Nasdaq and S&P 500 close higher, thanks to Amazon, to cap off a strong week: Live updates

All the three major averages finished higher on Friday.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 0.61%, closing at 23,724.96. The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to end at 6,840.20, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 40.75 points, or 0.09%, to settle at 47,562.87.

— Sean Conlon

Open enrollment for health insurance bought on the Affordable Care Act marketplace starts Nov. 1 in most states — but millions of people may get a financial surprise when they try to sign up.

That's because a congressional deadlock tied to the extension of enhanced subsidies for insurance premiums has continued with no end in sight.

Consumers are "going to get huge sticker shock, because prices are going up," said Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and certified financial planner based in Jacksonville, Florida. Read more.

— Greg Iacurci

A stock market at all-time highs could get another boost from seasonals next month, though hurdles remain.

Wall Street is on more-than solid footing heading into the final two months of the year. All three major averages were able to skirt major pitfalls in October to end the month higher, bringing their year-to-date gains to double-digit advances. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has climbed 12% this year, while the S&P 500 advanced more than 16%. The Nasdaq Composite is up by more than 22% now, with Nvidia just this week becoming a $5 trillion company.

November should bring an extra seasonal boost. It's the best month of the year for the S&P 500, averaging a 1.8% rise in data going back to 1950, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. In post-presidential election years, it's the third-best month, with a typical gain of 1.6%.

That suggests even further gains for a market that's steadily climbed a wall of worry. The S&P 500 is now a stone's throw away from 7,000, and far above the 6,555 year-end target that's consensus among strategists. More bears are throwing in the towel, and bulls are advising not to bet against this market.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Sarah Min

The scariest thing haunting Halloween this year isn't a ghost, goblin or ghoul — it's the price of chocolate.

From Snickers to Reese's to Twix, one of America's favorite indulgences is getting more expensive, as tariffs, inflation and high cocoa prices squeeze profit margins and customers' pocketbooks, possibly leading to fewer chocolate bars landing in trick-or-treat buckets this year.

Chocolate prices have surged nearly 30% since last Halloween and almost 78% in the past five years, according to data from research firm Circana and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. A 100-piece variety bag of candy now costs $16.39, up from $7.20 in 2020, FinanceBuzz found. Read more.

— Luke Fountain

While the impact so far this year has been muted, tariffs are expected to catch up with prices consumers pay just in time for the holiday shopping season.

President Donald Trump's tariffs on a plethora of items and individual countries, which started in April, have coincided with common inflation measures trudging along between 2.5% and 3% this year.

While economists don't see a major spike coming in common measures such as the consumer price and the personal consumption price indexes, they expect the tariffs will keep those gauges elevated at a time when they otherwise would be moving lower.

"There have been some questions in recent months as to whether tariffs have led to higher inflation for consumers," Bank of America economist Aditya Bhave said in a note. "We think there's no debate — tariffs have pushed consumer prices higher." Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Advanced Micro Devices shares are on pace to notch their best month in more than two decades.

Shares of the chip stock have surged around 58% since the start of October. If that holds through Friday's closing bell, it would mark the stock's biggest monthly gain since January 2001, when shares soared more than 78%.

October's gains have pushed the stock up almost 112% in 2025.

— Alex Harring

The recent trade truce made between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could help give a boost to global equities, according to UBS.

"While no formal deal was signed, a modestly positive outcome on this U.S.-China risk catalyst may be sufficient for global markets, adding to a positive backdrop for stock rallies in the US and China that have been underpinned by strong AI demand and innovation," said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer Americas and global head of equities at UBS, in a Friday note.

— Sean Conlon

Some stocks are making big moves in midday trading on Friday:

Amazon — The e-commerce company and web services provider beat earnings expectations, boosting its stock 10%. Amazon earned $1.95 per share on revenue of $180.2 billion versus the Street's estimated earnings of $1.57 per share and revenue of $177.9 billion, according to LSEG.

Brighthouse Financial — Shares soared 27% after the Financial Times reported that Aquarian Holdings is in advanced talks to buy the North Carolina-based life insurer and take it private.

