U.S. stocks finished higher on Wednesday, with technology shares leading the way as investors cheered strong quarterly results from SpaceX and positioned ahead of earnings from Tesla and Meta after the closing bell. All three major averages gained despite a jump in oil prices tied to an attack on a Saudi Aramco field, suggesting investors are currently more focused on corporate earnings and the artificial intelligence (AI) trade than on geopolitical headlines.
What Moved Markets
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 350.94 points, or 0.67%, to close at 52,846.82. The S&P 500 rose 44.60 points, or 0.58%, to finish at 7,757.17. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the pack, climbing 278.04 points, or 1.05%, to end at 26,702.86. Smaller companies lagged slightly, with the Russell 2000 up about 0.3%.
The main catalyst was SpaceX, whose quarterly results beat analyst estimates and showed that AI-related business now makes up more than half of its revenue. That helped revive enthusiasm for AI-linked companies, lifting chipmakers and computer hardware makers. Chip leaders Nvidia and AMD also gained. Market volatility, as measured by the VIX “fear gauge,” eased to around 16.8.
Oil was the main source of caution. Brent crude climbed toward $110 a barrel and U.S. crude traded near $98 after the Saudi attack, yet stocks held their gains. The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences mortgage rates and stock valuations, also edged up to roughly 5.15%.
Notable Movers
SpaceX (SPCX) rose about 7% after earnings beat expectations. CEO Elon Musk also said SpaceX and Tesla have each formed special committees to study a possible merger, which sent Tesla (TSLA) up more than 3% ahead of its report after the close.
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) jumped as much as 12% after raising its revenue forecast for its fiscal first quarter to a range of $18.5 billion to $19.5 billion. Dell (DELL) gained about 5% and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) rose about 4% in sympathy.
Netflix (NFLX) fell about 4% after its fourth-quarter revenue outlook came in below estimates and it cut its 2026 advertising revenue forecast to $2.7 billion from $3 billion. AT&T (T) dropped roughly 6% after it reported slightly fewer new postpaid phone customers than analysts expected.
Cybersecurity stocks also had a strong session. Zscaler (ZS), Okta (OKTA), Cloudflare (NET) and CrowdStrike (CRWD) rose between 5% and 7% after the disclosure of a critical flaw in widely used PHP software. Separately, Circle (CRCL) and Coinbase (COIN) each gained more than 4% after a federal banking regulator finalized rules for stablecoins.
Looking Ahead
All eyes turn to Tesla and Meta, which report after the bell and open Big Tech earnings season. Meta’s spending plans for AI infrastructure will be closely watched, as concerns about debt-funded AI investment have weighed on sentiment in recent weeks. On Thursday, investors will see whether the cybersecurity rally holds and whether a possible unlock of up to 1.3 billion SpaceX shares affects trading. Reports that Anthropic could publicly file for an IPO as soon as Friday will also draw attention. Oil prices and Middle East developments remain a key risk to monitor. This post is for informational purposes only and is not investment advice.