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• Elon Musk used Tesla's third-quarter conference call to renew his contention that next-generation businesses and AI will be the key drivers of the company's future value.
• “People just don't quite appreciate the degree to which this will take off," he said of Tesla's full self driving technology.

Elon Musk wants investors to know Tesla is an AI company. 

The CEO told investors on the company’s earnings call Wednesday that Tesla (TSLA) is at a “critical inflection point” as it shifts its focus toward “real-world” applications of AI, including self-driving cars and smart robots. The company had earlier said its third-quarter electric vehicle deliveries reached a global record high.

Musk has long pointed to Tesla's next-generation businesses as the drivers of its next phase of growth—he has said Tesla stands to become the world's most-valuable company—and he leaned into that today.

“People just don't quite appreciate the degree to which this will take off,” Musk said of Tesla's full-self driving software, calling it a coming “shock wave” to transportation. Tesla said its FSD adoption has reached about 12% of Tesla's installed fleet of vehicles, leaving significant room for growth. Once people can text and do other things the entire time they're riding Tesla vehicles, Musk said, "anyone who can buy the car will buy the car."

Musk said he expects no safety drivers will be needed in the company's robotaxis in large parts of Austin by the end of this year, with plans to expand them to as many as 10 more American metros, beyond Austin and San Francisco, by year's end.

But the company biggest application of "real world" AI could be in its humanoid robots, executives said.

A bet on Tesla's shares is in large part a bet on Elon Musk and his ability to make his vision reality. Musk frequently uses opportunities like the company's quarterly conference calls to restate that vision in a bid to re-energize investors. This time, there's something else at stake: a vote, set for early next month, on a big proposed pay package for Musk.

Tesla is “on the cusp of something really tremendous with Optimus,” Tesla’s humanoid robot, Musk told investors. Musk said he expects the company could unveil a new version of Optimus in the first quarter. 

The robot, which Musk has previously suggested he believes could become the “biggest product ever, of any kind,” and come to drive over 80% of Tesla's value, represents its next big phase of growth and bet on AI, CFO Vaibhav Taneja said.

Shares of Tesla were down about 3% in after-hours trading following the call and earnings that slightly missed estimates, as the company said it faced higher costs from restructuring and investments in AI. They were up roughly 9% for 2025 through today's close.

Musk on Wednesday railed against proxy advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis, which recently urged investors to vote against a proposed pay package amid worries it could be too dilutive, as "corporate terrorists." A vote on that proposal is set for early next month.

• Meta is reportedly laying off about 600 employees in its artificial intelligence division amid an ongoing reorganization, according to a report from Axios.
• The company is still hiring for other roles in the unit, and encouraging affected employees to apply for other roles internally.

Booming profits and demand for AI hasn’t stopped Meta (META) from laying off employees. 

The Facebook and Instagram parent is trimming about 600 roles in parts of its Superintelligence Labs led by Alexandr Wang, Axios reported Wednesday, though the company continues to hire for other AI-related positions in the unit.

The company's newly formed "TBD Lab" unit of its Superintelligence Labs—which includes many of its high-profile AI hires poached from other companies in recent months—has been spared from the layoffs, according to the report.

Meta didn’t respond to an Investopedia request for comment in time for publication. 

Meta's move comes after a flurry of recent layoffs at big tech peers such as Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet, contributing to worries about AI-driven impacts on the labor market. The companies in some cases are trimming their workforces as pressure mounts to cut costs where they can as they dramatically increase AI spending, while some expect advancements in the technology could reduce the need for workers over time.

Meta is reportedly encouraging employees who received notice to apply for other roles internally, expecting that many will be absorbed by other departments.

Back in July, CFO Susan Li told investors that Meta planned to grow its overall headcount through 2026 after a large round of layoffs earlier in the year, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense, though the company reportedly moved to freeze AI hiring in August amid concerns about growing costs.

Meta, which is set to report earnings next Wednesday, is not the only big tech giant that's made cuts this year. Several of its Magnificent 7 peers including Microsoft (MSFT), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) have undergone layoffs in recent months even as their revenues rose. That's added to worries that growing spending on AI could lead major technology companies to announce more job cuts in a bid to maintain profit margins.

Shares of Meta closed fractionally higher on Wednesday. They've added roughly one-quarter of their value in 2025.

