October 13th Pre-Market Brief

Good Morning

JPMorgan missed, Goldman beat by nearly $2 billion, and both stocks are up pre bell. Banks are lifting the Dow and chip names drag the Nasdaq again. Not a horrible start.

Let’s see them hold past lunch

Let's dig in...

Today's Big Picture

1. JPMorgan’s Borrowers Are Paying, And Dimon Is Tightening Anyway

More than half of JPMorgan’s miss came from a $658 million loss on its bond holdings. Chase card customers are spending more and still paying on time. Even so, Dimon told analysts the bank is tightening lending because some loan terms have gotten a little loose.

2. Investors Are Betting Memory Chip Profits Have Peaked

China’s CXMT plans a new memory chip by year end, and Samsung and SK Hynix fell hard overnight. Those two make up over half of Korea’s stock market, which fell to its lowest level since July. Micron, Sandisk and Western Digital are lower again here, even though memory makers are still expected to post big profits. The worry is that Chinese supply ends the high prices behind those profits.

3. Oil’s Real Risk Starts After Nov. 3

Brent is lower near $105, even with Houthi strikes keeping Riyadh’s main airport shut through Saturday. Trump has ruled out U.S. strikes on Iran before the Nov. 3 midterms. The Wall Street Journal reports Iran is fortifying its nuclear sites for what comes after.

Market Overview

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Stock Spotlight (pre-market)

UnitedHealth $UNH ( ▲ 1.53% )  

higher premarket after the health insurer beat estimates and raised its 2026 profit outlook for the third time this year. It paid out less of each premium dollar on medical care than analysts expected.

Johnson & Johnson $JNJ ( ▲ 0.88% )  

lower premarket despite beating estimates and raising its full year outlook. Sales in its medical device unit, about a third of revenue, missed forecasts.

Nvidia $NVDA ( ▼ 1.29% )  

lower premarket with the rest of the chip group. A new report from research firm IDC shows its China AI chip shipments fell to 678,000 in the first half, with Huawei close behind at 572,000.

Domino’s Pizza $DPZ ( ▼ 3.53% )  

lower premarket even though profit beat estimates in new CEO Joe Jordan’s first report. Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year barely grew, after strong growth a year ago.

Syndax Pharmaceuticals $SNDX ( ▼ 2.59% )  

sharply lower premarket after the biotech’s antibody drug axatilimab missed its main goal in a mid stage trial. The study tested it in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that scars the lungs.

Six Flags $FUN ( ▲ 4.47% )  

lower premarket after a man died and others were injured in a roller coaster incident in Georgia, according to Cobb County police. The amusement park operator’s stock first fell in after hours trading Monday.

What to Watch

The Rotation Into Banks
Money is moving out of chip stocks and into banks and health care this morning. Goldman’s beat leaned on lending to hedge funds and other big traders, a business whose revenue nearly doubled. That business needs a busy, rising stock market, so banks may be less of a shelter from a tech slide than they look. Morgan Stanley, Wall Street’s other big trading house, reports tomorrow morning.

Fed Speakers Before Wednesday’s Inflation Report
Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said Monday she’s open to raising rates, with the timing undecided. Richmond’s Tom Barkin and Boston’s Susan Collins speak today, and September inflation data comes out at 8:30 AM ET tomorrow. Forecasters already expect inflation to pick up from August. If it runs higher than expected and both echo Hammack, a hike at the Fed’s late October meeting moves onto the table.

Upcoming IPO’s?
MarketBeat did an excellent job on this free IPO guide on IPO’s happening this year

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