The Week Ahead
October 12, 2026
Economic news
Core Inflation Rate
The core inflation rate in the U.S. slowed down from 2.5% in July, to 2.4% in August. In all, the core inflation rate aims to remove more volatile things like fuel and food to give a clearer picture of where prices are over the broader economy. Investors will undoubtedly be looking at this figure to see if the downward shift continued to take hold in September.
Existing Home Sales
U.S. existing home sales fell 2.0% month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 3.98 million units in August 2026. This represented the second consecutive monthly decline and reflected continued pressure from elevated mortgage rates.1
Looking ahead to the following month, existing home sales could remain under pressure as elevated mortgage rates continue to weigh on affordability and buyer demand. With 30-year mortgage rates recently reaching around 7.4%, the housing market may see continued weakness in sales even as increased inventory gives buyers more negotiating power. However, if mortgage rates begin to ease, the additional inventory could provide a foundation for a modest recovery in sales. Overall, the near-term outlook appears cautious, with high borrowing costs likely to remain the primary obstacle to a stronger housing market.
Earnings Related Market Movers
Domino’s Pizza (DPZ)
While Domino’s is the largest pizza chain in the world, it has seen slower growth as of late. Global retail sales growth in the second quarter fell from 5.6% in 2025, to 3.0% in 2026 and U.S. retail sales growth declined from 5.1% to 1.9% during the same timeframe.2 As a result, shares are down over 28% year to date.
Same store sales growth has slowed down considerably, with U.S. stores seeing 0.1% gains in the second quarter of 2026, versus gains of 3.4% in the second quarter of 2025. International same store sales growth declined by 0.1% in the second quarter. This comes after a few years of single-digit revenue growth.
Looking ahead, investors will likely be focused on two things; increased revenue growth and continued expanding earnings growth. Domino’s managed to report a 3.6% increase in net income in the second quarter of the year, while total net income for the first two fiscal quarters fell 1.8% to $275.6 million. For the stock to regain its footing, this will have to change. The company has partially relied on stock buybacks to improve the bottom line for shareholders. That will only work for so long.
UnitedHealth Group (UNH)
UnitedHealth Group heads into its third quarter earnings release with signs that its turnaround is gaining traction after a stronger-than-expected second quarter. In Q2, revenue reached $112.0 billion, broadly unchanged from a year earlier, while earnings from operations rose to $8.0 billion from $5.2 billion. Adjusted earnings were $6.38 per share, and the company raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings outlook to $19.50 to $20.00 per share.
A key improvement was in medical cost management, with the medical care ratio falling to 86.7%; both UnitedHealthcare and Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, delivered stronger operating earnings. However, there were still areas of concern: UnitedHealthcare’s membership declined, including a significant reduction in Medicare Advantage enrollment, while Optum Health revenue fell 5% as the business served fewer value-based care patients.
Investors will be looking to see whether the improvement in profitability can be sustained when UnitedHealth reports third quarter results before the market opens on Tuesday, October 13. Attention is likely to remain focused on medical costs and the medical care ratio, as well as enrollment trends across Medicare Advantage and other government programs.3
Just as importantly, the company’s commentary around its full-year earnings outlook will be scrutinized for signs that the Q2 improvement represents a durable recovery rather than simply a temporary benefit from cost controls and reimbursement changes.
BlackRock (BLK)
BlackRock enters the next earnings release with considerable momentum following a strong second quarter. The asset manager ended June with a record $15.3 trillion in assets under management after attracting $192 billion of net inflows during the quarter, contributing to record first-half inflows of $321 billion. Revenue increased 31% year-over-year to $7.1 billion, while adjusted operating income rose 39% and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 15% to $13.91. The breadth of the inflows was particularly encouraging, with demand spanning ETFs, private markets, active fixed income and systematic equity strategies. Technology services and subscriptions also remained a source of growth, with revenue up 13%, while BlackRock raised its planned quarterly share repurchases to $550 million.
Investors will be looking to see whether that momentum continued into the third quarter when BlackRock reports results before the market opens on Wednesday, October 14. Key areas of focus will likely include the pace and composition of net inflows, particularly into ETFs and private markets, as well as whether rising markets and continued organic growth have pushed assets under management to another record. Investors will also be watching margins and the performance of Aladdin and other technology services, which have become increasingly important contributors to BlackRock’s growth.
With the company having highlighted 10% organic base-fee growth and a nearly 46% adjusted operating margin in the second quarter, the upcoming results will provide an important test of whether those levels can be sustained.4
1 https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/existing-home-sales
2 https://ir.dominos.com/static-files/88ac1c4b-609f-47ae-968a-cef4bb4c258b
3 https://www.unitedhealthgroup.com/content/dam/UHG/PDF/investors/2026/unh-reports-second-quarter-2026-results.pdf
4 https://s24.q4cdn.com/856567660/files/doc_financials/2026/Q2/BLK-2Q26-Earnings-Release.pdf
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