The Earnings Watchlist: October 19–23, 2026 & SPCX Overview

Originally sent October 19, 2026. Market figures reflect the sent newsletter’s snapshot.

Week in Review

Big-bank week came in strong on paper and still sold off. 15 of the 19 financials I tracked beat on EPS, yet most closed lower anyway. Citi beat on both lines and dropped 5.6%. Bank of America missed and fell 4.8%. State Street lost 4.1% and Wells Fargo 3.1%. Goldman beat EPS by more than $4 a share and ended flat. When good numbers can't lift a stock, expectations were already priced in.

• Beat and fell (10): Citi −5.6%, PGR −4.2%, State Street −4.1%, Wells Fargo −3.1%, Morgan Stanley −2.7%, Schwab −2.7%, M&T −1.5%, PNC −0.4%, Goldman −0.2%, Citizens −0.1%
• Beat and rose (5): BNY +3.2%, U.S. Bancorp +2.0%, Travelers +1.5%, BlackRock +0.7% (then +4.4% the next day), Regions +0.5%
• Missed (3): Bank of America −4.8%, JPMorgan −0.9%, Truist +1.1%
• In line (1): Interactive Brokers −3.9%

Priced-in expectations can cause post-earnings drops, as seen with MU. Semis did the same thing last week. ASML crushed its EPS estimate ($14.89 vs $12.47) but still fell 3.9%. TSM beat and slid 1.8%, then kept drifting lower into Friday. That isn't a fundamentals problem. It's a high expectations problem, and it's a problem to keep in mind heading into Magnificent 7 Earnings.

The biggest surprise was JNJ: a beat on both lines and a 5.7% drop, the worst reaction of the week. Domino's beat and lost 4.8%. On the other side, BNY (+3.2%), Albertsons (+2.8%), and Alcoa (+2.5%) got rewarded. Alcoa did it even with a revenue miss.

This is a big reminder that betting on a company beating EPS estimates doesn't mean the ticker will actually trade higher afterward, which is why I focus on the expected move, critical support and resistance zones, plus the post-earnings reactions. This is why you'll see me cite the expected move before earnings, so I can analyze how the stock reacted afterward.

Any 1.5x-2x moves often result in a post-earnings trade idea, while moves within the expected range are considered normal.

Sometimes companies barely move initially on the report, like UNH and BlackRock, but then they run more than 2% in the next session. This can be a fantastic bullish post-earnings signal for buying stocks.

Sometimes the earnings trade is day two, not day one.

Feature Update

I'm always adding features to Options Earnings Calendar, and this week’s addition was a low-liquidity filter to screen out names that trade in the options market but lack sufficient liquidity for options trading.

This is a bit of a manual process, as some tickers are borderline, but I still want to keep them on my calendar, so I did not give them the low-liquidity tag.

Liquidity still varies within the list. I personally prioritize the higher-volume names for tighter spreads and better fills on multi-leg trades. Lower-liquidity names remain useful for the stock and sector read-through, but options trading may be less favorable due to thinner volume and wider ATM spreads.

Check out the screenshot to view the new filter option.

The whole point of the calendar is to narrow down the vast earnings list to tickers I can actually trade; as such, this is a huge help! This helps avoid chart patterns that may look promising on the stock chart but lack a clean optionable setup. I hope you enjoy the new feature.

This Week’s Focus

The calendar is focused on names with more usable options markets.

Line-Up by Day:

Most Optionable Names This Week

From the liquidity checks, these names stand out for volume and open interest (most favorable for options trading):

• CLF (Monday BMO): Unusually strong options volume/OI for its size, with high implied volatility at 95% and an expected move of +/-$0.95.
• NFLX (Tuesday AMC): One of the best overall options names on the calendar, with high implied volatility at 114% and a +/-$6.41 expected move. I will listen to Netflix subscriber/content/advertising commentary after the close.
• SPCX (Tuesday AMC): Only one report so far, but one of my top-watched stocks with high implied volatility and highly optionable. 99% implied volatility in the weekly series, with a +/-$11.84 expected move. Check out my complete SpaceX overview on my blog: https://optionsearnings.com/blog/spcx-earnings-preview-q3-2026
• RTX, GE, GM (Tuesday BMO): Low-liquidity, but still critical names in their industry group. Watching but not trading in the options market. Focus on aerospace/industrial orders and margins (GE, RTX), auto demand (GM), and
• TSLA and META (Wednesday AMC): Strongest volume and open interest, along with highest news-related interest and headline value.
• TSLA is notably showing an 81% implied volatility this week with a +/-$25 expected move. Watch Tesla deliveries/margins/energy storage.
• META has 85% implied volatility, plus a +/-$50 expected move. These tickers will have the highest impact on the Nasdaq after hours on Wednesday, and at the Thursday open.
• Watch Meta ad trends, Reality Labs spend, and any forward commentary across the tech and semiconductor names.
• TXN & LRCX (Wednesday AMC): Usable on Wednesday, but most importantly, will impact the semiconductor space, which is hanging on after the pullback last week. TXN has 93% implied volatility with a +/-$21.69 expected move, and LRCX also has 93% implied volatility and a +/-$21.46 expected move. The post-earnings move, whether it is within the expected range or not, will make all the difference for the semiconductors. All semiconductor bulls (especially me) will be watching!
• PG (Thursday BMO): Excellent open interest; favorable for premium-selling or defined-risk structures, but low implied volatility
• IBM (Wednesday AMC): Decent open interest for multi-leg trades.
• LMT (Thursday BMO): Wider spreads with lower volume, but I kept it on the list due to my interest in industrials.
• SPOT (Thursday BMO): Wide spreads with lower volume, but I kept this on the list as I like this company and stock but won't trade it in the options market
• AXP (Friday BMO): Main liquid options name Friday morning. Lower implied volatility than major tech names, at 54%, and a +/-$14.35 expected move. Watch American Express consumer spending, credit quality, and travel-related volume.

Check out my full calendar below!

My Options Earnings Calendar:

October 19th-23rd

OCTOBER 19–23, 2026

Click on the calendar to enlarge the image or download it to your PC. To create your own custom calendar, visit https://optionsearnings.com/.

Big-Picture Takeaways for Options Traders

• Tickers most likely to create high volatility this week include: NFLX, TSLA, SPCX, META, LRCX, and TXN, especially after last week's pullback.
• Guidance and the forward look will matter more than the printed quarter on most of these reports. Size and risk management matter more on any of the lighter-liquidity names if you choose to trade them.
• If you like my full SpaceX overview, request one for another ticker by responding to this email!

Your Earnings Tool

To learn more about the tickers reporting earnings, go to optionsearnings.com and click on the individual ticker to bring up the ticker preview window. There, you'll find information such as the current stock price, 3-month price action, expected moves in the options market, implied volatility, earnings premium, short float, and more.

Happy Trading!

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