The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) closed Wednesday at $775.65, up $2.40 or 0.31%, after trading between $772.69 and $776.75. This marked IVV’s third consecutive daily gain, though it fell to $773.35 in after-hours trading, down $2.30 or 0.30%, as Alphabet’s earnings miss weighed on the index.
Alphabet’s third-quarter revenue and earnings fell short of consensus estimates, sending its shares down 7% to 9% after hours. The shortfall, partly due to investment losses and negative free cash flow, overshadowed a blowout quarter from Google Cloud.
Microsoft’s results countered this decline. Azure revenue grew 48% to $33.2 billion, and its stock rose 2% to 4% after hours. The two companies, among the largest weights in the S&P 500, moved in opposite directions, and the net effect left IVV’s after-hours price back near Tuesday’s close.
IVV’s Valuation and Performance Metrics
IVV trades at 19.69 times forward earnings, with an earnings yield of 5.08% compared to the 5.01% 10-year Treasury yield. The ETF manages $881.3 billion in assets, charges a 0.03% annual expense ratio, and tracks the S&P 500 with 509 securities.
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The ETF’s price is $9.38 or 1.2% below its 52-week high of $785.03, set on October 6, and 22.7% above its 52-week low of $632.14 from March 30. Thursday’s trading range is expected between $765 and $782, with a recovery above $776.75 potentially reopening the October 6 high.
The Federal Reserve maintained its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10–2 vote. Governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack dissented, favoring a quarter-point hike. The Fed upgraded economic activity from “solid” to “strong” and emphasized that future decisions will depend on “accumulating more information.”
Mixed Trading Session Beneath the S&P 500
The S&P 500 traded near 7,730 at the close. Beneath the index, the session was mixed. Vertiv rose 12.6% on order growth of 100%, while Boeing fell 8.86% and Boston Scientific closed down roughly 4% after cutting its guidance for a third time. Energy refiners slipped, with Valero down 6.25% and Phillips 66 down 5.03%.
IVV’s three-day advance from $763.25 on October 23 to $775.65 had already recovered most of the late-October sell-off, and few buyers were willing to chase it higher before two of the index’s largest companies reported.
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IVV’s path over the past week shows a market swinging on oil, yields and earnings. On October 21, IVV closed near $776.63. On October 22, it fell 1.19% to about $767.39, as Brent crude spiked above $112 and the Nasdaq dropped 2.6%. On October 23, it lost another 0.54% to about $763.25, as corporate cost-cutting headlines and geopolitical risk weighed on equities. The recovery started Monday. IVV rose 0.71% on October 26 to $768.69 as the AI trade regained footing. It added 0.59% on Tuesday to close at $773.25, and gained another 0.31% Wednesday to $775.65. The three-session advance recovered $12.40, roughly 92% of the $13.38 lost on October 22 and 23.
IVV’s Long-Term Performance and Recent Trends
The longer picture is constructive but fading. IVV reached its record of $785.03 on October 6 and has traded below it for more than three weeks. Over the past month, IVV is down 1.66%, while over the past year it has delivered a total return of 13.80% including dividends. Since its May 15, 2000 inception, the fund has averaged an annual return of 8.52%. The March 30 low of $632.14 marked the bottom of the spring sell-off. From that low, IVV has rallied 22.7%, driven by AI spending, strong earnings growth and a resilient economy.
Alphabet’s Double Miss Sent GOOGL Down 7% to 9% After Hours Alphabet delivered the night’s main disappointment. Third-quarter revenue came in at $127.57 billion, below the $128.2 billion consensus, and adjusted earnings per share were $2.12, well short of the $3.02 expected. Shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading, and other readings put the decline between 7% and 9%. The earnings miss was partly mechanical. Alphabet recorded about $8.66 billion in losses on stakes it holds in other companies, which cut 55 cents from earnings per share after taxes.
In the second quarter, the same investment portfolio had contributed large unrealized gains, so the swing from gains to losses explains much of the gap between the actual and expected earnings. The operating story was more concerning.