Cloudflare — The provider of cloud-based services to secure websites climbed 11% after third-quarter earnings and revenue topped analysts estimates, according to FactSet data, and Cloudflare gave fourth-quarter guidance of 27 cents per share excluding one-time items that was above the 26 cents analysts had forecast. Fourth-quarter revenue of as much as $589.5 million was also above the estimated $580.1 million.

Read here for the full list.

— Scott Schnipper

Netflix's planned 10-for-1 stock split immediately fueled speculation that the streaming giant is gunning to one day join the Dow Industrials. The split, which will bring shares priced around $1,100 to roughly $110, would make Netflix's stock price more in line with other blue-chip companies and more compatible with the Dow's price-weighted formula, where a stock's dollar price - not its market value - determines its influence.

But price is only part of the story: volatility matters too. Using the past year's trading data, Netflix's post-split shares would swing about 2% on an average day - an annualized volatility of roughly 33%. That would place the stock toward the higher end of the Dow's current components, alongside names like Apple or Amazon.

If a post-split Netflix were part of the Dow, it would sit near the upper range in volatility but in the lower half in terms of index impact, given its theoretical eighth-from-the-bottom share price. That would make its influence on the Dow's daily moves more comparable to companies such as Chevron or Johnson & Johnson.

— Nick Wells

Reddit's stock popped more than 14% Friday after the company surpassed third-quarter estimates and signaled strong advertising growth.

The social media platform's revenues surged 68% from a year ago to $585 million, beating an LSEG estimate of $546 million. Earnings per share totaled 80 cents, surpassing an estimate of 51 cents.

Reddit also released a better-than-expected sales outlook for the fourth quarter. The company projects between $655 million and $665 million, topping the $638 million forecast from Wall Street.

These results "speak to the company's continued progress across its ad and platform initiatives," wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak. "We see a long runway for growth across both active advertisers (+75% y/y in 3Q) as well as greater penetration within existing advertisers." Read more.

— Samantha Subin

Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Hershey to neutral from underweight, noting its valuation now looks more appropriate.

The candy company reported quarterly results that topped expectations on Thursday, but it lowered its full-year earnings and revenue guidance. However, Hershey gave some more visibility to its outlook when it said it was confident it can deliver its 2026 top and bottom line growth targets in 2026, analyst Michael Lavery said in a note Thursday.

"HSY is planning for 2026 growth to be on-algorithm for both its top-line (+2-4%) and bottom-line (+6-8%), though there may be some modest upside," he said. "Upside may come from improved consumer demand, which HSY is optimistic about, innovation launches, manageable elasticities, and cocoa and/or tariff cost relief."

However, Hershey is still facing inflationary cocoa prices, which is expected to continue in 2026, Lavery noted.

Shares are down nearly 1% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

New 52-week lows are beating new highs on the New York Stock Exchange Friday 88 to 43, according to FactSet data. On Nasdaq, new lows outnumber new highs 146 to 105.

Inside the S&P 500 alone, declining stocks are outpacing advancers, 268 to 234, while declining volume is swamping advancing volume by 61% to 46%.

Advancing NYSE stocks are beating declining stocks on the NYSE 1441 to 1099, while the percentage of advancing volume is some 60.5% of the total against 38% declining volume.

Advancing Nasdaq stocks are outpacing declining issues by 1571 to 712, while advancing Nasdaq volume comprises about 67% of the total versus 32% declining volume.

— Scott Schnipper

Shares of Getty Images soared 19% on Friday after the company announced that it struck a multi‑year licensing agreement with Perplexity AI.

Perplexity will be able to display creative and editorial content from Getty Images through its AI-powered search tools as part of the deal, according to a release. The startup will also improve how it displays imagery on its platform by adding image credits and links to the source.

"Partnerships such as this support AI platforms to increase the quality and accuracy of information delivered to consumers, ultimately building a more engaging and reliable experience," Nick Unsworth, vice president of strategic development at Getty Images, said in a statement. Read more.

