US stocks moved higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite climbing as upbeat earnings from SpaceX and Super Micro Computer revived enthusiasm for the AI trade. The rally calmed nerves after a rocky stretch for semiconductor stocks and kept indexes hovering near their session highs heading into midday trading.
At 9:31 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dipped 8 points, or 0.02%, to 52,487.79, while the S&P 500 gained 12.87 points, or 0.15%, to 7,724.27, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 127.66 points, or 0.48%, to 26,554.14, according to market data. By late morning, the advance broadened: the Nasdaq was up about 1% near 26,688, the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to around 7,746, and the Dow turned positive with a roughly 0.3% gain, FactSet data showed.
SpaceX steals the show
The session's clearest driver was SpaceX. Shares of Elon Musk's space company jumped roughly 10 to 11% after it reported a 161% year-on-year surge in third-quarter revenue, beating analyst estimates on growth in its artificial intelligence business and steady gains at its Starlink satellite-internet unit. Tesla added about 3% ahead of its own earnings report, and software names including Appian, Okta, Illumina and Everpure each climbed more than 5%.
Not everything shone. Netflix slumped after issuing a weaker-than-expected profit and revenue outlook, with its shares dropping about 6% — the streaming company's slowest revenue growth in years, according to Dow Jones data.
The gains came after a turbulent period for chipmakers. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index recently posted eight straight sessions of declines, its longest losing streak in 18 years, as investors reassessed the sustainability of debt-financed AI spending on data centers and computing infrastructure.
Yields, housing and what to watch
The 10-year Treasury yield edged slightly lower to about 5.11%. West Texas Intermediate crude traded near $97 a barrel, while bitcoin climbed to roughly $84,600. On the housing front, the Mortgage Bankers' Association reported a 5.3% weekly drop in mortgage applications, with purchase applications down 7.3% as high rates continue to sideline buyers.
Meanwhile, healthcare stocks continued a broad rally as investors sought safety from AI jitters, and Tesla and SpaceX formed board committees to discuss a potential merger, with Musk saying there is "a lot of merit" in combining the companies. Anthropic's draft S-1, viewed by the Wall Street Journal, showed an $80.7 billion net loss for the first half of 2026 — a reminder of the enormous computing costs behind the AI boom.
Up next: earnings from Tesla and Meta Platforms, two of the heaviest weights in the indexes.
This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
Sources: NDTV Profit, Investors.com, MarketWatch, Morningstar, Economic Times.
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