Before tonight’s bell: what the numbers actually mean
The Daily Digest
Dark Bulls
Wednesday · October 21, 2026
Tesla and Meta report tonight — the first of the Magnificent Seven to face this earnings season. Investors aren't just watching revenue. They're watching AI spending, and whether any of it can be justified.
Wednesday. SpaceX blew past estimates last night — $14.58 billion in revenue against a $12.7 billion forecast, earnings of 35 cents a share — and shares jumped 6–8% in premarket trading, pulling the entire space sector with them. Now the question shifts to Tesla, which reports after the bell today alongside Meta. Analysts expect Tesla to earn around 45 cents a share on $27.9 billion in revenue, on deliveries that fell year-over-year. Oil is back above $110. Brent traded at $110.20 this morning. Here's what you need to know.
Dear Reader,
See the man riding on top of this truck?
See the man riding on top of this truck?
He didn't climb up there for a publicity stunt.
He's sitting on one of Elon Musk's strange white "crates."
Nearly 4,000 of them are quietly rolling out of a high-security Tesla compound…
Heading toward Air Force bases, New York City, and even the Hoover Dam.
But here's the twist:
The crate isn't carrying Elon's next great invention.
The crate IS the invention.
Blackstone calls the market surrounding it a $23 trillion opportunity.
And Elon expects this part of Tesla's business to grow as much as 150% to 200% per year, faster than its car business "by a lot."
Yet most are still staring at Cybertrucks and robotaxis.
Click here to see what he discovered inside Elon's mystery crate →
He's sitting on one of Elon Musk's strange white "crates."
Nearly 4,000 of them are quietly rolling out of a high-security Tesla compound…
Heading toward Air Force bases, New York City, and even the Hoover Dam.
But here's the twist:
The crate isn't carrying Elon's next great invention.
The crate IS the invention.
Blackstone calls the market surrounding it a $23 trillion opportunity.
And Elon expects this part of Tesla's business to grow as much as 150% to 200% per year, faster than its car business "by a lot."
Yet most are still staring at Cybertrucks and robotaxis.
Click here to see what he discovered inside Elon's mystery crate →
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| In Focus |
Tesla and Meta report tonight. SpaceX already beat by a mile — now the market wants to know if the rest of the AI spending story holds up.
October 21, 2026 · Markets / Technology
SpaceX set the tone. Revenue of $14.58 billion came in more than $1.8 billion above what analysts had forecast, and earnings of 35 cents per share cleared the bar comfortably. The company's AI compute leasing business — selling GPU capacity to other AI firms through Starlink's infrastructure — contributed meaningfully to the beat. Shares jumped 6–8% in premarket trading, pulling satellite and aerospace stocks higher with them. The market got what it needed from SpaceX: confirmation that space-based AI infrastructure is generating real revenue, not just promises.
The headline from SpaceX's earnings call, however, was not the numbers. Elon Musk disclosed that both SpaceX's and Tesla's boards of directors have formed independent special committees to study a potential merger — "at the request of shareholders," he said. Musk recused himself from both committees as a conflicted party. "This is a kabuki dance," he told analysts, "where two groups of people are talking and I'm not allowed to be in that conversation." A combined SpaceX-Tesla, at Tuesday's closing valuations of $2.01 trillion and $1.48 trillion respectively, would be the largest corporate transaction in history. Musk cautioned directly that "some people think this is a done deal — that's an overstatement." No terms have been discussed and Tesla would require approval from 50% of all outstanding shares, not just voting shares.
Tesla's own report arrives tonight against a more complicated backdrop. Deliveries of 486,532 vehicles in Q3 fell year-over-year — the second such decline in three quarters. Analysts are modeling around 45 cents per share and $27.9 billion in revenue. But the energy storage business posted 13.7 GWh deployed in Q3, a record. Musk's "mystery crates" — Tesla's Megapack battery units — are shipping to Air Force bases, city infrastructure, and utilities. Blackstone has called the grid storage market a $23 trillion opportunity. The question tonight is whether Musk talks about that number, or whether the car delivery decline dominates the narrative. Tesla shares are up 1–1.5% heading into the print.
"
Some people think the Tesla-SpaceX merger is a done deal. That's an overstatement. These are two groups of independent directors having a conversation — and I'm not allowed to be in it.
