Stocks Edge Higher as Oracle Jumps and F5 Sinks: Oct 28, 2026
Updated: 1 day ago
Wednesday was a quiet up day for the big indexes, but under the surface some single stocks moved 10% to 20% on earnings news. Here is what happened, in plain English.
The big picture
All three major U.S. indexes closed higher:
S&P 500: 7,743.98, up 21.38 points (+0.28%)
Nasdaq Composite: 26,549.85, up 72.04 (+0.27%)
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 52,475.10, up 97.53 (+0.19%)
Nasdaq-100: 29,813.16, up 161.72 (+0.55%)
Russell 2000 (smaller companies): 2,830.51, up 11.64 (+0.41%)
If you track the market through ETFs, SPY closed at 772.31 (+0.34%), QQQ at 725.61 (+0.60%), DIA at 524.68 (+0.27%) and IWM at 281.29 (+0.40%).
The Cboe VIX, often called the market's "fear gauge," fell 3.48% to 16.91. A falling VIX usually means traders expect calmer days ahead.
Oil, gold, Bitcoin and bonds
WTI crude oil (front-month futures): $102.78, up 2.88 (+2.88%). Single source (Yahoo Finance).
Gold (front-month futures): $4,051.60, down 23.00 (-0.56%). Single source (Yahoo Finance).
Bitcoin: $81,267.59, up 0.57% on Yahoo Finance. Coinbase data via FRED showed $81,224.64, up 0.61%, so the two sources agree.
10-year Treasury yield: 5.05%, up 6 basis points from 4.99%, per FRED. A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point.
Biggest S&P 500 gainers
Oracle (ORCL): +10.73% to $144.54. At its Investor Day, Oracle set a fiscal 2030 outlook of at least $225 billion in revenue and said it would limit additional capital raises through FY30 to $20 billion. (SEC filing, CNBC)
Vertiv (VRT): +16.48% to $242.94. Third-quarter net sales rose 61% to $4,313 million, and the company raised its full-year 2026 guidance. Its headline: "Raises Full Year 2026 Guidance Across All Key Metrics." (SEC filing)
Flex (FLEX): +11.61% to $93.03. Flex raised its fiscal 2027 outlook to net sales of $34.9 billion to $35.9 billion (up from $33.7 billion to $35.2 billion), plus adjusted EPS of $4.84 to $5.16. (SEC filing)
The common thread: all three gave investors a bigger picture of the future than before.
Biggest S&P 500 losers
F5 (FFIV): -20.43% to $365.53. This one is a great lesson. Q4 revenue rose 13% to $917 million and adjusted EPS of $4.42 beat estimates. But F5 forecast fiscal 2027 revenue growth of just 8% to 9%, down from 11% this year, along with lower margins. (SEC filing)
CoStar Group (CSGP): -13.96% to $27.54. Revenue rose 14% to $952 million, but net new bookings were $37 million, down from $84 million a year earlier. CoStar also announced a $730 million all-cash deal to buy Vexcel. (SEC filing, Investing.com)
C.H. Robinson (CHRW): -11.14% to $127.60. Adjusted EPS was $1.80, but operating cash flow fell to $124.1 million. Coverage also pointed to higher insurance and claims costs and its pending $5.8 billion RXO deal. (SEC filing, FreightWaves)
Big-company earnings
EPS actual and consensus below come from the Nasdaq.com earnings calendar (consensus by Zacks). Revenue and guidance come from each company's own release.
Microsoft (MSFT): beat. EPS $4.89 vs. $4.71 expected; stock -0.06%. "Revenue was $92.3 billion and increased 19%." GAAP diluted EPS was $4.92. Guidance is given on the call, not in the release. (SEC)
Alphabet (GOOGL +1.34%, GOOG +1.60%): miss. EPS $2.12 vs. $2.94 expected. Revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, and Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.7 billion. (SEC)
GE Vernova (GEV): beat. EPS $4.81 vs. $4.03; stock -1.90%. Revenue was $12.6 billion (+27%), and it raised 2026 revenue guidance to $46.5-$47.5 billion. (SEC)
KLA (KLAC): beat. EPS $1.22 vs. $1.18; stock +3.33%. Revenue was $4.14 billion, with December-quarter revenue guided to $4.7 billion +/- $200 million. (SEC)
Amphenol (APH): beat. EPS $0.80 vs. $0.73; stock +3.52%. Sales were $10.2 billion, up 65%. Q4 sales guidance is $10.3 to $10.5 billion. (SEC)
SK hynix (SKHY): miss per Nasdaq.com ($3.84 vs. $5.96); stock +13.30%. It also announced a 20 trillion won treasury-share purchase and a 20,000 won per share quarterly dividend, including a special dividend. The filing has no U.S. dollar EPS, so the Nasdaq figure can't be matched to it. (SEC)
Banco Santander (SAN): in line. EPS $0.26 vs. $0.26; stock -6.26%. Nine-month revenue reached EUR 46.8 billion (+8%), and it "reiterates all its 2026 targets." (SEC)
What my team is watching
Notice the pattern: SK hynix "missed" and rose 13.30%, while F5 "beat" and fell 20.43%. The headline beat or miss is only part of the story. What a company says about the future often matters more.
Educational only, not investment advice. Do your own research.
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