Market Insights

Third-quarter earnings season has begun. Financials were the first major sector to report and the agenda will soon turn to large technology companies like Microsoft and Apple. This article will cover some key dates and recent news on these major growth stocks.

Recent News

• Interest-rate concerns have returned in recent weeks as investors focus on the potential for increased government spending after the election. Higher bond yields can hurt sentiment toward the broader market and may distract from companies’ financial results.
• Most large technology stocks are also stuck below their summer highs. For example, only one-third of companies in the table above have made new highs in the last three months: Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL) and Meta Platforms (META). This potential weakness is mirrored by the Nasdaq-100, which remains below its July peak despite the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average setting new records in October.
• Chip-equipment giant ASML (ASML) triggered weakness in tech on October 15 announcing lower-than-expected weak bookings. The Dutch company attributed the weakness to restrictions on trade with China. The event interestingly resembled a similar drop on similar concerns in July.

• AAPL may benefit from healthy demand for the iPhone 16. J.P. Morgan noted customers had to wait longer for new handsets in the weeks following its September 9 launch. Wedbush separately declared that a “renaissance of growth has begun” as sales in China jumped 20 percent. The reports may confirm hopes that AAPL is at the start of an iPhone upgrade cycle that could lift the shares to new highs.
• Some analysts issued bullish notes on NVDA as the chip giant ramps production of its new Blackwell AI chips. Bank of America raised its price target from $165 to $190, citing a “generational opportunity” in the emerging AI market. The analyst also cited partnerships with companies like ServiceNow (NOW) and Oracle (ORCL) that might help spur adoption of the technology. Goldman Sachs, Bernstein and CFRA took similar actions. Separately, famous investor Stanley Druckenmiller told Bloomberg that he made a “big mistake” by selling NVDA too early.
• AI’s demand for electricity is triggering a rebirth in U.S. nuclear generation. Amazon.com (AMZN) announced on October 16 it would invest in small reactors. Alphabet (GOOGL) made a similar move on October 14. Both follow a major contract between MSFT and Constellation Energy (CEG) on September 20.
• MSFT will let customers build autonomous AI agents next month, CEO Satya Nadella said in a post on X. The new service will initially target sales, service finance and supply-chain applications. The move follows similar recent offerings by Salesforce.com (CRM). Agents are AI models with the ability to take actions in an enterprise, rather than simply converse via chatbot.
• Honeywell (HON) is working with GOOGL’s Gemini AI model to help automate tasks for engineers, warehouse workers and other employees. The first products are expected next year.
• TSLA announced third-quarter deliveries of 462,890 vehicles on October 2, missing estimates by about 1,000 units. Elon Musk’s EV maker also fell after its robotaxis event on October 10 failed to impress investors. Of the stocks listed in the table above, TSLA is the worst performer this month with a drop of 17 percent.

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