Morning Preview: October 20, 2026

Early Look

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

New day, same market concerns has Nasdaq futures are lower, paced by the semis (SOX) and AI data center/neocloud names (CRWV, NBIS), giving back the prior day gains as fears over artificial-intelligence spending snapped back into focus. South Korean data center infrastructure company Elice tumbled in its market debut as the stock plunged 32% after its IPO despite reports retail demand was 400 times oversubscribed said Reuters. The weakness in the Kospi had shares of SK Hynix lower as well. Chip stocks finally snapped their nine-day losing streak on Monday (longest in 20 years), but the sector is back in the red already with declines pre mkt in semi and AI plays. Earnings are also set to play a big part in today’s trading as shares of MMM, GE, GM, SYF, HAS all reported this morning with UAL, NFLX, SPCX out tonight. The broader market is holding up despite the tech weakness as Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up slightly and S&P 500 futures are down less than 0.1%, though Nasdaq slides -0.5%. In Asian markets, The Nikkei Index tumbled -841 points to 64,075, the Shanghai Index edged higher 4 points to 3,735, and the Hang Seng Index declined -319 points to 23,867. The Korean Kospi slumped -32 points or 3.65% to settle at 858. In Europe, the German DAX is down -176 points to 25,143, while the FTSE 100 is down -68 points to 10,696. Crude oil prices extending gains with November WTI crude +4.40 or 4.33% to $108.15 per Barrel (Dec crude +2.08 to $100.65) and Brent Crude +1.71 or 1.56% at $111.25 per Barrel

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -36.38 points, or 0.07%, to 51,966.03
• The Nasdaq Composite gained 290.85 points, or 1.11%, to 26,430.89
• The Russell 2000 Index advanced 6.93 points, or 0.25% to 2,728.30

• 8:30 AM ET                  Housing Starts M/M for September…est. 1.35M (prior 1.275M)
• 8:30 AM ET                  Building Permits M/M for September…est. 1.395M (prior 1.403M)
• 8:55 AM ET                  Johnson/Redbook Weekly Sales
• 10:00 AM ET                Pending Home Sales M/M for September…est. (-0.5%)
• 4:30 PM ET API Weekly Inventory Data

• Earnings After the Close: ADC ALK CB COF ELS EWBC HWC ISRG LRN MCB NFLX NLY NP ORRF OZK PEGA QCRH UAL

• General Motors (GM) Q3 adj EPS $3.70 tops consensus $3.63 and revs $50B v. est. $48.76B; said Q3 Ebit rose 22% y/y to $4.1B; sees 2026 adjusted EBIT in the range of $14.5B-$15.5B, narrowed from previous guidance of $14B-$16B; guides FY EPS $12.75-$13.75 vs. est. $13.41; raises FY26 adjusted automotive free cash flow view to $11.5B-$12.5B vs. prior view $9.5B-$11.5B.
• Hasbro (HAS) Q3 revs $1.6B top consensus $1.48B; raised annual revenue forecast to grow in the range of 7% to 9% on constant currency basis, compared with its prior forecast a 5% to 7% rise; said Q3 revenue in its Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming segment during the third quarter rose 31%, while consumer products segment was up 4% from a year ago.

• Crown Holdings (CCK) Q3 adj. EPS $2.39 vs. est. $2.26, +7% YoY; sales $3.71B vs. est. $3.46B, +16% YoY, on more than 6% global Beverage can shipment growth and $405Mm of material cost pass-through, with a $4Mm currency headwind; Beverage can shipments North America +6%, Europe +4% and Asia up double digits; Q4 adj. EPS guidance $1.63-$1.73 vs. est. $1.80; FY adj. EPS guidance $8.35-$8.45 vs. est. $8.40; FY adj. free cash flow guidance at least $950Mm.
• Ge Aerospace (GE) Q3 adj EPS $2.25 vs est. $2.01 and Q3 revs $13.29B vs est. $12.87B; Q3 orders $19.0B; guides FY26 adj EPS $8.00-$8.10 vs est. $7.92 and FY26 rev growth of about 19-20% vs. consensus view $50.42B; expect 2027 commercial services to grow low-double-digits supported by over $170B commercial services backlog.
• Northrop Grumman (NOC) Q3 sales $11.1B vs. est. $11.13B; Q3 backlog increases to $110B; still sees FY Sales $43.75B-$44.25B vs. est. $44.05B; still sees FY Free Cash Flow $3.10B-$3.50B vs. est. $3.32B and sees FY Adj EPS $29.35-$29.75, above prior $28.60-$29.10; raises FY26 segment operating income view to $4.94B-$5.04B from prior view $4.85B-$5B.
• Steel Dynamics (STLD) Q3 EPS $5.26 vs. est. $5.41 (miss); revenue $6.509B vs. est. $6.434B (beat); adj. EBITDA $1.2B vs est $1.239B; gross profit $1.28B; operating Income $1B; looking ahead to 2027 & beyond, Co remain optimistic regarding domestic Steel & Aluminum industries.
• NuScale Power (SMR) downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Barclays saying commercial delays and contract uncertainty increase the company’s execution risk.

