The S&P 500 fell 0.30% on Thursday 29 October, and the FTSE 100 rose 0.26%. The index moves were small again, while results-day reactions in single stocks ran to 10% and 20%. Alphabet's Wednesday after-hours miss became the session's main story. Weekly figures below run from the 22 October close.
Alphabet and the AI Spending Bill
GOOGL (-12.64%) closed at $283.82 and GOOG (-12.29%) at $282.32, on volume above five times the 50-session average. Revenue rose 25% and Google Cloud grew 103% to $30.7B. Free cash flow still turned negative at about $9.1B on $51.4B of quarterly capex, Search growth slowed to 12%, and management said 2027 capex will rise significantly. Reuters and Fox Business described it as the company's largest one-day loss of market value, roughly $500B. The broader market gave little help, so the fall belongs to the company. Analysts trimmed targets and mostly kept positive ratings.
Marvell and Lumentum Deal Talk
MRVL (-13.24%) closed at $218.34 after Bloomberg reported after Wednesday's close that it is in advanced talks to buy Lumentum for stock. Selling centred on dilution and financing, since Bernstein counts about $3.92bn of Marvell cash against a Lumentum value near $83bn. Analysts accepted the strategic logic and every action was a reiteration.
LITE (+0.61%, +22.19% wk) closed at $919.53 after gapping higher and fading. A StoneX initiation had started the week's rise. Neither company has confirmed talks, and an announcement could come as soon as next week.
Software Sell-Off
The software de-rating that began with weak results on Wednesday widened. NOW (-26.95%) closed at $109.67 in what CNBC called its worst session on record. Its fourth-quarter cRPO growth guide of 18.5% sat below the roughly 19.4% the Street expected, and the quarter itself beat the top of guidance. Investors read the guide as further deceleration and as a renewed AI disruption fear.
FTNT (-20.09%) closed at $139.10, a smaller fall than the 25% after-hours figure I flagged on Wednesday. The service revenue cut was under 1% at the midpoint, so the reaction reflects a growth reassessment after a strong run. FFIV (-19.25% wk) at $363.46 and CSGP (-20.62% wk) at $28.14 each took nearly all of their weekly losses on Wednesday and sit near where they closed then. CoStar rose 2.18% on Thursday.
GEN (+15.81%) closed at $28.20 after revenue of $1.37bn beat guidance and full-year guidance rose. The CEO said Gen is working on no transformative acquisition, which ended deal talk. Non-GAAP operating margin slipped to 50.1%, and the forward P/E of 8.5 gave buyers room to re-rate.
Beats That Sold Off
Four companies fell on guidance or profit quality despite headline beats. HLN.L (-15.05%) closed at 317.70p, the FTSE 100's worst performer, after Haleon cut full-year organic growth guidance to about 2.5% from 3% to 5%. Weak North American cold and flu demand, a halt to Centrum imports into China and a Brazil tax hit explain the cut. A £500m buyback and an unchanged operating profit outlook drew little response, and Europe's flu season is the open variable.
CAT (-9.25%) closed at $647.39 after adjusted EPS of $7.20 beat $7.08, because full-year sales growth guidance stayed in the mid-to-high teens against roughly 18% expected. The shares had already lost 21.47% over 20 sessions. HONA (-9.60%) closed at $160.04, giving back Wednesday's 5.44% gain, after adjusted EBIT rose about 1% including $50m of tariff refunds. XYL (-16.93% wk) closed at $90.76 after bouncing 2.87% with no sourced driver. Backlog of $5.5bn is the bull argument, and the first half of 2027 will show whether it converts.
Earnings Rewards
Results lifted a broad group, and Wednesday's AI infrastructure rebound held. VRT (+25.73% wk) closed at $245.92 and FLEX (+21.36% wk) at $93.07, with Flex flat on the day after two big sessions. PNR (+19.34% wk) closed at $65.84, a re-rating on the end of the Pool destock, since guidance was reaffirmed and not raised.
HII (+13.23%) closed at $316.21 on a beat, higher shipbuilding guidance and $32.4bn of new awards, with free cash flow of negative $182m year to date still open. TXT (+11.67%) closed at $87.46 after raising full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $6.55 to $6.65. Sources disagree on the consensus it beat.
In consumer names, CVNA (+15.68%) closed at $68.31 on 39% growth in retail units and a Morgan Stanley Top Pick. NCLH (+13.45%) closed at $18.22 after raising full-year EPS guidance and guiding 2027 net yield growth of 1% to 2%. CMG (+8.88%) closed at $31.28 on comparable sales of 2.1% against about 1.5% expected, despite an adjusted EPS miss.
What to watch
- Next week: a definitive Marvell (MRVL) and Lumentum (LITE) announcement could arrive, though neither company has confirmed talks.
- 5 November: Lumentum (LITE) reports fiscal first-quarter results.
- 26 January 2027: F5 (FFIV) reports.
- 27 January 2027: ServiceNow (NOW) reports.