Stock Market Today: Nasdaq, S&P 500 Dive, Led Lower by Tech Stocks; Oil Prices Surge on Middle East Escalations; 10-Year Yield Sinks Below 5%

The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 plunged Thursday, another busy earnings day, with tech stocks leading declines. Meanwhile, crude prices rose on reports that the U.S. and Israel plan to renew attacks on Iran, while Treasury yields dropped.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite, benchmark S&P 500, and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average were 2.2%, 1.2%, and fractionally lower, respectively, in recent trading.

Yesterday, the major U.S. indexes closed higher, led by big gains for tech stocks on another busy day of earnings reports. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.7% for its third straight day of gains.

Chip and other AI-tied stocks sold off early Thursday. Roundhill’s Memory ETF (DRAM) dropped 6.5%, pulled lower by components Micron Technology (MU), Sandisk (SNDK), Seagate Technology (STX), and Western Digital (WDC), which is slated to report results after markets close today. The broader iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) declined roughly 6%, dragged down by the likes of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Intel (INTC), and Nvidia (NVDA).

The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS), which tracks the Magnificent Seven mega-cap tech stocks, was 3% lower, hindered by a 7% pullback in Meta Platforms (META) after it reported results late yesterday.

Shares of SpaceX (SPCX) were down 6.5% in recent trading. The space, AI, and social media company led the Nasdaq 100 with an 8% advance Wednesday after it posted its first quarterly profit and CEO Elon Musk said that the board and Tesla’s formed committees to discuss a merger.

Crypto-tied stocks, including Strategy (MSTR), Mara Holdings (MARA), Coinbase Global (COIN), and Robinhood Markets (HOOD), fell sharply as the price of bitcoin declined to roughly $81,400 from overnight highs around $84,800.

In post-earnings moves, shares of Spotify Technology (SPOT) surged 8.5%, Lockheed Martin (LMT) jumped 5%, Procter & Gamble (PG) rose 6%, Comcast (CMCSA) gained 3.5%, Union Pacific (UNP) rose 2.5%, and Norfolk Southern (NSC) advanced 2%. Also, Lam Research (LRCX) was among the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 with a 10% pullback, International Business Machines (IBM) declined 2%, and Honeywell International (HON) was down 1%.

The 10-year Treasury yield fell to around 4.99%, down 14 basis points from Wednesday’s close, as investors fled to the relative safety of government bonds.

Oil prices rose on reports that the U.S. and Israel were planning on resuming military strikes against Iran, as well as increased attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1.6% to $98.65 a barrel in recent trading. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, were 2.7% higher at $111.75.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.1% to 101.66. Gold futures fell 2.2% to $4,060 an ounce.

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Musk Teases New Sizzle for Tesla’s Optimus Robots

Elon Musk wants another shot at dazzling the public.

The Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX) chief on Wednesday teased a coming demo of Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robots “doing things that are not pre-programmed,” per a conference call transcript provided by AlphaSense. In past demos Optimus danced and handed out candy, actions that did not involve “advanced artificial intelligence”—or what Musk now calls “super intelligence.”

Musk on the call said a “you can believe what you see” demo could happen in “maybe a month or two.” It would follow another high-profile event in which he debuted Tesla’s Roadster at an event in which the vehicle zoomed through the air.

Tesla said it aims to start embedding its AI5 chip into the robots around April of next year. It also plans to build 10,000 or 20,000 robots to gather training data for the robots, as well as an “Optimus Academy” where the robots can “practice doing a very wide range of tasks.” At some point the robots would be used to build others.

Benjamin Girette / Bloomberg via Getty Images

“I think at some point there will be more humanoid robots on Earth than there are humans,” Musk said.

The subtext would appear to be: Tesla and SpaceX belong together. While Musk has pledged to stay out of merger talks as the companies’ special committees iron out the details of a deal shareholders can get behind, the CEO is gesturing at the possibilities.

– Crystal Kim

Procter & Gamble Is Top-Performing Component on Down Day for Dow

Procter & Gamble is a relative outperformer on a difficult day for stocks.

Shares of Procter & Gamble are up roughly 6% to lead Dow Jones Industrial Average gainers after the consumer goods giant reported better-than-expected fiscal 2027 first-quarter results despite what its chief executive called “geopolitical and economic challenges.”