• A video streamer came under pressure on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025, after a one-time tax event weighed on its earnings, while strong results boosted a maker of robotic surgical devices.
• Netflix missed quarterly estimates, citing the impact of a one-time tax event in Brazil, and its shares slumped.
  
• Intuitive Surgical stock powered higher after the company touted increases in procedures performed using its robotic surgical systems.

A tax charge related to its business in Brazil contributed to an earnings miss for a major video-streaming company, and its shares moved lower. Meanwhile, a provider of robotic surgical systems got a boost from better-than-expected quarterly results driven by an increase in procedures performed using its units.

Major U.S. equities indexes fell as investors reacted to the latest earnings reports and awaited results from Tesla (TSLA) after the bell. The S&P 500 lost 0.5%, while the Dow dropped 0.7%. Underperformance in the tech sector pressured the Nasdaq, which fell 0.9%. See here for Investopedia's full daily market wrap-up.

Shares of Lennox International (LII) slumped 10.2%. The provider of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration solutions fell short of quarterly sales expectations, reflecting declines in its residential segment. The company said a challenging macroeconomic backdrop and a regulatory transition to new refrigerants weighed on its performance.

Netflix (NFLX) reported lower-than-expected net income for the third quarter. The results included a one-time tax expense of more than $600 million related to the video-streaming giant's business in Brazil. The country's Supreme Court determined earlier this year that a tax on cross-border payments could apply to a broader range of transactions, and Netflix took the charge given the likelihood that it could be subject to the ruling, CEO Spencer Neumann said. Netflix shares sank 10.1%.

Coinbase Global (COIN) shares fell 5.4%, following the prices of major cryptocurrencies lower. Bitcoin, which traded as high as $113,700 during the regular session yesterday, tumbled below $110,000 overnight and remained under $109,000 throughout Wednesday's session. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, slipped to about $3,800 today.

Shares of Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) surged 13.9%, logging the top performance in the S&P 500, after the maker of robotic surgical devices topped third-quarter sales and adjusted profit estimates. The company highlighted a year-over-year increase in procedures performed using its da Vinci and Ion surgical systems and lifted its full-year growth forecast for da Vinci procedures.  

Avery Dennison (AVY), a maker of adhesive labels, also posted better-than-expected top- and bottom-line results for the third quarter, boosted by improved pricing and cost cuts. The company also announced a partnership with retail giant Walmart (WMT) to expand the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) labels into new fresh food categories. Shares of Avery Dennison soared 9.5% Wednesday.

Boston Scientific (BSX) shares also got a lift from a strong earnings report, jumping 4% after the medical device maker surpassed third-quarter sales and adjusted profit estimates and raised its full-year guidance. The company benefited from strong sales of its electrophysiology products and the Watchman, its implantable device for patients with atrial fibrillation.

• The Consumer Price Index likely rose 3.1% over the year in September, according to forecasters.
  
• That would be the highest inflation in nearly a year and a half, which would underscore how tariffs have pushed up inflation that had been decelerating before President Donald Trump imposed double-digit import taxes.
  

Inflation likely rose to a 17-month high in September as tariffs pushed up prices, forecasters say. 

The Consumer Price Index report scheduled for release on Friday is likely to show that prices rose 3.1% over the year in December, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. If the report aligns with expectations, it would be an increase from 2.9% in August and the highest 12-month inflation rate since May 2024.

Higher inflation would underscore the impact of President Donald Trump's import taxes, which have steadily pushed prices up in recent months. The index's year-over-year inflation measure has risen every month since April, when Trump announced double-digit tariffs on products from nearly every country in the world. Before that, inflation had been largely decelerating from its post-pandemic peak in 2022. By many measures, it was nearly back down to the Federal Reserve's goal of a 2% annual rate.

Inflation accelerating for a fifth consecutive month would deal a setback to the Federal Reserve's efforts to lower inflation, which had been on a downward trend before April.

Still, the expected uptick would not likely be steep enough to deter officials at the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates later in October as widely expected. The Fed cut its benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter-point in September to prop up the ailing job market, as the Fed has grown more concerned with preventing unemployment than fighting inflation.

Despite higher prices, lower rent increases may keep the overall inflation rate from rising too much. "Core" inflation, which excludes volatile prices for food and energy, is expected to have risen 3.1% in September, unchanged from August.

