End-of-day recap

Concerns over AI spending pulled the Nasdaq down 2.60% on Oct 22, 2026, while most US stocks rose and defensive sectors led.

$NVDA closed at $212.21, down 4.40%, on 121.61M shares, for a $5.11T market cap. CNBC tied the drop to AI spending worries. CEO Jensen Huang said capital demand exceeded capital availability in the AI buildout.

Moderna closed at $202.63, down 17.57%, for an $80.90B market cap. CNBC said shares fell after a partial leak of cancer vaccine data, though positive data followed. Intismeran plus Keytruda cut the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 42% versus Keytruda alone. Analysts cited high expectations.

Pool closed at $197.21, up 14.36%, for a $7.17B market cap. Adjusted EPS was $3.40 versus $3.36 expected. Sales rose 4% to $1.50B versus $1.48B expected, helped by pricing, maintenance and building materials. Adjusted annual EPS guidance of $10.87-$11.17 was reaffirmed.

The S&P 500 fell 1.22% to 7,662.54 and the Nasdaq fell 2.60% to 26,008.86. The VIX rose 14.09% to 19.03. Reuters said AI spending and return concerns drove equity selling and a move into Treasuries. The 2-year yield was 4.65%, the 10-year 4.96% and the 30-year 5.29%.

Consumer Defensive rose 3.31% and Utilities rose 2.07%, while Technology fell 3.29%. The Dow added 0.02% to 52,867.98 and the Russell 2000 rose 0.11% to 2,784.03. AP, via Yahoo, said most US stocks rose as AI weakness masked broad gains.

Mizuho's Lloyd Walmsley raised his Meta Platforms target to $950, with the stock at $646.21 when the note posted. KeyBanc's Justin Patterson raised his target to $905, citing revenue and AI momentum supporting investment, with a reference price of $652.36.

BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello upgraded Tesla to Neutral on takeover potential, with a $420 target. The reference price was $377.75. StoneX reiterated Buy following Q3 results, with a $475.00 target and a $381.15 stock reference price.

BMO Capital raised its IBM target to $265 from $230, with a reference price of $248.85. Truist raised its target to $260 from $240, with a reference price of $246.58.

Pale Fire Capital SE, a 10 percent owner of Dole, filed Form 4 purchases. It bought 45.68K shares worth $604.59K on Oct 20, 438.90K shares worth $5.76M on Oct 21 and 163.78K shares worth $2.19M on Oct 22. Dole's market cap is $1.28B.

Nvidia led options volume with 3.57M contracts, at 120.22% of average. Calls totaled 2.29M and puts 1.28M, for a put/call ratio of 0.56. Next came TSLA, SPCX, AAPL, MU, META, INTC, AMZN, NFLX and CRWV.

AI stocks fell while most of the market rose, and the gap between the two defined the session.

Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.