“Life is a journey, not a destination.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

DAILY RECAP

Tuesday, November 3rd 

Stocks Mixed as Americans Hit the Polls

Chip Rally Heats Up While Midterm Election Takes Center Stage

S&P 500 – 7,568.92 (+0.36%)

Dow Jones – 51,786.72 (-0.38%)

NASDAQ – 25,372.01 (+0.83%)

TOP HEADLINES OF THE DAY

• Wall Street Delivers a Mixed Performance as Technology Stocks Lead the Nasdaq Higher: Strong gains in semiconductor and AI-related shares helped lift the Nasdaq and S&P 500, while the Dow finished lower as investors headed to the polls for the midterm elections.
• AMD Rallies After Earnings Beat as Data Center Revenue Surges 97%: Better-than-expected quarterly results and growing demand for EPYC processors and Instinct accelerators reinforced optimism surrounding the company's AI growth outlook.
• Supermicro Reports Record $19.9 Billion in Quarterly Revenue as AI Demand Accelerates: The server maker delivered a massive year-over-year revenue increase and issued another strong forecast, highlighting continued investment in AI infrastructure.
• Treasury Yields Climb Toward 4.96% as Investors Monitor Economic and Political Developments: Rising yields kept borrowing costs and inflation concerns in focus as traders assessed the economic outlook and awaited election results.
• Midterm Elections Take Center Stage as Markets Prepare for Potential Policy Shifts: Investors are watching the results for clues about future tax, spending and regulatory policies that could influence businesses and financial markets.

STOCKS MAKING MOVES

• AMD (AMD): Shares climbed after the chipmaker topped earnings and revenue expectations, with data center sales jumping 97% year over year and management projecting accelerating growth.
• Super Micro Computer (SMCI): The company showcased the strength of AI infrastructure demand with record $19.9 billion quarterly revenue, sharply higher profits and upbeat second-quarter guidance.
• CrowdStrike (CRWD): Shares advanced after the cybersecurity company announced $495 million in acquisitions of Fiddler AI and Dreadnode to expand its AI monitoring and security capabilities.
• Shopify (SHOP): Shares plunged approximately 15% after revenue, subscription sales and gross merchandise volume missed expectations, overshadowing a slight adjusted earnings beat.
• Palantir (PLTR): Shares moved lower despite better-than-expected earnings, demonstrating that strong financial results do not always translate into gains when investor expectations are elevated.
• Semiconductor Stocks: Chipmakers helped drive the broader technology rally as investors responded to AMD's results and continued enthusiasm surrounding AI-related spending.

MARKET NOTABLES

• Major Indexes: The Nasdaq gained 0.83% to 25,372.01, the S&P 500 advanced 0.36% to 7,568.92, and the Dow slipped 0.38% to 51,786.72.
• Market Breadth: Declining stocks outnumbered advancers, suggesting Tuesday's rally was concentrated in technology and semiconductor shares rather than reflecting broad market strength.
• Semiconductor Strength: Nvidia and Micron were among the notable chip gainers, helping support the technology sector as investors continued to favor companies tied to AI infrastructure.
• Apple (AAPL): Shares declined after concerns over rising memory-chip costs raised questions about potential pressure on the company's holiday-quarter profit margins.
• Treasury Yields: The 10-year Treasury yield approached 4.96%, keeping bond-market movements and their potential impact on equities firmly on investors' radar.
• Oil Prices: Crude remained a key market consideration as traders weighed geopolitical supply risks and developments surrounding Middle East tensions.
• Economic Data: September job openings increased to 7.5 million, while manufacturing orders rose for a third consecutive month, offering fresh insight into the health of the U.S. economy.
• Nasdaq-100 Correction: The index remained more than 10% below its October record, with over half of its components down at least 20% from recent highs, highlighting continued pressure beneath the broader technology rally.

WHAT TO WATCH

Attention now turns to Friday's October nonfarm payrolls report, with economists forecasting 65,000 new jobs compared with 29,000 in September. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.2%.

November 4: ADP October employment change, October ISM Services PMI®, and expected earnings from McDonald's (MCD), Uber (UBER), Novo Nordisk (NVO), CVS Health (CVS), Datadog (DDOG), Arm Holdings (ARM), Qualcomm (QCOM), McKesson (MCK), AppLovin (APP), Motorola (MSI), DoorDash (DASH), and Allstate (ALL).
November 5: Third quarter productivity-preliminary, Challenger job cuts, and expected earnings from ConocoPhillips (COP), Sony Group (SONY), Southern (SO), Duke Energy (DUK), Cloudflare (NET), Airbnb (ABNB), Monster Beverage (MNST), and Lumentum (LITE).
November 6: October nonfarm payrolls, October unemployment, preliminary November University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment, and expected earnings from Enbridge (ENB), Moderna (MRNA), Humana (HUM), and Vistra (VST).
November 9: Expected earnings from Constellation Energy (CEG) and Barrick Mining (B).
November 10: October CPI and core CPI and expected earnings from CoreWeave (CRWV) and Rigetti Computing (RGTI).