Zombies Rise Again

Zombie firms in the U.S. just hit their highest count since 2022.

Author

Ankit Sinha
November 03, 2025

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Your Daily Dose of Market & Career Clarity

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🎯 In this issue:

  • Banana Bits: Finance headlines that actually matter

  • Market Summary: Stocks surge as earnings outweigh volatility

  • What’s Ripe / Rotten: The tastiest and most disgusting stocks 

  • Technical Trip: Interview Question with Morgan Stanley

  • Deal Dispatch: M&A, IPOs, and other transactions 

  • The Daily Poll: See how you stack up

📉 Banana Bits

Market Recap

A Follow-Through Rally in October

Just when investors thought that the market was finally settling down after a pause caused by Meta’s decline in Thursday trading, Wall Street’s bull market got fresh fuel at the end of a month that lived up to its volatile reputation, with earnings optimism outweighing worries about a rally that’s heavily concentrated on tech giants. 

The surge was brought by solid outlooks from Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. 

On the other hand, bonds steadied after a post-Federal Reserve rout, and the dollar rose. Oil also had its run after President Donald Trump denied he was considering a military strike on Venezuela. 

What's Ripe

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 9.6%

  • AMZN rose 9.6% after posting third-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.95 a share, including investment gains from artificial-intelligence start-up Anthropic, and topping Wall Street expectations of $1.57.

  • Revenue of $180.2 billion beat analysts’ expectations of $177.9 billion, and revenue at the company’s cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, rose 20% to $33 billion. 

Roku Inc. (ROKU) 6.1%

  • ROKU gained 6.1% after swinging to a profit in the third quarter on a 17% jump in platform revenue and raising full-year guidance.

  • The video-streaming company said it now expects 2025 revenue of $4.69 billion, up from a previous estimate of $4.65 billion.

What's Rotten

Newell Brands Inc. (NWL) 28.0%

  • NWL sank 28% after the maker of Sharpie pens and Yankee Candle reported third-quarter sales that missed Wall Street expectations, and the company slashed its full-year outlook for earnings and sales.

DexCom Inc. (DXCM) 14.6%

  • DXCM slumped 15% after interim CEO Jake Leach indicated on the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday that 2026 revenue growth could miss analysts’ forecasts. 

🧠 Technical Trip

Interview Q&A from Morgan Stanley

👉 Want 1-on-1 recruiting help from Morgan Stanley bankers & 2,000+ top mentors? Apply to WSO Academy

🦈 Deal Dispatch

M&A, IPOs, And Other Notable Transactions

📊The Daily Poll

KPMG will rate staff on AI usage; genius or gimmick?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

Previous Poll:

Burry’s warning of another bubble, do you believe him this time?

Yep, déjà vu 2008: 33.9% // He’s early as usual: 35.7% // Not wrong, just loud: 12.5% // Market keeps ignoring him: 17.9%

Student Success Corner

👉 Are you next? Find out with WSO Academy

Banana Brain Teaser

Previous

In the Johnsons’ monthly budget, the dollar amounts allocated to household expenses, food, and miscellaneous items are in the ratio of 5:2:1, respectively. If the total amount allocated to these three categories is $1,800, what is the amount allocated to food?

Answer: $450

Today

Working simultaneously at their respective constant rates, Machines A and B produce 800 nails in x hours. Working alone at its constant rate, Machine A produces 800 nails in y hours. In terms of x and y, how many hours does it take Machine B, working alone at its constant rate, to produce 800 nails?

❝

Real estate is an imperishable asset; ever-increasing in value.

Russell Sage

How Would You Rate Today's Peel?


Happy Investing,
Chris, Vyom, Ankit, Mitchell, Fernanda, & Patrick