Stocks fall | Stimulus talks continue | Snap rallies on surprise profit

The broader market struggled to find direction for most of the session Wednesday but Snap shares rose decisively.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE WED, OCT 21, 2020 EVENING BRIEF AS OF WED, OCT 21, 2020 • 04:23 ET DJIA 28210.82 -0.35% -97.97 S&P 500 3435.56 -0.22% -7.56 NASDAQ 11484.69 -0.28% -31.80   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 116.87 -0.64 -0.54% MSFT 214.80 +0.15 +0.07% INTC 53.50 +0.07 +0.13% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 116.87 -0.64 -0.54% GE 7.32 -0.02 -0.27% F 7.85 +0.11 +1.42% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 116.87 -0.64 -0.54% AAL 12.74 -0.06 -0.43% AMD 79.20 -2.36 -2.89%   EDITOR'S NOTE The broader market struggled to find direction for most of the session Wednesday but Snap shares rose decisively.   The social media company rallied nearly 30% for its third-best day on record on the back of surprisingly strong results for the third quarter. Snap reported an adjusted profit of 1 cent per share on revenue of $679 million. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected a loss of 5 cents per share on revenue of $555.9 million. Average revenue per user — a key metric for social media names — was also higher than expected.   Those numbers led Truist analyst Youssef Squali to upgrade Snap to buy and hike his price target on the stock to $43 per share. That target implies 51% upside from the previous day's close of $28.45 per share.   "SNAP seems to have made it to the other side of the pandemic earlier than thought," Squali wrote in a note. "Looking ahead, we believe that growing user and advertiser scale, product road map and monetization headroom will yield sustainable profitability starting in [2020]."   Other social media and tech-related stocks — including Facebook, Twitter and Google-parent Alphabet — followed Snap higher as the company's shares traded at record levels. The blowout quarter from Snap could signal a "bonanza for online advertising," according to Deutsche Bank analysts.   Catch The News with Shepard Smith at 7 p.m. ET on CNBC. The nightly newscast provides deep, non-partisan coverage and perspective on the day's most important stories. Fred Imbert | CNBC Markets Reporter @foimbert TOP NEWS  Stocks close slightly lower as coronavirus stimulus talks continue Senate Democrats block GOP's $500 billion coronavirus aid bill as Pelosi-Mnuchin talks continue Snap had a blowout quarter — it could signal a 'bonanza' for social companies Stimulus package is unlikely to get through Congress before the election, Goldman Sachs says AstraZeneca shares turn negative after Brazilian health authority says volunteer in Covid vaccine study dies Nikola shares surge after GM executive gives hope of keeping partnership deal alive PayPal gets into crypto with new features for trading and shopping OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma to plead to 3 criminal charges in $8 billion settlement Analyst who called Netflix's subscriber miss has big worries about the stock One ETF that could benefit from Apple's new 5G iPhone   TOP VIDEO White House advisor Larry Kudlow say it's an 'optimistic morning' for coronavirus stimulus talks   CNBC PRO Jim Cramer makes the case for investing in Verizon: 'Never reach for income'   SPECIAL REPORTS GMC Hummer EV: 5 things to know about GM's first electric 'supertruck' How Trump and Biden economic and tax plans differ in ways that could impact Main Street   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS