Markets News, Oct. 30, 2025: Major Indexes Close Sharply Lower as Tech Stocks Slide; Meta, Microsoft Drop After Earnings

Noteworthy S&P 500 Movers on Thursday

Decliners

• Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp parent Meta Platforms (META) reported third-quarter earnings per share that fell significantly shy of analysts' forecasts, reflecting the impact of a $16 billion one-time tax charge related to the One Big Beautiful Bill. The social media giant also lifted the low end of its 2025 capital expenditure forecast and said expenses would grow "significantly faster" next year, raising concerns about its steep spending on artificial intelligence. Meta shares tumbled 11.3%.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) stock fell 18.2%, the most of any S&P 500 component, after the fast-casual burrito chain reported lower-than-expected third-quarter revenue and reduced its full-year forecast for comparable-restaurant sales. The company pointed to declines among 25- to 34-year-old customers who make less than $100,000, a key cohort that Chipotle says is turning to at-home food options amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.
• Shares of EMCOR Group (EME) dropped 16.6% after the mechanical and electrical construction specialist posted its third-quarter results. Although sales and profits came in ahead of expectations, operating margins were down from a year ago, and EMCOR's narrowed full-year guidance failed to impress investors.
• Although eBay (EBAY) surpassed third-quarter revenue and adjusted profit estimates, its guidance for the critical holiday quarter came in below expectations, and its shares slid 15.9%. The e-commerce company noted decelerating growth in the volume of goods imported into the U.S. from key markets following the removal of the de minimis exemption.

Advancers

• Shares of logistics company C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) motored 19.7% higher, logging the S&P 500's top performance Thursday. The freight forwarder has integrated AI to automate various processes, from providing quotes for shipping services to tracking shipments. AI-driven efficiency contributed to a significant year-over-year decline in operating expenses, while C.H. Robinson's employee headcount is down more than 10% from a year ago.
• Medical and pharmaceutical distributor Cardinal Health (CAH) beat sales and adjusted profit estimates for its fiscal first quarter of 2026 and raised its full-year forecasts. The company benefited from strong demand for high-margin specialty medicines and branded drugs. Its shares soared 15.4%.
• Moderna (MRNA) shares surged 13.9% following reports that the vaccine maker has held talks with a large pharmaceutical company about a potential major partnership or buyout agreement. The biotech firm has faced pressure as sales taper off for its COVID-19 vaccines. No details have emerged about the nature or scope of a possible deal.
  

-Michael Bromberg

Apple Stock Jumps as CEO Predicts Best Holiday Season Ever

Apple is on a record-setting streak.

Shares of Apple (AAPL) were up more than 3% in extended trading Thursday, topping their recent highs after the iPhone maker posted earnings that exceeded analysts' estimates and CEO Tim Cook gave an upbeat outlook for the holiday season.

Apple reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.85 on revenue that rose 8% year-over-year to $102.47 billion. Both figures came in ahead of analysts' estimates compiled by Visible Alpha, as Apple's services revenue climbed to a record high of $28.75 billion.

Growth in Apple's iPhone sales also helped drive the better-than-expected results, after the company launched its iPhone 17 lineup in September. Sales of iPhones rose 6% to $49.03 billion in the fourth quarter, contributing the bulk of Apple's product revenue.

The figure also represented a September quarter revenue record for the iPhone, with CEO Tim Cook suggesting that could mean a record holiday season ahead.

"We expect December-quarter revenue to be the best ever for the company and the best ever for iPhone," CEO Tim Cook said on the company's earnings call Thursday, anticipating 10% to 12% revenue growth.2

Apple shares were up about 8% for 2025 through Thursday's close. This week's gains have boosted Apple's market capitalization above $4 trillion, making it the word's second-most-valuable company behind only AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA).

-Kara Greenberg

Amazon Stock Pops as Earnings Top Estimates

Amazon (AMZN) shares jumped in extended trading Thursday after the e-commerce and cloud giant posted third-quarter results that blew past analysts' estimates, driven by growth in its cloud business.

The shares were up over 13% at around $252 after hours, at what would be their first all-time high since early February.

The online retail and cloud computing provider reported earnings per share of $1.95, up from $1.43 the same time a year ago, and well above the analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. Revenue rose 13% year-over-year to $180.2 billion, also beating expectations as sales in the company's Amazon Web Services segment jumped 20% to $33 billion.

"We continue to see strong momentum and growth across Amazon as AI drives meaningful improvements in every corner of our business," said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, adding that the company has particularly benefited from "strong demand in AI and core infrastructure, and we’ve been focused on accelerating capacity."

