The S&P 500 fell 0.52% on Friday 23 October and the FTSE 100 slipped 0.32%, so index moves were small while single stocks moved a lot. A Bloomberg report on SpaceX and cell towers hit the US carriers, and cybersecurity bounced after two weeks of heavy selling. Weekly figures below run from the 16 October close.
SpaceX Tower Talks
Bloomberg reported after Thursday's close that SpaceX is in talks for access to at least 80,000 US cell sites, and Friday was the first session to price it. CCI (+9.06%) closed at $85.97 on 4.56x average volume after naming Crown Castle as a counterparty. It opened at $91.02 and gave back part of the gain by the close. T (-7.96%) fell to $20.93 on 2.47x average volume, and TMUS (-7.71%) fell to $146.54, a new 52-week low. Verizon lost 1.19%.
The report rests on anonymous sources and nothing is signed. AT&T had already fallen 6.45% on Wednesday after slower postpaid phone growth, and the Starlink fear that surfaced then now has a concrete trigger. T-Mobile reports on 28 October, and Citi sees a further 4% to 16% of downside for the group.
Cybersecurity Rebound
This reverses part of the slide that hit the group on 16 October. CRWD (+8.25%) closed at $257.57 and PANW (+7.22%) at $380.55, after Evercore ISI's channel-partner survey reported firmer security budgets into year-end. A survey measures partner sentiment and carries no vendor results. Palo Alto trades on a forward P/E of 78.0 and CrowdStrike on 159.9. Sources disagree on Palo Alto's report date, with 12 November and 19 November both cited.
Earnings Beats Hold Their Gains
Most of the weekly gains in this group arrived earlier in the week, and Friday added little. HAS (+18.91% wk) closed at $117.44, flat on the day and at its 52-week high. ROP (+14.48% wk) closed at $438.14 and ALLE (+14.33% wk) at $178.98, which sits about 1.1% below its 52-week high after BofA upgraded it to Buy with a $200 target. EFX (+13.09% wk) closed at $182.36 after a 2.55% fall on Friday with no stated cause. It has cut 2026 revenue guidance, so margins carry the rally.
CRL (+15.07% wk) closed at $345.37, 1.65% below its high. The sources point to Investor Day targets, a UBS upgrade and a life sciences rally, with no single company trigger confirmed. It reports on 4 November on a forward P/E of 27.1.
Oilfield Services
SLB (+7.08%) closed at $53.06 after adjusted EPS of $0.64 beat the $0.62 consensus, with revenue of $9.45bn against $9.28bn. Fourth-quarter revenue guidance of about $10bn arrived in the same release. HAL (+5.21%) rose to $34.92 with no confirmed driver. Sympathy with SLB is the leading candidate, and oil prices are another.
Results That Went Down
Four reporters fell despite headline beats or raised guidance. BE (-11.24%) closed at $193.30, about 19% below Wednesday's close. Revenue was a record $1.24bn, but free cash flow was negative $181m after roughly $430m went into contract assets. FIX (-9.26%) fell to $1,160.86 on 3.66x average volume after a beat that came with no forward guidance and the announced retirement of CFO Bill George. The stock has lost 30.02% over 20 sessions.
GL (-8.09%) closed at $154.79 after Piper Sandler cut it to Neutral and lowered its target to $165 from $200, following a lower 2026 EPS range. CBRE (-6.05%) closed at $123.30, 1.3% above its 52-week low, as management guided capital-markets weakness into the first half of 2027. Peers did not follow.
Aerospace and Mining De-ratings
RR.L (-7.57%) closed at 1,164.20p, the worst FTSE 100 performer of the day, after Safran flagged slower wide-body aftermarket demand. Thursday's 5.11% fall has no sourced cause, and the trading update on 12 November is the next company test. HWM (-15.86% wk) closed at $185.91 and set a 52-week low. The sources describe a sector de-rating after GE's results, together with worry about vertical integration in turbine castings. It reports on 29 October.
FRES.L (-15.08% wk) closed at 2,309.00p. Peers fell between 7.82% and 10.35% in a copper-led miner sell-off, and the Q3 production miss and a Canaccord target cut account for the extra decline.
AI Hardware Slide, Quieter
LRCX (-12.82% wk) closed flat at $230.10 after Thursday's guidance-driven drop. PWR (-13.52% wk) closed at $546.43 and FLEX (-15.38% wk) at $76.55, with both near unchanged on the day. Flex has no sourced cause for its slide. Quanta reports on 29 October.
What to watch
- 28 October: T-Mobile (TMUS) and Flex (FLEX) report.
- 29 October: Howmet (HWM) and Quanta (PWR) report.
- 4 November: Charles River (CRL) reports.
- 12 November: Rolls-Royce (RR.L) trading update.
- 12 or 19 November: Palo Alto (PANW) reports, with sources split on the date.