The stock market rally continued to rebound, shrugging off a government shutdown. The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones and Russell 2000 all hit new highs. Several AI stocks broke out or flashed buy signals, including Nvidia, while many speculative stocks revved up again.
CoreWeave jumped on an expanded AI compute deal with Meta Platforms. Tesla reported record quarterly deliveries thanks to now-expired tax credits, but shares retreated from 2025 highs. Treasury yields fell on a surprisingly weak ADP jobs report.
Stock Market Rallies To Highs
The S&P 500, Nasdaq, Dow Jones and Russell 2000 hit record highs as investors took a government shutdown in stride. AI stocks were strong and speculative plays hot again. Treasury yields fell on weaker economic data, bolstering Fed rate cut odds.
ADP Employment Report Weak
With the Labor Department's jobs report suspended due to the government shutdown, investors keyed in on the ADP Employment Report, which showed the private sector cut 32,000 jobs in September vs. views for a gain of 50,000. August was revised to a decline of 3,000 from the initial report of 54,000 jobs added. The ISM services index fell more than expected, to the break-even 50 level. The ISM manufacturing index edged up to 49.1, still signaling contraction. Investors now see Fed rate cuts on Oct. 29 and Dec. 10 as near locks.
Tesla Deliveries Set Record
Tesla delivered a record 497,099 vehicles in Q3, up 29.4% from 384,122 in Q2 and 7.4% above 462,890 in Q3 2024. Deliveries included 481,166 Model 3 and Model Y EVs and 15,933 "other" vehicles, which include the Model S, Model X and Cybertruck. The big driver? Pull-forward U.S. demand from the now-expired $7,500 EV tax credit. Tesla deliveries are likely to tumble in Q4. Tesla stock reversed solidly lower from 2025 highs on Thursday, down modestly for the week.
Rivian gapped down after narrowing its 2025 EV delivery forecast to 41,500-43,500 from 40,000-46,000, slightly lowering the target midpoint. Rivian produced 10,720 vehicles in the third quarter and delivered 13,201.
China EV Makers Report Strong Sales
XPeng, Xiaomi and Nio reported record September deliveries, with XPeng and Xiaomi topping 40,000 for the first time. EV giant BYD reported its first year-over-year sales decline since March 2024, as sliding plug-in hybrid demand trumps strong growth in all-electric vehicles.
OpenAI Pushes Into Online Shopping
OpenAI took a clear step toward making ChatGPT a hub for online shopping, striking a deal to offer checkouts directly within its hit AI chatbot. The startup's Instant Checkout feature will allow users to buy items from Etsy sellers and, later, Shopify merchants without leaving ChatGPT. The news gave both Etsy stock and Shopify a boost. It was a big week overall for OpenAI. The startup closed a funding round that valued it at $500 billion. OpenAI also struck a partnership with Samsung and SK Hynix to provide computer chips for the its massive Stargate AI infrastructure project. That news buoyed a number of chip and chip-gear makers.
TrumpRx Provides Drug Stock Relief
On Tuesday, the Trump administration unveiled TrumpRx, a direct-to-consumer website that will let Americans purchase low-cost drugs. Pfizer was the first drugmaker to sign up. The company plans to offer a "large majority" of its primary care products and some specialty drugs at a 50%-85% discount. Pfizer also agreed to sell some of its drugs at a lower price to state Medicaid programs and to launch new drugs at pricing parity with other key developed markets. The deal lets Pfizer avoid a recently announced 100% tariff on pharmaceutical products, assuming the drug giant continues investing in building its U.S. manufacturing footprint. Analysts say it's unclear whether patients will benefit. The Trump administration teased that deals with other drugmakers are in the works. Pfizer, Eli Lilly and several other drug stocks surged.
Nike Rises On Surprise Sales Gain
Nike reported a big earnings decline that still crushed views, while revenue rose 1% to $11.7 billion, defying views for a 5% decline. Gross margins fell amid tariffs and higher discounts, but less than the Dow giant had forecast. Several analysts upgraded Nike stock, which jumped but hit resistance at the 50-day line.
Space Stocks Fly, Grounded
Space stocks were active this week on a wave of launch news. AST SpaceMobile broke out above a cup buy zone after announcing that two of its BlueBird satellites are ready to ship ahead of their upcoming launches. Barclays hiked its price target to 60 from 37, noting that AST's space-based cellular offerings provide more than Starlink's partnership with T-Mobile. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin this week said it plans to scale up to "almost weekly" launches by adding three of its New Shepard vehicles starting this year. The company is exploring new launch sites to assist with the scheduling. Draganfly on Tuesday scored a breakaway gap after announcing a new drone contract with the U.S. Army. Firefly Aerospace unraveled to record lows after a booster engine on Monday exploded during a preflight test. Planet Labs surged to record highs after the geospatial imaging company on Wednesday announced that it delivered two batches of satellites for its constellations as part of an upcoming rideshare mission, which could launch in November.
Robinhood Push Slams Sports Betting Sites
DraftKings and FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment tumbled as prediction markets continue to creep into sports betting territory. Kalshi on Monday rolled out parlay-like offerings on its platform, allowing users an option to "build your own combo" of NFL Monday Night Football predictions. Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev in a Monday social media post said that customers have transacted more than 4 billion event contracts, including elections and sports contests, with 2 billion of those transactions in Q3 alone. HOOD stock surged more than 20% on the week.
Carnival Sinks On Earnings
Carnival reported a 13% EPS rise, modestly beating Q3 views, while a 3% revenue gain to $8.15 billion edged past forecasts. Growth is slowing amid tougher comparisons. The CEO said advanced bookings for 2026 remain strong. But CCL stock tumbled in an ugly downside reversal.
Stock Market News In Brief
CoreWeave jumped amid an expanded artificial intelligence cloud computing agreement with Meta Platforms. The deal, through 2031, is worth an estimated $14.2 billion. A cloud computing services provider, CoreWeave rents out servers equipped with Nvidia AI accelerators to customers including Microsoft, OpenAI and Nvidia.
AMD is in talks to have Intel make some of its chips, Semafor reported, a potential big boost for Intel's struggling chip business. The news follows an Nvidia stake in and alliance with Intel, as well as the Trump administration taking an Intel equity stake.
Lithium Americas surged Wednesday after Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said that the U.S. government will take a stake in the company, confirming recent reports. The U.S. will take a 5% stake in Lithium Americas as well as a 5% stake in its Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada.
Electronic Arts agreed to go private in a $55 billion deal, what the AP called the largest private equity funded buyout in history. Investors included Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake Partners and a group managed by Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Shares of the "Battlefield" and "Madden NFL" games developer rose after spiking in the prior week on buyout buzz.
Genmab said Monday it would acquire cancer-focused biotech Merus for about $8 billion. Merus shares skyrocketed. The company is working on a drug that can block two drivers of cancer simultaneously. It's testing that drug in patients with head-and-neck cancer and colon cancer.
Spotify Technology said founder and CEO Daniel Elk would move to the executive chairman role, effective Jan 1. Chief Product and Technology Officer Gustav Soderstrom and Chief Business Officer Alex Norstrom will serve as co-CEOs.
BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is closing in on a $38 billion deal to acquire utility group AES, according to reports, as the artificial intelligence and data center boom drives surging power demand. AES in July announced it was exploring strategic options and a potential sale. AES stock broke out while BlackRock is near a buy point.
Palantir fell Friday, back below a buy point on a Reuters report that a Palantir-Anduril battlefield communication system has deep flaws, according to an internal Army memo.
