October 28th Pre-Market Brief

Good Morning

It’s one of those mornings where everyone shows up early just to wait for the afternoon. Tech is going for three green days in a row, and Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson thinks the worst is over.

I’m not sure what to think until we see these ER calls post bell, but I’d like to see green hold up past 2 PM first.

Let's dig in...

Today's Big Picture

1. SK Hynix Is Sold Out Through 2029 and Still Building More
   
   SK Hynix $SKHY, a top maker of AI memory chips, says it’s basically sold out through 2029. Micron and Sandisk are up with it this morning. SK Hynix also plans to spend much more on new supply next year. Past memory booms ended when every maker added supply at once.
   

2. Warsh’s Best Case for Pausing Is a Weak Jobs Report
   
   The Fed is expected to hold at 2 PM ET, though inflation has picked up since last month’s hike. Warsh’s best reason to wait is September’s jobs report, which showed just 29,000 new jobs. JPMorgan’s Michael Feroli says an unexplained pause six days before the midterms will invite talk of politics.
   

3. The Oil Risk From a New Iran Strike Sits With Its Neighbors
   
   A U.S. blockade has already kept Iran’s oil off the market for months, the Journal reports. So if strikes resume after the midterms, the oil risk is Iran hitting Gulf energy sites again. U.S. oil is back above $100 on just an unconfirmed Houthi claim against Saudi Arabia’s biggest refinery.

Market Overview

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Stock Spotlight (pre-market)

Vertiv $VRT ( ▲ 4.4% )  
sharply higher premarket after the data center power and cooling supplier’s revenue hit $4.31 billion, versus $3.75 billion expected. Orders more than doubled from a year ago, which calms worries that AI projects were slipping.

GE Vernova $GEV ( ▲ 4.73% )  
edging higher premarket after agreeing to buy grid parts maker Trench Group for about $9 billion. The power equipment maker also raised its 2026 free cash flow forecast by $4.5 billion.

Robinhood $HOOD ( ▼ 2.82% )  
lower premarket after the trading app’s quarterly profit missed estimates. Net income fell to $$468 million as crypto revenue dropped by more than half to $120 million.

Wendy’s $WEN ( ▲ 14.82% )  
sharply higher premarket after longtime shareholder Nelson Peltz’s Trian offered about $1.4 billion to take the burger chain private. That’s above Wendy’s roughly $1.2 billion market value at Tuesday’s close.

Enphase Energy $ENPH ( ▼ 1.98% )  
sharply lower premarket after the home solar supplier’s revenue fell to $293.3 million from $410.4 million a year ago. Demand from installers barely grew from last quarter, well short of the company’s own forecast.

Stellantis $STLA ( ▲ 1.47% )  
higher premarket after the Jeep owner kept its 2026 outlook while rivals like Mercedes Benz cut theirs. Operating profit nearly tripled from a year ago, though it still burned $4.5 billion in cash.

What to Watch

Alphabet and Microsoft Spending Plans (After the Bell)
SK Hynix’s price hikes land on buyers like these two. Part of any bigger AI budget tonight could be higher prices for the same chips. Listen for how much of any increase they pin on memory and chip costs.

Fed Dissents (2 PM ET)
Regional Fed presidents Beth Hammack, Lorie Logan and Neel Kashkari all voted against holding rates in July. Three dissents today would mean a quarter of the Fed’s voters wanted a hike now.

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