Corporate Earnings Remain Solid Despite Geopolitical Uncertainty. Stocks Mostly Climbed.
Stocks mostly climbed on Tuesday as traders looked past geopolitical uncertainty and focused on solid corporate earnings.
The S&P 500 gained 0.29%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average overperformed, climbing more than 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, however, edged down 0.02% as unease over the sustainability of the AI trade lingers.
The Dow was buoyed by companies like 3M, which jumped more than 5% after beating expectations, and Northrop Grumman, which climbed a similar amount as a result of better-than-expected quarterly results.
In contrast, the AI trade keeps facing jitters, with Korean company Elice plummeting more than 30% after its public market debut. Some companies in the sector did climb during the day after falling sharply over the past week.
In this context, OpenAI is accelerating efforts to raise roughly $30 billion from investors ahead of rival Anthropic’s expected stock market debut next month. The fundraising push that could value the ChatGPT maker at more than $1.4 trillion.
The company is trying to secure investor commitments before Anthropic’s anticipated initial public offering in mid-November, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Both companies are seeking capital from many of the same institutional investors, creating pressure to attract funding before their rival does.
The talks are taking place just months after OpenAI completed one of the largest private funding rounds on record. In March, the company announced $122 billion in committed capital at a post-money valuation of $852 billion, according to its official funding announcement.
OpenAI is presenting investors with an updated picture of its business following the release of its GPT-6 Astra model, which it credits with accelerating revenue growth.
The company has reached approximately $50 billion in annualized revenue and expects that figure to climb to $70 billion by the end of 2026, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with its investor discussions.
Uncertainty continues in the geopolitical front. A new report claimed that Iran is deliberately stalling potential talks with the U.S. to influence the outcome of the midterms.
Citing senior Iranian officials, Reuters detailed that fears of new military action and a distrust of the Trump administration have contributed to the decision.
As a result, officials believe that President Donald Trump is ready to resume attacks to try to break the stalemate.
“Iran is preparing for renewed Israeli and US attacks, not for a deal with America to end the war,” an official told the outlet. “The clerical establishment is determined not to give Trump a political victory.”
