Equal weight beats cap weight by 1.54 points as ServiceNow falls 27%, ADT jumps on a $10 buyout and Intel drops 17% after hours

On Thursday, Oct 29, 2026, the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) fell 0.36% to 769.49 and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) fell 1.40% to 715.42. Meanwhile the equal-weight S&P 500 ETF (RSP) rose 1.18% and the Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) gained 0.96%. The index loss came from a few large names. The clearest driver was selling in big software and internet stocks after Wednesday night's earnings. ServiceNow (NOW) closed down 26.95% at $109.67. Alphabet (GOOGL) was down 12.24% at midday, according to TheStreet.

After the close the pressure grew. Intel (INTC) fell 17.00% after hours on its third-quarter results. SPY was down another 0.55% and QQQ another 1.13% in late trading.

Equal weight beat cap weight by 1.54 points

Thursday's tape split in two. The cap-weighted indexes fell because their largest Tech and Comms names fell. The average stock rose. RSP's 1.18% gain came on just 0.49 times Wednesday's volume, so the broad advance was real but light. IWM's 0.96% gain came on 1.25 times the prior day's volume, a firmer sign of demand for smaller companies.

The rest of the market rose across both defensive and cyclical groups. According to Quantisnow's post-market report, rate-sensitive sectors led as Treasuries rose and yields fell.

Sector ETF	Change	Volume vs. Oct 28
Health care (XLV)	+2.39%	1.97x
Real estate (XLRE)	+2.23%	0.63x
Utilities (XLU)	+1.52%	1.12x
Staples (XLP)	+1.47%	1.00x
Financials (XLF)	+1.45%	1.22x
Materials (XLB)	+1.25%	2.26x
Industrials (XLI)	+0.95%	0.99x
Discretionary (XLY)	+0.75%	0.98x
Energy (XLE)	+0.37%	1.01x
Tech (XLK)	-1.22%	1.06x
Comms (XLC)	-1.91%	1.26x

Other markets:

• Treasuries (TLT) rose 0.58% and the dollar (UUP) slipped 0.12%.
• Gold (GLD) fell 1.32%, even with lower yields and a softer dollar.
• Bitcoin (IBIT) fell 0.91% during the session and another 2.73% after hours.
• Volatility (VIXY) fell 2.17%, which fits a market rotating out of a few names rather than selling off across the board.

The biggest moves and their catalysts

ServiceNow. NOW's drop from a $150.13 prior close to $109.67 was the biggest large-cap loss of the day. MarketBeat said volume was up 249% from its average. GuruFocus put Q3 revenue at $4.11 billion, up more than 20%, with adjusted EPS of $1.00 against $1.02 expected. TheStreet blamed weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter guidance. The leveraged ticker NOWX fell 52.42%. Fortinet was down 21.52% at midday, also after Wednesday-night results.

Glaukos. GKOS rose 33.65% to $242.48. Benzinga reported Q3 revenue of $211.03 million against a $168.22 million estimate. It also reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.47 where analysts expected a $0.10 loss, and a raised 2026 sales guide. TIKR added that the company set a $1 billion sales target for 2027. Glaukos was the biggest named winner in Health Care, the day's best sector.

ADT. ADT jumped 33.20% to $9.87 after agreeing to a $10.00-per-share all-cash takeover by Thrive Holdings. Investing.com reported these terms:

• The deal values ADT's equity at about $7.6 billion and the whole company, including debt, at $15.3 billion.
• The price is a 45.6% premium to ADT's Oct 27 close of $6.87.
• Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027, pending a shareholder vote and U.S. antitrust approval.

Quantisnow's M&A guide explains how to read the gap between the stock price and the offer price.

No catalyst on the wire. Several large moves had no news in today's data:

• Gainers: PCLA (+86.09%), KATT (+47.35%), PUR (+47.11%), KPLT (+37.58%), TXXH (+29.93%) and Bausch Health (BHC, +28.76%).
• Decliners: Iovance (IOVA, -35.45%), AIOK (-32.87%), MVLL (-26.50%), MRVU (-26.44%), GOGL (-25.87%) and GOU (-25.83%).

We are not guessing at reasons for these moves.

After the bell: Intel, Amazon and Strategy

Intel. INTC reported at 4:01 PM ET:

• Q3 revenue was $16.5 billion, up 21% from a year earlier.
• GAAP EPS was $0.60 and non-GAAP EPS was $0.52.
• The Q4 revenue forecast starts at $15.0 billion. That low end is 9.1% below Q3 revenue.

The 17.00% after-hours drop puts the stock on track to open lower on Friday, adding to Tech's 1.22% loss today.

Amazon. AMZN fell 6.79% after hours following an 8-K filing. Our data sheet does not say what the filing contains, so read it directly before drawing conclusions. Amazon is a heavy weight in XLY, which rose 0.75% today, so a lower open would test that gain. Pinterest (PINS) also fell 6.43% after an 8-K, which matters for Comms after today's 1.91% slide. Our Form 8-K guide explains the item numbers.

Strategy. MSTR fell 3.05% after hours despite reporting Q3 operating income of $21 billion and diluted EPS of $44.75. Those figures came almost entirely from a $20.91 billion gain on digital assets. Strategy held 848,517 bitcoin as of Oct 25, 2026, after buying $14.33 billion worth so far this year. Because the profit depends on bitcoin's price, IBIT's 2.73% after-hours drop matters more for MSTR than the reported earnings.

Other earnings after the close

Company	Release (ET)	What the wire excerpt shows
AJG	4:15 PM	Q3 results; the excerpt carries no figures
ILMN	4:07 PM	Q3 revenue $1.13 billion, up at least 4%
RIVN	4:02 PM	Revenue $2.155 billion, up 38%; +5.14% after hours
INGM	4:06 PM	Net sales $15.2 billion, up 20.8%; beat the top of its guidance on every metric and raised full-year guidance
HTGC	4:06 PM	Record new debt and equity commitments this year of $3.44 billion, up 20.0%
SPXC	4:05 PM	Q3 results; the excerpt carries no figures
BFAM	4:18 PM	Q3 results and revised 2026 guidance; the excerpt does not say which direction

Analyst calls and insider buys

Three rating changes crossed the wire during the session. HSBC Securities upgraded FedEx (FDX) at 11:11 AM ET and set a new price target. Stifel downgraded Alnylam (ALNY) at 11:10 AM ET with a new target. Griffin Securities downgraded Microsoft (MSFT) at 1:00 PM ET, on a day Tech fell 1.22%. The wire items do not give the targets. The analyst upgrades list tracks new calls.

No insider purchases were filed on Oct 29, 2026. The insider purchases page will show the next filings.

What is on deck for Friday, Oct 30

Quantisnow's post-market report lists nothing notable on Friday's calendar, so after-hours earnings will set the tone. Things to watch at the open:

• Whether Intel's 17.00% drop spreads to chip peers.
• Whether Amazon's and Pinterest's 8-K declines extend the slide in Comms and Discretionary.
• Whether equal weight can stay ahead of cap weight. Today's 1.54-point gap came on light RSP volume and now faces SPY's 0.55% after-hours loss.

The earnings calendar lists Friday's reporters.