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Big Banks Up, Speculative AI Down in Hump Day Markets
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Key Takeaways
The Dow Closed Above 48K for the First Time Today
Cisco Beats on Top and Bottom Lines in Q1 This Afternoon
Disney and AMAT Report Q4 Earnings Tomorrow
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
It was another mixed day in the market indexes today, with the shadow of an AI overspend hanging over the tech sector. Massive capital expenditures in AI infrastructure are making it hard to see how the math works, so instead of dragging the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new all-time closing highs, they wound down -0.25% and -0.29%, respectively, for the session.
The outlier here would undoubtedly be AMD (AMD - Free Report) , which gained another +9% today. Yesterday, CEO Lisa Su said the chipmaking major expected to grow revenues +35% each year for the next three to five years, tamping down on the general fears of overspending in the AI space. Even still, so far more than $380 billion has been spent so far to build out AI infrastructure.
The more speculative plays in the AI space, such as the quantum computers like D-Wave (QBTS - Free Report) and IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) , down -8.9% and -6.8% today, respectively. They were somewhat feeling the gravitational pull from Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) , which is down -9.9% for the session following a revenue miss in its Q3 report yesterday.
Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow closed at 48K for the first time ever: +322 points (+0.67%) to an all-time high close of 48,249. Big banks were big beneficiaries today, with Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) gaining +3.5% on its $110 billion move to take Electronic Arts private. Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) and Citigroup (C - Free Report) both gained +2% on the day.
Cisco Reports Routine Beat in Q1
As always, Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) modestly outperformed estimates this afternoon, in its fiscal Q1 report released after the bell. Earnings of $1.00 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 2 cents (and an improvement over the year-ago earnings of 91 cents per share). Revenues of $14.88 billion in the quarter beat the estimated $14.78 billion — and more than $1 billion higher year over year.
Cisco has a remarkable decade-plus earnings beat streak, but almost never with blowout numbers. The trailing 4-quarter average earnings beat was by +3.86%. Guidance for both earnings and revenues — for both next quarter and the ful fiscal year — were raised across the board. Shares are up +6% in late trading on the news.
What to Expect from the Market Tomorrow
While Congress does vote on whether to reopen the federal government later today, we don’t expect we’ll see Weekly Jobless Claims or Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers ahead of the open. Over time, we do expect all the government economic reports to eventually hit the tape, but likely with spotty data here and there. Future revisions will likely tell the more accurate story down the road.
Both Disney (DIS - Free Report) and Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) are expected to post fiscal Q4 results Thursday, with Disney’s earnings expected to come down -9.65% on +1.37% revenue growth. Chip services major AMAT is slated to come in -9% on earnings and -4.93% on its top line. Both companies are looking to keep their earnings beat streaks alive.
Image: Shutterstock
Big Banks Up, Speculative AI Down in Hump Day Markets
Key Takeaways
Wednesday, November 12, 2025
It was another mixed day in the market indexes today, with the shadow of an AI overspend hanging over the tech sector. Massive capital expenditures in AI infrastructure are making it hard to see how the math works, so instead of dragging the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new all-time closing highs, they wound down -0.25% and -0.29%, respectively, for the session.
The outlier here would undoubtedly be AMD (AMD - Free Report) , which gained another +9% today. Yesterday, CEO Lisa Su said the chipmaking major expected to grow revenues +35% each year for the next three to five years, tamping down on the general fears of overspending in the AI space. Even still, so far more than $380 billion has been spent so far to build out AI infrastructure.
The more speculative plays in the AI space, such as the quantum computers like D-Wave (QBTS - Free Report) and IonQ (IONQ - Free Report) , down -8.9% and -6.8% today, respectively. They were somewhat feeling the gravitational pull from Rigetti Computing (RGTI - Free Report) , which is down -9.9% for the session following a revenue miss in its Q3 report yesterday.
Meanwhile, the blue-chip Dow closed at 48K for the first time ever: +322 points (+0.67%) to an all-time high close of 48,249. Big banks were big beneficiaries today, with Goldman Sachs (GS - Free Report) gaining +3.5% on its $110 billion move to take Electronic Arts private. Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) and Citigroup (C - Free Report) both gained +2% on the day.
Cisco Reports Routine Beat in Q1
As always, Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) modestly outperformed estimates this afternoon, in its fiscal Q1 report released after the bell. Earnings of $1.00 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 2 cents (and an improvement over the year-ago earnings of 91 cents per share). Revenues of $14.88 billion in the quarter beat the estimated $14.78 billion — and more than $1 billion higher year over year.
Cisco has a remarkable decade-plus earnings beat streak, but almost never with blowout numbers. The trailing 4-quarter average earnings beat was by +3.86%. Guidance for both earnings and revenues — for both next quarter and the ful fiscal year — were raised across the board. Shares are up +6% in late trading on the news.
What to Expect from the Market Tomorrow
While Congress does vote on whether to reopen the federal government later today, we don’t expect we’ll see Weekly Jobless Claims or Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers ahead of the open. Over time, we do expect all the government economic reports to eventually hit the tape, but likely with spotty data here and there. Future revisions will likely tell the more accurate story down the road.
Both Disney (DIS - Free Report) and Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) are expected to post fiscal Q4 results Thursday, with Disney’s earnings expected to come down -9.65% on +1.37% revenue growth. Chip services major AMAT is slated to come in -9% on earnings and -4.93% on its top line. Both companies are looking to keep their earnings beat streaks alive.
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