"We expect goods inflation to stay elevated due to continued tariff pass-through, while an easing in primary shelter costs should help cool services inflation," Wells Fargo economists Sarah House and Nicole Cervi wrote in a commentary.

The September CPI report could be especially noteworthy since it will be one of the few official pieces of economic data produced by the government's statistical agencies during the shutdown that began Oct. 1. The Bureau of Labor Statistics brought back some of its furloughed workers to publish the report that was initially due out Oct. 15.

• Tesla posted revenue growth for the third quarter after two quarters of declines.
• The company, however, also turned in quarterly earnings per share that came in lower than analysts expected.

Tesla returned to revenue growth in the third quarter as buyers rushed to take advantage of expiring tax credits. 

The electric vehicle maker's revenue climbed 12% year-over-year to $28.1 billion, topping analysts' expectations, in the wake of President Donald Trump's signature "One Big Beautiful Bill." Tesla (TSLA) said its vehicle deliveries reached a record high globally, showing "growth across all regions." That followed two straight quarters of decline as a backlash against CEO Elon Musk's political activities weighed on sales.

A strong run of EV deliveries, many in response to the expiration of U.S. tax credits, helped power better-than-expected revenue at Tesla in the latest quarter. Enthusiasm about next-generation businesses like robots and robotaxis have pulled the stock into the black for 2025, but wariness about the car business may partly explain why it's among the lower-performing Magnificent 7 stocks this year.

However, Tesla's adjusted earnings per share of $0.50 missed the consensus estimate of $0.54 compiled by Visible Alpha. The company said it faced higher costs from restructuring and investments in AI.

The company in a shareholder letter said its Cybercab, semi truck and Megapack 3 battery products were "on schedule" for production at volume next year, adding that it was also installing production lines for its Optimus robots.

Shares of Tesla, the first Magnificent 7 company to report third-quarter results, were down more than 1% in extended trading following the late-Wednesday release. They were up roughly 9% for 2025 through today's close, after spending much of the year in negative territory.

Tesla has underperformed every Magnificent 7 stock so far this year except Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN), the latter which is the only one in the red for 2025. It's also lagged the Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS) along with the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq.

This article has been updated since it was first published to reflect share price movement and add new information and context.

• U.S. farmers may have permanently lost their share of the global soybean market, as the trade war has led China to seek alternative sources.
  
• The U.S. exported $12.6 billion in soybeans to China in 2024, nearly equal to the total amount exported to the rest of the world combined, making it one of America's most significant agricultural exports.
  

U.S. soybean farmers are among the casualties of President Donald Trump's trade wars, and one of their biggest sources of income may have been permanently scaled back when the smoke clears.

That's according to a new analysis by Kiran Ahmed, lead economist at Oxford Economics, who forecasts that U.S. soybean exports to China are unlikely to return to their former levels even if the two nations strike a deal.

In 2024, before Trump's second term in office began, U.S. soybean farmers exported $12.6 billion worth of their crops to China, making the country their largest customer according to the Department of Agriculture. That all came crashing down this year after China stopped buying U.S. soybeans altogether as part of the back-and-forth trade war that has raged in recent months.

"We do not expect China to purchase U.S. soybeans during the current U.S. export window and even though we anticipate China will resume purchases in the future, the U.S. is unlikely to regain its pre-tariff market share," Ahmed wrote.

The collapse of soybean exports to China is one of the disruptive effects of the ongoing trade wars launched by President Donald Trump in his second term in office.

The drop in exports has left farmers struggling to find new markets for their crops. The White House is making plans to give farmers some relief by sending them $10 billion to $15 billion of the government's new tariff revenues as a bailout, according to a report by Reuters citing unnamed officials.

The U.S. may have permanently lost its share of the soybean market, since China is shifting its supply lines to Brazil and Argentina, which have expanded production, Ahmed wrote.

China primarily uses soybeans to feed its livestock, making the beans a crucial part of its food supply, which Chinese officials aim to safeguard against potential future trade disputes. That's unlikely to change even if trade talks between the U.S. and China later this month are successful, Ahmed wrote.

"Even as China returns to purchasing U.S. soybeans, and even if soybean tariffs are rolled back, China will continue to diversify its purchases with the U.S. unlikely to regain its lost market share," he wrote.