Looking ahead, Amazon said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to come in between $206 billion and $213 billion, compared to the analyst estimate of $208.66 billion.

Earlier this week, Amazon announced what could be its largest layoffs in company history, with plans to reduce its headcount by about 14,000 jobs, through layoffs and changes to their hiring plans as it and other tech companies look to trim costs elsewhere as they spend hundreds of billions on expanding their artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Through Thursday's close, the shares were up less than 2% for 2025, as concerns about tariffs and lagging cloud growth weighed on sentiment around the stock.

-Aaron McDade

Why Americans Are Still Spending Big—Even as Inflation and Job Worries Grow

Rising inflation, a weak job market, the government shutdown and trade tensions have consumers on edge. Despite that pessimism, economists said consumers are prepared to keep spending ahead of the upcoming holiday season. 

“These challenges may cause consumers to slow their roll but will ultimately not stop them from getting out and spending this season,” wrote Wells Fargo economists Tim Quinlan, Shannon Grein, and Andrew Thompson. “The very uneasiness that is spooking consumers may itself be a factor that drives consumption for households in search of comfort and a sense of normalcy.”

October's consumer confidence survey, released earlier this week, showed a decline in sentiment, continuing a trend of poor results tied to Trump’s tariff announcements. The monthly Conference Board report showed that a weak labor market has consumers worried about future business conditions, wages, and job availability. It also indicated that holiday spending would fall this year.

But economists doubt shoppers will stay on the sidelines this season, with Wells Fargo projecting holiday retail sales to rise between 3.5% and 4% from last year. 

“We have long cautioned against reading too much into confidence and sentiment as they do not always serve as reliable gauges for future consumer spending,” Wells Fargo wrote. “Retail therapy may be just the cure for households feeling low this holiday season.”

Read the full article here.

-Terry Lane

Starbucks Is Carrying Out a Major Revamp. There Are Signs It's Working.

Starbucks is back in consumers’ daily grind.

The company's year-long turnaround campaign is gaining ground, executives said on a conference call Wednesday. Same-store sales started to grow on a year-over-year basis in the fiscal fourth quarter after a year-and-a-half of declines. Business improved among Starbucks Rewards members and less-frequent visitors, showing the Back to Starbucks campaign is on track, CEO Brian Niccol said.

Comparable sales at Starbucks-operated stores in the U.S. "turned positive in September, driven by transactions, and it [has] remained positive through October, reflecting the momentum taking shape in our business,” Niccol said, according to a transcript made available by AlphaSense. 

Same-store sales in North America were flat in the quarter ended Sep. 28 compared to the year-earlier period, snapping a six-quarter streak of negative numbers, according to data from Visible Alpha. Globally, same-store sales reversed an equally long period of decline, growing 1% year-over-year.

Read the full article here.

-Sarina Trangle

CH Robinson Worldwide Is Top-Performing Stock in S&P 500 Thursday

C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) was the top-performing stock in the S&P 500 Thursday, a day after the transportation and logistics company reported better-than-expected third-quarter profit and lifted its fiscal 2026 operating income target.

Shares of the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based firm soared about 20% to an all-time high after it posted adjusted earnings of $1.40 per share. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $1.30.

Revenue of $4.14 billion was down nearly 11% year-over-year and below estimates of $4.23 billion, which CEO Dave Bozeman attributed to "unfavorable conditions for global transportation companies in the third quarter."

However, Bozeman said that "there is no doubt in our minds that we are on the right path to deliver sustainable outperformance. Our model, with an industry-leading cost to serve, is highly scalable and we expect it will improve further as we harness the evolving power of AI to drive automation across the quote-to-cash lifecycle of a load."

Based on what CFO Damon Lee said was "confidence in our strategy, our disciplined execution, and our significant runway for further improvement," C.H. Robinson raised its fiscal 2026 operating income forecast by roughly $50 million to a range of $965 million to $1.04 billion. "The bottom end of this range, which assumes zero market volume growth, equates to approximately $6 of earnings per share," Lee added. Visible Alpha consensus had called for fiscal 2026 earnings of $5.62 per share.

Including today's sharp gains, C.H. Robinson shares have added half their value this year.

Apple Is Set to Report Earnings Today. Here's What You Need to Know

Apple (AAPL) is set to report its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell today, with Wall Street analysts looking for strong results on the top and bottom lines.

After some signs of a strong start to early sales of the iPhone 17 lineup, bullish analysts at JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley recently told clients their expectations around Apple's results have climbed, with that momentum likely to carry into an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and winter holiday season.