— Ashley Capoot

Amazon shares soared 12% on Friday after the company reported an across-the-board beat for the third quarter and boosted its forecast for spending due to demand for artificial intelligence services.

Cloud was a major driver of revenue and profit growth, with sales at Amazon Web Services climbing 20% from a year earlier to $33 billion, topping expectations.

The unit generated operating income of $11.4 billion, accounting for roughly two-thirds of Amazon's total operating profit. Read more.

— Annie Palmer

Dallas Federal Reserve President Lorie Logan on Friday said she would have voted against this week's interest rate reduction.

With the labor market only "cooling slowly" and inflation "too high, taxing the budgets of businesses and families," the central bank official said, "This economic outlook didn't call for cutting rates."

In addition to opposing the quarter percentage point reduction that the Federal Open Market Committee approved 10-2, Logan said "I'd find it difficult to cut rates again in December unless there is clear evidence that inflation will fall faster than expected or that the labor market will cool more rapidly."

Logan does not get a vote this year on the rate-setting FOMC, but will in 2026.

— Jeff Cox

Stocks saw gains on Friday morning.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7% just after the opening bell, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also traded up 87 points, or about 0.2%. 

— Sean Conlon

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell.

Brighthouse Financial — Shares soared 23% after the Financial Times reported that Aquarian Holdings is in advanced talks to buy the North Carolina-based life insurer and take it private.

Amazon — The e-commerce company and web services provider beat earnings expectations, boosting its stock 12%. Amazon posted earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $180.2 billion versus the Street's estimated earnings of $1.57 per share and revenue of $177.9 billion, according to FactSet.

Apple — The iPhone maker added 2% after beating earnings and revenue expectations in its September quarter. Apple also forecast a strong December quarter due in part to iPhone 17 sales that CEO Tim Cook said are "off the chart."  

Read the full list here.

— Liz Napolitano

Kansas City Federal Reserve President Jeffrey Schmid on Friday explained his vote against this week's interest rate cut, saying he remains concerned about inflation.

"Equity markets are near record highs, corporate bond spreads are very narrow, and high-yield bond issuance is high. None of this suggests that financial conditions are particularly tight or that the stance of policy is restrictive," Schmid said in a statement.

"In the end, inflation is the Federal Reserve's responsibility and within its control, and
as I balance the mandate — and the effectiveness of the Fed's actions in meeting that mandate — my preference was to hold the policy rate steady at this week's meeting," he added.

Schmid is a voter this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. He joined Governor Stephen Miran in voting against the quarter percentage point reduction, though Miran wanted an even bigger cut of half a point.

— Jeff Cox

Shares of agricultural machinery company AGCO rose almost 4% in premarket trading on Friday following its stronger-than-expected third-quarter results.

AGCO posted adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share on $2.48 billion in revenue for the quarter, above the $1.22 in earnings per share and $2.46 billion that analysts polled by FactSet had estimated.

The company also raised its full-year guidance to approximately $5.00 per share, up from its prior range of between $4.75 and $5.00 per share. That also came in higher than the consensus estimate of $4.79 per share, per FactSet.

— Sean Conlon

Chevron on Friday reported third-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street estimates, as the company achieved record production due in part to its acquisition of Hess Corporation.

The oil major's net income declined 21% to $3.54 billion, or $1.82 per share, compared with $4.49 billion, or $2.48 per share, in the same period last year. Its earnings decreased year over year due to falling oil prices and a $235 million loss on transaction costs associated with the Hess acquisition.

Excluding costs associated with Hess and foreign currency impacts, Chevron earned $1.85 per share, beating Wall Street estimates of $1.71 per share. Read more.

— Spencer Kimball

Exxon Mobil on Friday reported third quarter earnings that fell year over year, as oil prices tumbled due in large part to OPEC+ increasing production.

Exxon's net income fell 12% to $7.55 billion, or $1.76 per share, compared to $8.6 billion, or $1.92 per share, in the year ago period. Excluding one-time items, the oil major posted earnings per share of $1.88.

