Week of 2026-10-19 · mid-week

Mid-week update · Thu 22 Oct 2026

Tesla and Meta reported after the close on Wednesday. Tesla's revenue was about flat on a year ago at $28.05 billion, with adjusted earnings of $0.48 a share and a better car margin. Meta's revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion; a $9.89 billion legal charge cut its reported earnings to $3.83 a share. Meta narrowed its 2026 capital spending plan to $135–145 billion and announced a new non-voting Class C share.

Since Sunday, US stocks have won back part of last week's fall (SPY +1.3% from Friday to Wednesday) and the eased to 16.68 from 19.99. Gold (GLD) slipped 0.8%. Netflix fell 5.3% on Wednesday after trimming its 2026 ad revenue outlook. Futures still price a Fed hold on 28 Oct.

Still ahead this week: jobless claims and Procter & Gamble on Thursday; flash PMIs, final consumer and American Express on Friday.

← Back to Sunday's briefing (week of 19 Oct) (unchanged)

Results in

Tesla (TSLA) · Q3 2026

Revenue $28.05 billion, about flat on a year ago ($28.10 billion). Adjusted (non-GAAP) earnings $0.48 a share; GAAP $0.22.
Margins: car gross margin excluding regulatory credits 18.1%, up from 16.3% in Q2. Total gross margin 19.6%, up 1.6 points on a year ago. Operating margin 2.6%, down 3.2 points.
Deliveries 486,532 (down 2% on a year ago); production 464,391. No numeric delivery outlook: Tesla says it is focused on running its factories at full capacity and that battery supply is still the limiting factor.
Spending and cash: capital spending $4.73 billion in the quarter (Q2: $5.79 billion), free cash flow $1.53 billion, cash and investments $45.4 billion. The update gives no full-year capital spending figure.
From news reportsAnalysts expected about $0.45 a share and $27.9 billion of revenue, and about $7.5 billion of capital spending (LSEG). The shares rose about 1% after hours at first, then traded about 2% below Wednesday's close ($386.47).

Meta Platforms (META) · Q3 2026

Revenue $64.60 billion, up 26% on a year ago. Diluted earnings $3.83 a share, after a $9.89 billion charge for its settlement with US state attorneys general; $7.40 without it, by the company's own figure.
AI spending: capital spending $34.91 billion in the quarter. 2026 plan narrowed to $135–145 billion (was $130–145 billion). For 2027 Meta expects to keep 'investing aggressively' in its core business and AI, with no figure yet.
Outlook: Q4 revenue $73–76 billion. Full-year 2026 expenses now $175–179 billion, including the legal charge.
New non-voting Class C shares: one for each existing share, effective 19 Jan 2027. Meta says the Class A price should then reflect the effect of a two-for-one split; voting power does not change.
From news reportsRevenue beat the roughly $63.4 billion analysts expected. Reported earnings estimates differ widely because of the legal charge, so no beat or miss is shown. The shares rose about 3% after hours from Wednesday's close ($697.52).

The week's calendar · ET

Struck through = already happened, with the result. The rest is still to come.

Sun 18 Oct

22:00Global
China Q3 GDP and September activity dataDone
ResultQ3 GDP +4.5% y/y (Q2: +4.3%). September industrial output +5.5% y/y, retail sales +1.1% y/y.

Mon 19 Oct

17–29 OctFed
Fed quiet period: no policy remarks from Fed officials before the 27–28 Oct meeting

Tue 20 Oct

08:30Data
US September housing starts & building permitsDone
ResultStarts 1.221m (forecast 1.305m; August revised to 1.288m). Permits 1.400m (forecast 1.385m).
Before the openEarnings
GE Aerospace (GE) Q3 resultsDone
ResultAdjusted EPS $2.25 (+36%); adjusted revenue $13.3B (+18%); orders +49%. Raised its 2026 guidance.
After the closeEarnings
Netflix (NFLX, Nasdaq) Q3 resultsDone
ResultRevenue $12.87B (+12%), EPS $0.87. Q4 revenue forecast $13.44B. 2026 ad revenue now ~$2.7B (was ~$3B).

