Pre-Bell｜Wall Street Futures Dip; IONQ And D-Wave Rose 10%; IBM Fell 7%; Tesla Fell 4%

Futures tracking Wall Street's main indexes dipped on Thursday as disappointing quarterly updates from Tesla and IBM weighed on sentiment, while investors treaded cautiously amid simmering U.S.-China trade tensions.

Market Snapshot

At 08:27 a.m., Dow E-minis were down 93 points, or 0.2%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 71.5 points, or 0.29% and S&P 500 E-minis were down 10.5 points, or 0.16%.

Pre-Market Movers

Tesla fell 3.5% after the electric-vehicle maker reported a decline of 37% in third-quarter net income. Adjusted earnings in the period of 50 cents a share missed analysts' estimates of 56 cents, even as total revenue jumped 12% to $28.1 billion, higher than Wall Street expectations of $26.5 billion. Automotive revenue of $21.2 billion topped estimates of $19.6 billion, boosted by a rush by consumers to buy EVs before the expiration of U.S. federal tax credits. Tesla's free cash flow in the quarter was $3.99 billion, the highest quarterly total in the company's history.

IONQ Inc. rose 12%, Rigetti Computing gained 9%, and D-Wave Quantum Inc. jumped 12% after The Wall Street Journal reported the Commerce Department was considering taking equity stakes in several quantum-computing companies in exchange for federal funding. IonQ, Rigetti, and D-Wave Quantum have been discussing the government becoming a shareholder, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Quantum Computing, up 9.9% in premarket trading, and Atom Computing are considering similar arrangements, according to the Journal.

IBM swung to a profit in the third quarter as revenue of $16.33 billion rose 9% from a year earlier and beat Wall Steet estimates of $16.09 billion. Adjusted earnings in the quarter of $2.65 a share topped analysts' forecasts of $2.45. For the full year, IBM forecasts more than 5% revenue growth in constant currency and expects to generate about $14 billion in free cash flow. Shares, however, fell 7.2% as the stock's rally this year had set a high bar for the earnings report.

Honeywell International rose 4.6% after the industrial conglomerate reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. The company posted earnings $2.82 a share on sales of $10.4 billion. Wall Street was expecting earnings of $2.57 on sales of $10.1 billion.

American Airlines rose 2.7% as the carrier reported a narrower-than-expected third-quarter loss and beat analysts' revenue expectations. The airline also signaled a strong end to 2025 as it hiked full-year guidance and forecast a fourth-quarter profit above estimates.

Third-quarter revenue at T-Mobile US rose 8.9% from a year earlier to $21.96 billion, beating analysts' expectations of $21.91 billion. The telecommunications company added a record 2.3 million post-paid subscribers over the quarter. The stock declined 1.9%.

Moderna fell 4.5% after saying it would stop development of a vaccine designed to prevent birth defects caused by cytomegalovirus, or CMV, once among its most-watched experimental programs. Moderna had hoped its shot would be at least 49% effective at preventing CMV infections. But top-line data from a Phase 3 trial in 7,500 women found the shot was only between 6% and 23% effective.

U.S.-listed shares of SAP, the German software company, fell 2.1% after third-quarter earnings topped Wall Street forecasts but cloud revenue of EUR5.29 billion, up 27% from a year earlier, came in below projections of EUR5.32 billion.

Las Vegas Sands jumped 5.7% after the casino company reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 78 cents a share, beating analysts' estimates of 62 cents, as revenue jumped 24% to $3.33 billion. Casino revenue in the quarter rose to $2.51 billion from $1.94 billion a year earlier. "We remain enthusiastic about our growth opportunities in both Macao and Singapore as we realize the benefits of our recently completed capital investment programs," said CEO Robert Goldstein.

Molina Healthcare tumbled 20% after it again cut its full-year guidance and reported lower third-quarter earnings because of underperformance in the healthcare-services provider's marketplace business. Net income of $79 million, or $1.51 a share, declined from $326 million, or $5.65 a year earlier. Adjusted earnings of $1.84 a share missed forecasts of $3.90. Peer insurer Centene dropped 6.1% while healthcare giant UnitedHealth fell 1.3%.

Medpace Holdings soared 19% after the contract research organization posted third-quarter earnings of $3.86 a share on revenue of $659.9 million, significantly higher than a year earlier and better than analysts' expectations. The company said it sees revenue growth of between 17.6% and 20% for the full year, above a prior forecast of between 14.7% and 19.5%.

Southwest Airlines reported a surprise third-quarter adjusted profit of 11 cents a share, better than Wall Street expectations that called for a loss of 4 cents, as the discount carrier said "results are showing" from its strategy shift. Southwest reported record third-quarter revenue of $6.95 billion. The airline said it expects "meaningful margin expansion in the fourth quarter." The stock fell 0.7%.

Chip-equipment maker Lam Research fell 1.5% even its fiscal first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.26 a share beat analysts' predictions of $1.22. Revenue rose to $5.32 billion from $4.17 billion a year earlier and topped expectations of $5.22 billion. "Lam's innovations are helping our customers address major AI-driven semiconductor manufacturing inflections," said CEO Tim Archer.

Market News

China confirms US trade talks to be held in Malaysia from Friday

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is set to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer from Friday, as the world's two largest economies try to ease an unexpected flare-up in tension ahead of a key leaders' summit.

The commerce ministry said He, China's top economic official, will visit Malaysia from October 24 to 27 for a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations it is hosting.

Freeport-McMoRan beats profit estimate on higher copper prices

Freeport-McMoRan beat Wall Street estimate for third-quarter profit on Thursday, as higher copper prices helped counter lower production after operations were suspended at its Grasberg mine in Indonesia.

Average copper prices rose during the quarter from the year earlier, supported by signs of better demand in key consumer China as authorities vowed to stabilize industrial growth and a major hydropower project in Tibet.