Nasdaq Futures Slip as AI Stocks Retreat; GM and GE Aerospace Fall Despite Beats

Good morning. This is Trade and Ticker. Tuesday, October twentieth, twenty twenty-six. Your map into the open — futures, catalysts, and what could move the first hour.

Daily Catalysts. Four things to watch today. First, the A-I trade is back under pressure, after a South Korean data-center company sank in its market debut. Second, a big batch of earnings this morning, from General Motors, GE Aerospace, R-T-X, Northrop Grumman, 3M, and Halliburton. Third, oil is back near its highest level since May. Fourth, SpaceX and Netflix report after the close. We'll get into each of these as we go.

Let's start with U.S. futures. Yesterday's bounce in tech is fading before the bell. As of about eight o'clock Eastern, Nasdaq futures are down about two-thirds of a percent. S-and-P futures are down about a quarter of a percent. And Dow futures are flat. Tech is dragging, while the Dow is holding steady.

That follows a better Monday. The Nasdaq rose about one-point-one percent. The S-and-P gained about four-tenths of a percent. The Dow was just about flat. And the Philadelphia chip index jumped about one-point-six percent, snapping an eight-day losing streak.

Oil is moving the other way. Brent crude is up more than one percent this morning, to around one hundred eleven dollars a barrel, its highest level since May. U.S. crude is higher too. The ten-year Treasury yield is holding a little above five-point-one percent.

In early trading, the A-I names that bounced yesterday are giving some of it back. CoreWeave is down about four percent, and Nebius is down almost five percent. Micron and Sandisk are both down around three percent. A-M-D and Intel are down about two percent. Nvidia is slightly lower, and Apple is down about one percent. On the earnings side, General Motors is down more than five percent, and GE Aerospace is down about three percent, even though both beat forecasts. R-T-X is higher, and Halliburton is up about four percent.

Now let's get into those four things to watch.

First, the A-I trade. Overnight in Seoul, an A-I infrastructure company called Elice went public, and its shares fell nearly thirty percent below the offering price on day one. It's a small company, but investors are treating it as a warning sign. Elice priced its deal before last week's selloff, and the plan was to spend most of the money on new data centers. Other data-center listings have already been pulled or put on hold this month. The worry is the same one that hit CoreWeave last week. These build-outs are expensive, a lot of the money is borrowed, and with rates this high, investors want proof the spending will pay off. South Korea's main market fell almost four percent. Yesterday, the chip stocks finally broke their losing streak. Today is the test of whether that bounce can hold.

Second, a big morning for earnings, and the theme is strong numbers that don't always get rewarded. General Motors earned three dollars and seventy cents a share on an adjusted basis, ahead of the three sixty-three Wall Street expected. Revenue came in around fifty billion dollars, also ahead. GM raised its cash flow forecast and announced a new twenty billion dollar stock buyback. But it only narrowed its profit outlook for the year, and investors had hoped for a raise. GM also expects about two billion dollars in higher commodity and supply costs this year, including memory chips. GE Aerospace earned two dollars and twenty-five cents a share on an adjusted basis, well above the two dollars analysts expected. Orders jumped forty-nine percent, and the company raised its outlook across the board. Even so, the stock is lower, a sign of how much good news was already in the price. R-T-X, the maker of Pratt and Whitney engines and Raytheon missiles, earned two twenty-six a share on an adjusted basis, far above forecasts, helped in part by recovering some tariff costs, on revenue of about twenty-five billion dollars. It raised its outlook for the year. Northrop Grumman grew sales seven percent, to about eleven-point-one billion dollars, raised its profit outlook, and reported a record backlog of about one hundred ten billion dollars. 3M is higher after it raised its profit forecast and expanded its business with Amazon. And Halliburton, the oilfield services company, beat on both profit and revenue.

Third, oil. Brent touched its highest level since May overnight. Yemen's Houthis say they launched attacks on Saudi energy sites, including an Aramco site at Yanbu and the Shaybah oilfield. Saudi Arabia hasn't confirmed those claims. One shipping tracker counts at least eighteen vessels reported attacked in the region over two weeks. That risk is outweighing President Trump's move to ease some sanctions on Russian oil. Higher oil keeps pressure on inflation and on bond yields, and that's a headwind for the growth stocks that need cheap money the most. The Fed is in its quiet period ahead of its meeting next week, on October twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth.

Fourth, the big reports after the close. SpaceX reports its second quarter as a public company. Wall Street is looking for revenue of close to thirteen billion dollars, and investors want details on its A-I business and how much it plans to spend. Netflix is expected to show slower revenue growth. United Airlines and Capital One also report tonight. And Wednesday brings Tesla and Meta. Meta is the big one for the A-I trade. Investors want to see that all its spending on data centers is turning into revenue, not just a bigger spending plan.

Here's what would make a lower open worse. Watch three things. First, if the selling in CoreWeave and Nebius spreads into Nvidia and the rest of the megacaps. Second, if oil pushes toward the highs on another attack in the Gulf and drags yields higher. Third, if the chip index gives back all of yesterday's gain and starts a new losing streak.

So here's the picture heading into the open. Nasdaq futures are down about two-thirds of a percent, the S-and-P is pointing lower, and the Dow is flat. The A-I names are under pressure again after a rough debut in Seoul. Oil is near a five-month high. General Motors and GE Aerospace are lower despite solid beats, while R-T-X and Halliburton are higher. And the big tests come after the close, with SpaceX and Netflix.

Quickly overseas. Asia was lower across the board, led by South Korea, down almost four percent. Tokyo and Hong Kong each fell more than one percent. Europe is lower too, down more than half a percent.

We'll be back at lunch with how the A-I names are trading and what to watch ahead of SpaceX and Netflix. Thanks for listening. I'm Trade and Ticker.