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Today is Friday, October 23, 2026.

The Early Bird Index today is 81.88.

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WD’s Growth Has a Price Tag 🧾

Western Digital $WDC ( ▼ 6.43% ) produced good financial results on Thursday, but concerns around capital expenditures caused the stock to fall 6.54% in after-hours trading.

Financials: Western Digital reported earnings of $4.64 per share in the past quarter and revenue of $4.38 billion. Both were better than expected.

Quote: “Fiscal 2027 is off to a strong start, with results exceeding expectations, driven by robust customer demand and disciplined execution. In our fiscal first quarter, revenue grew 55% year over year, non-GAAP gross and operating margins expanded to 58.1% and 49.1%, respectively, resulting in a 161% year-over-year increase in non-GAAP EPS.” - CEO Irving Tan.

Powering the Story: The issue with Western Digital is future spending. Operating expenses are anticipated to be $400 million to $410 million in the current quarter. Other reports say that Western Digital expects capital expenditures to average 4% to 6% of revenue in the future.

Early Bird’s Nest Egg Gains: Western Digital’s capital expenditures are rising mainly because it is upgrading manufacturing for higher-capacity hard drives rather than building factories to produce more drives. 

Final Thoughts: Western Digital has been one of the most interesting stocks of 2026. The stock was up nearly 300% year-to-date through June 18. Since then, the stock has plunged over 50%.

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Notables

Notable Earnings Today: American Express (NYSE: AXP), SLB (NYSE: SLB), Autoliv (NYSE: ALV), Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), Gentex (Nasdaq: GNTX), Flagstar Bank (NYSE: FLG), Balchem (Nasdaq: BCPC), First Hawaiian (Nasdaq: FHB), GrafTech International (NYSE: EAF), Rogers Communications (NYSE: RCI).

Notable IPOs Today: Lycia Therapeutics, Inc. Common Stock (Nasdaq: LYCA), Pine Tree Acquisition Corp. Class A Ordinary Shares (Nasdaq: PAXG).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: N/A.

Notable Economic Events Today: S&P Global Services PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), S&P Global Manufacturing PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), S&P Global Composite PMI (9:45 a.m. ET), Michigan Consumer Expectations / Sentiment (10:00 a.m. ET).

Bloom Energy's Cash Flow

Despite reporting stronger-than-expected financial results on Thursday, Bloom Energy $BE ( ▼ 8.7% ) fell 6.86% in after-hours trading.

Financials: Bloom Energy reported earnings of 94 cents per share in the past quarter and revenue of $1.24 billion. Both were better than expected.

Powering the Story: But some investors were concerned about Bloom Energy’s cash flow. On Thursday, the company reported negative net cash flow of about $180 million.

Final Thoughts: This is a setback for Bloom Energy. The stock was up 120% this year.

Deckers Outdoor’s Mixed Results

Deckers Outdoor $DECK ( ▼ 0.25% ) fell 7.28% in after-hours trading on Thursday after the footwear designer and distributor reported mixed financial results.

Financials: Deckers Outdoor reported earnings of $2.31 per share in the past quarter, which were better than expected. But revenue was $1.48 billion, which was lower than expected.

Final Thoughts: It’s more pain for investors. Shares of Deckers Outdoor were already down 20% in 2026.

The 2026 Stock Market Playbook: 63 AI Prompts for Investing in Robots, Energy, and the New Economy
The 2026 Stock Market Playbook: 63 AI Prompts for Investing in Robots, Energy, and the New Economy
Stop guessing and start prompting. This practical guide provides 63 high-impact AI chatbot prompts specifically designed for the 2026 industrial economy. From stress-testing investment narratives t...
$4.99 usd

Telecommunications Competition: SpaceX in Talks to Access 80,000 Cell Sites for New Network (Bloomberg)

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