicro (STM) forecast fourth quarter sales below market expectations on Thursday, sending the company’s share price down 7% in premarket trading.
Beyond Meat’s wild ride triggers a short-seller frenzy
Bloomberg reports:
The rapid rally in shares of Beyond Meat Inc. (BYND) has sent some short sellers scrambling to exit their positions to avoid further damage, while still others doubled down on their bets against the stock.
Over four days, shares of the beleaguered plant-based protein producer surged more than 1,300% through Wednesday’s intraday peak.
That’s pushed short sellers’ paper losses to more than $120 million from last week’s record low close, according to data from S3 Partners LLC. The rapid about-face from an all-time low to a 14-month high helped swing the tide to a more than $45 million paper loss year to date. Before the retail trader-driven rally, shorts had paper profits of nearly $80 million in 2025. …
Some of the short sellers’ losses have already started to unwind. The stock ended Wednesday down after an intraday pop of 112%. Losses extended in premarket trading Thursday, with the shares falling as much as 22% to $2.80 as of 4:30 a.m. in New York.
Nokia posts profit beat as AI, cloud demand boost optical sales
Nokia (NOK) beat estimates for its third-quarter earnings on Thursday, driven by strong optical and cloud demand, including AI-focused data centre sales following its Infinera acquisition.
The Finnish telecommunications company saw its shares rise 8% before the bell.