Before the bell, the Cincinnati-based parent of Tide laundry detergent, Pampers diapers, and Crest toothpaste posted Q1 “core” earnings of $2.00 per share on net sales that increased 4% year-over-year to $23.28 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha had expected $1.89 and $22.85 billion, respectively.

Kevin Carter / Getty Images

Following its Oct. 1 acquisition of supplement brand Thorne, P&G now sees full-year sales growing 2% to 4%, up from the prior range of 1% to 3% growth. It affirmed its fiscal 2027 guidance for organic sales growth, profit growth, and free cash flow.

“Our solid sales, earnings and cash results in the first quarter reflect sharpened execution of our integrated strategy,” P&G CEO Shailesh Jejurikar said. “While we expect there will continue to be geopolitical and economic challenges, this strong start keeps us on track to deliver within our guidance ranges for organic sales growth, core EPS growth and free cash flow productivity for the fiscal year.”

With today’s boost, P&G shares are up 16% since the start of the year.

Western Digital Is Due to Report After the Closing Bell

Hard-drive maker Western Digital (WDC) is slated to publish its fiscal first-quarter results after the closing bell.

Western Digital shares have more than doubled in value since the year began, making the stock one of the best performers in the S&P 500 for 2026, though it’s pulled back from its highs lately amid concerns around the sustainability of AI financing.

Western Digital is expected to report adjusted earnings per share of $4.11 on $4.16 billion in revenue, per Visible Alpha.

Shares of Western Digital were down 3% ahead of the opening bell, tracking the broader tech sector weakness.

-Kara Greenberg

Thomas Fuller / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images

Chip Stocks Slide, Dashing Hopes for a Sustained Rebound

Investors hoping for a sustained rebound in the AI trade after yesterday’s big tech gains may have to wait.

Semiconductor and other AI-related stocks dropped sharply in premarket trading, amid lingering worries around the sustainability of AI spending and concerns around rising tensions in the Middle East.

Lam Research (LRCX) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 ahead of the opening bell, with shares down nearly 9% after the company posted an underwhelming outlook that was just in line with consensus projections. Investors, who have gotten accustomed to large beats and raises, were likely looking for more, said analysts at Deutsche Bank.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP via Getty Images

Shares of Teradyne (TER), which makes automatic test systems for semiconductors and robotics products, fell over 5%. Nvidia-backed (NVDA) optical components maker Lumentum (LITE) dropped 5%. Nvidia shares slipped 2%. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) was down more than 3%.

Shares of Meta (META) erased early gains to trade 2% lower after sales that topped analysts’ estimates. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) also dropped 4% despite better-than-expected profits.

-Kara Greenberg

American Airlines Issues Wider-Than-Expected Loss Forecasts on ‘Historic Fuel Cost Pressure’

“Historic fuel cost pressure” is to blame for American Airlines’ slashed projections for its bottom line.

Shares of American Airlines Group (AAL) fell more than 3% in premarket trading Thursday after the carrier issued weaker-than-expected earnings forecasts for its fiscal 2026 fourth quarter and full year.

Citing “elevated fuel prices,” the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline expects an adjusted per-share loss of $0.50 to $1.10 for the current quarter, with the midpoint lower than the Visible Alpha consensus expectation of a $0.56 per-share loss.

For the year, American Airlines now sees a per-share loss between $1.00 and $1.60. Last quarter, it guided for a range of a $0.65 loss per share and a profit of $0.65 per share.

“Based on the forward fuel curve as of Oct. 19, American anticipates an average fuel price of approximately $4.70 per gallon, nearly double the price paid in the fourth quarter of 2025,” the carrier said. “At that price, fuel expense is expected to increase approximately $2.8 billion versus the fourth quarter of 2025. Given elevated fuel prices, American expects network growth in 2027 to slow from 2026 levels.”

Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu via Getty Images

For the third quarter, American reported an adjusted per-shares loss of $0.28, narrower than estimates, on operating revenue that increased 19% year-over-year to more than $16.3, slightly higher than expectations. Its fourth-quarter revenue growth forecast of 19.5% to 22.5% also was better than Visible Alpha consensus.

“American delivered record third-quarter revenue and the strongest year-over-year revenue growth in my career, with premium performance leading the way,” CEO Robert Isom said. He added that “while historically high fuel prices significantly impacted our financial results, our focus remains on restoring profitability and bu