
AI-generated summary
The report covers pre-market movements ahead of the third-quarter earnings season, with specific focus on sector performance, AI developments, and corporate actions like share buybacks. It references upcoming earnings from major financial and healthcare companies.
Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. The S & P 500 is slightly lower , weighed down by technology and consumer discretionary stocks, ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season. All other sectors were positive, including energy, with the Energy SPDR ETF hitting a new intraday all-time high. Oil is moving higher following more attacks in the Middle East over the weekend. The bond market isn't reacting to rising oil prices because it's closed for Columbus Day. In artificial intelligence news, Nvidia shares slid after Microsoft announced it is scaling its Azure Maia family of custom accelerators to multi-gigawatt deployments next year. Some will argue that these chips reduce Microsoft's reliance on Nvidia GPUs, but customers continue to line up for each new generation of Nvidia chips because they deliver greater computing performance and revenue potential per gigawatt of power. Elsewhere, Meta Platforms introduced its latest AI model, Muse Wonder, which it said achieves state-of-the-art results across key benchmarks for personal and professional agents, memory, and coding. Monthly paid subscribers to the popular Muse personal agent will gain access to the model. The new models are another sign that Meta's $14.3 billion investment in data-labeling startup Scale AI is starting to pay off through new AI products. Micron's board authorized an additional $33 billion in share repurchases , bringing its total authorization to $35.16 billion. The expanded plan, disclosed in Micron's 10-K filing published Friday, takes effect Dec. 9, when buyback restrictions under the CHIPS Act expire. The figure represents about 3% of Micron's current market capitalization and essentially matches the adjusted free cash flow it generated in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended in August. With an estimated $141 billion in free cash flow over the next four quarters, according to FactSet, there's ample capacity for additional buybacks, making this update likely the start of several incremental authorizations to be announced over time. Micron shares dipped slightly last Friday and are pulling back 3% on Monday alongside other memory and storage providers and AI chip names. There are no major earnings after the closing bell on Monday. Before the opening bell on Tuesday, we'll see earnings from Club names Goldman Sachs , Wells Fargo , and Johnson & Johnson . The Street is looking for Goldman's third-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $13.02 and revenue of $16.71 billion. Analysts forecast Wells' EPS of $1.85 on revenue of $22.30 billion and J & J earnings of $2.54 on revenue of $25.28 billion. All estimates are from LSEG. JPMorgan , Citigroup , UnitedHealth Group , and Domino's Pizza are also scheduled to report. On the data side, we'll see the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index and existing home sales. (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Micron will announce additional incremental share buyback authorizations over time
Likely · Within months
Demand for Nvidia chips will remain strong despite Microsoft's Azure Maia scaling
Likely

Robert Hall, professor emeritus at Stanford University, received the Nobel Prize in Economics for his research on economic volatility and said he was grateful for his lifelong research experience and the support of his colleagues.

The French group Crédit Agricole announced an agreement with the American fund Lone Star Funds to buy the entire capital of the German bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank, as part of its development strategy in Germany, particularly with mid-sized companies. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2027.

MPS says the premium offered by Intesa Sanpaolo for the acquisition remains lower than the average observed in comparable voluntary public offerings in the Italian banking sector, equal to around 30% compared to the price before the announcement. The Sienese bank underlines the uncertainty linked to the subordination of the offer to the rejection of its plan and invites shareholders to decide without complete information.

The Banque de France confirmed on Monday a GDP growth forecast of 0.1% for the third quarter, after a month of September where activity held up but in a contrasting manner according to its monthly survey of 8,500 business leaders, with progress in industry and commercial services, but stagnation in construction.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti has asked banks, insurance companies and energy companies to contribute to the budget law, citing a plan B, C and D while awaiting the European response on the escape clause for energy and defense. It confirmed the hyper-depreciation and the 5% flat tax on salary increases, while Istat reports a decline in real wages of 9.4% compared to 2021. The hearings of the Court of Auditors, the Bank of Italy and the PBO highlight risks linked to debt and interests, with the PBO warning of possible budget deviations that could compromise the exit from the excessive deficit procedure. The majority parties discuss priorities: Forza Italia proposes no tax area for young people and Irpef reduction, the League focuses on early pensions and abolition of the Rai license fee.

IonQ announced it will acquire cybersecurity company Elisity in an all-stock deal valued at up to $1.3 billion, including $150 million in performance-based earnouts, to strengthen defenses against AI and quantum threats, with the deal expected to close in Q4 subject to regulatory approval.