Stocks close higher, snapping losing streak as Nvidia rebounds ahead of earnings report

The three major indices closed Wednesday's trading session with some gains.

The S&P 500 rose 0.38% to finish at 6,642.16, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.59% to settle at 22,564.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 47 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 46138.7.

— Liz Napolitano

The rally in QuantumScape this year has made the stock overvalued at current levels, according to HSBC.

Analyst Laisha Zaack downgraded the company, which makes solid-state rechargeable lithium metal batteries for electric vehicles, to reduce from hold. Zaack said the downgrade is due to "still-limited visibility or disclosure of contract economics, and the stock already reflects a bullish scenario."

Zaack also increased her price target to $10.50 from $5.30, which still suggests nearly 19% downside ahead for QuantumScape stock. Shares of QuantumScape have rallied a whopping 141% year to date on the back of several milestone achievements, particularly its ceramic Cobra separator announced in late June.

"Effective execution and timed delivery of results increase our conviction in QS commercializing its technology," Zaack said in a Wednesday note to clients. "However, the current stock price is hard to justify
given the lack of information on its commercial agreements, no visibility on the economics of the deals, and the uncertainty around timing for commercialization."

— Pia Singh

On Wednesday, five of the S&P 500's 11 sectors traded higher.

The gains were led by communication services stocks, up 0.9% as of Wednesday afternoon. Information technology stocks rallied 0.9%, while the industrials sector eked out a 0.5% gain. Additionally, materials and financials were up 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.

The day's worst-performing sector was energy, down 1.5% on the day. Real estate stocks fell 0.8%, while utilities stocks shed 0.6%.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Nvidia's third-quarter results out Wednesday will be consequential for investors who are growing increasingly concerned about the artificial intelligence-powered bull market.

The company, which makes up roughly 8% of the S&P 500, is expected to boast strong data center sales on the back of meaningful demand for its upcoming chip cycle. If that happens, it could lift hopes that the AI trade has more room to run.

Shares of Nvidia are down more than 8% in November as the chipmaker has fallen under pressure amid a broader pullback in the tech sector. The once-hot stock, which is still up 38% this year, is battling concerns about elevated AI valuations, data center supply and demand dynamics, the rate of depreciation of its graphics processing units, and growing competition with other hyperscalers.

Although Nvidia has not been the market's favorite AI trade this year, analysts covering the name see a recovery ahead. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Pia Singh

Brookfield Asset Management on Wednesday announced a $100 billion artificial intelligence infrastructure program in partnership with Nvidia and the Kuwait Investment Authority.

The program will be run by the company's new Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund, which is targeting $10 billion in equity commitments to invest in AI. The fund, referred to by Brookfield as BAIIF, has already received $5 billion of capital commitments from investors including Brookfield, Nvidia and KIA.

"BAIIF, together with additional capital from its co-investors and prudent financing, will acquire up to $100 billion of AI infrastructure assets, deploying investment across every stage of the value chain—from energy and land to data centers and compute," the Wednesday press release reads.

— Pia Singh

Federal Reserve officials were at odds during their October meeting over cutting interest rates, divided over whether a stalling labor market or stubborn inflation were bigger economic threats, minutes released Wednesday showed.

While the Federal Open Market Committee approved a cut at the meeting, the path forward looks less creation. Disagreements stretched into the outlook for December, with officials expressing skepticism about the need for an additional cut that markets had been widely anticipating, with "many" saying that no more cuts are needed at least in 2025.

"Several participants assessed that a further lowering of the target range for the federal funds rate could well be appropriate in December if the economy evolved about as they expected over the coming intermeeting period," the minutes stated. "Many participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep the target range unchanged for the rest of the year." Read more.

— Jeff Cox

Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:

• Alphabet — The YouTube and Google parent climbed 4% to an all-time high after rolling out its Gemini 3 artificial intelligence platform Tuesday. Google said Gemini 3 lets users get better answers to more complex questions and needs less prompting to find the context and intent behind requests.
• Eversource — The utility dropped more than 8% after the state of Connecticut rejected the company's sale of its Aquarion Water unit.
• MP Materials — The rare earths mine operator rallied about 10% after it announced a partnership with the U.S. Defense Department and Saudi Arabia's Maaden to develop a rare earth refinery. Goldman Sachs also initiated the stock earlier in the day with a buy rating.
• Nvidia — Shares rose 2% ahead of the company's much-anticipated third-quarter earnings report, due after the bell.

Read more.

— Fred Imbert

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday it will not release a full U.S. jobs report for the month of October, following the longest government shutdown in the history of the country.

Instead, "Establishment survey data from the Current Employment Statistics survey for October 2025 will be published with the November 2025 data," the BLS said.

The BLS also pushed back its November jobs data release to Dec. 16 from Dec. 5. The new date is six days after the Federal Reserve concludes its final policy meeting of the year. Read more.

