Early Look

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

U.S. futures are edging lower overnight after surging Monday, where the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) all-time highs on Monday led by Apple (AAPL) shares which recorded its first record high since December of last year and the Smallcap Russell 2000 outperformed jumping nearly 2% as better earnings, hopes of improving trade deals with China and expected rate cuts by the Fed next week continue to push investor sentiment towards riskier assets. Note nearly one-fifth of S&P 500 companies are scheduled to give financial updates this week including blue chips such as 3M, Coca-Cola and General Motors this morning, while Netflix, Capital One and Mattel are due to report after the close. Investors are also more hopeful that the government stoppage-now one of the longest in history-could end soon (now on day 21 of the shutdown), after White House adviser Hassett indicated yesterday a deal could be reached this week. Treasury yields fell and gold jumped yesterday, while investors await September CPI data, with expectations of a 0.3% core rise, keeping the Federal Reserve rate cut on the table. Gold prices are pulling back this morning. The CBOE Volatility index (VIX) has crashed -36% from Friday’s intraday High while stocks rallied, but edges higher this morning by 2% to 18.62. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index rises 130 points to 49,316, the Shanghai Index jumps 52 points to 3,916, and the Hang Seng Index gains 168 points to 26,027. In Europe, the German DAX is down -23 points to 24,235, while the FTSE 100 rises 20 points to 9,422.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 515.97 points, or 1.12%, to 46,706.58
• The Nasdaq Composite jumped 310.57 points, or 1.37%, to 22,990.54
• The Russell 2000 Index surged 47.73 points, or 1.95%, to 2,499.90

• 8:55 AM ET                  Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: ADC CASH CATY CB COF EQT EWBC FULT HAFC ISRG KREFY MANH MAT MCRI MTDR NBHC OMC PEGA PFSI PMT SMBK TXN USNA VICR WAL WCN

• General Motors (GM) Q3 adj EPS $2.80 vs. est. $2.32; Q3 revs $48.59B vs. est. $45.26B; Q3 Ebitda $3.37B vs. est. $2.727B; raises FY adj EPS $9.75-$10.50, from prior view $8.25-$10.00.
• PulteGroup (PHM) Q3 EPS $2.96 vs. est. $2.90; Q3 revs $4.4B vs. est. $4.31B; Q3 net new orders fell -6% and totaled 6,638 homes with value of $3.6B; reports unit backlog of 9,888 homes with value of $6.2B; home sale gross margin in Q3 was 26.2%, compared with 28.8% in the third quarter of 2024.

• Fluor (FLR) shares rise after The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investment firm Starboard Value had acquired a nearly 5% stake in the heavy engineering company and said it would push Fluor to realize value from a 40% stake it owns in fast-growing nuclear engineering firm NuScale Power (SMR). https://tinyurl.com/bddk9shm
• GE Aerospace (GE) A3 adj EPS $1.66 vs. est. $1.47 and revs $12.2B vs. est. $10.41B; raises FY Adj FCF $7.18B- $7.3B, from prior $6.58B-$6.98B and adj EPS $6.00-$6.20 from prior $5.60-$5.80; Raises FY adjusted revenue growth view to high teens vs. previous view mid-teens.
• Northrop Grumman (NOC) Q3 EPS $7.67 vs. est. $6.46; Q3 revs $10.4B vs. est. $10.71B; said it now expects 2025 adjusted profit between $25.65 and $26.05 per share, up from its prior forecast of between $25.00 and $25.40; trimmed its full-year 2025 sales outlook to $41.7B-$41.9B form prior $42.05B-$42.25B.
• NuScale Power (SMR) was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BNP Paribas Exane and cut its price target to $25 from $41 as estimates NuScale will pay ENTRA1 over $6B over 15 years under their milestone deal, saying ENTRA1 economics “fundamentally change how SMR must be valued.”
• Steel Dynamics (STLD) Q3 EPS $2.74 vs. est. $2.63; Q3 revs $4.82B vs. est. $4.76B; Q3 adj operating income improved 33% and adjusted EBITDA increased 24% sequentially; reports record steel shipments of 3.6M tons in Q3; Q3 average external product selling price for the company’s steel operations decreased $15 sequentially to $1,119 per ton; view reduction in unfairly traded imports as significant tailwind for operations & positioning.

• AGNC Investment (AGNC) Q3 EPS $0.35 vs. est. $0.39; Q3 tangible net book value per common share $8.28 as of September 30, an increase of 6.0% for the quarter compared to $7.81 per share as of June 30.
• Cadence Bank (CADE) Q3 adj EPS $0.81 vs est $0.77 on NII $423.7Mm vs est $423.58Mm, credit loss provision $32Mm.
• Coinbase (COIN) has struck a roughly $375 million deal to acquire Echo, a platform that allows crypto companies to quickly raise capital directly on the blockchain, executives told The Wall Street Journal.
• Goldman Sachs (GS) was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JPMorgan but raise tgt to $750.
• ServisFirst Bancshares (SFBS) Q3 EPS $1.20 vs est $1.34 on NII $133.448Mm vs est $138.52Mm; credit loss provision $9.463Mm.
• Washington Trust (WASH) Q3 NII $38.833Mm vs. est. $38.57Mm, credit loss provision $6.8Mm.
• WR Berkley (WRB) Q3 adj EPS $1.10, in-line with consensus; Q3 Return on equity of 24.3% and operating return on equity of 21.0%; Q3 net income grew 39.8% to $511M; Q3 gross and net premiums written grew to $3.8B and $3.2B, respectively; Q3 combined ratio was 90.9%, including current accident year catastrophe losses of $78.5M
• Zion Bancshares (ZION) Q3 EPS $1.48 vs est. $1.41 on NII $672Mm vs est $667.53Mm, provision for credit losses $49Mm; qtr-end total deposits were $74.9B; did not provide specific guidance for future quarters or full year in the press release.
• A group of U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Goldman Sachs (GS), is hesitant to lend $20 billion to Argentina without guarantees or collateral, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

• Danaher (DHR) Q3 adj EPS $1.89 vs. est. $1.72; Q3 revs $6.05B vs. est. $6B; is maintaining its full-year adjusted diluted net earnings per common share guidance range of $7.70-$7.80 (est. $7.78); expects low-single digit core revenue growth for 2025; sees 2.5% sales increase from currency impact in Q4 2025.
• Elevance Health (ELV) Q3 adj EPS $6.03 vs est. $4.94; Q3 revs rose 12% y/y to $50.1B vs. est. $49.5B; backs FY25 adjusted EPS view of ~$30.00, vs. consensus $29.89; Q3 benefit expense ratio 91.3%; said Higher premium yields in Health Benefits segment contributed to revenue growth.
• Galapagos NV (GLPG) announced its intention to wind down its cell therapy business and pursue new transformational business development transactions with its available cash resources. The intention to wind down follows a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, including a potential divestiture.
• Lirum Therapeutics (LRTX) announces FDA “study may proceed” letter enabling inclusion of lx-101 in rapid platform clinical trial for Ewing sarcoma and desmoplastic small round cell tumor.