Market-moving news for Wednesday, October 28, 2026

What happened

Vice President JD Vance is engaging Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and previously Iran's longest-serving Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, in a bid to revive peace negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter. Vance sent Rezaei a letter at President Trump's direction, and Trump confirmed Wednesday evening that he approved the contact, saying 'They need help with medical supplies and various things' and 'If you want to do that, that's ok.' The outreach is testing whether Tehran and Washington can find enough common ground to persuade Trump not to give a final order for a short, intense attack on Iran in the coming weeks. Discussions so far have focused on a possible framework for negotiations, not specifics of a peace proposal, and Rezaei said last week Iran would not negotiate until specific core demands were met. In early Asian trade, oil eased on the diplomatic signal: front-month WTI fell 0.7% to $102.10 a barrel and Brent fell 0.6% to $114.60.

What happened

Fortinet reported third-quarter results after Wednesday's close that disappointed a market primed for big beats, sending the stock down about 25% in after-hours trading. Product revenue — firewalls and secure-networking hardware — came in at $765 million, up 37% year over year, a sharp deceleration from 52% growth in the second quarter. Service revenue (security subscriptions) of $1.31 billion missed the $1.33 billion FactSet consensus, and Fortinet cut its full-year service-revenue forecast to $5.15–$5.17 billion from $5.18–$5.22 billion. Billings of $36 billion beat the forecast midpoint by only ~2%, versus an 11% beat in Q2. CEO Ken Xie said on the call that Fortinet is 'leading the next frontier of cybersecurity by securing AI workflow.'

What happened

Qatari mediators presented Iran with a new draft deal on Sunday to end the war with the U.S. and Israel, and Tehran is expected to send a response by the end of the week, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Wednesday, Oct 28. The draft sets a seven-day timeline addressing both Tehran's and Washington's concerns, laying out daily confidence-building steps each side must take; the timeline could begin early next week, with several countries acting as guarantors. However, by Wednesday a senior Iranian official had dismissed what Qatar presented as 'unacceptable ideas and not an offer,' according to a separate Reuters analysis — a sign the proposal is far from accepted. Oil barely moved on the news, with WTI near $102 and Brent near $115, as traders weighed the draft against the parallel risk of a renewed U.S. campaign after the midterms.

What happened

ServiceNow reported Q3 2026 results after the close on Oct. 28: revenue of $4.11 billion, up 20.5% year over year and slightly above the $4.09 billion consensus, with subscription revenue of $3.99 billion, up 21%. But adjusted EPS came in at $1.00 versus the $1.02 analysts expected, GAAP net income fell 44.8% to $277 million ($0.27 per share, versus $0.48 a year earlier), and fourth-quarter guidance — subscription revenue of $4.25–$4.26 billion and cRPO growth guided at about 18.5% — came in below expectations. Shares fell more than 14% in after-hours trading, with Bloomberg-cited coverage saying the sales outlook renewed market concerns about AI disrupting the software industry.

What happened

Microsoft reported fiscal Q1 2027 results after the close on Wednesday, October 28, beating expectations on every headline metric. Revenue rose 19% year over year to $92.28 billion, ahead of the $90.62 billion consensus, and adjusted EPS came in at $4.89 versus $4.71 expected; GAAP net income rose 32% to $36.63 billion ($4.92 per share). Azure revenue grew 48%, beating the ~44-45% constant-currency guidance and the ~44.3% Street expectation, with Azure revenue of $33.2 billion and Microsoft Cloud revenue up 30% to $63.9 billion. Capital expenditures of $45.2 billion (including finance leases; $39.4 billion cash capex) came in below the roughly $51 billion analysts expected, and free cash flow of $18.6 billion, though down 27% year over year, beat the ~$8 billion Wall Street expected. Shares jumped about 4% in after-hours trading to around $552, after closing roughly flat at $531.01.

What happened

Alphabet reported Q3 2026 results after the close on Wednesday, October 28, missing on the bottom line and sending shares down 8.5% in after-hours trading to $297.11. EPS came in at $2.12, down from $2.87 a year ago and well below the $3.02 consensus, while revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion, narrowly missing the $128 billion expectation. The EPS miss was driven largely by an $8.66 billion loss on equity securities, versus a $10.73 billion gain a year earlier; excluding one-time items, EPS was $2.67. Google Cloud was the standout, with revenue more than doubling (+103%) to $30.7 billion and operating profit of $11.1 billion, above the $9.8 billion estimate. But Google Services — search, YouTube and subscriptions — fell short, with operating income of $39.2 billion versus $40.8 billion expected, and YouTube ad revenue of $11.21 billion missing the $11.5 billion estimate. Free cash flow went further negative to -$9.1 billion, the second straight quarter of negative FCF, as Q3 capex jumped 114% to $51.4 billion.

