Amgen, McDonald's and Nike Rise as Tech Sells Off

Alphabet’s sharpest-ever one-day fall, Intel’s post-earnings plunge and a 5.3% monthly slide in the Nasdaq have turned the conversation from AI enthusiasm to AI economics. Investors are no longer just asking whether the technology works; they are asking who pays for the data centers, chips and power required to scale it. In that environment, the Dow Jones rose nearly 1.7% in October even as growth stocks were repriced lower, a classic defensive rotation into businesses with clearer earnings visibility and, in some cases, income support.

Amgen offered the cleanest fundamental catalyst. The biotechnology group said its Imdelltra cancer therapy, combined with AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi, cut the risk of death by 58% in advanced small-cell lung cancer in phase III data presented at the ESMO congress and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Median survival rose to 21.1 months from 12.7 months, while progression-free survival improved to 7.4 months from 1.9 months. For investors, that is not just a clinical milestone but a commercial one: it raises the odds that Imdelltra moves beyond second-line use and into a much larger first-line market.

The stock’s reaction reflected that mix of science and scale. Amgen climbed 6.09% on the week to $466.01 and hit an intraday record of $475.64, taking its year-to-date gain to about 45%. The move came on top of a strong operating backdrop, with second-quarter revenue up 10% to $10.1 billion and management having already raised full-year guidance twice. The bull case is that Amgen can keep compounding through a richer oncology franchise and the still-untested obesity drug MariTide. The bear case is valuation: the shares now trade at a premium after a long run, while legacy products face biosimilar pressure and the market has already priced in a lot of good news ahead of Tuesday’s results.

McDonald’s advance was less about fundamentals than about what the market wants to own when volatility spikes. The stock rose 3.89% even though the company had no fresh announcement, underscoring the appeal of a business built on predictable franchise fees, global scale and a dividend record few large-cap names can match. McDonald’s recently lifted its quarterly payout for the 50th consecutive year, a milestone that helped it join the ranks of dividend kings and reinforced its role as a defensive anchor when growth names are under pressure.

That did not happen because the operating picture has suddenly improved. US comparable sales increased only 0.8% in the second quarter and customer traffic has weakened, a reminder that inflation is still biting the low- and middle-income consumer. The stock had also fallen sharply earlier in the year, making the recent rebound partly a valuation reset. Investors will look for evidence next week that US traffic is stabilizing; if it is not, the shares may struggle to hold their gains despite the shelter they offer in a choppy market.