U.S. Stocks Rest After Mixed Batch of Earnings, Trump's Russia Sanctions Drive Oil Prices Higher

Barry Adams
23 Oct, 2025
New York City

U.S. stocks struggled to stay above the flatline, and investors reviewed the fresh batch of mixed earnings. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite eased 0.3% following sharp sell-offs in Tesla, IBM, and Lam Research.  

So far large companies have delivered on earnings growth, and investors are hoping that the current record market valuations are still justified by the earnings level. 

The sharp escalation in tariffs has not affected corporate earnings so far, and investors are looking for clues as to how businesses are adjusting to higher import costs, resurgent inflation, and falling margins. 

Investors in China and Hong Kong have largely ignored the ongoing trade tensions with the U.S. as China's share of U.S. shipments continues to fall and has dropped to 25% of global exports. 

Gold rebounded 0.7% to $4,130.22 per ounce, and silver edged up 1.5% to $49.24 an ounce from the brutal sell-off of 8% over the previous two days.  

Crude oil soared 6.1% to $62.08 per barrel after the U.S. president announced new sanctions on two Russian oil companies, citing stalled Ukraine peace talks. 

The U.S. announced severe financial and shipping sanctions on Russia's Lukoil and Rosneft while urging India and China to scale back purchases.  

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Southwest Airlines Co. increased 1% to $34.11 after the company reported a surprise income in the third quarter. 

Revenue increased 1% to $6.94 million from $6.87 million, net income dropped 19% to $54 million from $67 million, and diluted earnings per share decreased to 10 cents from 11 cents a year ago. 

The airline guided available seat miles to increase by about 6% and revenue per available seat mile to rise between 1% and 3% in the fourth quarter, respectively.

The airline estimated its 2025 operating earnings to be between $600 million and $800 million, and the company reiterated its contribution to operating earnings from improvement initiatives of $1.8 billion. 

Tesla Inc. decreased 3.3% to $424.55, and the electric vehicle maker reported mixed third-quarter results. 

Revenue advanced 12% to $28 billion from $25.2 billion, net income dropped 37% to $1.4 billion from $2.2 billion, and diluted earnings per share dropped 37% to 39 cents from 67 cents. 

Revenue in the automotive segment rose 6% to $21.2 billion, energy generation and storage soared 44%, and services and other revenues advanced 25% to $3.5 billion. 

International Business Machines dropped 6.7% to $287.51 after the company released its third-quarter results. 

Revenue increased 9% to $16.3 billion from $14.9 billion, net income swung to a profit of $1.7 billion from a loss of $330 million, and diluted earnings per share were $1.84 compared to a loss of 36 cents a year ago. 

The company declared a cash dividend of $1.68 per share payable on December 10 to shareholders, recorded on November 10. 

Stock faced selling pressure after revenue growth in the hybrid cloud unit, also known as Red Hat, slowed to 14% from 16% in the previous quarter. 

The company raised its fiscal year revenue outlook to a growth of more than 5%, compared to the previous estimate of at least 5%.