— Fred Imbert

Bitcoin dropped almost 4% in midday trading Wednesday and had hit a fresh low of 89,243, the lowest level since April 22, when bitcoin traded as low as 86,939.99.

The cryptocurrency has fallen close to 5% year to date.

— Gina Francolla, Sean Conlon

Jefferies has moved off the sidelines on Zions Bancorp, upgrading the regional bank to buy from hold on Wednesday. The firm also raised its price target on the stock to $60 from $55, suggesting nearly 22% upside from Tuesday's close.

Zion's charge-off of $50 million in alleged fraud-related charges in the third quarter, as well as the small credit scare among non-bank financials led to a pullback that is overdone, analyst Brooks Dutton said in a note to clients.

"We believe this is an isolated issue and expect further assurance on credit in coming quarters," he wrote. "We expect momentum on core fundamentals, particularly in loans & deposits where growth has previously lagged, could steer the narrative back on track and narrow the discount."

Shares were up more than 2% in midday trading.

— Michelle Fox

Alphabet stock jumped 5% on Wednesday after Google debuted its latest artificial intelligence model, Gemini 3, sparking optimism from investors.

The new model is an improvement on its predecessor, Gemini 2.5, which Google released about eight months ago.

Google said Gemini 3 allows users to get better answers to more complex questions and doesn't need as much prompting to determine the context and intent behind their requests.

Gemini 3 will be integrated into Google's search products, the Gemini app and enterprise services. Read more.

— Annie Palmer

After a rapid sell-off of Chipotle stock, entry is favorable for investors, says Loop Capital.

While the company reiterated the stock's buy rating, it lowered its estimates on the company. However, its $54 price target suggests a 75% increase from Tuesday's close.

Analyst Alton Stump cited rumors the fast-casual Mexican restaurant began to lose its core customer base as a catalyst for the sell-off. However, the 25-35 age demographic, which makes up over 25% of Chipotle's sales, is visiting restaurants less in the face of growing macroeconomic pressures.

"In our view, this narrative undoubtedly has some merit but is overblown," he wrote.

Stump is optimistic about Chipotle's plan to focus on value-centric marketing campaigns and confident in the company's ability to bounce back from the sell-off.

"We are confident Chipotle will return to at least low single-digit comp growth in 2026, which along with its high single-digit unit growth profile and industry-leading store-level returns would suggest the shares are substantially undervalued," Stump noted.

— Itzel Franco

"The Big Short" investor Michael Burry said he remains actively investing, even though his Scion Asset Management hedge fund is deregistered.

In an email to Bloomberg News, he explained that this latest version of Scion was essentially a "friends and family fund," one he didn't market widely or seek to grow through outside investors, in part to avoid the challenges he faced earlier with Scion Capital.

"I am still running my money and active in markets," Burry said.

The famed investor recently revealed seemingly fresh wagers against AI favorites Nvidia and Palantir Technologies. He also alleged that "hyperscalers" — the major cloud and AI infrastructure providers — are understating depreciation expenses by estimating that chips will have a longer life cycle than is realistic.

— Yun Li

The U.S. trade deficit moved sharply lower in August following a slide in imports as tariffs make their way through the global economy.

A Commerce Department report Wednesday — the agency's first official data release since the government shutdown ended — put the imbalance between goods and services at $59.6 billion, tumbling 23.8% from $78.2 billion in July and below the Dow Jones forecast for $61billion.

Driving the decline was a 5.1% decrease in imports, and to a much lesser degree as a 0.1% increase in exports. Deficits with Switzerland and Canada fell by a combined $10 billion.

— Jeff Cox

The three major averages opened Wednesday's session little changed.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% just after 9:30 a.m. ET, as did the Nasdaq Composite. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points, or 0.1%.

— Sean Conlon

Blue Owl has decided to call off the merging of two of its private-credit funds after the deal caused some angst among investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

The firm had planned to merge its smaller, non-traded Blue Owl Capital Corporation II (OBDC II), into the larger, publicly traded fund Blue Owl Capital Corporation (OBDC). In doing so, the firm restricted investors in the $1.7 billion OBDC II from redeeming until the deal closed, even as the merger would have meant about 20% paper losses, based on where the $17.1 billion OBDC has been trading. 

News of the restricted redemptions caused shares of the parent company – Blue Owl Capital to slump about 6% on Monday. It also added to concerns about the state of the private credit industry among investors, especially the area that has started to heavily finance the AI datacenter buildout that many fear is overhyped. Blue Owl shares rebounded slightly on Tuesday. Read more.

— Leslie Picker

Here are some of the stocks moving before the opening bell:

• TJX — The parent of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls retail chains rose 3% after reporting third-quarter earnings of $1.28 per share on revenue of $15.12 billion. That topped the LSEG consensus estimate of $1.22 EPS on revenue of $14.85 billion.
• Bullish — The crypto exchange added 1% on the back of its revenue beat. Bullish, which went public in August, reported adjusted revenue of $76.5 million, topping the $72.9 million expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Adjusted EBITDA also exceeded expectations.
• Plug Power — The hydrogen fuel cell developer sank 20.6% after announcing plans to offer $375 million of senior convertible notes due in 2033.