Wed 21 Oct

02:00Global
UK September Done
Result3.5% y/y (forecast 3.4%; August 3.1%). Core 2.8%.
10:30Data
EIA weekly petroleum status reportDone
ResultUS commercial crude stocks −3.1m barrels to 412.5m (week to 16 Oct).
After the closeEarnings
Tesla (TSLA, Nasdaq) and Meta Platforms (META, Nasdaq) Q3 resultsDone High impact
ResultTesla: revenue $28.05B, adjusted EPS $0.48. Meta: revenue $64.60B (+26%), EPS $3.83 after a $9.89B legal charge. Details above.
Timing unconfirmedEarnings
IBM (IBM), Texas Instruments (TXN, Nasdaq), Lam Research (LRCX, Nasdaq) Q3 resultsDone
ResultAll three reported after the close. IBM: revenue $17.1B (+5%), operating EPS $2.95. TI: revenue $6.06B (+28%), EPS $2.62. Lam: revenue $8.22B, non-GAAP EPS $2.20.

Thu 22 Oct

08:30Data
US weekly jobless claims
200k (prior 199k)
Before the openEarnings
Procter & Gamble (PG) fiscal Q1 results
After the closeEarnings
Newmont (NEM) Q3 results
19:30Global
Japan September national CPI
2.1% y/y (prior 1.9%)

Fri 23 Oct

Before the openEarnings
American Express (AXP) Q3 results
09:45Data
S&P Global flash US PMIs (October)
Manufacturing 55.5 (prior 55.9); services 57.9 (prior 58.8)
10:00Data
University of Michigan consumer sentiment, final October
Preliminary 46.3; year-ahead inflation expectations 4.7%

Wed 28 Oct

14:00Fed
rate decision (press conference 30 minutes later). See Rate odds for market expectations High impact
Why it matters: With CPI at 3.7% and a hike priced for December, any signal on the next move resets rates, the dollar and stock valuations.

Thu 29 Oct

08:30Data
US Q3 GDP (advance) + September personal income & PCE inflation High impact
Why it matters: Growth and the Fed's preferred inflation gauge land the day after the Fed decision.
Decision dayGlobal
ECB monetary policy decision and press conference

Fri 30 Oct

Decision dayGlobal
Bank of Japan policy decision and Outlook Report

Results are from the companies' own releases filed with the SEC unless marked as from news reports. estimates and after-hours share moves come from news reports. Times in ET (New York).

Since Sunday

SPY closed Wednesday at $773.09, up 1.3% from Friday's $763.25. GLD closed at $378.95, down 0.8% from $382.01.
VIX closed Wednesday at 16.68, down from 19.99 on Friday.
Netflix (Tuesday after the close): revenue $12.87 billion (+12%), earnings $0.87 a share; 2026 ad revenue now about $2.7 billion vs about $3 billion before. The shares fell 5.3% on Wednesday.
Fed odds for 28 Oct, from news reports of CME FedWatch: about 85% hold and 15% hike on Tuesday, little changed from Sunday's 83% / 17%.

Market gauges · as of Wed 21 Oct

SPY 1.12 vs 1.20

Mon–Tue average: less hedging than last week's 1.20, still above 1 (more puts than calls). Monday 1.18, Tuesday 1.06.

GLD put/call0.64 vs 0.81

Mon–Tue average: fewer puts relative to calls than last week, well below 1. Monday 0.66, Tuesday 0.61.

investors39% bull · 42% bear vs 40 · 39

Week to 14 Oct (20% neutral). Last week's survey, shown again: the new reading is due on Thursday 22 Oct and was not out when this page was built.

VIX16.68 -3.31 vs Fri 16 Oct

Close Wed 21 Oct. Lower than Friday's 19.99: the market is pricing smaller swings than at the end of last week.

Put/call volume ratio, week-to-date average of daily values (Mon 19 and Tue 20 Oct) vs the full week 12–16 Oct. OCC cleared volume, all exchanges. Wednesday's volumes were not yet published by OCC when this page was built. Above 1 = more puts (hedging) than calls.

Full sentiment →