More details around widely anticipated artificial intelligence features and potential plans for a foldable phone in 2026 could also drive more enthusiasm for Apple's stock, they said. Options pricing suggests traders expect Apple stock could move about 3% in either direction by the end of this week following the company's earnings call, which could drive the stock to a new record.

Apple shares have climbed about 8% in 2025 so far, lagging the S&P 500's nearly 17% gain, after spending some of the year in negative territory amid worries about its AI progress. Apple's gains have largely come in the last few months, after some signs of inroads with the Trump administration and easing trade policy headwinds, along with promising demand signals for the iPhone 17.

Read the full article here.

-Kara Greenberg

Amazon Is Set to Report Earnings Today. Here's What Investors Should Know

Amazon is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings after markets close on Thursday, and all eyes are likely to be on the e-commerce giant’s cloud business. 

Amazon is expected to report third-quarter revenue of about $178 billion, a 12% increase from last year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings are expected to hold steady at $1.95 a share. 

While Amazon’s e-commerce operation makes up the bulk of its business, investors will be most focused on its AI efforts, represented by cloud revenue and capital expenditures. Amazon’s cloud growth of 17.5% in the second quarter exceeded official expectations, but disappointed Wall Street after two blowout reports from competitors Microsoft (MSFT) and Alphabet (GOOG). On Wednesday, both of those companies again posted cloud revenue well ahead of Wall Street’s estimates, setting another high bar for Amazon to clear. 

Investors may also be primed for Amazon to increase its capital expenditures guidance after Alphabet and Meta Platforms (META) did so with their reports Wednesday. Amazon’s second-quarter capex of $32.2 billion was about 25% higher than analysts expected. Wedbush analysts expect Amazon’s full-year capex to total $119 billion, implying growth of about 10% between the first and second halves of this year.

Read the full article here.

-Colin Laidley

Core Scientific Shareholders Reject Proposed $9B Acquisition by CoreWeave

Core Scientific shareholders evidently did not think CoreWeave's proposed acquisition of the firm valued it highly enough.

Core Scientific (CORZ) announced Thursday that its shareholders "did not receive the votes necessary to approve the previously announced merger agreement with CoreWeave" at a special meeting.

In July, CoreWeave (CRWV) reached an agreement to acquire its longtime data center partner in an all-stock deal worth roughly $9 billion. However, last week proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services, or ISS, panned the deal ahead of today's shareholder vote, saying "the market believes the company's value is greater than the offer."

Core Scientific shares rose 4% after the vote, and are up more than 50% this year. Shares of CoreWeave—which rents out access to Nvidia (NVDA) graphics processing units—fell 5% but have more than tripled since the firm's IPO back in March.

Alphabet Stock Hits Record High After Google Parent Reports Strong Earnings—Monitor These Key Levels

Alphabet (GOOGL) shares jumped to a record high Thursday after the Google parent reported earnings that topped Wall Street estimates, as quarterly revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time.

The tech giant’s top line received a boost in the third quarter from Google Cloud posting a 34% jump in revenue from a year earlier, as Alphabet customers invest billions expanding their AI infrastructure and data analytics capabilities. Meanwhile, revenue in the company’s legacy advertising business grew 13% in the period, signaling that the digital ad market remains stable amid economic uncertainty and increasing competition. The company also raised its capital expenditure spending forecast for the year to between $91 billion to $93 billion, citing booming AI demand.

Alphabet shares were up nearly 5% at around $288 in recent trading and have now gained more than 50% since the start of 2025, making it the top-performing Magnificent Seven-member stock this year, slightly ahead of AI favorite Nvidia (NVDA). Investors have cheered the company’s accelerating growth in AI and cloud, resilience in its advertising business, and an antitrust win that allowed it to retain its Chrome browser. 

Alphabet shares broke out from a flag pattern earlier this month, indicating a continuation of the stock’s strong uptrend.

It’s worth pointing out that while the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, the indicator sits in overbought territory, increasing the likelihood of near-term profit-taking or consolidation.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

-Timothy Smith

Fox Stock Surges After Stronger-Than-Expected Results, Powered by Tubi, Sports

Fox reported. Investors decided.

Shares of Fox Corp. (FOX) jumped 6.5% Thursday after the media giant reported better-than-expected fiscal 2026 first-quarter results.

Fox posted adjusted earnings of $1.51 per share on revenue that increased 5% year-over-year to $3.74 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected $1.08 and $3.57 billion, respectively.

The company said that its "Tubi AVOD service, stronger news pricing and higher sports pricing and ratings led by the NFL" led to advertising gains of 6%, despite lower political advertising revenue.

"We are delivering for audiences with continued engagement growth across the portfolio which underpins the robust advertising demand we are seeing across sports, news, entertainment and Tubi," Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said.

