For a few hours on Wednesday, the artificial intelligence trade looked like itself again.

SK Hynix Inc. (SKHY) and Vertiv Holdings Co. (VRT) did the heavy lifting, reigniting the AI narrative and lifting U.S. stocks modestly ahead of a busy afternoon on Wall Street. Investors still had plenty to chew on: the Federal Reserve's policy decision at 2 p.m. ET, oil climbing above $102 a barrel on renewed fears of U.S. military action against Iran, and a 10-year Treasury yield pushing back over 5%.

Start with the memory maker. SK Hynix's U.S.-listed shares rallied 12.9% after record third-quarter results. Operating profit reached 83.3 trillion won, or about $62.2 billion, above the roughly 77 trillion won analysts had expected. The company turned about 80% of its sales into operating profit. Read that again. Eighty percent.

Revenue rose 328% to 104.6 trillion won, topping 100 trillion won for the first time. In Seoul, the stock jumped 10.9%, its biggest one-day gain since July 31.

Vertiv brought the same message from the physical side of the buildout. The data center power and cooling supplier jumped 12.9% after third-quarter net sales rose 61% to $4.31 billion, well above the $3.77 billion analysts expected. Organic orders more than doubled, and the company raised its full-year outlook. The rally puts the stock on track for its biggest one-day gain since Feb. 11, 2026, when shares surged 24.5%.

So the chips are selling and the cooling systems are selling. The AI trade, at least for one session, found its footing.

The S&P 500 rose 16 points, or 0.2%, to 7,738. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 157 points, or 0.3%, to 52,535. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.1% to 29,691. The Russell 2000 was flat at 2,819.

Among the Magnificent Seven, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) rose 1.0% ahead of its after-hours results, while Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which also reports tonight, slipped 0.8%.

In Energy Markets

WTI crude rose 3% to $102 a barrel after U.S. officials reportedly told several Persian Gulf countries to prepare for a short, intense military campaign after the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Yemen's Houthi militants also claimed a strike on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura refinery, which Saudi authorities have not confirmed.

Treasury yields moved higher with crude. The 10-year yield rose 4 basis points to 5.03%, on track for its first close above 5% since Oct. 21. The two-year yield climbed 4 basis points to 4.78%, and the 30-year yield added 2 basis points to 5.33%.

Gold slipped 0.4% to $4,057 an ounce and silver fell 1.4% to $53.73 ahead of the Fed decision. Bitcoin (BTC) edged down 0.4% to $80,420.

Wednesday's Performance In Major US Indices

According to market data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) rose 0.2%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.3%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) edged up 0.1%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) slipped 0.1%.

Energy Leads, Real Estate Lags As Yields Push Back Toward 5%

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rose 1.0%, the best performance among S&P 500 sectors, as crude climbed on the Iran headlines.

The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLRE) fell 0.9%, the weakest sector, as higher Treasury yields weighed on rate-sensitive property stocks. That is the classic trade: when the 10-year goes up, the landlords go down.

The Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV) gained 0.7% as Labcorp Holdings Inc. (LH) jumped 10.2% and GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (GEHC) rose 8.0%, both after beating estimates and raising full-year guidance.

Financials, industrials and technology rose between 0.3% and 0.5%, while communication services, consumer discretionary, materials, consumer staples and utilities slipped.

The memory rally spread to U.S. chipmakers. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 1.3%, with Micron Technology Inc. (MU) up 4.6% and Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) up 5.9%.

Solar stocks sank. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) dropped 3.9% after Enphase Energy Inc. (ENPH) plunged 15.5%. Its fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $225 million to $255 million fell well short of the $297.6 million consensus.

Wingstop Inc. (WING) led Russell 1000 gainers with a 14.4% rally. Adjusted earnings of $1.08 per share topped the $1.02 consensus, even as domestic same-store sales fell 5.4%. The market, apparently, will forgive a lot when the earnings line beats.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) rose 11.9% after posting record third-quarter results and raising its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $25.20 to $26.30.

Hayward Holdings Inc. (HAYW) also climbed 11.9% after the pool equipment maker lifted its full-year outlook.

Evercore Inc. (EVR) gained 11.1% after adjusted EPS of $4.28 crushed the $2.48 consensus on record third-quarter revenue.

On the downside, F5 Inc. (FFIV) tumbled 19.2% despite beating estimates, as Piper Sandler downgraded the stock to Neutral from Overweight, citing the end of its hardware refresh cycle and potentially peaking growth.

Landstar System Inc. (LSTR) slid 15.3% after third-quarter EPS of $1.42 missed the $1.68 consensus, as the freight transportation company flagged insurance and claims inflation. Freight peer C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. (CHRW) fell 10.1%.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA) lost 13.3% after cutting its expected asset retention from the Commonwealth Financial Network acquisition to about 83% from 90%, overshadowing an earnings beat.

CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP) fell 13.2% even after raising its full-year revenue guidance to $3.75 billion to $3.77 billion and agreeing to buy Vexcel Group for $730 million.

Looking ahead, Microsoft and Alphabet report after the close, with analysts expecting EPS of $4.72 and $3.02, respectively. KLA Corp. (KLAC), Ford Motor Co. (F), Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) and eBay Inc. (EBAY) also report, with consensus EPS of $1.19, $0.41, $0.29 and $1.41, respectively.

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Losers