• BOK Financial (BOKF) Q3 EPS $2.64 vs. est $2.52; Q3 sales $561.44M vs. est. $572.2M; Q3 net interest income $370M and net interest margin 3%; no provision for credit losses necessary.
• FNB Corp. (FNB) Q3 EPS $0.43 in-line with consensus with Q3 net interest income $376.5M; Q3 non-interest income $92.5M; Q3 credit loss provision $19.64M.
• Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU) announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to sell Prudential of Brazil and Prudential of Mexico to the CNP Assurances Group (respectively to CNP Seguradora, CNP Assurances’ Brazilian subsidiary, and to CNP Assurances Holding) for an aggregate purchase price of $4.025 billion in cash, subject to certain closing adjustments.
• RBB Bancorp (RBB) Q3 EPS $0.74 vs. est. $0.58; Q3 net interest margin (NIIM) 3.16% up from 3.06% for the prior quarter; Q3 Nonperforming assets of $38.7M, a $4.9M, or 11.3%, decrease q/q; Book value and tangible book value per share rose to $31.75 and $27.44 at Sept 30, up from $31.51 and $27.23 at June 30.
• RLI Corp. (RLI) Q3 adj. EPS $0.86, +5% YoY; revenue $477Mm, -6% YoY; net premiums earned $424.9Mm, +4% YoY; gross premiums written $522.2Mm, +2% YoY, with Casualty $330.9Mm, Property $152.4Mm and Surety $38.9Mm; underwriting Income $58.8Mm vs. $60.5Mm YoY; combined ratio 86.2% vs. 85.1% YoY, with Casualty at 99.6%, Property at 60.1% and Surety at 79.8%; favorable prior-year reserve development $20.1Mm vs. $13.7Mm YoY.
• ServisFirst (SFBS) Q3 EPS $0.80 vs est $0.82 on NII $159.814Mm vs est $161.75Mm, Bv/shr $18.63; NIM 3.63%, +54 bps YoY and flat QoQ; provision for credit losses $15.2Mm vs. $9.5Mm YoY and $11.4Mm QoQ; net charge-offs 0.21% vs. 0.27% YoY; NPAs 0.96% of assets, flat; allowance 1.28% of loans; loans $14.74B, +10.7% YoY and +7.1% annualized QoQ; deposits $14.09B, -0.1% YoY and -3.2% QoQ.
• Synchrony (SYF) Q3 EPS $2.68 vs. consensus $2.40; Q3 tangible book value per share $42.79; Q3 CET1 capital ratio 12.9%; Q3 net interest margin fell -12bps to 15.5%; Q3 provision for credit losses $1.27B; Q3 earnings fell -17% y/y to $892M; Q3  interest income for Q3 rose 2% to $4.8 bln, driven by higher loan receivables.
• Western Alliance (WAL) Q3 EPS $2.45 vs. est. $2.42 (beat); revenue $1B vs. est. $987.9Mm (beat); NII $807.6Mm vs est $803.57Mm (beat); NIM 3.57%; credit loss provision -$80Mm; Q3 nonaccrual loans decreased $77M and $37M from september 30, 2025, to $485M.
• WR Berkley (WRB) Q3 adj. EPS $1.17 vs. est. $1.15; revenue $3.739B vs. est. $3.826B (miss); net premiums written $3.27B vs est $3.31B; gross premiums written $3.95B vs est $3.964B; combined ratio 90.8%.
• Zion Bancorp (ZION) Q3 EPS $1.78 vs. est. $1.66; Q3 net interest margin 3.23%, net interest income $684M, up 2% y/y; Q3 CET1 capital ratio 11.8%; Customer deposits grew nearly 10% annualized from Q2 levels, offsetting flat loan growth.

• Lycia Therapeutics said on Tuesday it was aiming to raise as much as $264.6 million in its US initial public offering.
• Rapport Therapeutics (RAPP) shares rise after saying its bipolar mania treatment, RAP-219, met the main goal and secondary goals in a mid-stage trial. RAPP says patients who took the treatment had a 15.4-point mean reduction in the total score on the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS), which measures and quantifies the severity of manic symptoms.

• Oracle (ORCL) announced an agreement with AstraZeneca (AZN) to explore how Ai and real-world data can help clinicians identify eligible patients for clinical trials, accelerate evidence Generation, and bring relevant research insights into everyday Care.