# S&P 500 Rises to 7,712.57 Ahead of Meta and Tesla Earnings By Enna Lee Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/35957 Published: 2026-10-20T20:49:33.000Z Updated: 2026-10-20T20:49:33.000Z Section: Investing > The index added 21.84 points at the Oct. 20 close. Only 9% of S&P 500 companies had reported third-quarter results as of Oct. 16. The S&P 500 rose to 7,712.57 on Oct. 20, ahead of earnings from Meta Platforms and Tesla that will add fresh results to a third-quarter outlook still dominated by forecasts. The benchmark gained 21.84 points at the 4 p.m. ET (20:00 UTC) close, after ending Oct. 19 at 7,690.73. Its latest finish was also above the Sept. 16 close of 7,551.81. The [third-quarter earnings outlook]() remained based largely on forecasts as of Oct. 16. Growth for the S&P 500 was estimated at 29.0% from a year earlier, but just 9% of index companies had reported. The estimate combined their actual results with projected earnings for companies yet to report. Of the companies that had reported by Oct. 16, 84% earned more per share than expected. Their aggregate earnings exceeded estimates by 2.6%, compared with a five-year average earnings surprise of 7.5%. The share of companies beating estimates and the size of those beats measure different parts of the season’s early results. A separate Oct. 19 calculation also put blended third-quarter growth at 29.0%. Removing Micron Technology and NVIDIA from that calculation lowered the growth rate to 20.0%, a difference of nine percentage points. That comparison used the Oct. 19 earnings snapshot; the 9% reporting share and earnings-beat figures were measured as of Oct. 16. The gap between the two growth rates shows the effect of excluding those companies from the calculation. The 29.0% rate remains an estimate for the entire quarter, rather than a completed tally of corporate results. Further company reports will replace part of the forecast with actual earnings. The Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage point to 3.75%–4% on Sept. 16. Its next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27–28. Meta Platforms and Tesla plan to release third-quarter results after the Oct. 21 market close. Meta has scheduled its call for 4:30 p.m. ET (20:30 UTC), followed by Tesla’s webcast at 5:30 p.m. ET (21:30 UTC). ## Links in this article - [third-quarter earnings outlook](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/34919)