AI rally fades away from Wall Street as a tiny IPO makes big waves

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Hello, this is Leonie Kidd, with today's edition of Morning Squawk.

Wall Street's AI relief rally hit a wall in Asia and Europe, turning the neoclouds dark on the horizon. It puts more emphasis on earnings today, with Netflix and SpaceX in the spotlight. 

U.S. stock futures are giving up some of their overnight optimism following the bounceback for AI stocks on Monday, as a sharply negative session in Asia shows jitters remain around technology stocks. 

A negative close for CoreWeave, as well as elevated yields on Oracle debt, expose persistent credit concerns in the AI trade.  

International selling: South Korea's Kospi has led broad declines in Asia, closing in bear market territory. Meanwhile, across Europe, technology stocks pushed indices into the red during the morning session. 

Problematic IPO: South Korean AI data center firm, Elice, debuted as a small IPO on the country's secondary market, but shares made a big nosedive, falling over 30% in the trading debut.  

• Why it matters: Other data center firms have cancelled their IPO plans, including Nvidia-backed Firmus, Blackstone-backed AirTrunk and Softbank unit SB Energy.

• Analysis: Gartner's chief forecaster, John Lovelock, who authored the report that fueled last week's rout, stands by his view, saying, "Everyone in the AI race is running for a last-man-standing position. Pretty much every market that Gartner is tracking in our AI race is likely to collapse down to a duopoly."

Shares of neocloud firms are falling in premarket trade. CoreWeave remains the eye of the storm, giving up its relief rally despite an upgrade from Goldman Sachs, which described the stock as being "toward the top of the quality rankings in the ecosystem." HSBC disagrees, saying late Monday the shares could drop another 36% because of rising borrowing costs and slowing revenue growth for AI models.

Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images

• It's been 39 years since Black Monday, but Jim Cramer says the market can learn important lessons from it amid the AI sell-off. He also says investors should look out for hedge fund liquidations and their role in the recent declines. 

$111 oil: Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose to the highest since May early Tuesday as attacks by Iran and its proxies picked up in the Middle East. Ukraine and Russia trading energy infrastructure blows aren't helping the situation either. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to meet with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Norway today after President Donald Trump called again for a new leader of the country. 

Two huge bellwethers for the tech space today, with Netflix and SpaceX both reporting after the market close.  

Swimming upstream: Netflix is expected to post 40% earnings growth for the third quarter, according to LSEG. But with big C-suite changes and a major raft of job cuts, Netflix investors will be looking to the outlook for engagement.  

• Netflix stock has traded lower after its last five quarterly reports. 

A tough act to follow: Elon Musk's pledge to give every American child a SpaceX share next year sets the scene for earnings today. It's only the second time the group has reported earnings as a listed company, and while shares are trading above the $135 IPO price, they are still off post-debut peaks. 

• Follow CNBC's live blog on SpaceX earnings, that goes live at 9am ET here. 

SpaceX signage during the closing bell ceremony at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York, US, on Friday, June 12, 2026.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Nvidia is investing in Europe, committing nearly $10 billion into companies, universities and research institutions across the region. 

Jensen Huang announced a fresh collaboration with Germany, toasting with Chancellor Friedrich Merz after the unveiling of a strategic cooperation with the government in Berlin. 

BERLIN, GERMANY - OCTOBER 19: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang toast with drinks while on stage at the Invest In Germany Summit to announce a strategic cooperation between the German government, NVIDIA and a group of German companies in artificial intelligence capacity for Germany industry on October 19, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. The project includes a significant investment by Germany in powerful NVIDIA chips. (Photo by Nadja Wohlleben/Getty Images)

Nadja Wohlleben | Getty Images News | Getty Images

• Why it's important: Huang's European tour has seen him invest in a slew of start-ups, including Genesis AI, Agile Robots and Reflex Aerospace, while Mistral AI remains a key partner. 

•  Analysis: Nvidia is looking to accelerate the adoption of AI outside the U.S., but Europe's reputation for regulation could rein in development across the continent. 

What is making Europe so angry?

Anger over the cost of living and pressure on public services has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters onto streets across several European countries, with grievances ranging from expensive housing to poor conditions in schools and universities.

France saw the largest demonstrations at the weekend, with more than 500,000 people marching. Most protested peacefully, but some looted and vandalized shops, set fire to city halls and attacked police officers.

Separate protests also took place in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Albania on Saturday and Sunday.

Protesters march through central Paris amid fires, smoke, police deployments and clashes during nationwide demonstrations against the high cost of living, on October 17, 2026 in Paris, France.

Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images

— CNBC's Caleigh Keating, Kai Nicol-Schwarz, Lora Kolodny, Liz Napolitano, Sawdah Bhaimiya and Jenny Lee contributed to this report.

John Melloy edited this edition.