What happened

Oracle shares surged about 12% on Wednesday to $146.11, on pace for their largest percentage gain since April 13, after the company laid out an ambitious long-term outlook at its financial analyst/investor day. Management forecast fiscal 2030 revenue of more than $225 billion — above the $217.7 billion analysts surveyed by FactSet expected — with an adjusted operating margin above 40% and adjusted earnings of more than $21 per share, implying roughly 35% annual revenue growth. CFO Hilary Maxson said Oracle expects free cash flow to turn positive in the second half of fiscal 2028 and exceed $30 billion in fiscal 2029, as capital spending declines, and that the company will limit additional capital raises to $20 billion through fiscal 2030 (excluding refinancing). Oracle also reaffirmed its fiscal 2027 forecast of more than $90 billion in revenue and adjusted earnings of $8.10 per share.

What happened

The Federal Reserve held its benchmark federal funds rate steady at 3.75%-4.00% on Wednesday, October 28, 2026, exactly as markets expected. The vote was 10-2, with Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissenting in favour of a quarter-point increase — a hawkish signal that the committee's centre of gravity still leans toward tightening. The statement upgraded its description of activity to expanding 'at a strong pace' (from 'solid pace' in September), said job gains have kept pace with workforce growth and unemployment has changed little, and noted uncertainty remains elevated partly owing to geopolitical developments. In his 2:30 p.m. ET press conference, Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation expectations are 'going the right way' but stressed it is the Fed's responsibility to get inflation down, while declining to call financial conditions tight. Stocks barely budged: the Dow and S&P 500 held gains of roughly 0.1-0.2% while the Nasdaq slipped about 0.2%, and the 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to about 5.03-5.05%.

What happened

Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management, leading a group with restaurant operator Flynn Group and investment firms BlueFive Capital and Sixth Street Partners, offered to buy Wendy's for $7.35 a share in cash, valuing the fast-food chain at about $1.4 billion, according to a Wednesday regulatory filing first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The bid is roughly a 20% premium to Tuesday's close, when Wendy's market value was about $1.2 billion. Shares surged 14-16% in premarket and early trading to around $7.01-$7.12. Trian and related parties hold a 16.3% stake. Trian said Wendy's is 'at a critical juncture' and that the complex, multiyear turnaround it needs — significant capital investment to de-lever and fix system performance — would be easier as a private company. Wendy's had not responded to requests for comment.

What happened

GE HealthCare posted third-quarter earnings per share of $1.34, up 25% year over year and 14 cents ahead of consensus, on revenue of $5.513 billion, up 7.2% and $162 million above estimates. CEO Peter Arduini cited 'strong top-line growth and margin expansion across all segments.' Overall EBIT margin rose to 16.6% from 14.8%, helped by a 0.9% reduction in the tariff rate, and backlog climbed to $23.7 billion on a 1.03 book-to-bill ratio. The company raised its full-year earnings outlook to $4.95-$5.05 from $4.80-$5.00, its strongest earnings growth since the 2023 spinoff, and shares jumped about 7-8% in early Wednesday trading, toward a buy point above 75.65.

What happened

Vertiv Holdings reported a blowout third quarter Wednesday morning: adjusted earnings of $2.21 per share, up 78% year over year, on net sales of $4.313 billion, up 61% — both far above FactSet consensus of $1.82 EPS and $3.75 billion in revenue. Adjusted operating profit rose 83% to $1.087 billion (18% above expectations) and net income rose 79% to $868 million. The company also raised its full-year guidance, lifting 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $7.10–$7.20 and projecting full-year sales growth of 38% to $14.65 billion, up from $14.2 billion previously. Shares jumped about 15% in Wednesday morning trading to around $240. CEO Giordano Albertazzi said: 'We are in the middle of the largest infrastructure build out and it's accelerating.'

What happened

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they hit Saudi Arabia's biggest oil refinery, Ras Tanura, with a ballistic missile, intensifying their strikes against the world's largest crude exporter. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the strike on the 550,000-barrel-per-day facility, so the claim remains unverified. Brent crude futures rose about 1.3% to $115.36 a barrel in Wednesday Asia trading and U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 1.2% to $101.12, reversing much of Tuesday's nearly $2-a-barrel decline, when Middle East talks had briefly eased supply worries.