Wake Up With Breakfast News!

Wake up to the latest market news, company insights, and a bit of Foolish fun -- all wrapped up in one quick, easy-to-read email, called Breakfast News. Delivered at 7:30 a.m. ET every single market day. See an example of our weekday Breakfast News email & sign-up below.

Loading paragraph...

Market Data Table

Breakfast News: Tesla Dips, Eyes the Future

October 23, 2025

Wednesday's Markets
S&P 500 6,699 (-0.53%)
Nasdaq 22,740 (-0.93%)
Dow 46,590 (-0.71%)
Bitcoin 107,960 (-0.39%)

Chart depicting Tesla's net profit margin through the second quarter of 2025.

1) Tesla Drops 3% on YOY Profit Decline

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) was down by more than 3% in pre-market trading following Q3 results showing a 31% drop in earnings versus the same period last year, partly due to discounts and low-interest loans.

The "biggest product of all time" is "incredibly difficult to bring to market": CEO Elon Musk struck an optimistic tone and focused on progress with the humanoid robot Optimus, along with an outspoken plea for investors to approve his $1 trillion pay package deal.
Beating the S&P 500 by 1,317% since February 2020 recommendation in Stock Advisor: The 12% jump in revenue is reflective of the increased demand ahead of the expiration of tax credits, but concern remains around low profit margins following four straight quarters of weaker-than-expected profits.

Loading paragraph...

2) IBM Slips, Hybrid Cloud Underwhelms

Twice recommended in Hidden Gems, IBM (NYSE:IBM) dropped over 6% following the market close despite reporting a 9% revenue gain for the third quarter, as the key hybrid cloud operating unit performance underwhelmed investors.

"We feel very good about the growth opportunities in Red Hat overall": CFO Jim Kavanaugh tried to smooth over concerns about the division, which includes the acquired Red Hat open source software company, despite sales in the unit only rising by 14%.
"Over the last five years, IBM has been a great investment, and they are in advanced technologies": TMF co-founder and CEO Tom Gardner recently stated his belief that IBM "will be a leader in quantum computing as it emerges. And they're very well financially managed. I think IBM is a great cautious investment to make in a portfolio, and I think you'll beat the market with it."

Loading paragraph...

3) U.S. Eyes Quantum Stakes as Alphabet Scores Win

The Wall Street Journal reports several quantum-computing businesses are in discussions with the Commerce Department to receive federal funding in exchange for equity stakes, as commercial interest in the sector builds.

Funding awards in excess of $10 million per company: Related companies include Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI), IonQ (NYSE:IONQ), and D-Wave Quantum (NYSE:QBTS), as the government sees quantum computing as key next-gen technology.
"We have achieved the first-ever demonstration of verifiable quantum advantage": In a blog post, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced its quantum chip, Willow, passed a milestone in realizing useful quantum computation, a step closer to making the technology commercially attractive.

Loading paragraph...

4) Next Up: Earnings From INTC and 2 HG Recs

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) is set to report after the market closes, with updates expected on recent deals with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), SoftBank (OTC:SFTB.Y), and the unprecedented U.S. government stake.

Current Superscore of 84 in our Moneyball database: Kinsale Capital (NYSE:KNSL) should release earnings following the closing bell, with revenue expected to exceed the record haul from last quarter.
Tariff-related costs expected to impact margins: Before the market opens, Tractor Supply Company (NASDAQ:TSCO) reports after a solid performance last time around, with a focus on customer loyalty levels, along with demand in rural markets.

Loading paragraph...

5) Your Take

The Snap Test asks, for any company you are looking at, if we snapped our fingers and it disappeared, would anyone notice? Would anyone care? As Motley Fool co-founder David Gardner has said, "Companies that pass the snap test, almost everyone would notice, and lots of people would care. It's one of the surest signs that I've found to pick winning stocks."

Today, we're asking you to think of an example of a company that might look good through other investing lenses but fails the snap test for you! Discuss with friends and family, or become a member to hear what your fellow Fools are saying!

Loading paragraph...