Wall Street advances as SpaceX beats summer profit expectations

Musk says SpaceX took a step to consider a Tesla merger

U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, with the Associated Press attributing the broad advance to strong profit reports from SpaceX, Capital One Financial and other large companies. The gains came as earnings from several companies topped analyst expectations rather than one isolated result.

The S&P 500 added 0.6% and pulled within 0.8% of its all-time high set earlier that month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 360 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.1%.

The Associated Press said expectations are high for profit growth across all kinds of companies during the summer, and companies need to meet them to justify the big runs their stock prices have made despite worries about high inflation, higher interest rates and other challenges weighing on Wall Street.

SpaceX helped lead the market, with its shares climbing 7.8% after the company reported a stronger profit for the summer than analysts expected. The Associated Press described SpaceX as a business that makes money from artificial-intelligence technology, rockets and other operations.

Elon Musk, who runs SpaceX, said the company had taken a step to consider a possible merger with Tesla. Tesla rose 3.4% and was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500, according to the Associated Press.

Capital One Financial rose 2.5% after its profit report topped analysts’ expectations. Winnebago Industries climbed 10.7% on a profit report that also topped expectations. Winnebago delivered the resilient profit even as high fuel prices and frustration among U.S. shoppers restrain interest in recreational vehicles, the Associated Press reported, and CEO Michael Happe said its more expensive towable RVs are a tougher sell while customers are interested in its “more accessible” offerings.

On the losing side of Wall Street, Netflix fell 5.3% even though the streaming service reported a stronger profit than analysts expected. Investors focused instead on worries that Netflix’s momentum may be slowing, and the company’s forecast for revenue growth in the final three months of the year fell short of analysts’ expectations.

AT&T fell 6.4% even though it likewise delivered a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It gave a forecast for growth this year in an underlying measure of earnings before income taxes and some other things that fell short of some analysts’ expectations.

Among AI stocks, which have been at the center of the market’s action in recent weeks, the movements remained unsettled. After leading the rest of the market for years because of the frenzy around AI, stocks in the industry have become shaky on worries that the buildout of data centers may slow because of how much more expensive it has become to borrow money, according to the Associated Press.

CoreWeave, which has borrowed money to buy AI chips that it rents out to customers over the cloud, has been particularly volatile. Its stock bounced between an early gain of nearly 4% and a drop of 4.5% Wednesday morning before finishing with a dip of 0.5%. A day earlier, it careened between a gain of 5% and a drop of more than 6%.

Other AI-linked stocks were more resilient. Nvidia’s rise of 2.5% was the strongest force lifting the S&P 500, and Super Micro Computer, which sells AI servers and services, said it expects to report stronger revenue for the summer than it had earlier forecast because of “increased demand for AI platforms.” Super Micro’s stock rallied 9.5%.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 44.60 points to 7,757.17, the Dow added 360.21 to 52,856.09 and the Nasdaq climbed 278.04 to 26,702.86. FRED’s raw NASDAQ Composite series also showed the index at 26,702.86 as of Oct. 21, 2026.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury erased an early dip and climbed back to 5.12%, where it was late Tuesday. The yield swung with oil prices, which remained unsteady: the price for a barrel of Brent crude drifted between $108 and $111 before settling at $108.82. Oil has been yo-yoing between $97 and $112 through October on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal, the Associated Press reported.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.3% for one of the world’s biggest moves as AI stocks regained strength.

The Associated Press linked the broad market gains to the earnings reports, while Musk’s statement introduced a separate company-specific development. His description concerned consideration of a possible SpaceX-Tesla transaction, not a completed merger.