• Uno cards, Hot Wheels cars and American Girl dolls are popular purchases, according to Mattel, while Barbie and Polly Pocket sales have slowed.
• Mattel says it is on track to meet its 2025 sales goal despite retailers shifting more of their orders to the fourth quarter.

Uno is still number one.

The multi-colored game deck is the top-selling card game and has grown for nine quarters in a row, according to Mattel (MAT), its parent company, which late Tuesday briefed analysts about the trends the toy and game giant sees heading into the holiday shopping season.

Among those trends: American Girl doll sales are on the rise, with Mattel saying that the segment had its fourth consecutive quarter of growth during the period ending Sept. 30; other popular items included Hot Wheels cars, Monster High dolls and toys related to the Jurassic Park and Wicked movies. Sales of Barbie and Polly Pocket toys trailed off, executives said on a conference call.

Mattel's quarterly sales fell 6% year-over-year, and its net income fell 25%. The company said its numbers fell because retailers changed order methods in the face of tariffs. It expects to make up the sales in the months ahead, and reiterated its full-year forecast of 1% to 3% sales growth, though some analysts observed that the third-quarter performance adds pressure on the company to close the year strong.

"Near-term uncertainty could weigh on the shares despite an overall better '26 outlook," UBS wrote Wednesday.

Both Mattel and Hasbro have said they would raise prices in response to tariffs, though Mattel said today that it's done raising prices for the year. Both companies likely have greater ability to limit price increases than smaller toy and game companies with less negotiating power.

Fewer retailers are picking up products abroad, and more are relying on Mattel to import and warehouse goods, despite it costing retailers more, CFO Paul Ruh said. This gives retailers "more flexibility to commit to orders" amid shifting trade policies and consumer dynamics, Ruh said. (Both ordering options present Mattel with similar "economics," he said.)

Retailers tend to place domestic shipment orders closer to when they need merchandise, which has shifted many orders into the fourth quarter, Mattel said. "They want to be ready for the season, and they're stocking up," Ruh said, according to a transcript made available from AlphaSense. "These trends are tracking in line, actually, with our full year outlook."

Mattel raised prices in recent months in response to tariffs. It won't consider additional increases until 2026, Ruh said. The new prices haven't weighed on consumer demand, the company said.

Additional insight on how the toy industry is faring may come on Thursday, when Hasbro (HAS) is slated to discuss its results with investors.

Mattel shares, recently off less than 1%, are up about 6% so far this year.

• Another meme stock frenzy is underway, sparking massive moves for shares of Beyond Meat and Krispy Kreme.
• Beyond Meat's stock price more than doubled Wednesday morning, touching its highest level in more than a year, before giving back most of those gains in the afternoon.
• Shares of Krispy Kreme, the beaten-down maker of sweet treats, have soared the past two days.

If you're old enough to remember when shares of Beyond Meat traded for under a buck apiece, read on. (It was earlier this week.)

Those days seem quaint now, with the stock moving as high as $7.69 this morning—its highest level since August of last year and up about 1,400% from its closing low this year of 52 cents, set last Thursday. (The stock had given back most of its early-session gains by Wednesday afternoon, displaying the volatility that is typical of meme plays, and was trading at $3.90 recently.)

Beyond (BYND) seems to be the meme stock of the moment, though others are vying for the pantheon: Krispy Kreme (DNUT), for example, which at 2025 intraday lows of $2.50 was down 75% for the year as of June, is now trading some 65% above those prices. Both stocks remain well off their historical highs.

Grabbing at a lightning bolt is no easy feat. JPMorgan analysts tapped both of those companies as compelling short ideas earlier this month, citing "eroding market share in a declining category" in Beyond's case and and an "overburdened balance sheet" in Krispy Kreme's.

The end of a particular meme-stock run can feel as hard to time as its beginning. In the meantime, they're a signal of investor appetite for the possibility of quick action on stocks that might be lightly traded otherwise. The dramatic recent gains in shares of Beyond Meat and Krispy Kreme are just the latest examples.

Some news around the stocks has likely helped drive or sustain momentum. On Monday, Roundhill added Beyond to its Meme Stock ETF (MEME), launched in early October. (Other names in the ETF include OpenDoor (DOOR) and Plug Power (PLUG); its price is roughly flat since it arrived.) Beyond announced wider availability in Walmart (WMT) stores earlier this week. And Krispy Kreme has stepped up its overseas expansion plans.

