Election Fallout and Earnings Shake Up Wall Street

Wall Street kicked off November with a rebound following the Nasdaq’s worst monthly loss since March 2025. The gains quickly faded, though, as investors braced for the midterm elections, October's jobs report, and a packed earnings calendar. On Election Day, the Nasdaq moved higher while the Dow slipped under pressure from Apple’s post-earnings decline. Stocks then staged a historic rally after Democrats swept the midterms, sending the Dow to its best single-day performance since April 4, 2025.

The optimism was short-lived, however, as an AI-driven tech selloff a day later, with investors were rotating out of technology stocks amid concerns that the election results could lead to tighter AI regulations. The Nasdaq selloff pushed the index into bear-market territory. Despite some stabilization on Friday, the  all three major indexes are headed for steep weekly losses on Friday.

The Deepened Blue Tsunami Selloff

Concerns that the election results could make life more difficult to build AI data centers weighed heavily on semiconductor stocks and dragged the broader market lower. Trump Media (DJT) hit a record low in the wake of the Democratic sweep. The semiconductor selloff spilled into the options pits, where two chip-focused ETFs attracted heavy put activity, though a historically bullish signal emerged for Nvidia (NVDA).

Meanwhile, alternative energy stocks rallied as investors anticipated more favorable renewable energy policies under Democratic leadership. Earlier in the week, Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Oracle (ORCL) bucked Monday’s tech rebound but made headlines with major AI development plans of their own.

Many More Earnings Reports

Beyond the political and market turbulence, a busy earnings calendar gave investors plenty to digest. Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive (RIVN) earned an upgrade from UBS following a beat-and-raise report, while Lam Research (LRCX) struggled to recover from its post-earnings selloff. Fintech name Upstart (UPST), meanwhile, surged after topping revenue expectations.

Qualcomm (QCOM) and Uber (UBER) also reported results, while Duolingo (DUOL) scored its best single-day performance since 2022 after beating earnings expectations and posting impressive third-quarter daily active user growth. Later in the week, DraftKings (DKNG), TransMedics Group (TMDX), and Omada Health (OMDA) also made sharp moves in either direction following their latest quarterly results. To cap it off, Airbnb (ABNB) stock is surging Friday after sharing its best revenue in three years and gaining serious attention from analysts. 

Earnings Season Slightly Slows 

Next week will bring key inflation data, with October's consumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) readings in focus. Investors will also get updates on monthly wholesale trade and weekly jobless claims.  Some of the big names expected to report include Applied Materials (AMAT) and AST SpaceMobile (ASTS).

Don't miss out on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's analysis on Wall Street's fear gauge performance after overtaking 20, as well as Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone's dig into the S&P 500's breakdown.