Meta Rises and Tesla Slips After Hours on Earnings as U.S. Stock Futures Fall

Since Meta and Tesla posted third-quarter results after the close Wednesday, Oct. 21, Meta shares have risen in after-hours trading, Tesla shares have fallen, and U.S. equity futures have slid.

Futures slip after a strong session

S&P 500 futures were down 0.5% late Wednesday. Nasdaq-100 futures dropped 0.7%, and Dow futures slipped 0.3%, or about 170 points.

That follows a good day. The S&P 500 notched a three-day winning streak, the Dow jumped 360 points and the Nasdaq Composite closed 1% higher. Blowout quarterly results from SpaceX fueled the AI trade, sending Micron and Advanced Micro Devices higher, and Super Micro Computer lifted its fiscal first-quarter revenue outlook.

Asia opened lower Thursday. In an early update, South Korea's Kospi was down 0.67%. Later reports had Japan's Nikkei 225 down 0.73%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 down 0.53% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down more than 2%.

Meta: beat, a firm guide, and a narrower capex range

Meta closed the regular session at $697.52. Its extended-session gain has ranged from about 2% to more than 4%, with one quote near $726.

The company reported revenue of $64.6 billion against a consensus estimate of about $63.37 billion. Ad sales rose 26% to $63.1 billion. For the fourth quarter, Meta guided revenue to $73 billion to $76 billion, and the midpoint of that range was above the Street's estimates.

Meta also tightened its 2026 capital expenditure range to $135 billion to $145 billion, from $130 billion to $145 billion. The change lifts the floor and leaves the ceiling where it was.

Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, said the quarter "showed the AI investment paying off in the core." Spending is "better controlled than feared," he added.

Not everyone is comfortable with how the AI buildout is being paid for. The Associated Press has reported that much of the money going into chips and data centers is borrowed, and that higher interest rates make those loans costlier. FOX Business has flagged CoreWeave's $50 billion debt load as a focal point of that worry. Meta's own free cash flow was negative $2.12 billion in the quarter, against $10.63 billion a year earlier.

Meta's Muse AI agent reached more than 10 million accounts across the US and Canada within six weeks of launch, but the company has not detailed how it will make money from it. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said AI could become a significant revenue source, potentially larger than advertising over time. For now that is a forecast, not a result.

Tesla: a beat that the stock did not reward

Tesla reported adjusted earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $28.05 billion. Analysts had expected 43 cents and $27.88 billion. Shares fell about 2% to 3% after hours anyway, shedding earlier gains.

The stock had rallied during Wednesday's regular session, helped by the SpaceX results. Musk has said SpaceX and Tesla are exploring a combination, which would be the largest merger in history if it happened, and the boards of both companies have created committees to discuss a consolidation.

A summary of the earnings call posted by eWhispers on StockTwits lays out what management told investors:

• More than 75% of North American deliveries signed up for paid Full Self-Driving at delivery, and paid FSD customers have reached 1.7 million.
• Austin's Cybercab fleet grew roughly tenfold in about a month, with Dallas next. Management said robotaxi could become noticeable financially around Q2 2027 and a big deal by Q3 or Q4.
• Optimus is about a year from external customers, with a Fremont line designed for roughly 1 million units a year.
• Megapacks are nearly sold out for 2027, partly on data-center demand. Management said the Terafab project could require tens of billions of dollars through 2028 and more than $100 billion over the longer term.

Those are management targets, not delivered results. The after-hours drop suggests some investors want to see the numbers first. Retail commenters on StockTwits split along similar lines. Some pointed to flat year-over-year revenue and a sharp profit decline. Others argued sellers were judging Tesla on old metrics.

Other after-hours movers

Lam Research fell more than 5%. Southwest Airlines cut its 2026 profit outlook, citing higher fuel prices, and now expects adjusted earnings of $2.60 to $2.85 a share, down from its July call for $3.25 to $4.25. IBM swung wildly after its results, last trading down more than 3%.

Rising oil prices and higher borrowing costs have been keeping Wall Street's comeback in check, according to FOX Business.

What comes next

Thursday brings earnings from Procter & Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Valero Energy and Honeywell. Weekly initial jobless claims are due Thursday morning.

For Meta, the next checkpoint is whether fourth-quarter revenue lands inside the $73 billion to $76 billion range. For Tesla, the test is whether the Dallas robotaxi launch and the Q2 2027 financial inflection management described actually arrive on schedule.