SpaceX Sends Stock Futures Higher; "Peace Talks" Leading the Pre-Election Narrative; Stocks Remain Near Highs

A flurry of earnings reports following Tuesday's closing bell and in front of Wednesday's open are likely to give tech and AI stocks a huge boost when the bell rings.

The initial surge will be largely the result of Elon Musk's Spacex (SPCX), which reported Q3 revenue of $14.58 billion, net income of $4.4 billion, and mentioned a potential merger with another of Musk's companies, Tesla (TSLA). The stock surged in the after hours Tuesday and is running about eight percent higher in the pre-market.

After the close Tuesday, the following companies reported:
Netflix (NFLX) - topped EPS estimates, revenue miss, soft guidance sends the stock down 7% pre-market
United Airlines (UAL) - earnings and revenue miss, stock flat
Chubb (CB) - EPS beat, revenue miss, stock down 1%
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) - top and bottom beats, shares down more than 8% pre-market after the company agreed to pay $450 million to settle the da Vinci antitrust class action.
CapitalOne (COF) - EPS, revenue beats, shares up 3-4%

Wednesday before the open:
AT&T (T) - EPS, revenue beats, shares down 4%
CME Group (CME) - EPS, revenue beats, shares flat
Abbot Labs (ABT) - top and bottom beats, stock down 4%
Philip Morris (PM) - EPS, revenue beats, shares down 2-3%

After the market closes Wednesday, IBM (IBM), Tesla (TSLA), Meta Platforms (META), Lam Research (LRCX), Texas Instruments (TXN), Crown Castle (CCI) will provide more depth.

Futures have reacted well to the earnings reports issued, with Dow futures up 171 points, NASDAQ futures up 180, and S&P futures up 22 points.

Traders undoubtably were comfortable with the SpaceX earnings, less so with others mostly outside the tech space, led by softer or negative guidance from a handful of companies. Particularly poignant was Netflix's guidance as the company loses market share to other streaming services, and AT&T, which is under pressure from rival telecommunications companies and is likely to lose market share when Starlink begins offering cell phone service.

There's also a healthy skepticism over the recent "peace" initiatives in both the Middle East and Ukraine conflicts. The market has heard the same story before, and now suspects that President Trump is using the softer tone to lure voters toward Republican candidates in various primaries. His flip-flopping offers two scenarios: 1) after the midterms, the conflicts escalate, or 2) he seriously desires peace and will wind down the wars after the voting ends.

Since the president has not been exactly dutiful in carrying out campaign promises, there's sufficient evidence to suggest that the conflicts will continue well after the midterms, no matter which direction congress turns. Most registered voters in various polls have a distaste for war, with about a 60-40 split favoring ending them. Americans are usually opposed to military conflicts, even though the government has regularly taken part in many regional escapades since World War II.

Early voting is underway in most states that offer it with Election Day just 12 days down the road.

At this juncture, it would be no surprise if nothing on the war fronts changed significantly up to the midterms, despite the narrative continuing to lean toward peace talks or other softer tones. Voters may have figured out that the Republicans are engaged in electioneering at its worst.

At the Close, Tuesday, October 20, 2026:
Dow: 52,495.88, +529.85 (+1.02%)
NASDAQ: 26,424.82, -6.07 (-0.02%)
S&P 500: 7,712.57, +21.84 (+0.28%)
NYSE Composite: 24,190.62, +223.55 (+0.93%)