— Elon Musk, SpaceX earnings call, October 20, 2026
What I'm about to tell you right now is probably going to make me public enemy #1 on Wall Street.
And frankly, I don't care.
Because it's crucial that you know where to move your money before October 31st.
I'm Keith Kaplan, CEO of TradeSmith. We're a financial technology company that has spent $17 million on AI tools and research, and we've built a platform that 180,000 people worldwide now use in the stock market.
As great as AI is, there's a dark side to it that I cannot ignore.
It's costing Americans their jobs... their very livelihoods...
And turning the American Dream into the American Nightmare.
I worry it's only going to get worse.
That's why I'm shouting from the rooftops to anyone that will listen that now is the time to prepare for the dangerous phase we're facing next.
I am going to show you exactly where to move your money for a chance at 1,000%+ returns, starting as soon as October 31st.
As a matter of fact, I believe that with just one simple move today, you could make more money than owning Nvidia, SpaceX, or any of the other tech stocks everyone else is running to buy.
I explain it all here.
Best,
Keith Kaplan
CEO, TradeSmith
P.S. Tens of thousands of folks already use our tools in the stock market.
One gentleman named Stephen told us he has built a $2.95 million retirement portfolio using our work, saying that "these results wouldn't have been possible" without his tools.
Another follower called Keith W said: "I have more than doubled my portfolio. I love the consistency of my results**."
But I have to warn you, you're running out of time to move your money ahead of the market's next big twist.
Everything you need to know is laid out free of charge right here.
**The investment results described in these testimonials are not typical. Investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may lose some or all of the investment.
And frankly, I don't care.
Because it's crucial that you know where to move your money before October 31st.
I'm Keith Kaplan, CEO of TradeSmith. We're a financial technology company that has spent $17 million on AI tools and research, and we've built a platform that 180,000 people worldwide now use in the stock market.
As great as AI is, there's a dark side to it that I cannot ignore.
It's costing Americans their jobs... their very livelihoods...
And turning the American Dream into the American Nightmare.
I worry it's only going to get worse.
That's why I'm shouting from the rooftops to anyone that will listen that now is the time to prepare for the dangerous phase we're facing next.
I am going to show you exactly where to move your money for a chance at 1,000%+ returns, starting as soon as October 31st.
As a matter of fact, I believe that with just one simple move today, you could make more money than owning Nvidia, SpaceX, or any of the other tech stocks everyone else is running to buy.
I explain it all here.
Best,
Keith Kaplan
CEO, TradeSmith
P.S. Tens of thousands of folks already use our tools in the stock market.
One gentleman named Stephen told us he has built a $2.95 million retirement portfolio using our work, saying that "these results wouldn't have been possible" without his tools.
Another follower called Keith W said: "I have more than doubled my portfolio. I love the consistency of my results**."
But I have to warn you, you're running out of time to move your money ahead of the market's next big twist.
Everything you need to know is laid out free of charge right here.
**The investment results described in these testimonials are not typical. Investing in securities carries a high degree of risk; you may lose some or all of the investment.
— Sponsored —
Meta's report tonight carries different stakes. The company has been investing heavily in AI infrastructure — data centers, custom chips, and the Llama model family — and Wall Street wants to know whether that spending is translating into advertising revenue that justifies the capital outlay. Netflix's report Tuesday night offered a cautionary note: earnings slightly beat at 87 cents per share, but revenue of $12.87 billion came in just under forecast, Q4 revenue guidance disappointed, and the company lowered its 2026 advertising revenue outlook. Shares fell 4–6%. The pattern is becoming familiar: beat on the bottom line, miss on the growth story. Meta will need to show that its AI investments are accelerating, not merely sustaining, ad revenue growth.
The broader macro backdrop adds pressure. Brent crude is back above $110 this morning, driven by continued disruption in Strait of Hormuz transit and fresh reports of Houthi drone activity over Medina — Saudi Arabia's second-holiest city — that the Houthis have denied. Saudi Arabia canceled its flagship FII investment forum, known as "Davos in the Desert," citing security conditions. That's a meaningful signal: a country telling the world's largest fund managers and bank chiefs that it cannot guarantee their safety at an event is not a routine cancellation. Meanwhile U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin in Moscow to discuss Ukraine peace terms; no results were disclosed.
| Today's Digest |
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There is no charge for a copy.
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— David
Dark Bulls
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