$INTC’s 24% weekly slide puts earnings risk back in focus

The week in 5 points

• Technology lost ground. The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.00%; the separate Nasdaq-100 lost 1.98%.
• Small caps held up. The Russell 2000 rose 1.29%, despite Friday’s broad-market weakness.
• Inflation stayed uncomfortable. September headline PCE rose 3.6% from a year earlier; core prices rose 3.1%.
• Company events dominated the watchlist. Earnings and reported takeover talks accompanied unusually large moves.
• Next week brings another test. Manufacturing, services, job openings and Friday’s employment report will update the economic picture.

Small caps rose while technology gave back its gains

The S&P 500 finished at 7,580.07, down 0.57% from October 23. The Dow lost 0.85%, while the Russell 2000 advanced 1.29%. These are price changes for October 26–30, without dividends reinvested.

Nine of the eleven sector ETFs rose, but communication services and technology lagged sharply. $VIX, the S&P 500’s measure of expected volatility, traded between 16.21 and 23.93. It ended at 19.42, almost unchanged from 19.45 a week earlier; the closing comparison hides the week’s swings.

Delayed Yahoo marks around 16:51 ET put WTI futures at $102.85 per barrel, down 0.41% for the week. Gold futures stood at $3,882.70 per ounce, down 3.12%, and the dollar index at 101.935, up 0.12%. These are vendor reference marks, not verified exchange settlements or returns adjusted for futures contract rolls.

The Fed paused, but growth and inflation stayed firm

The Fed kept its policy range at 3.75–4.00% on Wednesday. The vote was 10–2, with both dissenters preferring a quarter-point increase. A hold therefore did not mean unanimous comfort with inflation, or a promise that cuts come next.

Thursday’s advance estimate put third-quarter real GDP growth at a 3.4% annualized rate, after 2.2% in the second quarter. September PCE prices rose 0.5% month over month; excluding food and energy, they rose 0.3%. Their annual increases were 3.6% and 3.1%, respectively.

Friday’s Employment Cost Index rose 0.8% over the quarter and 3.4% over the year. Meanwhile, the official Treasury ten-year par yield ended at 4.94%, six basis points below last Friday. Lower bond yields and persistent inflation can coexist; neither series alone settles the next policy decision.

Growing revenue did not shield stocks from sharp losses

Intel ($INTC) reported $16.5 billion in quarterly revenue, up 21%, but guided the next quarter to $15–16 billion. Management expects the PC slowdown to continue through at least the first half of 2027. The stock’s 24.38% weekly fall illustrates how a backward-looking growth figure can sit beside a much harder outlook.

Alphabet ($GOOGL) reported revenue growth of 25% to $127.6 billion, yet its shares lost 12.61% over the week. Microsoft ($MSFT) reported $92.3 billion in revenue, up 19%, with Azure revenue growing 48%. Strong business growth is one input into a stock price; expectations and the price already paid still matter.

Enphase ($ENPH) reported $293.3 million in sales and forecast $225–255 million next quarter. Amazon ($AMZN) grew revenue 12% to $201.9 billion, but trailing twelve-month free cash flow was negative $42.4 billion. Outlook and cash flow matter alongside revenue growth.

Your watchlist this week

These were the five largest absolute weekly moves across the 27-name watchlist. The news column gives verified context, rather than claiming one headline explains every dollar of the move. A percentage loss can overwhelm several option credits even when the broader index barely moves.

Next week

The clocks change on November 1: the times below are Eastern Standard Time, UTC−5. The next Fed decision is scheduled for December 9, following its December 8–9 meeting. Next week’s data can change expectations before that meeting; the calendar is not a forecast of the results.

Tuesday also brings U.S. midterm elections, with the outcome unknown. Data were retrieved after Friday’s close. Equity returns use the same Yahoo daily-close basis throughout; $VIX uses Cboe history plus Friday’s delayed closing quote. Individual option prices and final acquisition terms were not verified, and future release schedules can change.