IDD Daily Brief: Thursday, Oct 22, 2026 — Meta and Tesla report as Abbott plans Nutrition spin-off
Published
> “There’s no use running if you’re on the wrong road.” — Warren Buffett
The Big Picture
- Meta and Tesla headlined a crowded earnings night. Meta's revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion and it earned $9.86 billion, or $3.83 a share, despite a $9.89 billion charge tied to its settlement with 52 state attorneys general, while Tesla's revenue was roughly flat at $28.05 billion and GAAP net income fell to $787 million.
- Guidance kept moving higher. Honeywell, AT&T, Wabtec, Teledyne, United Rentals, Allegion and CACI all raised their outlooks, with Honeywell lifting 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $8.40 to $8.45 from $8.05 to $8.35.
- Big corporate moves piled up. Abbott plans to spin off its roughly $8.5 billion Nutrition business by the end of 2027, Cencora agreed to buy American Oncology Network at a $2.4 billion enterprise value, and Johnson & Johnson booked a $5.5 billion talc accrual.
Earnings
Reported since yesterday's brief
- Meta Platforms (META): Excluding the settlement charge, EPS would have been $7.40, according to its 8-K. Meta guided fourth-quarter revenue to $73 billion to $76 billion and narrowed 2026 capital spending to $135 billion to $145 billion.
- Tesla (TSLA): Non-GAAP EPS was $0.48 versus $0.50 as deliveries fell 2% to 486,532, according to its 8-K. Free cash flow was $1.53 billion, and Tesla said it began Robotaxi rides using Cybercabs in Austin.
- Texas Instruments (TXN): Revenue rose 28% to $6.06 billion and EPS climbed to $2.62 from $1.48, according to its 8-K. TI guided fourth-quarter revenue to $5.80 billion to $6.30 billion.
- Lam Research (LRCX): Record September-quarter revenue rose 22% from the June quarter to $8.22 billion, with non-GAAP EPS of $2.20, according to its 8-K.
- IBM (IBM): Revenue rose 5% to $17.1 billion and operating EPS rose 11% to $2.95, according to its 8-K. IBM now expects full-year free cash flow to grow by more than $1 billion.