Updated 1 min read
US stock futures were mixed on Wednesday after Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in a seismic midterm election, paving the way for a divided government.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) rose 2.2%, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) climbed 1.2%. Contracts for the Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) traded up by 0.4%.
AMD (AMD) stock fell before the bell after initially climbing in premarket trading following the company’s Q3 earnings beat.
Markets swiftly repriced a Democratic sweep of the House and Senate — and the potential for ballot measures and newly elected officials to restrict data center construction. Chip stocks, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Micron (MU), fell more than 1%. Investors will also be watching for actions on housing and pharmaceuticals in the aftermath of the election.
As Yahoo Finance’s Jared Blikre pointed out on Tuesday, midterm elections have a history of shaping stock performance in the near term but don’t move markets much over the long term.
The economic calendar for Wednesday features S&P and ISM data on economic activity indexes, while ADP’s private payrolls will offer a glimpse at the state of the “low hire, low fire” labor market.
Earnings reports from Arm Holdings (ARM), McDonald’s (MCD), Qualcomm (QCOM), Novo Nordisk (NVO), and Uber Technologies (UBER), and more, meanwhile, offer alternative data points on the health of the consumer and AI demand.
LIVE 7 updates
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Block stock jumps as Jack Dorsey’s AI bet shows signs of paying off
Eight months after Jack Dorsey made one of corporate America’s boldest bets on shrinking its workforce to prepare for the age of artificial intelligence, investors are finding more reasons to buy into the Silicon Valley billionaire’s pivot.
Shares of Dorsey’s Block (XYZ), the payments company behind Cash App and merchant processor Square, jumped 9% in premarket trading Wednesday after it reported better-than-expected third quarter earnings and raised its gross profit outlook for next year.
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McDonald’s Q3 sales growth slows amid tough consumer backdrop, new drinks push
McDonald’s (MCD) sales growth slowed in the third quarter as consumers faced a challenging economic backdrop and the fast food chain unveiled its growth strategy.
The results showed that same-store sales grew by 1.5% year over year, a tick above the 1.4% growth Wall Street expected, according to Bloomberg estimates. In Q3 last year, McDonald’s posted same-store sales growth of 3.6%.
In the US, the company posted a 0.2% decline in comparable sales, slightly narrower than the expected 0.5% drop. Data from Placer.ai showed visits to the Golden Arches declined from a year ago, but the company said customers spent more when they did go.
Promotions in October led to some strength ahead of the holiday season. CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company is “encouraged by improvement as the quarter progressed following our intervention on value.”
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CVS announces plan to split into 2 companies, separating pharmacy from insurance
CVS (CVS) announced plans to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies on Wednesday, reshaping one of the largest healthcare companies in the US.
The company intends to separate CVS Health’s insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and healthcare services operations from its retail pharmacy and community healthcare segments.
The planned separation represents a significant shift from CVS Health’s long-term strategy of bringing together insurance, pharmacy benefit management, and direct healthcare services under a single corporate structure.
Under the proposed structure, one company will retain the CVS Health name and house Aetna, CVS Caremark, CVS Specialty, Oak Street Health, and Signify Health.
The second entity, which will operate under the name CVS Pharmacy, will include approximately 9,000 retail pharmacy locations and MinuteClinic locations, among other services.
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Democrats won control of Congress. Their economic agenda is set to target healthcare, tariffs, and Trump’s allies.
Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports:
Democrats retook power in Washington on Tuesday night after flipping key House and Senate seats to command majorities in both houses of Congress.
Democrats secured control of the Senate after winning races in historically red states including Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas.
The party was also “marching toward control of the U.S. House” late Tuesday night, according to the Associated Press, after flipping seats from Florida to New Jersey to Kentucky. All four major networks said Democrats’ control of the House was assured.
The power shift creates a new platform for Democrats to launch investigations of President Trump’s economic allies — Elon Musk to name one — and pass bills that may be unlikely to become law but will mark a sharp change in the political climate for business leaders and economic issues after two years of unified Republican control.
The change also appears set to elevate figures like Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and others to prominent positions with oversight over economic policy.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., talks with reporters during a midterm election night phone bank and watch party in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) · Tom Williams via Getty Images -
The AI sell-off saved Apple from a sell-off of its own
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes:
Despite an earnings beat and strong iPhone sales, investors focused on Apple’s (AAPL) weaknesses, slowing services growth, and projected lower margins as the stock fell 2% on Tuesday.
But the iPhone maker may have also been cushioned by its unique position among the tech giants — and the massive sell-off they had just a few trading days ago.
While everyone else has been spending lavishly on the AI build-out, Apple has been biding its time, as if content to let its competitors simply do their business on its hardware. To some, this is the “wrong” end of the AI trade.
But in the jittery moments of AI angst, when that lavish spending’s meaning shifts from “potential” to “risk,” it sends investors running from Google, Amazon, and Microsoft into the arms of Cupertino, safe from the risky AI bets.
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A Democrat won the Texas governor’s race after promising to halt new data center construction
Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul reports:
A strong showing by Democrats in Texas swept Gina Hinojosa into office as the state’s first Democratic governor since 1990 in a contest closely watched by Big Tech companies.
The state is considered a bellwether for government restrictions on AI data centers.
Incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott conceded the race late Tuesday, calling Hinojosa and then telling his supporters, “mathematically we are not going to be able to win this election.” The Associated Press declared Hinojosa the winner at 11:17 p.m. ET.
Hinojosa, Texas’ first Latina governor, has pledged to impose a moratorium on data center construction in Texas, which accounts for more than 25% of planned US capacity by 2030.
Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa makes a final public appearance with supporters outside the Austin Recreation Center before polls closed on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2026, in Austin, Texas. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) · Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images -
Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.
Economic data: MBA mortgage applications, week ended Oct. 30 (+3.4% prior); ADP employment change, October (+70,000 expected, +90,000 prior); S&P Global US services PMI, October final reading (57.9 prior); S&P Global US composite PMI, October final reading (57.6 prior); ISM services index, October (54.7 expected, 54.9 prior); ISM services new orders, October (75 expected, 74 prior); ISM services new orders, October (58.8 expected, 59.8 prior); ISM services employment, October (50 expected, 50.1 prior)
Earnings calendar: Arm Holdings (ARM), McDonald’s (MCD), QUALCOMM (QCOM), Novo Nordisk (NVO), Uber Technologies (UBER), McKesson Corporation (MCK), CVS Health (CVS), Emerson Electric (EMR), Datadog (DDOG), MercadoLibre (MELI), Motorola Solutions (MSI), Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC), The Allstate Corporation (ALL), MetLife (MET), Kraft Heinz (KHC)
Catch up on some other top stories from overnight:
Gold rises as dollar weakens; Democrats score early wins in US midterm elections
Asian shares fall on selling of tech shares as markets watch for results of US midterm elections
Duolingo stock jumps on user growth, upbeat guidance
Bettors vs. pollsters: The midterm showdown
AMD’s data center sales nearly double, topping Wall Street’s forecast
