Wall Street tore higher on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average surging more than 1,500 points at points during the session — a move traders described as one of the strongest post-election rallies in decades — as a blowout earnings report from chipmaker AMD's third-quarter filing collided with Tuesday's decisive midterm result and a sharp slide in oil prices.

AMD reported third-quarter revenue of $13.4 billion, blowing past its own guidance range of $12.7 billion to $13.3 billion and well ahead of Wall Street's consensus. Non-GAAP earnings came in at $2.09 a share against analyst estimates of roughly $1.94, with Data Center revenue — the company's AI growth engine — up 97% year-over-year. Shares jumped sharply in premarket trading on the results, before paring some gains amid broader market swings.

"Demand Is Higher Than Supply"

CEO Lisa Su told investors the company's only real constraint right now is manufacturing capacity, not customer appetite. AMD guided to roughly $17 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, far above where analysts had penciled the company in, according to a markets recap from 24/7 Wall St.

DEMAND IS HIGHER THAN SUPPLY

The report landed at a pivotal moment for a market that had spent weeks fretting over whether Big Tech's AI spending spree was sustainable. AMD's number, paired with a strong beat from networking supplier Arista Networks — up sharply on the day after revenue grew 59% — gave investors fresh confidence that AI infrastructure demand remains real rather than a bubble.

That relief combined with two other forces to drive Wednesday's surge. Oil prices tumbled as markets digested Tuesday's results, easing inflation worries tied to the Middle East, while the removal of election uncertainty itself — after Democrats flipped control of both chambers of Congress — gave traders a clearer, if contested, picture of Washington's next two years. A CNN markets report noted the Dow was on pace for its best post-midterm-election trading day in more than four decades.

Beyond AMD, the day's earnings slate offered a broader health check on corporate America. Amgen beat estimates and raised its full-year profit guidance on strong drug sales. Apollo Global Management topped expectations on fee-related earnings even as rising rates dented its retirement unit. Agribusiness giant Archer-Daniels-Midland lifted its own guidance on strong biofuel demand.

Not every number moved higher: Astera Labs shares slipped despite revenue jumping 154%, a sign that for some AI-linked names, expectations had already climbed too high to clear even with strong results.

What's Next

More than 300 companies were scheduled to report earnings after Wednesday's close, including several more AI-exposed names, meaning the week's verdict on the artificial-intelligence buildout is far from final. Traders will also be watching whether Wednesday's rally holds once the shock of the election result and AMD's number fades, or whether this week's torrent of earnings — and any fresh data on oil and inflation — reasserts itself as the market's main driver heading into the holidays.