Including today's sharp gains, Fox shares have added more than a quarter of their value this year.

Boeing Stock Again Leads Dow Decliners

For a second straight day, Boeing is the worst-performing stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Boeing (BA) shares fell 3.3% to lead blue-chip decliners early Thursday, a day after the plane maker posted weaker-than-expected profit and a $4.9 billion charge "associated with updated 777X certification timing."

Despite the two-day fall, shares of Boeing are up about 17% this year, above the roughly 12% gain in the Dow.

Eli Lilly Stock Surges as Drugmaker Lifts Outlook Following Robust Mounjaro, Zepbound Sales

Strong sales of Eli Lilly's blockbuster weight-loss treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound are powering its shares Thursday morning.

Eli Lilly (LLY) stock surged 4% in premarket trading after the maker of diabetes treatment Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound lifted its full-year outlook following stronger-than-expected third-quarter results.

The Indianapolis-based firm reported adjusted earnings of $7.02 per share on revenue that soared 54% year-over-year to $17.60 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had expected $5.91 and $16.06 billion, respectively.

Mounjaro sales more than doubled to $6.52 billion, topping projections of $5.41 billion. Sales of Zepbound skyrocketed nearly tripled to $3.59 billion, while analysts had estimated $3.37 billion.

As a result, Lilly raised its full-year revenue guidance to a range of $63.0 billion to $63.5 billion from the prior $60 billion to $62 billion, and its adjusted EPS outlook to $23.00 to $23.70 from $21.75 to $23.00.

Eli Lilly shares entered Thursday up just 5% year-to-date, trailing the benchmark S&P 500's 17% advance.

Chipotle Stock Sinks on Comparable-Restaurant Sales Outlook Cut as Young Customers Visit Less Often

Young customers are making fewer visits to Chipotle.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) sank 17% in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the fast-casual chain cut its comparable-restaurant sales outlook as it said inflation is taking a toll.

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based company reported third-quarter revenue of $3.00 billion, up 7.5% year-over-year but below the $3.06 billion consensus estimate of analysts polled by Visible Alpha. Adjusted earnings of $0.29 per share matched expectations.

Chipotle now sees full-year comparable-restaurant sales down "in the low-single-digit range" versus its July forecast of "about flat" comparable sales. "We continue to see persistent macroeconomic pressures," CEO Scott Boatwright said in the earnings release.

On a later call with analysts Wednesday, Boatwright said that Chipotle is seeing a "significant pullback" from customers 25 to 34 years old who make less than $100,000 a year. "We're losing them to grocery and food at home," he said. "And so, that consumer is under pressure. It is one of our core consumer cohorts. And so, they feel the pinch and we feel the pullback from them as well." 

Chipotle shares entered Thursday having lost about a third of their value this year.

How the Federal Reserve Could Inflate or Pop an AI Bubble

Concerns about an AI bubble have some on Wall Street warily eyeing Silicon Valley, but others say they're looking in the wrong direction. Washington, D.C.—specifically the Eccles Building, where the Federal Open Market Committee sets monetary policy—is where the fate of an AI bubble may be decided, they say. 

“I think you’re going to have a very hard time popping a bubble when the Fed is cutting rates,” said Jeff deGraaf, Chair and Head of Technical Research at Renaissance Macro Research, on a recent episode of the firm’s weekly Youtube series. The Dotcom bubble, the U.S. housing bubble, and the Japanese bubble of the late 1980s all popped either while or shortly after central banks hiked rates, according to deGraaf.

Artificial intelligence has propelled stocks to record highs this year, but recent developments have raised some red flags. A series of circular deals by the likes of AI bellwethers Nvidia (NVDA) and OpenAI have drawn comparisons to the vendor financing agreements that fueled bubbles in the 1990s. The Magnificent Seven account for 35% of the S&P 500, evidence of an increasingly concentrated stock market. And the benchmark index’s price-to-earnings ratio isn’t far off the Dotcom Bubble’s peak.

“I think it’s early,” DeGraaf said of a potential AI bubble, evidence of which he argued doesn’t appear to be “rampant” yet. Though, he warned, “you could have [a] world play out where the economy softens, the Fed is forced to get more aggressive, and the market absolutely goes into the stratosphere because they’re looking at the liquidity. And I think that’s a big disconnect that people don’t appreciate.”

Read the full article here.

-Colin Laidley

Stock Futures Point Lower After Trump-Xi Meeting, Powell Warning, Big Tech Results

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.3%.

S&P 500 futures were 0.1% lower.

Nasdaq 100 futures also were down 0.1%.