Luke Kawa10/11/24

Strong bank earnings carry S&P 500 to new record high

Stellar quarterly reports that testified to the health of Corporate America pushed the S&P 500 up 0.6% to a fresh-all time high and its first close above 5,800.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 rose a more modest 0.2% while the Russell 2000 handily outperformed, jumping 2.1%.

The market rally was broad-based, with more than six S&P 500 constituents up for every one that was down, but led by financials.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo’s earnings reports unofficially kicked off the third-quarter reporting season, with both posting better than expected results that sent shares soaring 4.4% and 5.6%, respectively. Bank of America, which reports next week, also rose 5%. The Invesco KBW Bank ETF surged 3%, its biggest daily advance of 2024.

Separately, strong financial market performance and record inflows propelled BlackRock’s assets under management up to $11.5 trillion in the third quarter, sending shares up 3.6% on Friday.

Industrials weren’t too far behind financials, as bellwether Fastenal gained 9.8% after the company delivered solid quarterly results despite Hurricane Helene weighing on activity in September.

Consumer discretionary was the lone sector to go negative on the day. Shares of Tesla, the worst performing S&P 500 constituent, slumped 8.8% after an underwhelming robotaxi event cast doubt on the company’s standing in autonomous vehicles. Musk’s pain was Uber and Lyft’s gain, as shares of those ride-hailing firms rose 10.8% and 9.6%, respectively.

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Figma spikes after raising full-year sales outlook as the software company leverages AI for growth

Figma jumped postmarket Thursday after posting impressive sales in Q1, surpassing Wall Street expectations and raising its full-year guidance. The key numbers:

Q1 revenue of $333.4 million (compared to analyst estimates of $316 million).
Q2 sales guidance of $348 million to $350 million (estimate: $329.7 million).
Full-year revenue between $1.422 billion and $1.428 billion (up from previous guidance of $1.37 billion).

The digital design software firm is the latest company to diminish investor fears about AI-induced disruption by making the technology work for them. Like Atlassian or Datadog, Figma said it was able to use AI to its advantage, bringing more customers on board and getting them to spend more.

In the press release, Praveer Melwani, Figma CFO, said:

“As AI gets better, Figma is accelerating and customer usage and workflows on our platform are deepening. Our platform and AI products drove faster growth for both new customer acquisition and expansion within existing accounts.”

Revenue grew 46% year over year in Q1 2026, an acceleration from growth of 40% in Q4 2025.

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Infleqtion reports Q1 adjusted loss, offers modest boost to full-year sales guidance

Infleqtion is falling in postmarket trading after reporting a Q1 adjusted loss from operations of $13.2 million and sales of $9.5 million.

Management modestly upgraded its sales guidance to “at least” $40 million for 2026, adding that language to enhance the target provided in early April. Revenues of $40 million would mark an increase of roughly 23% compared to the $32.5 million generated in 2025, and an acceleration from growth of 12% last year.

The company utilizes neutral-atom technology to make quantum sensors used in clocks and antennas in addition to computers.

“Q1 reinforced our confidence that quantum is gaining momentum as the market shifts toward deployable systems, real applications, and measurable customer value,” said CEO Matt Kinsella. “Across computing, sensing, and software, we are seeing expanding customer activity especially in national security, space, and hybrid quantum-AI applications.”

Shares are roughly flat since February 13, which is just before the company went public via a SPAC, after being down 35% near the end of March, and then up nearly 30% in mid-April.

The quantum computing space benefited from the return of speculative appetite in April after the US and Iran agreed to a ceasefire. The cohort was later bolstered after Nvidia unveiled a suite of open models designed to leverage AI to improve calibration and error correction for quantum computers.

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Applied Materials rallies after better-than-expected Q2 results, strong sales guidance

Shares of Applied Materials are gaining in postmarket trading after the company reported robust Q2 results and a sales outlook that indicate building momentum.

Net sales: $7.9 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $7.7 billion and guidance for $7.65 billion, plus or minus $500 million).
Adjusted earnings per share: $2.86 (estimate: $2.68, guidance: $2.68, plus or minus $0.20).

For Q3, the company anticipates net sales of $8.95 billion (plus or minus $500 million; estimate: $8.15 billion) with adjusted EPS of $3.36 (plus or minus $0.20; estimate: $2.88).

“The growth in AI that Applied has been investing for is now in full force,” CFO Brice Hill said in the press release.

Management has consistently indicated that it expects demand to pick up in the second half of this year, but its first-half results have already blown away expectations by a wide margin. All this appetite for semiconductors to support AI compute is fantastic news for companies like Applied Materials that make the equipment to produce these specialized chips.

Shares of Applied Materials closed near a record high ahead of this report, up more than 70% year to date.

Tasha Matsumoto

Tech powers stocks to another record close

Gains in AI-linked names helped stocks close at new record highs.

Nick Richards #13 and Isaac Okoro #35 of the Chicago Bulls celebrate after play against the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter at the United Center on February 07, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.

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Snap falls after Meta rolls out new “Instants” feature

“Here today, gone tomorrow” is a winning idea — according to Wall Street.

Shares of Snap are down nearly 5% Thursday afternoon after Meta announced Instants, a new feature and companion app that allows users to share “spontaneous, unfiltered photos” that disappearing after viewing. Remind you of anything?

Snap has fallen roughly 34% this year, while Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has dipped 5% over the same time frame. Last week, Snap reported earnings that showed the social media company losing out on ad sales.

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