U.S. crude oil prices have fallen about 16% this year as OPEC+ is increasing production and President Donald Trump's tariffs have the market worried about an economic slowdown. Read more.

— Spencer Kimball

Analyst Eric Sheridan upgraded the online gaming platform to buy from neutral. He also raised his price target to $180 from $155, signaling upside of nearly 60%.

"Since the beginning of 2024, Roblox has ~doubled the number of DAUs on the platform. We believe that this is largely driven by improvements made to the discovery algorithm over the last two years, specifically in March of this year - with the company having released an improved "Recommended For You" algorithm," he said.

"Given the timing surrounding the rollout, the algorithm likely drove discovery improvements & resulted in a number of viral experiences scaling on the platform during Q2/Q3'25 (incl. Grow a Garden & Steal a Brainrot). Going forward, we expect improvements made surrounding discovery to be supportive of the future scaling of experiences," he said.

— Fred Imbert

Only a handful of companies post revenue of more than $100 billion in a given quarter.

Two companies joined this exclusive club for the first time on Wednesday. CVS Health recorded $103 billion in revenue during the latest quarter, while Alphabet saw $102 billion in third-quarter revenue.

On Thursday, Apple said its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue also came in at $102 billion. This is the first time the tech giant had more than $100 billion in sales during a non-holiday quarter. The only other times it has achieved that milestone was in each of the past five holiday quarters.

Meanwhile, Amazon has posted more than $100 billion revenue in each quarter for almost five years. But for the first time ever, the e-commerce company expects more than $200 billion in quarterly revenue, projecting fourth-quarter revenue of $206 billion to $213 billion versus a $208 billion estimate. 

The other two companies that are part of the $100 billion revenue club are Walmart ($177 billion expected next month) and UnitedHealth (which posted a top line of $113 billion earlier on Tuesday).

— Robert Hum

Amazon shares rallied more than 13% in after-hours trading Thursday, helping push U.S. stock futures higher.

Notably, the company's cloud business accelerated 20% to $33 billion during the third quarter, which exceeded analysts' estimates of 18.1% growth. CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon Web Services grew at a pace it hadn't seen since 2022. Cloud growth has been a key area of concern for the company, as it faces intensifying pressure from rivals Google and Microsoft, which also reported quarterly results this week.

Amazon also beat on top and bottom lines, and raised its forecast for capital expenditures this year with plans to now spend $125 billion in 2025, up from its earlier estimate of $118 billion.

— Annie Palmer, Pia Singh

Check out the companies making headlines in after-hours trading.

• Apple — Apple shares jumped 4% after the iPhone maker posted fiscal-fourth quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations. The company also gave a strong forecast for its December quarter driven by strong demand for its iPhone 17 line. Apple earned $1.85 per share on revenue of $102.47 billion. Analysts expected it to earn $1.77 per share on $102.24 billion in revenue, per LSEG.
• Cloudflare — Shares of the cloud company jumped more than 8% after Cloudflare delivered strong third-quarter results. Cloudflare said it earned 27 cents per share after adjustments, while analysts polled by FactSet expected 23 cents per share. The company's revenue of $562 million also exceeded analysts' consensus estimate of $544.6 million.
• Amazon — Amazon jumped 14% after the e-commerce company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, which included strong growth in its cloud-computing unit. Amazon earned $1.95 per share, topping the $1.57 per share estimate from LSEG. The company's revenue for the period came out at $180.17 billion, while analysts polled by LSEG expected $177.75 billion in revenue.
• Coinbase — Shares of the crypto exchange rose 2% after third-quarter results topped expectations, powered by transaction revenue growth.  Coinbase earned $1.50 per share on revenue of $1.87 billion. Analysts surveyed by LSEG had anticipated the company would earn $1.10 per share on $1.8 billion in revenue.

For the full list, read here.

— Pia Singh

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, futures tied to the S&P 500 rose nearly 0.6%, while Nasdaq-100 futures jumped roughly 1.1%, lifted by moves higher in Amazon and Apple on the back of their earnings results. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 62 points, 0.1%.

— Pia Singh