US Stock Markets Had a Complex but Positive Week

Active Week in US Markets

US stocks had a mixed but overall positive trading week, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq outpacing both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500. By the end of last week, these indices were expected to see slight increases.

This week, there were some notable movements in major companies:

Amazon (AMZN) shares rose by more than 10% on Friday, and a climb of over 10% is expected for the past week following a strong earnings report. The company reported that it surpassed both revenue and profit expectations, with its key Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit showing a growth rate of 20%.

DA Davidson analyst Gil Luria stated in his announcement after the report, "We maintain our BUY rating on Amazon following the Q3 2025 earnings and raise our price target from $265 to $300."

Luria added, "This was the first quarter since 2022 where AWS grew by more than 20% annually, and management noted they see strength between core hyperscaler services and artificial intelligence services."

On the other hand, Meta shares lost more than 11% on Thursday after its third-quarter earnings report. The stock was trading with a decline of over 2% on Friday (as of ET 1:30 PM).

Despite exceeding revenue expectations, the company raised its capital expenditure forecast for 2025 to a range of $70 billion to $72 billion, which worried investors. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that they are seeing returns from this expenditure.

Google's parent company Alphabet made an important earnings announcement this week. The stock received a positive reaction from investors on Wednesday and gained 2.5% on Thursday; the company reported its first-ever quarter revenue of $100 billion in the third quarter. Revenue increased by 16% to $102.4 billion, exceeding the $99.85 billion expectation.

KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson stated, "We believe that the Q3 results reinforced the view that Alphabet has a full-stack advantage in the field of artificial intelligence."

In contrast, Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) experienced a loss of over 18% this week and is expected to close the week with a loss exceeding 25%. Despite the revenue being in line with expectations, the company’s forecasts disappointed investors.

Fiserv experienced a historic drop of 44% on Wednesday. The company reported earnings and revenue below expectations. CEO Mike Lyons described the situation as "a critical and necessary reset."

Additionally, Nvidia became the first company to exceed a market value of $5 trillion on Wednesday, with its shares closing above $207. However, after a 2% drop on Thursday, it has been trading below this level.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst C.J. Muse stated that Nvidia is "undeniably cheap." "While concerns related to the AI bubble dominate the agenda, NVDA is still trading at a price to earnings ratio of 21," he added.