To see more names making moves in the premarket, read the full story here.

— Michelle Fox

The dollar index inched up on Wednesday, hitting a fresh high of 99.792. That's the highest level since Nov. 7, when the index hit a high of 99.872.

Wednesday's gains help put the index on track to secure its first positive week in three, as it's currently up 0.4% week to date.

— Gina Francolla, Sean Conlon

Global investor sentiment for artificial intelligence remains buoyant, despite on the ongoing stock sell-off.  

European and Asia markets have seen days of consecutive losses, tracking their U.S. counterparts lower as pressures mount on AI-related stocks and their valuations. The pan-European Stoxx 600 on Tuesday notched its lowest level in a month, with major bourses opening mixed on Wednesday, while Asia-Pacific markets fell.  

Stateside, stock futures were little changed overnight after major U.S. indexes extended their losses. AI-related stocks such as Nvidia, Palantir, and Microsoft are among those feeling the pressure.

"We do think this is an AI specific pullback. We don't think this is the beginning of the bear market," Emma Wall, head of investment analysis at Hargreaves Lansdown, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe."  Read more.

— Tasmin Lockwood

Jefferies is getting more bullish on DoorDash as more advertising opportunities materialize.

The investment firm upgraded the food delivery platform to buy from hold. It also raised its price target to $260 from $220, which signals upside of 23% from Tuesday's close.

Shares of DoorDash have rallied 26% this year, but have cratered 20% in the past 30 days, making DoorDash's "strong execution and growth algorithm now appear underappreciated," Jefferies wrote. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Target fell more than 1% after the retailer cut its full-year earnings guidance due to choppy consumer spending and shoppers looking for deals.

The company said it expects earnings per share to range between $7 and $8. Target previously expected its full-year profit to come in between $7 per share and $9 per share.

— Fred Imbert

Lowe's shares rose more than 4% after the home improvement company reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company earned an adjusted $3.06 per share, topping an LSEG estimate of $2.97 per share.

— Fred Imbert

The volatility in bitcoin continued, with the flagship cryptocurrency falling more than 1% to trade around $91,240. Bitcoin on Tuesday briefly dipped below $90,000 before rebounding.

— Fred Imbert

Professional money managers polled by Bank of America in its November Global Fund Manager Survey are holding just 3.7% of assets in cash, flashing a "sell signal," the bank said.

Investors were too bullish this month, the most overweight in equities since February and the most overweight in commodities since Sept. 2022, BoFA said. That enthusiasm is "a headwind not tailwind for risk assets," and means the autumn market's "froth" will continue "to correct further without [a] Fed December rate cut," strategists led by Michael Hartnett wrote Tuesday. Emerging markets and banks are the "most vulnerable to proper Q4 risk-off move," they said.

Contrarians view small amounts of cash reserves as bearish for stocks because it means most buying has already been done and there's little dry powder left on the sidelines that can be further allocated into equities.

The survey covered the period from Nov. 7-13, including some 202 participants running $550 billion in assets under management.

— Scott Schnipper

Check out the companies moving in after-hours trading:

• La-Z-Boy — Shares of the furniture retailer and manufacturer jumped nearly 7% on the back of strong second-quarter earnings results. La-Z-Boy earned 71 cents per share, on an adjusted basis, which came out significantly higher than the 54 cents per share analysts polled by FactSet expected. The company's revenue of $522.5 million for the period exceeded the forecasted $517.6 million.
• ON Semiconductor — ON Semiconductor shares rose almost 4% after the company's board approved a $6 billion stock buyback program over the next three years, beginning on Jan. 1, 2026.
• Dolby Laboratories — Dolby Laboratories dropped 1% after the audio and imaging company's fiscal first-quarter guidance disappointed the Street. Dolby expects earnings to be between 79 cents and 94 cents per share, excluding items, while analysts polled by FactSet expected $1.15 per share. Dolby also forecasted revenue of between $315 million and $345 million, lower than the $369.2 million consensus estimate. Still, Dolby's fourth-quarter results beat on top and bottom lines.

— Pia Singh

Shares of Constellation Energy ticked 2.6% higher in extended trading after the U.S. government said it will back the company with a federal loan.

Department of Energy officials said Tuesday that the Trump administration will provide Constellation Energy with a $1 billion loan to restart the Crane Clean Energy Center nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The plant, previously known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, is expected to start generating power again in 2027. Constellation unveiled plans to rename and restart the reactor in Sept. 2024 through a power purchase agreement with Microsoft to support the tech company's data center demand in the region.

The loan would cover the majority to the project's estimated cost of $1.6 billion. More here.

— Spencer Kimball, Pia Singh

Shortly after 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures each shed less than 0.1%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 10 points, hovering below the flatline.

— Pia Singh