A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 20, 2026.
NYSE
U.S. stock futures were up early Wednesday as traders weighed the latest round of earnings reports.
S&P 500 futures gained 0.11% and Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.44%. Dow futures were almost 0.1% lower, sliding 42 points.
Shares of Elon Musk’s SpaceX surged 9% in premarket trading after the company said its revenue grew 161% in the third quarter. Musk also said that SpaceX and Tesla, his auto manufacturer, have formed special committees to discuss a merger. Tesla, which is due to report earnings later, was up more than 2% in premarket trade.
Shares in Netflix tumbled more than 6% in premarket trading after the streaming mainstay reported its slowest sales growth in three years.
In regular trading, the Dow Industrials advanced nearly 530 points, or 1%, buoyed by a post-earnings jump in 3M. Shares gained more than 5% after the industrial products company raised its full-year guidance for profit. The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite ended the session marginally lower.
Investors are seeking more insights into the AI trade on Wednesday, with Meta Platforms also set to report after the bell. Earlier this month, the company rolled out its latest AI model, Muse Wonder, which is only available to paying users.
Concerns around the sustainability of the AI trade have weighed on market sentiment lately, with traders focusing on debt-backed AI investments and whether the infrastructure demand justifies companies’ spending. Data storage play Seagate Technology added 2% in Tuesday’s regular trading, while neocloud stock CoreWeave advanced more than 1%.
This earnings season could help propel stocks as the year winds down, according to Christian Mueller-Glissmann, head of asset allocation for Goldman Sachs Research.
“Near term there might be more volatility due to [artificial intelligence] concerns, Middle East tensions and midterm elections, but we think earnings support with lighter positioning and lower valuations should help equities into year-end,” he wrote in a note.
Traders are also watching for results from IBM and Southwest Airlines, also due Wednesday.
Energy prices ticked higher early Wednesday amid fresh concerns over global supply risks. West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 1.25%, reaching $99.04 a barrel.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.85% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 3.29%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.92% in its last hour of trade. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day 0.16% higher.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 added 0.14%. France’s CAC 40 rose 0.33%, followed by Italy’s FTSE MIB, which was up 0.31%. Germany’s DAX was last seen hovering just above the flatline, as the U.K.’s FTSE 100 fell 0.18%.