Post-Bell | U.S. Stocks Post Record Closing Highs; Ford Soars 12%; IBM and AMD Surges 8%; Tesla Sinks 3%

Cooler-than-expected inflation data and upbeat corporate earnings lifted all three major U.S. stock indexes to all-time closing highs on Friday, setting the stage for next week's earnings reports and an expected interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 472.51 points, or 1.01%, to 47,207.12, the S&P 500 gained 53.25 points, or 0.79%, to 6,791.69 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 263.07 points, or 1.15%, to 23,204.87.

Market Movers

Alphabet - Alphabet rose 2.7% after Google and Anthropic announced a deal worth tens of billions of dollars, which will give Anthropic access to up to 1 million Google chips.

Tesla - Tesla stock, surprisingly, had a post-earnings rally after weak results. Those gains didn’t extend to Friday, however. The shares dropped 3.4%.

IBM, AMD - IBM said on Friday it can run a key quantum computing error correction algorithm on commonly available chips from AMD, a step toward commercializing super-powerful computers. IBM and AMD both jumped nearly 8%.

Intel - Intel pared earlier gains, but still closed 0.3% higher. The chip maker reportedthird-quarter adjusted earningsof 23 cents a share, topping analysts’ estimates of 2 cents, as revenue rose 3% from a year earlier to a better-than-expected $13.7 billion on strong demand for PC processors. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner toldBarron’sthat demand for PCs has been stronger than the company expected as corporations upgrade computers to move to the current version of Microsoft Windows. Intel forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $12.8 billion to $13.8 billion, versus consensus of $13.4 billion. Intel’s guidance excludes Altera, following Intel’s sale of a majority ownership in the third quarter.

Coinbase - Coinbase Global rose 9.8% to $354.46. J.P. Morgan upgraded shares of the crypto exchange to Overweight from Neutral and raised the price target to $404 from $342. Analyst Kenneth Worthington said the upgrade reflects “emerging monetization opportunities and abating risks at what we see is an attractive valuation versus cryptocurrency peers.” Coinbase is scheduled to report earnings next week.

Ford - Ford Motor gained 12.2% after the auto maker posted a third-quarter operating profit of $2.6 billion on record sales of $50.5 billion, beating Wall Street forecasts on both metrics. Ford expects 2025 operating profit of between $6 billion and $6.5 billion, which includes $1.5 billion to $2 billion in lost production and higher sourcing costs from a fire at an aluminum supplier. The company also said it planned to boost F-series production volume by more than 50,000 trucks in 2026, creating 1,000 jobs.

Beyond Meat - Beyond Meat fell 23.1% to $2.19, and was set to extend its losing streak for a second consecutive day. Shares ended Thursday’s session down 21%. Mizuho analysts reiterated an Underperform rating and lowered their price target to $1.50 from $2 on Friday, arguing company and category fundamentals remain weak despite the meme-fueled rally that saw shares rise as high as $7.69 earlier this week.

Deckers Outdoor - Shares of Deckers Outdoor tumbled 15.2%. The maker of Hoka sneakers and Ugg boots posted fiscal second-quarter earnings that improved from a year earlier and beat analysts’ expectations, but issued a fiscal-year forecast that disappointed. Deckers expects fiscal-year earnings of $6.30 to $6.39 a share on sales of about $5.35 billion. Analysts anticipate earnings of $6.33 a share on sales of $5.46 billion. Deckers had withheld its outlook earlier this year because of macroeconomic uncertainty.

Newmont - Newmont declined 6.2%. The gold miner postedthird-quarter adjusted earningsof $1.71 a share, topping Wall Street expectations of $1.44. Revenue rose 20% to $5.52 billion and also beat forecasts as gold prices surged in the period. The selloff on Friday could be tied to a recent drop in gold prices, with investors opting to take profits after a long rally.

General Dynamics - General Dynamics was up 2.7%. The defense and aerospace company reported third-quarter earnings of $3.88 a share on sales of $12.9 billion, beating the $3.70 for earnings and $12.5 billion for sales anticipated by analysts. Its book-to-bill ratio, defined as orders divided by revenue, was 1.5 to 1.

Procter & Gamble - Procter & Gamble gained 0.9%. The owner of Tide and Pampers posted core earnings of $1.99 a share in its fiscal first quarter, better than expectations of $1.90. Sales rose 3% to $22.4 billion and topped Wall Street’s calls for $20.9 billion. While the company now expects to incur higher costs from tariffs, its reiterated its fiscal 2026 guidance.

NEXTracker - Nextracker, the designer and manufacturer of solar tracking systems, jumped 8.7% after posting better-than-expected second-quarter earningsand revenue, and raising its fiscal 2026 revenue guidance. Nextracker said it expects fiscal-year revenue of $3.275 billion to $3.475 billion, up from prior guidance of $3.2 billion to $3.45 billion. The company also formed a joint venture in Saudi Arabia to accelerate solar-technology adoption in the Middle East.

Alaska Air - Alaska Air lowered its 2025 profit forecast on Thursday as higher fuel costs and operational challenges, including adverse weather, weighed on its margins. The shares sank 6.1%.

Booz Allen Hamilton - Booz Allen Hamilton fell 8.9%. The consulting firm, which does mostly government-related work, cut its earnings and revenue outlook for the fiscal year after fiscal second-quarter earnings declined from a year earlier.

Comfort Systems USA - Shares of Comfort Systems USA jumped 19% after the HVAC and electrical contracting company topped third-quarter earnings expectations amid “unprecedented demand” for its services.

Market News

US Inflation Rate Hit 3.0% in September, Lower Than Expected, Long-Awaited CPI Report Shows

Prices that people pay for a variety of goods and services rose less than expected in September, according to a Bureau of Labor Statistics report Friday that keeps the door wide open for another interest rate cut next week.

The consumer price index showed a 0.3% increase on the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for readings of 0.4% and 3.1%, respectively. The annual rate reflected a 0.1 percentage point uptick from August.

Excluding food and energy, core CPI showed a 0.2% monthly gain and an annual rate also at 3%, compared with estimates of 0.3% and 3.1%, respectively. Core CPI on a monthly basis had posted 0.3% gains in both July and August.

The CPI reading is the only official economic data allowed to be released during the government shutdown.

IBM Says Conventional AMD Chips Can Run Quantum Computing Error Correction Algorithm

IBM said on Friday it can run a key quantum computing error correction algorithm on commonly available chips from AMD, a step toward commercializing super-powerful computers.

The U.S. stalwart is racing to develop quantum computing against Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Alphabet's Google, which announced a breakthrough algorithm this week.

Quantum computers use what are known as qubits to tackle problems that would take conventional computers thousands of years to crack - problems such as how trillions of atoms react over time. However, qubits are prone to errors that can quickly overwhelm the useful computing work of a quantum chip.