But the dramatic short-term move in stocks like these also signals a continued investor willingness to take fliers on companies they think others can get behind—whether driven by the belief that a fallen stock will rebound, convincing arguments for a turnaround, or the possibility of a short squeeze, where people who bet against the shares are forced to buy them to stem losses.

Krispy Kreme and Beyond have the added attraction of widely known brand names, a commonality among some meme stocks. Knowing where meme traders might turn their attentions next can be tricky to say the least—and their brand of trading may fall out of fashion—but for now, there's sizzle to be had.

• The streamer's third-quarter earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates after logging a one-time tax expense in Brazil.
• Netflix's stock is the biggest loser in the S&P 500 Wednesday, falling some 10%.

Even the "KPop Demon Hunters" were no match for the jump scares in Netflix's (NFLX) latest earnings.

The streaming giant has been riding high on the success of the Korean cultural import—its animated superhero girl group has been a record-breaking hit—but its third-quarter report featured an unusual tax expense amid heightened investor expectations. Investors pulled away from the shares in response, with the stock falling some 10% in recent trading to be the biggest losers in a sliding S&P 500—and taking some of the gloss off a mostly-strong 2025.

The big terror in Netflix's quarter was a $600 million-plus expense described by CEO Spencer Neumann as a "unique tax" that recently turned into a "cost of doing business in Brazil." The country's Supreme Court ruled in August that its 10% tax levied on cross-border payments, royalties, and services could apply to a broader range of transactions in a case involving a different company, he explained. Given the likelihood of that ruling applying to the streaming company, Neumann said, it recorded the expense that covers periods from 2022 through September 2025.

Shares of Netflix have performed well this year, lifted by growth expectations and well-received content. Some of the pullback in its stock may be related to expenses taken in reaction to a Brazilian court ruling, but it's likely that some investors sold because they expected better performance in the business, too.

Without that expense, according to Neumann, Netflix would've beaten its third-quarter targets for operating income and operating margin. "We don't expect this matter to have a material impact on our results going forward," he said, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.

Netflix's reported operating income of $3.24 billion missed consensus expectations for $3.6 billion, per analysts tracked by VisibleAlpha.

That reassurance didn't keep investors from selling today. William Blair analyst Ralph Schackart attributed Netflix's swoon to the optics of the miss, saying a strong slate of content this past quarter built up investor expectations. Wedbush's Alicia Reese said the numbers underwhelmed against a phenomenal content slate."

"With such a strong content slate this quarter, investors were likely playing for a beat and a stronger guide above the Street versus basically an in-line quarter and guide," Schackart wrote.

• Major U.S. equities indexes slid Wednesday afternoon after a flurry of weaker-than-expected earnings reports. 
• Netflix shares fell after the streaming giant's earnings missed analysts' estimates amid a tax dispute in Brazil. 
• Intuitive Surgical shares soared after the surgical robot maker posted earnings that topped expectations.

Major U.S. equities indexes slid Wednesday afternoon after a flurry of weaker-than-expected earnings reports. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all declined.

Netflix (NFLX) was the worst-performing stock in the S&P 500 after the biggest streaming service missed profit estimates amid a tax dispute in Brazil. 

Texas Instruments (TXN) shares also fell after the chipmaker posted disappointing earnings, and gave a weaker-than-expected outlook, saying the rebound in the semiconductor sector hasn’t been as robust as it anticipated.

Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) was the best-performing stock in the benchmark index as the surgical robot manufacturer posted earnings that topped expectations and boosted its outlook as procedures using its da Vinci system grew.

Shares of DraftKings (DKNG) climbed as the sports betting site purchased Railbird Technologies in order to expand into prediction markets, which have soared in popularity.

Avery Dennison (AVY) shares jumped after the package labeling maker posted better-than-expected earnings and said it is teaming with Walmart (WMT) to provide the retailer with sensor technology to digitally track food freshness. Walmart shares were slightly higher.

Oil futures gained, while gold prices continued to slide after their worst day in 12 years. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed. The U.S. dollar outpaced the pound, but lost ground to the euro and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies traded lower.